Surely if any words find an echo in the believer's heart the above are they. And if there is any center on earth to which with peculiar significance they attach it is surely when, mindful of the Lord's own words, “Blessed are they that have not seen and vet have believed,” we gather to His name on the first of the week, to remember Himself, and to announce His death “till He come.” Has not that death brought us all we have? Was it not at the cost of that body given for us, and by God's will once offered, that we are sanctified—here shown in the loaf? And was it not also that He might sanctify the people with His own blood—shown in the cup, He suffered without the gate? Can we forget those sufferings on Calvary? Yet, alas! we may forget. We need the table of remembrance to call hack our hearts to Him, and His devoted love to us, until the time come when we shall need it no more, when He shall come to meet us in the air and we shall be forever with the Lord. May it then be emphatically true for us, “As often as ye eat the bread and drink the cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come” (1 Corinthians 11:2626For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till he come. (1 Corinthians 11:26)).
At other times He says to us, “Occupy (or trade) till I come” (Luke 19:12-1312He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. 13And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. (Luke 19:12‑13)), for we are His servants. It is only in Luke that He is spoken of as “a certain nobleman.” Such, indeed, He was and is. When here, He “went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil, for God was with Him.” Yet “not this man, but Barabbas,” was the object of the popular choice. Do you ask His life? It is not to be found in the earliest list of peers that we have, even amongst the dukes of Esau as given in Genesis 35 That would be far below His dignity, as James says in chapter 2:11, “Our Lord Jesus Christ of glory,” and Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:88Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. (1 Corinthians 2:8), “the Lord of glory.” Well, “He has gone to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return.” It is now our business here to serve Him, as in that coming day His servants shall, “and they shall see His face, and His name shall be in their foreheads” (Revelation 22:3, 43And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: 4And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. (Revelation 22:3‑4)).
As the One who has gone to the Father's house of many abodes (which in no way conflicts with His having taken His seat at the right hand of the Majesty on high as the purger of our sins), He says, “I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am there ye may be also.” Is this “blessed hope” (not to be confounded with His appearing, which, too, we love) to be stigmatized, a selfish one? If so, may we in like spirit with the spouse of Sol. 7:1010I am my beloved's, and his desire is toward me. (Song of Solomon 7:10), who could say, “I am my beloved's, and his desire is towards me” —may we desire, in face of all animadversion, to become even more selfish than ever in this respect, that is, to court His approval and delight in us. For do we not “love Him because He first loved us"? Then, truly, we shall desire earnestly that “upon Himself shall His crown flourish” (Psalm 122:18). Yet will not the wish to be with Him predominate? And would He not have it so? “He that hath the bride is the Bridegroom.”
In view of His coming for us, how blessed is the assurance given in Revelation 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), “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,” not merely “my word” (as in John 14:2323Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. (John 14:23), R. V., where “word” comprehends His words as a whole), but “the word of my patience.” He is patiently waiting for those concerning whom He says, “I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.” How blessed, then, is His assurance that “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.” Connected with these words of cheer, what gravity, nevertheless, in the promise and exhortation, “Behold I come quickly! hold fast that which thou hast that no man take thy crown.” The crown may be taken. Or do we despise the warning? For these words are the words of the Lord Jesus Himself, though given to us by the apostle John, who in his second epistle (ver. 8) admonishes us in connection with the glory of Christ's person, “Look to yourselves that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.” Well, “He that shall come will come and will not tarry” (Hebrews 10:3737For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. (Hebrews 10:37)). May we, then (as “the just"), live by faith and not draw back, lest it should have to be said of us, “My soul does not take pleasure in him.”
We have been meditating on the Lord's coming for us. Let us, for a while, consider it as regards His coming to Israel.
Jacob's dying charge to his sons is particularly blessed as to Judah; “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a law-giver from between his feet until Shiloh come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the peoples be” (Genesis 49; 10). Now, if Shiloh be taken to mean “sent,” or “peace,” as some aver it may be, how comforting it is to know that He who at His first advent came unto His own and they received Him not, shall, when He comes back, “receive the obedience of the peoples unto him” (R. V.)!
And, again, “Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city” (Numbers 24:1919Out of Jacob shall come he that shall have dominion, and shall destroy him that remaineth of the city. (Numbers 24:19)). “For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet” (1 Corinthians 15:2525For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. (1 Corinthians 15:25)). Cain's city was built after the murder of his brother, and when he “went out from the presence of Jehovah.” But destruction shall fall on “him that remaineth of the city.” But there is a city—not of man—which Abraham, the friend of God, looked for, even “the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God” (Hebrews 11:1010For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. (Hebrews 11:10)).
Until He come! “And thou, profane, wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity [shall have] an end. Thus saith the Lord Jehovah, Remove the diadem and take off the crown.” What now is shall be no more. The word is, “I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it (or, this also) shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it” (Ezekiel 21:25-2725And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, 26Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. 27I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him. (Ezekiel 21:25‑27)).
Further, He shall repay recompence. So shall they fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of Jehovah shall raise up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah” (Isaiah 59:19, 2019So shall they fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. 20And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. (Isaiah 59:19‑20)). Yes. “They shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother; saying, Know Jehovah, for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:11, 1211And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:11‑12)).
But for ourselves, we wind up with the promise thrice given in the last chapter of the Revelation, and a threefold cord is not easily broken, “Behold, I come quickly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (ver. 7). And, “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me to give every man according as his work shall be” (ver. 12). Finally, “He which testifieth these things saith (not, behold), Surely I come quickly” (ver. 20). May our hearts respond, “Amen, come, Lord Jesus”! Meanwhile, may His grace be “with all the saints,” and be enjoyed and counted on by them, for His name's sake! W. N. T.