The Theme of Christ as Well as the Apostles — The Early Church Held to It — The Reformers and Renowned Christian Men of Modern Times Have Taught and Sung It
By Irving A. Steinel
The personal return of Christ to the earth is a fundamental doctrine of the Christian faith. It has been the Christian’s hope throughout the ages. This hope has been the inspiration of many of our best hymns, and has spurred on many thousands of noble men and women to devote their lives to the promulgation of the gospel.
“COME, LORD JESUS,” THE CHURCH’S UNIVERSAL PRAYER
The sentiment of the waiting church is summed up in the prayer uttered by John at the close of the Revelation. In his vision he has seen the New Jerusalem, “having the glory of God,” and whose light is “like unto a stone most precious.” He has seen the river of life, and the never fading trees and flowers. But more than all of these glorious things, the aged seer longs for the presence of the Son of God, who sits upon the throne; and he breathes this simple prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.”
Throughout the succeeding centuries, during the terrible affliction of the dark period of persecution and martyrdom, and during the ensuing time of prosperity and light, this has been the prayer of God’s people.
A SPUR FOR FLAGGING ZEAL
Surely the hope which inspires this universal prayer must have some foundation. We do not have to search long for the source, for the Bible is full of references to the return of Christ to the earth.
In the New Testament, the doctrine concerning this event receives more attention than any other. Paul’s references to it are frequent and definite. He sums up the true Christian attitude in his letter to Titus: “The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
The word “hope” is used by the apostle many times in connection with the coming of the Lord. Whenever the zeal of the Christians seemed to be flagging, this bright hope was set before them to revive their spirits and to serve as an incentive to holy living.
Another source of our knowledge of this matter is the sayings of the Lord Himself. His return appears to have been His favorite theme. During His last days on earth, He seems to have been largely occupied with thoughts of His second coming. This is doubtless what He had in mind when, during His last journey to Jerusalem, He told the parable of the nobleman going into a far country, and leaving his servants behind, with the command, “Occupy till I come.”
In Christ’s beautiful discourse recorded in the fourteenth chapter of John, we find one of the many definite promises of His return: “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself.”
One evening of the last week before His crucifixion, as He sat on the Mount of Olives, with His disciples gathered about Him, He gave a panoramic view of the world previous to the time of His return.
JOHN’S GREAT HOPE
John, the disciple whom Jesus specially loved, the one who seems to have enjoyed the closest fellowship with our Lord, was present on these numerous occasions when the return of the Master was predicted. As he gazed on the disappearing form of his beloved Master at the time of Christ’s ascension, he heard the comforting promise that this same Jesus would come again. These experiences probably account for the fact that John so often refers to the coming of the Lord. We can readily appreciate his great longing expressed at the close of his life’s work.
Historians tell us that the writings of John, and especially the Apocalypse, were accepted by the early church fathers. Thus the faith of John became their faith.
Guinness says: “It cannot be denied that for three centuries the church held the doctrine of the premillennial coming of Christ. I think I have gone through all the writings of the fathers for three centuries pretty carefully, and I do not know an exception, unless it be Origen.”
Justin Martyr, Irenæus, Tertullian, Methodius, Victorinus, Clement, Polycarp, and many others held this belief. It flourished at Antioch as well as at Jerusalem, at Rome as at Ephesus. In all history, we find no more perfect agreement on any doctrine than we do among the apostolic fathers on the doctrine of the second advent of Christ.
The great historian Gibbon speaks of the contempt with which the early Christians regarded their present existence. He attributes this attitude to their strong belief in the second coming of Christ. “The near approach of this event,” he says, “had been predicted by the apostles.”
A DIM LIGHT IN THE DARK AGES
One almost shrinks from peering into that epoch so full of horror,—the medieval period,—when the great dragon, the mystery of iniquity, almost crushed out the life from the church. But even here we see the light shining clearly at intervals. Toward the end of that long period of oppression, we find a marked revival of teaching concerning the advent of Christ.
THE REFORMERS EXPECT CHRIST’S RETURN
Among the great Reformers, Luther, Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Melanchthon taught this doctrine. John Wesley especially emphasized it. His brother Charles was known as “the millennial poet.” He wrote over seven thousand hymns, and it is said that more than five thousand of these refer to the coming of Christ. Milton, Cowper, Heber, and Watts breathed this same hope into their songs. Bunyan was buoyed up by it.
Thus we see that this doctrine of the second coming of Christ is not new. It is truly the “faith of our fathers.” It is not the peculiar possession of any limited body of believers. It has been the hope of the church ever since Jesus planted the mustard seed that is developing into the kingdom of heaven.
THIS FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINE MUST NOT BE ABANDONED
Let us return to the simple faith of the founders of the church of Christ. With our faces uplifted to heaven, whence soon will appear the Sun of righteousness, and with hearts aglow with love for Him and with the joy of serving Him, let us breathe the prayer of the beloved apostle, “Come, Lord Jesus.”
