Titus 2:23
It is worthy of remark, that the Spirit of God never enters upon any lengthened proof of the doctrine of the Lord’s coming. He assumes it to be the proper, settled, well-defined hope of the church of God, and uses it accordingly, on all occasions. Thus, in the second chapter of Titus, we find this “blessed hope” introduced in connection with the most common-place relations and duties of domestic life; such, for example, as servants “not answering again; not purloining.”
Now, it is very needful to observe this. It teaches us that the coming of the Lord is not a matter of mere speculation for the learned, but that it is a “blessed hope,” to animate the heart of a poor servant, amid the wear and tear, the weariness and drudgery, of daily life. Such a one by “not purloining and not answering again,” can, in his measure, “adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour,” just as much as an apostle. And at the same time he can cherish “that blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” How blessedly simple is this! A servant might feel disposed to ask:
“What can I do for the Lord? How can I adorn His doctrine, or promote His cause?” The Holy Spirit opens a most definite, simple, happy sphere for such a one, by teaching him, not to purloin, and not to answer again.
Some may say, “Would not common honesty keep a person from ‘purloining?’ and would not a moral sense of propriety keep one from ‘answering again’?” Very likely, but nature’s common honesty and moral sense cannot be trusted.
In order to please God, we must be partakers of the divine nature, and walk in the energy thereof. This divine nature we get by believing on the name of the only-begotten Son of God; and we walk in the energy of this nature by faith.
In this way, every little thing we do is fruit to God—everything is fragrant with the grace of Christ, and ascends as a sweet odor to the throne of God. An apostle, traveling in the energy of the Spirit from nation to nation in apostolic zeal and power, planting and watering assemblies; and a servant at his daily toil, can each, in his own sphere, cherish the “blessed hope” as that which precisely meets the need and the longing desire of his soul.
How gracious of our God to give us such a hope! How happy to know that it is not for death and judgment we are taught to wait, but for that very one “who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood” —the one who thought of us before all worlds, visited us in due time, suffered for us on the tree, that He might exalt us to the very highest place of dignity and glory, in companionship with Himself.
There are only four passages, properly speaking, in the New Testament, which refer to the condition of the soul while absent from the body: Luke 23:4343And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:43); Acts 7:5959And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. (Acts 7:59); 2 Corinthians 5:88We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord. (2 Corinthians 5:8); Philippians 1:2323For I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better: (Philippians 1:23). In each case to leave this world and be with Christ is a blessed exchange; but even in the last instance it is not said to be the best thing.
It is good to be here, while the Lord will have it so.
It is better to be with Christ, when our work is done.
The best thing of all will be, when:
This is “that blessed hope” which the Lord Jesus set directly before the hearts of His sorrowing disciples on the eve of His departure, when He said,
This is “that blessed hope” which angels announced to the apostles, when they said.
The coming is as sure as the going, and in the same manner.
Finally, this is “that blessed hope” which glitters like a precious gem on almost every page of the New Testament; which God the Holy Spirit has set as the polar star in the church’s horizon, of which she should never lose sight, which should give tone and character to all her ways down here.
Alas! that the church should have so lost the sense of “that blessed hope.” Alas! that she should have put the coming of death instead of the coming of the heavenly Bridegroom. May the Lord revive, in the midst of His people, this purifying and comforting hope. May He make ready, and call forth a faithful band of “wise virgins,” who with hearts established in that grace which hath appeared to all, and with trimmed lamps and burning lights, shall heartily respond to the cry, “Behold the Bridegroom cometh,” in those suited accents: