WE see in this prophecy of our Lord a remarkable confirmation of a great principle of God — that He never opens out the future of judgments on the rebellious, and of deliverance for His own people, till sin has so developed itself as to manifest total ruin. Take the very first instances in the Bible. When was it said that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head? When the woman was beguiled, and the man in transgression through the wiles of the enemy; when sin had thus entered the world, and death by sin. Again, the prophecy of Enoch, given us by Jude, was uttered when the term of God’s patience with the then world was almost closed, and the flood was about to bear witness of His judgment on man’s corruption and violence.
Thus, whether we look at the first prediction of Christ before the expulsion from Eden, or at the testimony of the Lord’s coming to judge before the deluge, prophecy thus far evidently comes in when man has wholly broken down. So, next, we find Noah, when there was confusion and failure in his own family, and in himself too, led of the Holy Ghost into a prophetic summary of the whole world’s history, beginning with the doom of him who despised his father, even though it were to his own shame, and proceeding with the blessing of Shem and the portion of Japhet.
So, later on, with the prophecies of Balaam and of Moses, “yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after”; for Samuel’s is that striking epoch which the New Testament singles out as the commencement of the great line of the prophets. And why? It was the day when Israel openly abandoned God as their king, consummating the sin which their heart conceived in the desert, when they sought a captain in order to return into Egypt. It was a proud crisis in Israel, whose blessedness lay in being a people separated from all around by, and to, Jehovah their God, who would surely have provided them a king of His own choice, had they waited, instead of choosing for themselves — to His dishonor and their own sure degradation and sorrow — in order to be like the nations.
The same principle equally and conspicuously applies to the time when the great prophetic books were written — Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the rest. It was when all present hope had fled, and David’s sons wrought no deliverance, but rather at last a deeper curse through their towering iniquity and profane insults of the true God, who was thus morally forced to pronounce the nation Lo-ammi — “not my people.” Before, and during, and after the captivity, the Spirit of prophecy laid bare the sin of king, and priests, and prophets, and people, but pointed the heart to the coming Messiah and the new covenant. And Him we have seen, in our Gospel, actually come, but growingly and utterly rejected by Israel, as also all their own promises and hopes in Him; and now in the near prospect of His own death at their hands — in itself their worst of deaths―He takes up this prophetic strain.
“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.” For what was it now? A corpse, and no more. “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” “And his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (vss. 1, 2.) The hearts of believers then, as too often now, were occupied with present appearances, and the great show of grandeur in God’s service; the halo of associations was bright before their eyes. But Jesus passes sentence on all that even they admired on the earth. In truth, when He left the temple, all was gone which gave it value in the sight of God. It is ever thus. Outside Jesus, what is there in this world but vain show, or worse? And how does the Lord deliver His own from the power of tradition and every other source of attraction for the heart? He opens out the communications of His own mind, and casts the light of the future on the present. How often worldliness unjudged in a Christian’s heart betrays itself by want of relish for God’s unfolding of what He is going to do! How can I enjoy the coming of the Lord if it is to throw down much that I am seeking to build up in the world? A man, for instance, may be trying to gain, or keep, a status by his ability, hoping that his sons may outstrip himself by the superior advantages they enjoy. On some such idea is founded all human greatness; it is “the world,” in fact. Christ’s coming again is a truth which demolishes the whole fabric; because, if we really look for His coming as that which may be from day to day — if we realize that we are set like servants at the door with the handle in hand, waiting for Him to knock (we know not how soon), and desiring to open to Him immediately (“blessed are those servants!”) — if such is our attitude, how can we have time, or heart, for that which occupies the busy, Christ-forgetting world? Moreover, we are not of the world, even as Christ is not; and as for means and agents to carry on its plans and ends, there never was, nor will be, a lack of men to do its work. But we have a higher business, and it is beneath us to seek the world’s honors. Let our outward position here below be ever so menial or trying, what so glorious as in it to serve the Lord Christ? And He is coming!
In the cross I see God humbling Himself — the only One of all greatness making nothing of Himself for my soul — the only One who commands all becoming a servant of the very vilest. A person cannot receive the truth of the cross without having in measure his walk in accordance with the spirit of it. Yet saints of God have regarded the cross, not so much as that power by which the world is crucified unto them and they unto the world, but rather as the remedy by which they are set free from all anxiety, in order to make themselves a comfortable place in the world. The Christian ought to be the happiest of men; but his happiness consists not in what he has here, but in what he knows that he will have with Christ. Meanwhile, our service and obedience are to be formed according to the spirit of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man’s evil and God’s grace thoroughly came out in the cross; all met there: and it is founded upon this great truth that it is said so often in scripture, “The end of all things is at hand;” because all was brought out in moral ways and in dispensational dealings between God and man.
Connected with this, our Lord does not as yet unfold here the portion of us Christians, but takes up the disciples where they were. They were believing, godly Jews. Their associations connected Christ and the temple together. They knew that He was the Messiah of Israel, and they expected Him to judge the Romans and gather all the scattered ones of the seed of Abraham from the four winds of heaven. They looked for all the prophecies about the land and the city to be accomplished. There was no thought in the minds of the disciples at this time of Jesus going to heaven and staying there for a long time — of the scattering of Israel, and of the Gentiles being brought in to the knowledge of Christ. Consequently this great prophecy on the mount of Olives starts with the disciples and with their condition. Their hearts were too much occupied with the buildings of the temple. But the Lord, now rejected, announces that “there shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down.” (vs. 2.) This excited greatly the desire of the disciples to understand how such things were to come to pass. They were aware from the prophecies that there was a time of dismal sorrow for Israel, and they did not know how to put this together with their predicted blessing. They ask Him, therefore, “When shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” (vs. 3.)
“Thy coming” means “the Lord’s presence with them on the earth”; and “the end of the age” is a totally different word from that translated “world” elsewhere: it means here the end of the time during which our Lord should be absent from them. They wished to know the sign of His presence with them. They knew there could never be such desolation if their Messiah was reigning over them. They wished to know when the time of sorrow should come, and what should be the sign of His own presence that should close it and bring in unending joy.
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (vss. 4, 5.) In the epistles of Paul it is never exactly such a thought as warning persons against false elitists. For there the Holy Ghost addresses us as Christians; and a Christian could not be deceived by a man’s pretensions to be Christ. It is most appropriate here, because the disciples are viewed in this chapter, as the representatives, not of us Christians now, but of future godly Jews. We, as Christians, have nothing to do with the destruction of the temple; it does not affect us in any way. These disciples were regarded as the godly remnant of the nation, who were looking for the Messiah to bring in glory. The Lord, therefore, warns them that if any should arise among them, saying, I am Christ, they were not to believe them. The time was come when the true Messiah ought to appear. And He had appeared, but Israel had rejected Him; they refused to bow to Him, hardening themselves in the lie that our Lord could not be the promised One.
But the Jews, while not believing that Jesus is the Christ, had not yet given up the hope of the Messiah, and this exposed them to the delusion spoken of here (i.e., to persons saying, I am Christ). At any rate, the rejection of the true Christ laid them open to the reception of a false Christ. Our Lord had warned them of this. “I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.” If a messiah were to come full of self and of Satan, the nation should be given up to receive the false, as a just retribution for having rejected the True. The disciples were the representatives of godly Jews, and were warned of what should befall their nation. But take the epistles of John and what have you there? “Beloved, believe not every spirit.” Why? Because the great thing that the church is distinguished by is the presence of the Holy Ghost; and the deceit which we have to watch against is false spirits, not false Christs, though there are many antichrists.
How are we to do God’s will? How are we to be directed to what will honor Him? The Holy Ghost alone can guide us in a right path, and He acts by the word of God. I must find myself meeting, according to the scriptures, where what is of man is disallowed, and what is of God is freely, and fully, acknowledged. We are bound to see whether all that we are doing will bear the full searchings of the scriptures; if not, let us stop at once. Never allow a single thing which you believe to be contrary to the written word. “Cease to do evil.” “To him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” Supposing I only know that what I am engaged in is wrong, but that I see nothing further, I must stop. God gives me no fresh light before me if I am doing what is wrong. I may have to remain in my chamber, and not see what next; but wherever I see evil, I am bound by it. We can never go on in evil, hoping for more light. What is the walk of faith? A believer may seem to go blindfold, but he has God for his guide. He does not see before him, but he has the eye, and heart, and hand of One who does. It is God who guides. He shows me His will for that one step, and when I have taken it, He will show me the next. It is a question of honoring God. When we have done this in any particular step, the Lord opens a further path for us.
Our Lord does not warn against false spirits here, because He is not speaking to the disciples on the ground of Christianity. By a Christian, I mean a believer since the Holy Ghost was poured out from on high. He is not a bit more a saint than a man called to the knowledge of God before; but he has special privileges founded on accomplished redemption, and also enters more fully into the truth of God as revealed in Christ. The disciples did not know this blessing yet; and the Lord takes them as examples of a believing remnant in the latter day. The danger of Christians is grieving the Holy Ghost―nay, listening to false spirits. “Believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” These were persons in whom an evil spirit wrought. There are false prophets now, and evil spirits work in them. In these days, faith, both in the Holy Ghost and in Satan’s power, is very much weakened. People only look at the man; whereas scripture makes a great deal of God and of Satan. What gives Satan power over a professor of the name of Christ is the allowance of sin.
Satan has not one atom of, power against a child of God who is looking to Jesus; but where self is allowed Satan can come and make a resting-place for a season. If a believer could not be a false prophet, there might be a temporary power of the enemy over his soul.
Here it is a question of false Christs, because our Lord was going to speak to the disciples about Jewish circumstances and hopes, though He afterward turns to Christian subjects. The prophecy consists of three great parts. The Jewish remnant have their history thoroughly described; then comes the portion of Christians, and afterward that of the Gentiles. The prophecy divides itself into these three sections. Why are the Jews, we may ask, first brought forward? The disciples were not yet taken out of their Jewish position: only when Christ was crucified was the wall of partition broken down. Our Lord’s intention was to take up a Jewish remnant and show that there would be a company in the latter day on the same ground as these disciples — the Christian would come in between. This we have described in the latter part of the chapter, and in the greater part of chapter 25. Then we have the Gentiles, “all nations,” gathered before the Son of man. Such is the thread of connection between the parts of this great discourse.
“Many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (vss. 5, 6.) Observe, there are two great moral warnings given by our Lord. First, they were to beware of a true hope falsely applied. He guards them against the attractions of false Christs, who would take advantage of the fact that the Jews ought to be looking for Christ, and would pretend to be Christ. But, besides, there is the fear that would be excited by the enemy, who knows how to bring in a new deceit suited to another set of circumstances. Verse 6, therefore, guards them against alarms: “Ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.” We have nothing to do with these. Where do you read that the Holy Ghost warns the Christian about trouble from wars and rumors of wars? Do we find anything about it in the Epistles, where the Christian Church is properly brought out?
Am I then denying the importance of the Lord’s prophecy? God forbid! But the portion we are looking at does not refer to Christians as they now are, but to the Jewish disciples as they then were, and as they will be. Our calling takes place after our Lord went to heaven and before He returns in glory, whereas the Jewish remnant will be found in the latter day on similar ground and with hopes like those the disciples had whom our Lord was here addressing. We do not arrive at a clear knowledge of anything by denying the great landmarks of God. If we want to put things rightly together in the word of God, we must notice what, and to whom, He speaks. If a Gentile take up the language of a Jew, a great mistake is made; or if a Christian adopt the language of either Jew or Gentile, there is again an equal mistake. Therefore it is that such stress is laid on “rightly dividing the word of truth.” We find various ways of God according to His sovereign will about those with whom He is dealing, and we must take care to apply His word aright.
Here we have disciples having a peculiar calling in a particular land, the land of Juda; and if they heard of wars and rumors of wars they were not to be troubled. “For all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Mark the difference in the language of scripture. Do we ever find the apostles saying, The end is not yet, for us? On the contrary, it is said of us (1 Cor. 10), “Upon whom the ends of the world are come.” So again, speaking about the cross of Christ, it is written (Heb. 9:2626For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:26).), “Now once, in the end of the world”; whereas, when the Lord is predicting about the Jewish remnant, “the end is not yet.” And this, because many things must yet be accomplished before the Jews can come into their blessing. But for Christians, all things are ours in Christ even now; the blessing is never put off, though we await the crown at His coming. Again, many parts of scripture speak of scenes of anguish before the Lord’s coming; others make Christians to be expecting Christ at any time. These scriptures cannot be broken, nor can they contradict one another; and yet they must do so, if they be applied to the same people.
Practically, too, the difference is immensely important; for the Christian is not of the world, even as Christ is not, which could not be equally said of the Jewish body yet to be called in the latter day. For us “wars and rumors of wars” ought not to be a source of trouble, any more than of interest on either side of this world’s combatants. Surely they should be an occasion of holy concern and intercession in the spirit of grace, and this for all engaged. The Jewish remnant, on the contrary, will not be separated after this heavenly manner; and the earthly struggles; which will then rage in, and around, the land cannot but affect them nearly: so that they will especially need to cherish confidence in the Saviour’s words, and not be troubled as if the issue were a doubtful one, or themselves forgotten in that dark day. They must wait patiently; “for nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
It is evident that the language is only applicable in its full force to Jews―believing ones, no doubt, but still Jews in the midst of a nation judicially chastised for their apostacy from God and rejection of their own Messiah.
Besides, the Lord prepares the Jewish disciples, or remnant, for their own special trials, partially true after His own departure till Jerusalem disappeared, and once more to be verified before Jerusalem is fully owned after the destruction of the Antichrist. “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations [or ‘the Gentiles’] for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (vss. 9, 10.) There should be false profession among them, and hatred of the true even among themselves; and not only troubles without: “Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound; the love of many shall was cold; but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Thus there is a certain, defined period of endurance — an end to come, as truly as there was a beginning of sorrows. But what trial, and darkness, and suffering, and scandal before that end comes! When our Lord speaks, as in the Gospel of John, of the Christian’s lot, He never names either a beginning or an end, but rather implies that tribulation should be expected throughout his career. “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” And such is the constant language and thought in the epistles, where beyond question our calling is supposed.
Then follows a final sign. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (vs. 14.) The gospel of God’s grace is not the same as the gospel of the kingdom. Both should be preached — that God is saving souls of His mere favor now through Christ; and that there is a kingdom which He is going to establish by His power shortly, which is to embrace all the earth. Before the end come, there will therefore be a special testimony of this coming of the Lord, as He here intimates. So in Rev. 14 angel is seen by John in the prophetic vision, “having the everlasting gospel to preach to the dwellers on earth and to every nation, and saying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come; and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” Now it cannot be so said that the hour of His judgment is come; for it is, on the contrary, and expressly, the day of His grace and salvation.
Clearly, therefore, the inference is that, just before the close of this age, there will be a remarkable energy of the Spirit in the midst of the Jews; and from that very people who rejected Jesus of old, messengers of the kingdom shall go forth, touched by His grace, to announce the speedy fall of divine judgment and the establishment of the kingdom of the heavens in power and glory. Who so suited, in God’s mercy, to proclaim the returning Messiah, as some of the very nation who of old had nailed Him to the cross, among all the proud Gentiles whose then representative inscribed it with, “This is Jesus, the King of the Jews”? The testimony shall go forth universally. How humbling for Christendom! What has become of the East? What of the West? Mahometanism! Popery! with Paganism, too, still prevalent over vast tracts of Asia and Africa. And yet Christian men close their eyes to the plainest and most solemn fact, and boast of the triumphs of the gospel! No; the Gentiles have been wise in their own conceits, though grace has wrought where God has pleased, spite of all; but it is reserved for other witnesses, when the falling away shall have been complete in Christendom, and the man of sin revealed, to proclaim the corning kingdom in all the habitable earth.
In verse 15 the Lord goes back in point of time and shows us — not general tokens of the approach of the end, and that which should distinguish the end in general from the earlier throes of Israel — but here we have circumstances of the most definite character, which may, perhaps, be applied partially to what occurred before the fall of Jerusalem under Titus, but which can only be fulfilled in the future of Israel, if we duly heed the peculiarity of the scene, the connection of the prophecy, end, above all, the consummation in which all is to terminate.
First, then, our Lord points to a Jewish prophet. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand),” &c. (vs. 15.) The parenthesis warns that the prediction might be misunderstood — that at any rate it demanded attention. Two passages of the prophecy (chap. 11:31 and 12:11) speak of this abomination; but why should I hesitate to affirm that the former was the foreshadowing of the doings of Antiochus Epiphanes, centuries before Christ, and that the latter is the one referred to here, and still unaccomplished? Entirely distinct from the epoch of Antiochus, Daniel 12. speaks of another idol which brings desolation in its train, and this expressly at “the time of the end.” “Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” In this we have another link of connection with our Lord’s words, “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” “And from the time that the daily [sacrifice] shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days.” Thus, beside the idolatrous evil imposed by the notorious king of the north long before the Lord appeared, Daniel looks onward to a similar evil at the close of Israel’s sorrows, the destruction of which immediately precedes their final deliverance. “Blessed is he that waiteth.” As to this last, our Lord cites the Jewish prophet, and casts further light on the selfsame time and circumstances, when Daniel himself shall reappear in his lot.
The conclusion is clear and certain: our Lord in verse 15 of Matthew 24 determines the allusion to be to that part of Daniel which is yet future, not to what was history when He stood on the mount of Olives. I am aware that some have confounded the matter with what we read in Daniel 8. and 9. But “the transgression of desolation” is not the same as “the abomination of desolation”; nor can we absolutely identify “the last end of the indignation” with “the time of the end.” (Compare Isaiah 10) The distinctions of scripture are as much to be noted as the points of resemblance and of contact. The last verse of Daniel 9 might seem to have stronger claims. There we have a covenant confirmed for one week; and then in the midst of the week sacrifice and oblation are made to cease; after which, because of the protection given to abominations or idols, there is a desolator “even until the consummation and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate” (i.e. Jerusalem).
I have thus given what has the best claim to be the true sense of this important passage; and evidently, when thus stated with precision, the supposed resemblance to “the abomination of desolation” disappears. A desolator who comes because of the wing (i.e. protection) of abominations is very distinct from the abomination that makes desolate, or the idol which is yet to stand in the sanctuary. With the setting up of this abomination the date of one thousand two hundred and ninety days is connected. Even for those who understand this of so many years, it is impossible to apply the prophecy to the destruction of Jerusalem or its temple by the Romans. Had it been so, the period of blessing must long ere this have arrived for Israel. Has the prophecy then failed? No; but many readers have failed in understanding it. We must correct, not the language of Scripture, but our interpretation: we must go back to God’s word again and again, and see whether we have not mistaken our bearings.
The truth is, that the understanding of Daniel 12 is of all moment for reaping due profit from Matthew 24. In its first verse we have a plain landmark: “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” There can be no just doubt that Daniel’s people means the Jews, and that a mighty intervention on their behalf is intimated; but, as usual, not without the severest trial of faith. For “there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time.” This our Lord has unquestionably in view in verse 21: “Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” There cannot be two tribulations for the same people, each of which is greatest: both statements refer to the same trouble. Now Daniel is positive that “at that time thy people (the Jews) shall be delivered.” Who can pretend that Michael stood up for Israel against Titus any more than against Nebuchadnezzar? Does not everybody know that at that time, far from being delivered, they were completely vanquished by the Romans, and those who escaped the sword were sold as slaves and scattered over the world? God was then against, not for, Israel; and, as the king in the parable, He was wroth, sent forth His armies, destroyed those murderers, and fired their city. Here, on the contrary, the unequaled hour of sorrow is just before their deliverance on God’s part, not before their captivity.
Carrying this back to our chapter, the sight of the desolating idol in the holy place is the signal for flight. “Then let them which be in Judæa flee into the mountains.” (vs. 16.) There is no thought of a sign to Christians IS such, but to Jewish disciples in the holy land; and this that they may instantly retire from the scene of danger. “Let him which is on the house-top not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days” (vss. 17-19.) It has been tried to find in this the warning on which some fled to Pella in the interval after the Roman lieutenant surrounded the city, and before the final sack under the victorious commander. But this arises from confounding Luke 21:20-2420And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh. 21Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains; and let them which are in the midst of it depart out; and let not them that are in the countries enter thereinto. 22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled. 23But woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. (Luke 21:20‑24) with Matthew Matt. 24:15-2115When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) 16Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: 17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: 18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. 19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! 20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: 21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24:15‑21); whereas they are demonstrably distinct, spite of a measure of analogy between them. It perfectly fell within the province given of the Spirit to the great Gentile Evangelist to notice the past Roman siege, as well as the present supremacy of the nations which tread down Jerusalem till their times are fulfilled.
Matthew, however, has his own proper task in giving the awful, future crisis, at least from verse 15. And it is evident that, as the abomination in the holy place differs widely from armies compassing Jerusalem, so there was ample space for the most leisurely departure from the menaced city (yes, for the most impeded and infirm of either sex to go) after Cestius Gallus withdrew. I conclude, therefore, that by Matthew our Lord gives us what bears on the time of the end, by Luke what refers to the past, and to the present too, cursorily, as well as to the future. Matthew, for instance, could not speak like Luke, of Jerusalem being trodden down of the Gentiles, because he is here occupied only with the horrors which immediately precede Israel’s blessing and deliverance. Luke has both an earlier and a later time of trouble: Matthew, from verse 15, leaves that and confines himself to this.
“But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath-day: for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” (vss. 20, 21.) How considerate the Lord is! And how surely His disciples in that day may count on His care, that their petitions will be answered, so that urgent as their flight must be, neither the inclement season, nor the day of Jewish rest, shall hinder! Here again is another proof that not Christians, but His Jewish followers are contemplated. Holy as is the Sabbath, I have no hesitation in saying that the Lord’s day, with which the church has to do, is founded on a deeper sanctity. The believer has now to beware, on the one hand, of confounding the Sabbath with the Lord’s day; and, on the other, of supposing that, because the Lord’s day is not the Sabbath, it may therefore be turned to a selfish, or worldly, account. The Sabbath is the holy memorial of creation, and of the law; as the Lord’s day is of grace, and of the new creation in the resurrection of the Saviour. As Christians we are neither of the old creation, nor under the law, but stand on the totally different ground of Christ dead and risen. The Sabbath was for man and the Jew, the last day of the week, and one simply of rest to be shared with the ox and the ass. This is not the Christian idea, which begins the week with the Lord, gives the best to Him in worship, and is free to labor for Him to all lengths in the midst of the world’s sin and misery.
Thus we have, at every step, a fresh testimony to the real bearing of the prophecy. For us the holy place is in heaven, not in Jerusalem; for us it is no question of escaping some unexampled tribulation, but of being prepared for, and rejoicing in, it always; for us, gathered out of all nations and tongues, the mountains round Judæa are no suited hiding place; nor could the winter, or the Sabbath day, be a just source of alarm. Every word is for us to ponder, and profit by; but the evidence unmistakably points to a converted body of Jews in the latter day, not standing in church light and privilege, but having Jewish hopes, and, while awaiting the Messiah, warned how to escape the deceits and overwhelming trouble of that day. It is a question of flesh being saved (vs. 22), and not of fellowship with Christ’s sufferings and conformity to His death, so as, whatever the cost, to have part in the resurrection from among the dead.
Hence, too, there is no thought here of Christ’s coming to receive us to Himself and to give us mansions where He is in the Father’s house, but of His presence in glory to destroy enemies, to judge what was dead and offensive to God, and to deliver the scattered elect of Israel. For their sake those days of terror should be shortened. With this agree the warnings in verses 23-28: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders,” &c, (vss. 23, 24.) Could such a delusion be addressed even to the simplest Christian who waits for the Son of God from heaven? Yet it is very intelligible if we think of these future Jewish disciples, who might expect something akin to it from a prediction such as Zechariah 14., where we find that the Mount of Olives is the appointed spot on which Jehovah-Messiah is yet to stand. We can well conceive rumors for such saints that Christ was in the desert, or in the secret chambers: they might deceive those who expected to meet the Lord on earth, but not those who know that they are to join Him and the risen ones in the air. (1 Thess. 4.; 2 Thess. 2.)
The manner of His presence for delivering the Jews is then made known as the guard against their deceits: “For as the lightning cometh,” &c. The figures (vss. 27, 28), which illustrate the presence of the Son of man, convey the thought of sudden, terrible manifestation, and of rapid, inevitable judgment on what is then but a lifeless body before God, whatever may have been its pretensions. Nothing similar appears, wherever beyond controversy scripture describes the descent of the Lord to receive His risen saints. And what is the result of thus misapplying these verses? The revolting interpretation that “the carcass” means Christ, and “the eagles” the transfigured saints, or the converse, calls for censure, not comment. Nor is it needful to refute the claim set up for the Roman standards. Applied to Israel, all is simple. The carcass represents the apostate part of that nation; the eagles, or vultures, are the figure of the judgments that fall upon it. It is not only, then, that there will be the lightning-like display of Christ in judgment; but the agents of His wrath shall know where, and how, to deal with that which is abominable in God’s sight. The allusion is to Job 39:3030Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she. (Job 39:30).
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened,” &c. (vss. 29-31.) One can hardly be asked to notice the old effort to apply these verses to the Roman triumph over Jerusalem. On the face of it, could this be said to be “immediately after the tribulation”? or was it not rather the crowning of Jewish sorrow, not the glorious reversal of their sufferings by a divine deliverance? Whatever prodigies Josephus reports were rather during the tribulation he records; whereas the signs spoken of here, literal or figurative, are to follow “the tribulation of those days” (i.e., the future crisis of Jerusalem). No; One incomparably greater than Titus is here; and an event is announced in connection with that poor people, which will change the face and condition of all nations. “Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
The elect throughout are the chosen seed of Israel. (vss. 22, 24, 31. Compare Isaiah 65.) Other elect there are, no doubt; but we must ever interpret by the context; and this in the present case seems to me clear and unquestionable. The Son of man in heaven, and seen there, is, I conceive, the sign to those on earth. This fills all the tribes with mourning; and Christ visibly comes to judgment. Other scriptures prove that the heavenly saints have been already translated, and are then to accompany their Lord; but here nothing of this appears. It would have been premature. Besides, the object of this portion of the prophecy is to announce His coming for the relief and in-gathering of His elect out of Israel. Hence it is as Son of man (that is, judicially, see John 5:2727And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. (John 5:27)) that He is present; and, hence, too, He sends His angels with loud trumpet sound. “And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem” (Isaiah 27:1313And it shall come to pass in that day, that the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem. (Isaiah 27:13).) It is the proclamation, not alone of the acceptable year of Jehovah, but of the day of God’s vengeance. “And ye shall be gathered one by one, O ye children of Israel.” The four winds in connection with Israel are no difficulty, but rather the contrary (See Zech. 2:66Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord. (Zechariah 2:6).) As Jehovah had scattered and spread them abroad “as the four winds of the heaven,” so now are His chosen ones to be gathered in.
The general outline and the special view of the Jewish portion have been given thus far in chap. 24. This is next illustrated, both from nature (vss. 32, 33) and from scripture (vss. 34-36), and closed by a suitable application. (vss. 42-44.)
“From the fig-tree learn the [or, its] parable.” (vs. 32.) What is the peculiar significance and propriety of the fig tree here? It is the well-known symbol of the Jewish nationality. Thus we saw it, in chapter 21 bearing nothing but leaves — that generation given up to the curse of perpetual fruitlessness, whatever grace may do for the generation to come. In Luke 21 the word is, “Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees.” Why this striking change? Because the Holy Ghost all through, and notably in that chapter, introduces “the Gentiles.” Luke takes in a larger scope than Matthew, and expressly treats of Jerusalem’s sorrows in connection with “the times of the Gentiles.” Hence the difference even in the illustrative figures. Here it is the tree, not withered away, but with signs of vitality. “When its branch has now become tender and the leaves are shooting, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is nigh by the doors” (i.e., the end of this age, and the beginning of the next under Messiah and the new covenant). And how solemnly the Saviour warns that “this generation,” this Christ-rejecting race in Israel, shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled!
The notion that all was fulfilled in the past siege of Jerusalem, founded on a narrow and unscriptural sense of that remarkable phrase, is from not hearing what He says unto the disciples. In a genealogy (as Matt. 1. or where the context requires it (as Luke 1), a lifetime might be meant; but where is it so used in the prophetic scriptures, Psalms, &c.? The meaning herein is rather moral then chronological, as for instance in Psalm 12:77Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever. (Psalm 12:7), “Thou shalt keep them, O Jehovah, thou shalt preserve them from this generation forever.” The words “forever” prove a prolonged force; and accordingly the passage intimates that Jehovah shall preserve the godly from their evil, vain, flattering, lawless oppressors (vss. 2-5) — from “this generation” forever. It is the distinct and conclusive refutation of those who would limit the phrase to a short epoch, or to a man’s lifetime.
So, in Deuteronomy 32:5, 205They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation. (Deuteronomy 32:5)
20And he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very froward generation, children in whom is no faith. (Deuteronomy 32:20), we find generation similarly used, not to convey a period, but to express the moral characteristics of Israel. Again, in the Psalms we have not only “this generation,” but “the generation to come,” and neither confined to a mere term of thirty or a hundred years. (Compare also Prov. 3020Such is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth, and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done no wickedness. (Proverbs 30:20).) But what may make the case the plainer is the usage in the synoptic Gospel. Thus, in Matthew 11:1616But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows, (Matthew 11:16), “Whereunto shall I liken this generation?” means such as then lived, characterized by the moral capriciousness which set them in opposition to God’s testimony, whatever it might be, in righteousness or in grace. But evidently, though people then alive are primarily in view, the moral identity of the same features might extend indefinitely, and so from age to age it would still be “this generation.” Compare Matt. 12:39, 41, 42, 4539But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: (Matthew 12:39)
41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. 42The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. (Matthew 12:41‑42)
45Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation. (Matthew 12:45), which last verse shows the unity of the “generation” in its final judgment (not yet, I believe, exhausted) with that which emerged from the Babylonish captivity, Again, note chapter 23:36, “Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.” This generation shall not pass till all the predictions of judgment, &c., which Christ uttered shall be fulfilled (chap. 24:34).
As it is plain from what has been already shown — indeed, most of all from the plain scripture itself — that much remains to be accomplished, “this generation” still subsists, and must till all is over. And how true it is! There the Jews are, the wonder of every thoughtful mind, not merely a broken, scattered, and withal perpetuated race, not only distinct, spite of mighty effort from without to blot them out, and from within to amalgamate with others, but with the same unbelief, rejection, and scorn of Jesus, their own Messiah, as on the day He pronounced their doom. All these things — He warned of their earlier and their latest sorrows — must come to pass, before that wicked generation shall disappear. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” That which incredulity counts most stable, the scene of its idolatry, or of its self-exaltation, shall vanish; but the words of Christ, let them be about Israel or others, shall abide forever.
But if all be thus sure and unfailing, the Father alone knows the day and the hour. (vs. 36.) Ample and distinct signs the Saviour had announced already, and the wise shall understand; “but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand.” “But as the days of Noah, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (vss. 37-39.) Here is another testimony that our Lord in this position speaks of the Jewish disciples of the latter day (represented by those who then surrounded Him), and not of the church. For His illustration is taken from the preservation of Noah and his house through the waters of the deluge; whereas the Holy Ghost, through Paul, illustrates our hope according to the pattern of Enoch, caught up to heaven, entirely apart from the scenes and circumstances of judgment here below.
Moreover, when the Son of man thus comes in judgment of living men here below, it will not be, as when the Romans or others took Jerusalem, indiscriminate slaughter or captivity; but whether in the open country, or in the duties of home, whether men or women, there will be righteous discernment of individuals. “Then shall two be in the field, the one is taken and the other is left; two women grinding at the mill, the one is taken and the other is left.” (vss. 40, 41.) The meaning clearly is, that one is taken away judicially, and the other left to enjoy the blessings of His reign, who shall judge God’s people with righteousness and His poor with judgment. It is the converse of our change, when the dead in Christ shall rise first, and we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air; for those who are left in our case are left to be punished with everlasting destruction from His presence. But the Lord will also have an earthly people. He waits till the heavenly saints are gathered to Him above, and then begins to sow, if I may thus speak, for earthly blessing, in which case His coming as Son of man will be for the removal of the wicked, leaving the righteous undisturbed in peace. “There shall be an handful of corn in the earth upon the top of the mountains; the fruit thereof shall shake like Lebanon; and they of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth, His name shall endure forever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun: and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed. Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious name forever: and let the whole earth be filled with his glory; Amen, and Amen.”
“Watch therefore, for ye know not in what hour (or day) your Lord is coming.” The dealings with Israel, ending with the rescue of the just in their midst, involved, we saw, the judgment of the self-secure, unconscious world. Accordingly, in these transitional verses (42-44) we have an allusion to a wider sphere than the Jews or their land, in which the godly remnant would be found — protected, but still there. God would know how to deliver the godly out of temptation. There they are, however, surrounded by snares and foes, but preserved: a totally different position from ours, who will then be above in the sovereign grace and wisdom of our Saviour. “But know this, that if the householder had known in what watch the thief was coming, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in an hour when ye think not the Son of man is coming.” I suppose that if we are to apply “the goodman,” or proprietor, of the house strictly, the enemy is meant — the prince of this world, who will be surprised by the sudden day of the Lord as a thief. But the object is evidently a practical warning to the godly on earth to be ready. They had been comforted in view of trouble and violence; they had been set on their guard against the religious deceits of the old serpent; they had been solemnly assured of the stability of the Lord’s words in the very point where Gentile conceit has misled even true believers; they are now exhorted to vigilance and readiness for their coming Lord, that they might not only escape the fowlers, but stand before the Son of man.
From verse 45 of chapter 24 to chapter 25:30, we enter on the parables which pertain to Christendom only, and not to the Jewish remnant. Hence here we have so distinct a portraiture of profession, true and false. Whenever we touch what is properly Christian, we find God dealing with the heart and conscience. He is calling out, and forming, those who are to be the companions of His Son in heavenly glory. Therefore nothing is passed by; all is judged of God in its real light. Hence, too, there is no limit here of either place or people. Christianity is above time, and of, and from, heaven, though it may be divulged in fact on earth during the gap in the dispensations of God made by the rejection of Israel for a season. It is a revelation of grace flowing from Him who now speaks, not from earth, but from heaven.
It is not, I need hardly insist, that evil is slighted. No mistake can be more profound, or fatal, than that grace implies levity about sin. On the contrary, grace is the very strongest condemnation of all evil, as it is indeed not the mere claim of what man ought to be toward God, but the revelation of what God is toward man in the judgment of his sin in the cross of Christ. Therefore it is the fullest display of divine hatred and judgment of evil, but this in Christ, so as to save the most guilty who believe, at the cost of His own Son, the Saviour. When dealing with His earthly people under the law, many things were allowed for the hardness of their heart, which never had His sanction.
But it is precisely where the complete display of grace shines, as it does now, that their evil is not borne with, but judged.
Such is Christianity in principle, and in fact. And hence it is that, for the true Christian, all the time for his earthly sojourn is a season of self-judgment; or if he fail in this, the assembly is bound to judge his ways; and if they fail, the Lord judges him and them, holily but in grace, that they should not be condemned with the world. False profession He may expose now if He see fit, but the end of it we see here in all these three parables. Grace never winks at evil; and if evil takes advantage of grace for its own purposes, the issue is frightful, and will be manifestly so at the coming of the Lord.
And this leads me to remark that the Lord’s coming has a twofold character. First of all, there is His coming in full grace, entirely apart from all question of our service, and consequently of special rewards in the kingdom in which we are to be manifested along with Christ. But we must bear in mind that this manifestation to the world in the future kingdom is far from being the highest part of His glory, or even of ours, as it does not elicit the deepest exercise of His grace. In receiving us to Himself, on the other hand, all is purely from Himself. It is His own love who would thus have us with, and as, Himself. Thus we find St. John puts the coming of Christ in his Gospel (chapter 14), nor am I aware that it is ever treated otherwise there.
In the Revelation we find both ways. In the first chapter the testimony is, “Behold, he cometh with clouds,” &c. Plainly there is no trace of the saints caught up there, but “every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” The Bride nowhere appears in the scene: it is rather what is public and affects the world universally, and especially the blood-guilty Jew; and all are mourning. But the last chapter could not close without letting us know that there is, spite of all evil, and woe, and judgment, such a one as the Bride awaiting her heavenly Bridegroom. No sooner does He announce Himself the root and offspring of David, the bright and morning star, than the Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Here we have the intimate intercourse of heart between the Lord and the church. It is impossible for anyone not born of God to say “Come,” though there may be those who are so born and yet are ignorant of their full privilege of union with Christ. For them, I doubt not, gracious provision is made in the word, “Let him that heareth say, Come.” But in no case can the world, or an unforgiven soul, take up such a call; to such it would indeed be the madness of presumption, for to them His coming must be sure and endless destruction.
Again, it is not merely saving flesh, or deliverance out of misery and danger by the overthrow of their enemies: the Holy Ghost never puts the aspect of Christ’s coming for us in any such light. We shall have rest, and those who trouble us shall have tribulation in the day of His appearing; but we go to meet the Saviour, and to be with Him forever; and meanwhile, it is our sweet, earthly privilege to suffer for His sake. We are left for awhile in a world where everything is against us because it is against Him, and we belong to Him. But we know that He waits to come for us, and we wait for Him from heaven; and while the waiting lasts, we expect nothing but suffering from the world, but are happy in it, assured that glory in heaven and the cross on earth go together. The cup of trial, the reproach and scorn of men, may be less at one time than another. This is for our Father to give as He sees fit. But if we look for aught else as our natural portion here as Christians, we are faithless to our calling. Rejection is ours because we are His: “therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
As the Bridegroom, then, the Lord has nothing but love in His heart to the Bride. Nor is there a question of airy save His own. He has told them He is coming; and the greater the power of the Spirit in the soul, the more ardently does the Bride say “Come.” How incongruous here that other eyes should see or that wailing throngs should intrude into, or witness, such a meeting! Scripture does not so speak.
The Jew, the world, which refused the true Christ, will receive the Antichrist. This is what men wait for and will fall into; and in the midst of their delusion and apparent triumph the Lord will come in judgment. But when He thus comes, it will not be alone. Others, His saints, appear along with him in glory. This is what we see in Revelation 178The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. (Revelation 17:8), and with detail in chapter 19. Not angels only, but His saints follow Him out of heaven, clothed in white linen, and on white horses, according to the striking figures of the Apocalypse. The saints had been in heaven before the day of the world’s judgment. They must have been removed from earth to heaven before this, in order to follow Him out of heaven and be with Him when that day dawns. This could only have been through His coming to receive them to Himself. Hence, again, it appears that His coming has a double character, according to the object of each of its steps, or stages. He comes to gather above His saints, dead or living, and present them in the Father’s house, that where He is, there they may be also. In due time afterward He brings them with Him, judging the beast and the false prophet, the Jews, and the Gentiles, as well as every false profession of His name. This is still His coming, or state of presence: only now it is (what the former act, when He takes us to be with Him, is never called) His appearing, the shining forth of His coming (2 Thess. 2:88And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: (2 Thessalonians 2:8)), His revelation, and His day.
With this second act of the Lord’s coming, or His day, is connected; the appraisal of our service, and the assigning of reward for work that has been done. For all must be manifested before the judgment seat of Christ, and each must receive the things done in the body, whether good or bad. Some find a difficulty in bowing to both truths; but if subject to the word, we shall overlook neither the common blessedness of the saints in the full grace of the Saviour at His coming, nor the recognition of individual faithfulness, or the lack of it, in the rewards of the kingdom. When we read of the many mansions, we are not to dream of one being more glorious than another. The truth conveyed is that we are to be as near and dear as sons can be in the Father’s presence, through the perfect love and work of the Son. In this point of view I see no difference whatever. All are brought absolutely nigh, all loved with the love wherewith Christ was loved, and having His portion as far as can be for the creature. But am I therefore to deny that “every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labor?” or that in some cases the work will abide, as in others it will be burnt? or that, as the parable teaches, one servant may receive ten cities, and another five?
It will be found accordingly, that there is a close connection in scripture between Christ’s day, or appearing, and present exhortations to fidelity. Thus, Timothy is exhorted to keep the commandment without spot, unrebukable until the of our Lord Jesus. So the apostle, in 2 Timothy 4, speaks of the “crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” The results of faithfulness, or of unfaithfulness, are only manifest then. It is the day of display before the world; and when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall we also appear with him in glory. Hence it is as awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus that the apostle speaks of the Corinthian saints as coming short in no gift, and at once brings in the thought of His day. So Christ’s day is the blessed end, and solemn test of all, in writing to the Philippians. Of the Epistles to the Thessalonians I need say the less, as they present in the clearest way both these truths.
Returning now to the first of the three parables which refer to the Christian profession, I would make the general remark from what we have been examining, that while the words “appearing,” “day,” &c., are special and never used, I think, except where responsibility is concerned, the word “coming” is general, and though applicable, if the context so require it, to the case of responsibility, is in itself of wider character and is used therefore to express our Lord’s return in nothing but grace. In other words, the appearing, day, or revelation of Christ is still His coming or presence; but His coming does not necessarily mean His appearing, revelation, or day. He may come without appearing, and I believe that there is proof from scripture that so it is when He receives us to Himself on high; but His appearing is that further stage of His coming again, when every eye shall see Him.
“Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?” It is not a question of evangelizing here, but of care for the household. The principle of trading outside with the Master’s gifts will come by-and-by (chap. 25:14 et seq.); but here the great thing is that, as the Lord loves His saints (“whose house are we”) so He makes much of faithful, or faithless, service within that sphere. For I need not say that faithfulness to the Lord involves no denial of ministry. Ministry when real is of God; but the mode in which it is exercised is often wrong and unscriptural. Ministry is not Jewish, but characteristic of Christianity. But it is a thing very apt to lose its true character. Instead of being Christ’s servants in His household, many sink into the agents of a particular body. In such a case it always flows from the church or denomination. Real ministry is from Christ, and from Him alone. Therefore the apostle says he was the servant, or bondman of Jesus Christ, neither deriving his mission from the church, nor being responsible to it for his work. The gospel and the church were the spheres of his service (Col. 1), but its Giver and his Lord was Christ Himself exclusively. It appears to me that this is necessary, in order that ministry should be recognized as divine in its source; and nothing but a divinely-given ministry is owned in scripture, nor should be by God’s people now.
This, then, is the first thing our Lord insists on, that the faithful and wise servant, whom the Lord makes ruler over His household, be found doing His work, caring for what is so near to Christ. It is a most painful proof of the low estate of the church in these days. that such service is regarded as a waste of precious ointment. So completely have even God’s children fallen from the thought of true ministry, that they think it idleness, or proselytism, to attend to those that are within. “Why not preach to those without,” say they, “and seek to bring such to the knowledge of Christ?” But this is not the first thing our Lord presses. The “faithful and wise servant” had to do with those within: his object was to give them their meat in due season; and the Lord pronounces that servant blessed. “Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.” Others might raise questions as to his title; but He simply says, If I find you “so doing,” blessed are you. The great point is to be doing His will. It is not title or position, but doing the work which the Lord wishes to be done.
But now comes the other side of the picture. “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” (vss. 48, 49.) There you have the great danger of the professed servants of Christ in this world. First, wronging the fellow servants by assuming an arbitrary place. Authority is right where it is exercised under obedience to Christ. No change of circumstances, or condition, alters the truth that the Lord remains Head of the Church, and raises up His servants at all times to carry out His wishes with authority. But here it is man’s will, where the servant takes the place of the Master, and begins to smite his fellow-servants. Secondly, along with that, there is evil communication with the world. It is not said that he himself is drunken; but there is association with the world, “Evil communications corrupt good manners.” Where the thought of the Lord is gone, ministry loses its true character. There will he oppression towards those within, and evil commerce with those without.
But judgment slumbereth not. “The Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (vss. 50, 51.) It supposes that the servant still pursues the same course, and is found there when the Lord comes — his heart thoroughly with the world. He began by saying in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming. This is far more than wrong thoughts about the coming of the Lord, which some saints might hold without this scripture applying to them. If there were, on the other hand, persons professing to look for the Lord’s corning, and acting as if they did not believe it, they would be much more like the servant saying in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming. What the Lord judges is not a mere mistake, or doctrinal blunder; but it is the state of a heart content that Christ should stay away. If we are desiring something great and of esteem among men, how can we say, “Come?” His coming would spoil all our schemes. We may talk about the Lord’s coming, and be learned about prophecy; but the Lord looks at the heart, and not at the appearance. He sees where, let the profession be ever so loud or high souls cleave to the world and do not want Him.