FORETOKENS OF OUR LORD'S RETURN
By Prof. George W. Rine
WHY OUR LORD MUST COME AGAIN.
If you and I are Christians, dear reader; if Jesus has spoken pardon to our souls and breathed the peace and rest of heaven into our hearts; then, with Mary, we have broken alabaster boxes and shed tears of joy at the Master's feet. Yes, if we have tasted the blessedness of sins forgiven, the joy of resting in our Father's house, then our breasts heave with love and our hearts throb with devotion to His most adorable person. With the psalmist we rapturously exclaim: "The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad." Has He not anointed us with the oil of gladness, and filled our cups to overflowing? Ah, with converted Peter, we protest from the heart, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love thee." "My Beloved is mine, and I am His," is the instinctive language of the regenerated soul. Knowing that "with everlasting kindness" Jesus has drawn us out of the darkness of the world and of self into the glorious light and liberty of the sons of God, our hearts become ardently attached to Him; He becomes ineffably precious to us; we accordingly long, above everything else, to be and abide in His blessed personal presence. Hence the promise that, in the timeless world to come, we shall ever be with the Lord, is to the Christian heart the sweetest of all the Saviour's "exceeding great and precious promises." It is because we love Him so, that our hearts yearn to be forever with Him. Then, to dwell eternally in the personal, visible presence of His Redeemer, is the deepest and strongest aspiration of the Christian soul. Is it not, therefore, superlatively important that we should know just how, according to the divine plan, this supreme aspiration can and will be realized? The reader is doubtless aware that among those who profess to be the children and followers of Jesus there exists quite a diversity of opinion as to when and how they will ultimately and forever enter into the personal presence of their Lord. It seems almost incredible, too, that Christians do not entertain one and the same judgment respecting a matter of such moment in the Gospel scheme. For the Master Himself has stated it in terms as simple and explicit as human language affords— "I Will Come Again and Receive You unto Myself."
In verse 33 of John 13, is found a statement that Jesus made to His disciples to the effect that He was soon to depart from them, and that they would seek Him, but should not be able to follow Him then. But, as given in verse 36, He promised that they should come to Him ("follow Me") "afterwards." Peter, as spokesman for all the disciples, wistfully asked, "Why can not I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for Thy sake." The disciples were so fervently attached to their Lord that just as soon as He apprised them of the sad but necessary fact that they would soon be separated from His visible presence, their hearts were wrung with grief. Jesus read their hearts, and instantly proceeded to console them, to assuage their sorrow, by assuring them that, tho it was expedient that He should go away for a time, He would come again for the express purpose of taking them to Himself. In infinite pity He implores them, "Let not your heart be troubled; . . . in My Father's house are many mansions; . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And 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." It does not seem possible that language so simple and lucid could be misunderstood. "In Thy presence there is fulness of joy; and at Thy right hand there are pleasures forevermore." But when and how will His children enter into the "joy" and the "pleasures" of His "presence"? How explicitly our Lord answers this question. He says He will come again and receive us unto Himself, that where He is there we also should be. Hence there is no scintilla of hope that any one can ever follow Him to where He has gone, and thus dwell in His sensible presence, unless He comes again to take His people to Himself. The Christian's Reward Contingent upon the Second Advent of Christ.
The infallible Word repeatedly declares that the saints will receive their ultimate reward, that is, enter into the eternal inheritance so often promised them, at the time of their Lord's return. Note the Master's own unequivocal testimony: "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to His works." Matt. 16:27. Again, in the last chapter of the Bible, verse 12: "Behold, I come quickly; and my REWARD is with Me, to give every man according as His work shall be." Does it not seem almost blasphemous for any mere man to attempt to contravene the pointed and reiterated testimony of the Holy Spirit, that it is when Jesus comes again, and not till then, that the "little flock" enter into the visible possession of the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world? Observe again the categorical way in which Christ states the same fact, as recorded in Luke 14:12-14. He there commands His followers, when they prepare feasts, to call in "the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; . . . for they can not recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." This assertion is by no means a contradiction of those made by our Master as previously cited. For He informs us through His servant Paul that the resurrection of the just will be one of the attendant phenomena of "the glorious appearing of . . . our Saviour Jesus Christ." After telling us—as recorded in 1 Thess. 4:16-18—that the Lord would "descend from heaven . . . with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God," the Holy Spirit declares: "And the dead in Christ shall rise first." Through Paul, the Spirit further affirms that those who have been raised from the dead to immortality, with those who are alive and remain at the appearing of Christ, should be caught up to meet their Lord in the air, and then adds, "And so shall we ever be with the Lord." Is there any wonder that the blessed Spirit should, in this immediate connection, exhort us to "comfort one another with these words"? Should not "these words" be unspeakably precious to every believer, in view of the transcendently solemn fact, that it is only by virtue of our Lord's coming again that our loved ones who have fallen asleep in Christ can ever be released from the power of death and the grave; and, as here again repeated, that it is only by virtue of that same "coming" that the redeemed can ever be with their adorable Lord in glory? Additional inspired testimony should certainly not be needed to convince the most skeptical; but the express declaration of the same tenor, given through Paul (Col. 3:4), is so sweepingly conclusive that I feel constrained to produce it. Thus: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, THEN shall ye also appear with Him in glory." The Promise Not Realized at Death.
There are very many in the church of Christ who profess to believe that the Master's promise that He "will come again" is fulfilled at the death of each individual saint. Yet there is no Scriptural warrant whatever for this theory. The theory is utterly demolished by repeated affirmations of holy Writ. For some reason the disciples got the impression that John should not die, but that he was to tarry until their Lord should come again. See verses 20 to 23 of John 21. Peter, seeing John lean upon the Saviour's breast, asked Him regarding John, "Lord, what shall this man do?" Jesus answered, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" From this answer they felt assured that John was not to die, but would live till their Lord's return, as stated in verse 23. Does not this fact demonstrate conclusively that the disciples did not identify the second coming of the Son of God with the death of His saints? Again: "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, . . . at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead [in Christ] shall be raised incorruptible, and we [the living] shall be changed." This is one of many inspired statements that all will not die before the advent of Jesus, and therefore it shows unmistakably that the blessed assurance that He will come again is not realized at the death of believers, but, on the contrary, it will be realized at the resurrection of His sleeping saints. No; death does not bring Christ to us; but, conversely, the coming of Christ brings life and immortality to all the redeemed multitudes, from Adam to the last soul that shall be born again. Our precious Saviour is the Prince of Life. "There can be no death where He is," declared the late Mr. Moody. So far as His saints are concerned, both living and dead, death will forever be banished at His appearing. For it is then that "this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality." It is then that the redeemed will rapturously exclaim, "Death is swallowed up in victory! O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" It is then that He will change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto His glorious body. Phil. 3:20, 21. He came the first time to save believers from the guilt of sin; He will9again come to save them from the wages, the ravages, of sin. O, how important, then, it is that when death overtakes us, we should fall asleep in Jesus; for when He descends with the trump of God, "the dead in Christ shall rise first." And it is upon such that the Holy Spirit pronounces this supernally beautiful benediction: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second [eternal] death hath no power." Rev. 20:6. The Crowning Hope of the Christian.
If, then, our being with the Lord in the endless world to come; if the resurrection of His sleeping saints; if our exchanging mortality for immortality; if our appearing with Him in glory; if our entering into the promised inheritance, the kingdom of glory,—if the realization of all these exceeding great and precious blessings, is contingent upon the coming again of our Redeemer, then, most certainly, must that same "coming" be to every Bible Christian the sovereign hope of his spiritual warfare. Hence we are not surprised that Inspiration should expressly designate the Saviour’s "glorious appearing" as "that blessed hope." After giving definite instruction as to how we are to acquit ourselves "in this present world," the Spirit of inspiration most significantly adds: "Looking for that blessed hope, . . . the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:11-13. Even so the apostle Paul affirms that the saints who are saved as the fruit of his ministry should be his "hope," his "joy," his "crown of rejoicing"—when?—"in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming." 1 Thess. 2:19. Do not all our hearts yearn to be like Him, who is to us "the One altogether lovely"? Well, our most gracious Father, who has nothing too good for His obedient, trusting children, has even promised that sometime we shall, in body as well as in character, be like His beloved Son. A promise so "exceeding great" almost startles us; it taxes our faith; but it is even so. Believing the promise, we can not be satisfied until we know when it shall be carried into effect. The "beloved disciple" gives us the coveted information. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is." 1 John 3:2. O, how many of the wondrous promises of God are wrapped up in that all-comprehensive promise—"I will come again"! You remember that when Paul realized that he was about to close his life’s drama, he declared in words that ring with faith: "Henceforth 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 Tim. 4:8. It is not at all strange that Paul or any other child of God should "love His appearing"—not at all strange that His remnant church should "look for Him." Aye, it is only to those who, in faith, look for Him, that the promise is given, that He will "appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. 9:28. We recall that when our Lord ascended to His Father, the hearts of His disciples were smitten with anguish. How did the two angels dispatched from the courts of heaven, proceed to compose and comfort the bleeding hearts of those bereft disciples? Listen! "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. Why is it that whenever the church of Christ is persecuted, or is in distress of any kind, the divine Spirit comes to her with the consoling, inspiring assurance that her Lord will come again—come in glory? Ah, it is most assuredly owing to the fact that that stupendous event constitutes the crowning act in the great drama of the plan of salvation. It is the condition of the final deliverance of the children of God; it is the glorious consummation of all their hopes. How natural, then, that the doctrine of the second advent should be so insistently enunciated in the Holy Scriptures—that it should occupy a place so conspicuously large in the Word of inspiration. Hence the saints can not but sigh and pray for it. How wistfully they yearn for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body! They cry out for the living God, and can not be satisfied until they come into His presence—until they bask in the light, rest in the love, and forever triumph in the life, of the Eternal. Hence, in the closing words of the volume of inspiration, in the yearning prayer of the exiled prophet of Patmos, they lift their hearts to heaven and pray,
"Even so, come, Lord Jesus."