What God Hath Said on the Second Coming of Christ and the End of the Present Age: Part 3

From: Young Christian: Volume 4, 1914

• 5 min. read • grade level: 6

But perhaps my reader will ask, if Jesus does not teach that the world would be converted by the preaching of the gospel? Does He plainly say the contrary? Let us turn now and carefully examine the Gospel of Luke, and there we shall get a decided answer to the above question. (Luke 12:35-48³⁵Let 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. ³⁷Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. ³⁸And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ³⁹And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. ⁴⁰Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. ⁴¹Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? ⁴²And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? ⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. ⁴⁴Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. ⁴⁵But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; ⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. ⁴⁷And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. ⁴⁸But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more. (Luke 12:35‑48)). In these verses there are two classes of servants. I would observe, a man may be a servant and not a son, as Balaam, and many others. Those servants are greatly blessed who are found watching When the Son of Man cometh. But the evil servant who said in his heart, MY LORD delayeth His coming – and especially that servant who knew his Lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to His will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” O! is not this a highly favored land? Does any nation know the will of God better than we do? Surely, then, as it was with Judea, so will it be with this land. The heaviest judgments of God’s wrath will be poured out on this now highly favored land. Her doom will be infinitely worse than the dark lands of paganism, where the will of the Lord has not been known. Surely, then, this warning is not a light matter; and who knows how near?

But if you now turn to Luke 17:24-37²⁴For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. ²⁵But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation. ²⁶And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. ²⁷They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. ²⁸Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; ²⁹But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. ³⁰Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed. ³¹In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. ³²Remember Lot's wife. ³³Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it. ³⁴I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. ³⁵Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ³⁶Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. ³⁷And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together. (Luke 17:24‑37), the Lord says here most decidedly, that He must be rejected. And this rejection goes right on to the coming of the Son of Man. A rejection which He likens to the days of Noah and of Lot, “Even thus SHALL it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.” Yea, so far from the world being converted, He says, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8⁸I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)).

Luke 19:11-27¹¹And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. ¹²He 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. ¹⁴But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. ¹⁵And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. ¹⁶Then came the first, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained ten pounds. ¹⁷And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities. ¹⁸And the second came, saying, Lord, thy pound hath gained five pounds. ¹⁹And he said likewise to him, Be thou also over five cities. ²⁰And another came, saying, Lord, behold, here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: ²¹For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: thou takest up that thou layedst not down, and reapest that thou didst not sow. ²²And he saith unto him, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant. Thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow: ²³Wherefore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury? ²⁴And he said unto them that stood by, Take from him the pound, and give it to him that hath ten pounds. ²⁵(And they said unto him, Lord, he hath ten pounds.) ²⁶For I say unto you, That unto every one which hath shall be given; and from him that hath not, even that he hath shall be taken away from him. ²⁷But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. (Luke 19:11‑27). In these verses the parable of the nobleman going into a far country is repeated, with the plain prophecy that the great mass of the citizens hate Him, and say right out, that they will not have Him to reign over them. And instead of these being converted, at the return of Christ, they are slain before Him.

Luke 21. This chapter is in many respects parallel with Matthew 24: and Mark 13. We must bear in mind that the listeners to this discourse expected that the long-expected kingdom of God on earth should immediately appear. Instead of which, the Lord makes known a period of great suffering and persecution. What a contrast to all their thoughts. Instead of reigning over the nations, they should be hated of all men for His name’s sake. Then, in the 20th verse, a subject is named that is omitted in both Matthew and Mark: “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof is nigh.” “Then let them which are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Strange as this might appear; so utterly opposed to the hopes of the nation, yet we know it actually came to pass. The Roman armies did compass Jerusalem, and the Jewish disciples did flee to the mountains. A Jew might have said, O, it is impossible; God has promised that this city shall be the metropolis of the whole earth (Isa. 2:1-4¹The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. ²And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. ³And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ⁴And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Isaiah 2:1‑4)). Now what was the cause of the Jews’ darkness and mistake? They knew not the doctrine of the cross, man’s need of the death of Christ and a new resurrection – existence in Him. And I often think it is the same now. Men do not understand the cross. They think, just as the Jew thought, Judaism would become the kingdom. So men now utterly mistake the gospel by thinking Christianity is destined to improve humanity. If this were the case, there would be no need for the coming of Christ. But the cross is death to humanity. The cross says humanity cannot be improved. Death to it. The resurrection unfolds God’s only principle of blessing, the new creation. Truly every promise of God shall be fulfilled, when the time of the kingdom comes on earth. In like manner some will say, It is impossible that these great destructions should take place, because God hath said, “The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9⁹They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)). This shall certainly be the case in the days of the kingdom. But before those days come, let us closely observe these words of Jesus. The days of vengeance came on Judea; there was great distress in the land, and wrath upon that people. This prophecy, from verse 20 to 24, may be said to be condensed history – prophecy fulfilled before our very eyes. They (the Jews) fell by the sword; they were led away captive into all nations. Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles. For 1800 years this prophecy has been, and still is fulfilled. Though at the time Jesus uttered these words, His own disciples neither understood nor believed what He said, for we find them afterward asking Him, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” But does the Lord say how long Jerusalem is thus to be trodden down? Yes, distinctly: He says, “Until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.” And what then? Will the world be converted then? The Lord says no such thing. But then takes place, as in Matthew and Mark, the great tribulation, “Distress of nations with perplexity.” “Men’s hearts failing them for fear.” “And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

(Continued from page 55).

(To be continued).

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