“And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.”—2 Kings 2:20-2520And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. 21And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the Lord, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land. 22So the waters were healed unto this day, according to the saying of Elisha which he spake. 23And he went up from thence unto Beth-el: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head. 24And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them. 25And he went from thence to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. (2 Kings 2:20‑25).
Men will not believe God. They despise His goodness, refuse His grace, and scoff at His declarations of the future. Like Pharaoh, they say,” Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice?” Or, if they acknowledge God at all, it is that He is a hard Master, reaping where He has not sown, and demanding from us more than we can possibly render. Such, therefore, dread the future, tremble at the realities of death and judgment, and have no rest for their souls.
Ever since sin came into the world, man’s way has been to despise God. An Old Testament prophet’s testimony was, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.” This, too, was quoted by an apostle in his preaching of the gospel, nearly seven hundred years afterward. Men in early times so despised God, that they made gods with their own hands, and worshipped them. Afterward they despised Moses’ law, and despised the testimony of prophets. The Lord Jesus was despised of men. The gospel, too, was so despised, that on one occasion an apostle exclaimed, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish.” And now, in reference to the statements of scripture as to the coming of the Lord Jesus from heaven, we are told, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” (2 Pet. 3:3, 43Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2 Peter 3:3‑4).) The truth is, that man’s unbelief rejects God’s word whatever it may say; while faith receives it, and rests upon it, because it is the word of Him who cannot lie.
One truth which stands most intimately in connection with the doctrine of the Lord’s coming, and very precious to the believer’s heart, is the change and translation of those that are Christ’s at His coming. Nothing is more clearly revealed. The change in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, will at once cause mortal bodies to become immortal, and corruptible to put on incorruption; and not only so, but the dead in Christ having been raised incorruptible, and the living who are Christ’s changed, they will then be together caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and so be forever with the Lord.
Wondrous translation! Let the reader ponder 1 Thess. 4:16, 1716For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. (1 Thessalonians 4:16‑17). Nothing can be more plainly stated. The language is simple and precise. No doubt can remain on any fair mind, who is subject to the authority of scripture, as to its meaning. There is no trace of judgment in the scene. Not one unbeliever is there. It is Christ descending from heaven, and His saints caught up to meet Him in the air. It is not yet Christ revealed from heaven in flaming fire, or standing on the Mount of Olives,, as He surely will when He comes out of heaven with us, for then there will be no translation. Then every eye shall see Him coming to judge the world in righteousness. Then He will judge first the living, and, after a thousand years’ reign, the wicked dead at the great white throne. When Christ comes for us who are His, He will descend from heaven, and we shall be caught up to meet Him in the air, and so be forever with the Lord. This is our blessed and purifying hope. God says so in His word. He has revealed it for our comfort; and the Spirit teaches this, for “The Spirit and the bride say, Come!”
It is this translation of the saints at our Lord’s; coming which so many will not believe. They say it cannot be, because the rising of millions of saints all in a moment from earth to heaven is opposed to scientific principles. They loudly exclaim that it is contrary to the laws of gravitation, and cannot be reconciled with the best established principles of philosophy. But such persons forget that God is Almighty! that He can do everything, that Christ Himself, a risen Man, went up to heaven; that His disciples saw Him go up higher and higher, until a cloud received Him out of their sight. They forget also that Stephen saw Him after this standing at the right hand of God; and that Saul was struck down to the earth, and was blind for three days, by a sight of the glorified Jesus in the heavens.
Again, men reason instead of believing God, and say, It is not likely that Christ is coming again, and His people translated, because there is no sign of such an event—nothing to indicate such a serious movement, because things continue as they were. Civilization steadily increases, the spread of knowledge is immense, the gospel taken to every quarter of the globe, wisdom in the management of affairs rapidly progresses. They see nothing to mark such a solemn event, and therefore will not believe. They know not that no sign will be given, no particular alteration in circumstances expected, but that the world will go on with its pursuits of business and pleasure, until the Lord comes. So those who reason from appearances, instead of hearkening to the word of God, only go astray; and this deluding doctrine, with its despising and scoffing ways, we may expect to continue. “ For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape.” How appalling is the despiser’s doom! The truth is that it shall be so, for God hath said it, and who can stay His hand, or say unto Him, What doest thou? “The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations.” But Enoch was translated. What can men say about that? He was a man of like passions with ourselves. He believed God. He walked with God. He had sons and daughters, and feared and honored God; and he had this testimony, that he pleased God. He knew that men were unbelieving and ungodly, and would be so; and prophesied that the Lord would come and cut them off in judgment, as He certainly will. In due time God took him bodily up to heaven. But what did men think of this? They despised the idea of his having been translated, and went hither and thither to look for him, but, of course, they found him not. We are told he was not found. “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him; for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” (Heb. 11:55By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. (Hebrews 11:5).) Thus we see that the scoffers and despisers in Enoch’s day would not believe that “God had translated him.” But, after patience and long-suffering, God’s judgment overtook them. “The flood came, and took them all away.”
Elijah also was translated. What do the would-be wise philosophers of the nineteenth century say to that? Elijah knew that he would be taken. Fifty sons of the prophets saw him cross the Jordan on dry ground, and Elisha with him. After this, “a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven,” and Elisha saw him go up. And what then? Men would not believe that he had been translated; and fifty strong men went over the country for three days, to see if they could find him. They said, “Lest peradventure the Spirit of the Lord hath taken him up, and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley.” Such was their unbelief. They did not believe that God had really translated him. “They sent therefore fifty men; and they sought three days, but found him not” (Vers. 16, 17.)
Nor was this all. When Elisha, the man of God, came to Bethel, the same despising spirit seems to have been wide-spread there. At Bethel, which name means house of God, it might scarcely have been expected. But so it was. And it is even now among professors of Christianity that there are found those who scoff at the doctrine of the Lord’s personal coming, and the translation of the saints to meet Him in the air. It has been held up by some as ridiculous. Parents have indulged in despising these precious truths of scripture, and young children have caught the error; for it is easy to teach a little child to scoff at the truth of God, but it needs the Holy Ghost to teach aright that which is divine. We read that as this aged man of God “was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head.” (Ver. 23.) Go up where? Go up where it is said Elijah is gone. Thus they “mocked.” Thus the glorious truth of translation to heaven was despised. But the end here, too, was terrible judgment, for when the man of God cursed them in Jehovah’s name, “there came forth two she bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.” (Ver. 24.)
And so now. Are there not scoffers, saying, Where is the promise of His coming? Are there not those who mock and despise the Christian’s hope of being translated—caught up to meet the Lord in the air? May such take warning ere it be too late! Now repentance and remission of sins are preached in the Savior’s name; now He receives, pardons and blesses forever the greatest sinners that come to Him to save them! Still He says, “Him that cometh to me, I will in nowise cast out.” But, oh, unsaved reader, beware lest the Lord Jesus come before you have really believed in Him to the saving of your soul, when you will be forever shut out, instead of being shut in forever with Jesus and His blood-washed saints. Oh, trifling, reasoning, unbelieving reader, beware! “Because there is wrath, beware lest he take thee away with his stroke; then a great ransom cannot deliver thee!” Again, we say, Beware, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets, “Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish!”