Our Lord Himself spoke often of His coming. In Luke 12:35, 3635Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; 36And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. (Luke 12:35‑36), He said, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord... that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.” The attitude of the waiting servant, who has his hand on, the latch of the door, so to speak, is the true and proper attitude for everyone who loves Christ, and whose heart beats true to his absent Lord. Do we sometimes forget this? Alas we do, but as the compass-needle instinctively turns to the north, so the true and normal aspiration of the Christian is to see Him face to face. And even if, for a moment, the needle is agitated by the storm or the tempest, or temporarily diverted by magnetic influences, yet it soon swings back to its normal position. So Christ's coming is the center of attraction, the governing and regulating pore for the Christian's heart and life, the goal and climax of all his most cherished hopes. May our hearts never beat out of truth to their true and living center!
In John 14, too, Christ pours the oil of consolation into the hearts of His sorrowing disciples when just about to depart out of this world to the Father, by saying to them, “I am coming again, and will receive you unto myself.” And when risen and glorified, He speaks, Himself, once again in the last chapter of Revelation, presenting Himself as the “bright and morning star,” and closing with the words, “Surely I come quickly.”
In truth this momentous event, the coming of the Lord, an event unprecedented in the history of the world, and which lies entirely outside the calculations of the men of science of this or any other age, is the bright and blessed hope set before the church of God. The Lord said at the grave of Lazarus, “I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” He is, in His own person, the first-fruits of the harvest; and this is the pledge that the harvest itself will follow. The power of resurrection-life has been already displayed in Christ, who is the resurrection and the life; and it only needs that He, the Victor over death and the grave, should appear again upon the scene, and then this victorious power of life will be applied, not only to the souls of His people as now, but to their bodies also; and in one moment every one of His saints shall be raised or changed, and clothed with a body like His own. There is no mistake, no uncertainty as to this; scripture is clear and precise. Christ is already our life, and we pass into the full participation in it, even as to the body, when He comes.
It is true that this hope, in its proper heavenly character, was lost sight of by the church for many centuries; but oh, what manner of people ought we to be for whom this blessed truth has been recovered through the instrumentality of valued servants of God, many of whom have now gone to their rest! What a practical and formative power it would be in the life and walk of the Christian, in our conduct in the church and in the world, if we were looking and waiting for the coming of the Lord at any moment!
There are three or four words used in scripture in reference to His coming, viz., “coming,” “appearing,” “manifestation,” and “revelation.” When we think of His “coming” for His saints, it is a question of pure grace, and it is connected with our privileges as Christians—those blessed privileges which grace has conferred upon us. His “appearing” brings before us the solemn side of the matter connected with our responsibilities as those who are to serve and witness for Him here. The latter takes in also, we believe, our manifestation before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Cor. 5:1010For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (2 Corinthians 5:10)), where we, shall receive according to the things done in the body, and the place of each in the kingdom will be assigned. There every act of service or testimony will be appraised at its true value by the Lord Himself.
Hence Paul could speak in his last epistle (2 Tim. 4:88Henceforth there is laid up for me a 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. (2 Timothy 4:8)), of the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, would give to Him in that day (the day of manifestation) and not to him only, but to all those who love His appearing. It is this aspect of the Lord's coming which we find, generally, in the Epistles to Timothy and to Titus, which instruct us as to the conduct of the servant in the house of God here on earth, rather than as to the privileges which belong to the church as the body of Christ.
It is remarkable that both the Old and New Testaments should close with the coming of Christ. In the former He is seen as the Sun of Righteousness, about to arise with healing in His wings, to usher in the “day” of blessing for this earth, with Israel restored to their land as the center of His government. But the New Testament gives us the “bright and morning star; “this is the heavenly hope of the Christian during the night of Christ's absence and His rejection by this world, before the “day” dawns. It is for the rising of the morning star we are waiting (as the godly remnant of Israel will be for the rising of the Sun of Righteousness); and, as Peter tells us, it should be already risen in the heart of the believer (2 Peter 1:1919We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: (2 Peter 1:19)).
Though scripture never warrants us in fixing a date for the coming of the Lord for which we wait, yet it is not out of place to take our bearings, as a ship would at sea, and to seek to discern the characteristics of the times in which our lot is cast. And here we have to guard against the tendency to think that our time, serious as it is, is worse and more fraught with remarkable events than any other time in the world's history. If, for example, we take the epoch in history when the Roman Empire, which had dominated the most part of the then known world for many centuries, was crumbling to pieces beneath the sword of the barbarian hordes from the north these events must have appeared to the early Christians as a complete overturning of everything stable. For this reason they prayed for the upholding of the Empire, which they looked upon as that which hindered the development of lawlessness, of which they were warned in such passages as 2 Thess. 2, and others. At the same time there is no doubt that our times are exceedingly serious and solemn also, considering that a war of unprecedented magnitude is now devastating many parts of Europe. And no one can foretell what the issue of it may be.
And though the events now taking place are not, we believe, the fulfillment of prophecy; yet they are doubtless preparing the way for it. The events of which, prophecy speaks will not begin to unfold themselves until after Christ has come for His saints, as we shall see later on.
Then, again, comparing the present time with, say, some sixty or eighty years ago: there has been, undoubtedly, an immense increase in the distribution of knowledge and education amongst the masses, but with it there is less simplicity and more restlessness on the part of the people in general. Indifference and irreligion have increased as a consequence of the infidelity and the unsettling of the authority of scripture in the minds of men. This latter is being largely helped on by “Higher Criticism,” in which Germany had been a leader, and which is preached or taught from many of the pulpits of the land. Besides this, there is the giving up of light and truth, and the going back to superstition and sensuous religion, which appeals so much to lovers of display and that which gratifies the senses, in Ritualism and the Romeward movement.
Yet, while all this is so, there has been a great activity in the foreign mission-field, for which we can thank God. True, in spite of the many good and earnest men and women at work, we cannot close our eyes to the comparatively small results obtained; but we can rejoice that Christ is preached.
Moreover, there can be no doubt that Satan has been particularly active of recent years in the spread of evil doctrines and the formation of systems which overturn the very foundations of Christianity: for example, Christian Science, Millennial Dawnism, Christadelphianism, and others. These systems are, we believe, the active working of the spirit of error; and, though clothing themselves with the name of “Christian,” they are, in reality, antichristian and a deadly attack of Satan on the truth. They are all untrue to the great central truth of Christianity, the person of Christ, God over all, blessed for evermore, yet truly man—God and man in one person; besides being false as to the truth generally. And those who propagate these errors have shown an amount of zeal in flooding the world with tracts and books, which true Christian workers often. lack; thus the enemy succeeds only too well in spreading his poisonous and blinding influences by means of the printing-press.
But the Christian who is content to walk humbly in separation from the world, can always find a resource in God Himself outside it all, which nothing can change or set aside. His life, his truest interests, his deepest joys, are drawn from above, and cannot be taken away by anything which transpires in this world. And everything seems to point to the close of the present dispensation and the speedy coming of the Lord for His saints. Then this present penal of time will come to a close by the resurrection of those who have fallen asleep during all the ages which have elapsed, and the changing of the living, both together being caught up to meet the Lord in the air and so to be “forever with the Lord.”
Here it may be well to refer briefly to the question, Will the church go through the great tribulation?
Now, no one denies that the Christian may be called on to pass through much affliction; scripture says, “we are appointed thereunto.” But this is in a general way; it has nothing to do with “the tribulation.”
To suppose that the church must go through the tribulation is a mistaken view, detrimental to the believer's best and most cherished interests and affections. It neutralizes and militates against the true heavenly hope of the church, and that attitude of constantly waiting for God's Son from heaven, which should characterize the Christian. It savors of the spirit of the evil servant, who said in his heart, “My lord delayeth his coming.”
Besides this, it brings confusion into the interpretation of prophecy by confounding the present period with the period when God is about to take up again the government of the world with Israel as the center.
The error arises chiefly from not seeing the distinctive place and calling of the church as a company called out from the world for Christ, which is heavenly; in contrast with Israel, which is a people whose blessings are more of an earthly character, in the land, the store, etc.
Some have advanced Matt. 24:3131And 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. (Matthew 24:31) in support of this view. But the passage has really nothing to do with the church; it refers to the elect of Israel. It is evident that the whole of this part of the chapter is Jewish. We read of the land of Suctma, of fleeing to the mountains, of false Christs, of the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Also the title, “Son of man,” here given to Christ, and His appearing as a sign is not at all the way in which He is presented as coming for His church.
When He appears as Son of man in power and glory, His saints will appear with Him (Col. 3:44When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:4)). They had been previously “caught up.... to meet the Lord in the air.” At His appearing, the tribes of the land will mourn because He is coming in judgment (see Matt. 26:6464Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64); Rev. 1:77Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7); and, as to the title, Son of man, Psa. 8).
In Rev. 3:1010Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. (Revelation 3:10) the Lord promises to the church in Philadelphia that He would keep them from (or, out of) that hour of trial which should come upon the whole habitable world, etc, And mark He does not say He would keep them during that hour, but “out of” it. He does so by taking them to Himself (see ver. 2).
THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE COMING OF THE LORD FOR HIS SAINTS AND HIS APPEARING WITH THEM IN GLORY
The translation of the saints from earth to heaven, to which we have already referred, is evidently a momentous epoch in the future history the world. It closes what might be called the “Church” period, or parenthesis, and reopens the Jewish period, bringing us back to a state of things somewhat analogous to what we find in the Gospels when our Lord was on earth. Prophecy maps out the future with unerring certainty, so that the humble Christian, taught of God, may know what is about to take place in this world far better than the most astute politician who depends only on a human forecast of events. Prophecy is connected with God's government of the world and the events which will occur when He is preparing the way for the blessing of Israel, and above all for the establishment of the Messiah as King in Zion. We read in Deut. 32:88When the most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. (Deuteronomy 32:8): “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.” In speaking of prophecy, it has been remarked that “Jehovah and His dealings, and the Messiah, shine through the whole. Israel always forms the inner circle, or chief platform, on which these dealings are developed, and with which the Messiah is immediately in relation. Outside of, and besides this, the nations are gathered, instruments and objects of the judgments of God, and finally, the subject of His universal government made subject to the Messiah, who, however, will assert His special claim to Israel as His own people” (J.,N. D., Synopsis, ii. 273). It is remarkable that a large portion of scripture, both in the Old and New Testaments, is occupied in dealing with the period of time with which we are now concerned; indeed, a much larger portion than we might think, especially when we consider the shortness of the time itself. Let us inquire then, What will take place immediately after Christ comes, and, what length of time will elapse between His coming for His saints, and His appearing with them in glory?
In order to answer these questions, perhaps the best scripture we may take up is the close of Dan. 9. The prophet was found on his knees in the place of confession of his own sins and those of the people—always the right place in a day of failure, and when God's hand was upon them in chastening on account of their sins. Daniel takes also the place of intercession, and in answer to his prayers, God gave this remarkable explanation of the vision, which, though it only occupies four verses of Scripture, carries us over a lengthened period of time, commencing with, the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (which took place, as we learn from Neh. 2, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king) to the final judgment of those who will be allowed to desolate the city. of Jerusalem and the sanctuary in the last days, prior to the millennial reign of Christ. The 70 weeks are clearly weeks of years, and they are divided into three periods—first, 7 weeks or 49 years, which were occupied in the building of the city; then 62 weeks or 434 years, making in all 69 weeks or 483 years to the Messiah the Prince. After this (we are not told how long after), as the passage states, the Messiah shall be cut off and have nothing. This, we know, has taken place.
[F.G.B.]
(Continued from page 392)
(To be continued)