There is a great danger in the present day of this most blessed truth- the primary hope of the saints"—being practically lost sight of. "We walk by faith and not by sight," says the apostle, but we reverse God's order, and, alas! too often, walk by sight, and not by faith. The doctrine of the "coming of the Lord" is accepted, but how many believers are living, and contented to live, in a state practically opposed to that which characterized the saints at Thessalonica, who "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven." (1 Thess. 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).)
Before the Lord left the sorrowing disciples He gave them the promise that He would come again: "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 14:33And 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 14:3).) The disciples were sorrowful because their Lord was going to leave them, but what did the Lord Jesus give them to raise them above their sorrows? He gave them this hope, that He would come again; that He would not always leave them down here in the place of His rejection- in the world which had refused Him, their Lord and Master, where they could not expect to be treated any better than their Lord. "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you;" and again, "If ye were of the world the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you."
If all their hopes and expectations, as to the One for whom they had left all had ended here, then they might still have sorrowed: but the Lord revealed to them another thing- that He had not left them down here to get on the best way they could, in a scene where everything was against them, and the enemy of their souls opposing them at every step; had this been the case, it would have been a very pitiful one. The Lord told them that it was necessary for them that He should leave them for a time: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." (John 16:77Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. (John 16:7).)
So that by the Lord's absence we are really gainers, for He has given us blessings that we could never have possessed had He Himself remained with His disciples down here. He is gone to prepare a place for us in the Father's house; and soon He is coming again to take us to be with Himself. How soon we know not, and His desire is that we should be waiting for Him. This is our hope- He is coming again. He has left us His word for it, "I will come again."
Are we living in the enjoyment of this? Has this hope any real power over our souls? or are we practically denying the fact that we are "waiting for God's Son from heaven"? The Corinthian saints came behind in no gift, and were "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;" are we following their example in this? It is a question we need to ask ourselves continually- Are we waiting for Him?
There is one thing that will give the soul a deeper longing for the Lord's return, and that is, a deepening knowledge of the One that is coming. Who is the One that is coming? What has He done for us? It is the Son of God who left the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity, and humbled Himself, took upon Him the form of a servant, was seen walking down here as a man, the meek and lowly Jesus, of whom it is recorded, "Lo, I come, to do thy will, O God "- a life of perfect, unswerving obedience to the will of God. He could say of Himself, and He was the only one that ever could say it, "I do always those things that please him." And this very obedience to His Father's will brought Him down even into the dust of death.
He was a perfect Man, the only perfect Man that ever trod this earth; He was just, but He suffered for us the unjust; He knew no sin, but He was made sin for us. On the cross He suffered for us when He offered Himself without spot to God: "Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree."
Now, we can say, "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins," and we have liberty and boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. We can find our deepest joy and delight in the presence of God, because His blood cleanseth us from all sin. And, beloved, He has not only given all that He had- all that He possessed, but, blessed be His name, He gave Himself. Could He give more? Impossible! By this He has not only met our need, but He has also glorified God, and brought us into the presence of God, as perfect as He is Himself. We are "holy, and unblameable, and unreproveable in his sight."
He is now seated in glory at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and He is waiting there for the moment when He shall come, and take us to be forever with Himself to share in His glory. He will not be fully satisfied till we are enjoying His presence; till we are with Him, where He is. He is waiting there, and we are waiting here till we hear that "shout, and the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God," when the dead in Christ shall rise, and we shall be changed; when our body of humiliation shall be fashioned like unto His own body of glory, and when we shall enjoy Himself and the fullness of His love forever.
Beloved, may the Lord in His grace keep this blessed hope ever and always fresh before our souls, that we may be in living association and communion with Himself while passing through this world, as those not of it, but as those separated to Him, who gave Himself for us; so occupied with Him that we may be really and truly waiting for Him; looking for and expecting to hear His voice, "when this mortal shall put on immortality," and death be "swallowed up in victory."
Oh! may He preserve us, and keep us from being in any degree in the condition of that " evil servant," who says in his heart, "My Lord delayeth his coming," so that we may be ever, and always, watching and waiting for Him.
A little while- He'll come again;
Let us the precious hours redeem:
Our only grief to give Him pain,
Our joy to serve and follow Him.
Watching and ready may we be,
As those that wait their Lord to see.
W.S.