Notes of an Address.
THOUGH beginning with this scripture, you will be referred to a number of others, which treat of the Lord’s second coming.
In these verses we get three distinct appearing’s of Christ, and they are so interwoven that it is needful to refer to the three while speaking from them. The first appearing (verse 26) is past, and was for the putting away of sin. The second (verse 24) is present, and is for our preservation. The third (verse 28) is future, and will be for our glorification.
Verse 26. This should read, “Now once in the consummation of the ages,” not “end of the world;” for the world has not come to an end yet, but it is its moral end, which was at the cross of Christ. All the ages were gathered together, as it were, and came to an end then. What did the Lord appear to do then? “To put away sin,” or “for the putting away of sin by His sacrifice.” It was for the putting away of sin, not sins. This is similar to John 1:29: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” People often quote it, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world,” and so give the verse quite a wrong meaning; for it leads to universalism. If the sins of the world were put away, then all would be saved.
Sin is what we are by nature, and sins are what we have done. God pardons sins, but He never will pardon sin; He has condemned it.
Now these scriptures do not say that sin is put away, but that the Lord has come for the putting away of sin. We know that sin is not put away; for we see its effects all around us. If sin were put away, you would not see a single drunken man in the streets, you would not find a single thief in the town. The police, the jail, and the court-house all tell us that it is still here. Well, how is the Lord going to put away sin? He put away the sins of His people when He suffered as their Substitute; so that we have not a single sin on us, no more than the blessed Lord Himself, though we have sin in us, and shall have it until the Lord’s second coming, or until we die. There are two ways by which we can get entirely rid of sin: by our death, or by the Lord’s second coming.
During the millennium sin will be in the world; for we read, “The child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed.” (Isaiah 65:2020There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. (Isaiah 65:20).) At the end of the millennium all the wicked dead shall be raised, judged before the great white throne, and cast into the lake of fire; and so sin shall be put away finally. Then there will be a new heaven and a new earth. God can then look down to earth and not see a single sin there; sin shall have been put away forever.
Before I go on to speak of the Lord’s second coming, I would ask you, What do you know of His first coming? What has it done for you? Did He put away your sins? If He did not put your sins away at His first coming, His second coming would be the most terrible thing that could happen to you. That which would be the happiest event for the dear children of God would leave you for the great tribulation, your body in a grave during the millennium, and after it the great white throne, and the everlasting flames of the lake of fire.
While stopping with some friends in the suburbs of London, a lady was asked to dinner to meet me, being anxious to hear about the Lord’s second coming. After dinner I turned to her, and said, “Well, Mrs. B—, you want to hear about the Lord’s second coming; but what do you know about His first coming? Did He put away your sins then? and are you ready to meet Him as you sit in this drawing-room?”
She said, “Indeed, I never thought of that; I am not ready to meet Him.”
Then I said, “If the Lord did not put away your sins at His first coming, His second coming would be the most terrible thing that could happen to you.”
She confessed that she had never thought of it in that way; and that if the Lord were to come, or if she were to die as she sat in that drawing-room, she would go to hell; so I began to speak to her about the first instead of the second coming of the Lord, and He blessed it to the salvation of her soul. Afterwards she was able to go on and learn about His second coming.
I know that there is a good deal of inquiry abroad about the Lord’s second coming, but the first thing to inquire about is what His first coming has done for us; and I ask you in all earnestness, do you believe that Christ put away our sins when He died on the cross? Were our sins on Him when He hung there? If they were, where are they now? They were not on Him when He lay in the grave; they are not on Him now in heaven.
If Christ did not put away our sins when He died on the cross, He never will; for He has not another drop of blood to shed; and without shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins. When Christ was here He shed His blood, and He is now a real Man in heaven without a single drop of blood in His resurrection body. After His resurrection He said to His disciples, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones [He did not say blood], as ye see me have;” and then He took a piece of broiled fish and of an honeycomb, and did eat before them to show that He was a real Man; and He is now a real, tangible Man in the glory of God. People have an idea that Christ is a Spirit up in heaven, but He is not. There beats a human heart upon the throne of God.
Well, if Christ bore our sins when He was on the cross, where are they now? By searching, can you find them out? God says that “they shall not be found.” (Jeremiah 1:20; Micah 7:1919He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. (Micah 7:19).) Suppose I owe £1000, and a rich friend pays it for me, would it be righteous of my creditor to say, “Pay me that which thou owest? “It would be a most unrighteous thing to demand payment of the same debt a second time; and God is not unrighteous to charge me with the sins which were borne by my blessed Substitute.
God will not bring a single charge against the believer; for Christ has fully met every charge. Well now, I hope it is clear to you that it was on the cross Christ put away His people’s sins.
In the second appearing we get Christ’s present work, which is for those whose sins He put away at His first coming. (Hebrews 9:2424For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: (Hebrews 9:24).) Christ is not putting away sins in heaven; He is there as the Intercessor and Advocate of His own people. His present work is not for the sinner, but for the saint. His intercession is to keep us—poor, weak, feeble things that we are—from sinning; His advocacy is to restore us to communion if we do sin. His intercession, we cannot do one single moment without; His advocacy, we ought not to require.
Christ’s intercession is going on continually. If it were stopped we could not go on for one moment without falling. But, blessed be God, while Jesus lives, not one of His own can perish. He says, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”
A believer may fall on the road; then the advocacy comes in. Jesus goes to the Father on behalf of the failing one, ministers the word to bring to the conscience the sin which caused the failure, and leads the soul to confess it to the Father. Then the child is forgiven, and communion restored. It is one thing to stumble on the path, and quite another thing to stumble off it. The intercession keeps us from stumbling off the path. We could not keep ourselves any more than we could save ourselves; we are kept by Him. While we sleep, His intercession goes on; when occupied with our business, it still goes on. How often during this day have we forgotten our Lord? If our safety depended upon our not forgetting Him, what chance should we have? No, blessed be God, it does not depend upon our not forgetting Him, but upon His not forgetting us.
Intercession is with God, and is to keep us. Advocacy is with the Father, to restore to communion a child of God, should he sin; not to restore relationship, for that never can be touched.
Hebrews 9:2828So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. (Hebrews 9:28). Here we get the third and future appearing of Christ. This will be for our glorification. We shall then get glorified bodies like His own. There is sin in us (though we have no sin on us), with which He can have no fellowship. But then we shall be as free from sin as the blessed Lord Himself; for we shall be like Him. (1 John 3:22Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1 John 3:2).) Yes, we shall be as free from sin, both internally and externally, as He is. I say it with all reverence, but thus strongly, to show the perfection of His work. “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” This is what we are waiting for.
Someone may say, “I thought that all believers were saved now, and here salvation is spoken of as future.” There are three distinct aspects of salvation in Scripture. The past, the present, and the future. The Lord has purchased us, spirit, soul, and body; but He has only redeemed our souls as yet. You can understand a person buying a large property, and redeeming a part of it at once, and the rest being left unredeemed for fifty years; and so we have only as yet got the salvation of our souls. “Your proof for that?” you may ask. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1:99Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. (1 Peter 1:9)—one passage of scripture should suffice “Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” Mark, it is the end of your faith, not the beginning. The beginning of faith is the very opposite of joy. There are many other scriptures which speak of our being saved in the present, but this one tells us what it is that is saved. In Romans 13:1111And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. (Romans 13:11) we read, “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” This is the salvation we are going on to, and which each day brings us nearer to. We are nearer to it now than ever we were before. Now turn to Romans 8:22, 2322For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (Romans 8:22‑23). Here it is the full thing, when our redeemed souls shall get redeemed bodies, and when our adopted souls shall get adopted bodies. Philippians 3:20, 2120For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 21Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. (Philippians 3:20‑21) will make this plain to you: “For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,” &c. Citizenship is the Greek word from which the word politics comes. All the Christian’s politics are in heaven. The Lord is coming as a Saviour to save the body; then we shall have full salvation.
“Are we not told to work for our salvation in Philippians 2:1212Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Philippians 2:12)?” someone may ask. Observe, it is “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Not work for it. Salvation must be yours before you can work it out; it must be there to start with. Suppose I give one of my sons a present of a field, with a lead mine in it, and say to him, “Now work out that lead mine.” My son sinks a shaft, begins to work the mine, and soon has the beautiful shiny ore brought up in masses to the surface. Now his sinking the shaft and working the mine does not make it a lead mine; the lead must be there to start with. So with a pump; you must work the handle to get up the water, but the spring must be there to start with. If you were to put up a pump where there is no spring of water, no matter how hard you pumped with the handle, you could not get any water out of it. You must have, salvation to start with, then you are to work it out, to show by your works that you possess it, not to get it.
We are waiting, not for death, but for the Lord’s second coming to take us to glory. It may be asked, “Is there not a verse which says, ‘It is appointed unto all men once to die’?” There is no such statement made in the verse, though it is often thus quoted. Look at it carefully and see what it does teach— “And as it is appointed unto men” (not all men) “once to die.” That is what men, as men, are appointed to; but just read the next verse— “So Christ was once offered,” &c. Now mark the connection between the two verses — “As it is appointed unto men once to die.... So Christ was once offered,” &c. Death and judgment were the portion of men as men; but Christ has borne death and judgment for those who believe in Him, and soon He shall come again to take them home to glory. As I go through this world I can say, “Death and judgment are behind me.” Why? Because my blessed Substitute has borne death and judgment for me. I can also say, “Life and glory are before;” for these are what I am waiting for. I am placed in this world between His death and the glory. There is no verse in Scripture which says, “It is appointed unto all men once to die;” for if it did, then all would have to die, and it would contradict the truth of the Lord’s second coming; but there is a verse which says “we shall not all sleep” or die—turn to it― 1 Corinthians 15:51,51Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51) &c.
Scripture never contradicts itself. God does not say all shall die in one place, and all shall not die in another. Just look at this passage, “We shall not all sleep” (or die). In Scripture no one expected to die before the Lord’s second coming except Peter and Paul, and they had a distinct revelation from the Lord that they would die. (verse 53.) Those who are in their graves shall get incorruptible bodies. We who are in mortal bodies shall get immortal bodies when He shall come. All will have glorified bodies then, redeemed souls in redeemed bodies. All our weakness, infirmities, and sin will be gone forever. The deaf will hear perfectly then, and the blind will see.
The “last trump” may be a difficulty to some, and may lead them to think the end of the world is here spoken of, but such is not the case; it is a military term. We know that the millennium must be before the end. The word millennium we do not find in Scripture; it is from the Latin, and means a thousand years. In the Bible we get the thousand years spoken of very often, and all the time given, so, if we knew at what time the Lord would come for us, we could tell when everything else would occur. If you were ever in a town where the military have headquarters, you would find that when a regiment was about to leave for another town, the commanding officer would have his bugler beside him, and he would gather all the men to the market-square. At the sound of the bugle they would form in order, and when all were ready the trumpeter would sound the last trump, which is the order to march, then all would start on their journey for the next town. When the Lord comes for us, we shall get our marching orders to go home.
I will now, in closing, turn you to some more passages which speak of the Lord’s second coming. (John 14:1-31Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1‑3).) Here the Lord says that He is coming Himself for us. He is not going to send the archangel or the angels for us; He is coming Himself. He did not send the archangel or the angels to die for us; He came Himself and died for us. This is not a spiritual coming, as some would try to make it. To speak of a spiritual coming is unscriptural. His first was a real coming. He took a real body back to heaven, and He shall return in like manner. Scripture tells us so. (Acts 1:1111Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:11).) Jesus is a real man up in heaven now. There sits upon the throne of God a real Man, with a heart able to sympathize with us in our path down here, and He loves us so much that He will not send another for us, but will come Himself. He shall descend, and we shall ascend, to be forever with Him.
In Paul’s epistles to the Thessalonians, there is mention made in each of the eight chapters they contain of the Lord’s second coming. (1 Thessalonians 1:9, 109For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; 10And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. (1 Thessalonians 1:9‑10).) The Thessalonians were converted to wait for a Person, not death. Death is not God’s Son, but an enemy, and the last to be destroyed. They were not converted to wait for an event, but for God’s Son; they were not converted to wait for the restoration of the Jews, or for the manifestation of antichrist, but for God’s Son. (chapters 2:19, 20.) These Thessalonians were converted through Paul’s preaching; he will have them as a crown to cast at the Lord’s feet when he sees Him, and he will say, “Here, Lord, are these Thessalonians which you used me to the conversion of; to thee alone be all the glory and the praise.” chapter 3:13. We are saved to be holy, not because we are holy. We are saved to do good works, not because we do good works. If one be truly converted, he will hate sin as God does, and he will love holiness. If a man were to tell me that he was converted, but that he did not hate sin, nor love holiness, I would tell him that he was a deceived man, or the veriest hypocrite. I would have you to distinguish between what accompanies salvation and what accomplishes it. Hatred of sin and love of holiness do not accomplish salvation, though they always accompany it. They are the evidences that we have got it. There are other things which accompany salvation, but I just mention these two.
Chapters 4:13-18: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” The Lord’s second coming cannot be death; for if it were, verse 17 would read, “We who are dead and remain,” &c.; but it is, “We who are alive,” &c. When a child of God dies, are all the dead in Christ raised? You know they are not. But the Lord is coming for us; then He will raise the dead in Christ, change the living, and all shall be caught up together in the chariot of His clouds to meet Him in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. He shall bring us to the Father’s house.
Chapters 5:23, 24. We are composed of spirit, soul, and body, and all are sanctified to God. The word sanctification means separation. We are separated to holiness. When the Lord comes, we shall be sanctified wholly to God. A believer longs for the time to come, when nothing can hinder his being wholly for God.
2 Thessalonians 1:5-105Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: 6Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 7And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, 8In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; 10When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day. (2 Thessalonians 1:5‑10) shows the effect the Lord’s second coming will have upon those who are troubled, and upon the troublers. Oh, ye troubled, take comfort! and oh, ye troublers, take warning, and cease to be troublers! Just look at what ye are going on to—verse 9.
Chap. 2:1. “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him:” not by death, not by the conversion of the world, the restoration of the Jews, or the revelation of antichrist.
Chapter 3:5. It is the patience of Christ waiting for us that we get here. (See margin of your Bibles.) The Lord has been patiently waiting to have us with Him for the last 1800 years, How very selfish and impatient we are! Oh that we may learn from His patience It is His joy to have us with Him in the glory, and ours to be with Him.
“He and I in that bright glory
One deep joy shall share:
Mine to be forever with Him,
His that I am there.”
Observe this eleventh verse— “The Lord direct your hearts” (not your heads) “into the love of God, and into the patience of Christ.”
Again I turn to you who are unsaved, and warn you that when the Lord comes and takes His own away there will be no hope for you. Do not deceive yourselves by thinking that there may be another offer of salvation to you when the Church is gone, for there never will be. In Revelation 14:66And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, (Revelation 14:6) we read of the everlasting gospel, but this is not the gospel which we now preach. In verse? you will see what gospel it is. This gospel will go out to the heathen nations which never heard or rejected the gospel of the grace of God. Ah no! Christendom shall never have another chance. In 2 Thess. 2:7-127For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8And 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: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:7‑12) is the doom of Christendom— Christless Christendom. When the Church is taken away the Holy Ghost goes with it; then antichrist shall be manifested; for there is no power to restrain the evil. (verse 7.) Here are people who have had the offer of salvation, but who have rejected it. It is in the past. (vv. 10,12,) Oh, ye unsaved ones, come to Christ before it is too late! for if fie come and take His own away before you come to Him, you will never have another opportunity.
The Lord comfort, and separate to Himself the saved by the truth of His second coming, and use it to warn you who are still unsaved to escape from the judgment to come; and to His own name be all the glory.
H. M. H.