The Return of the Lord in the Pauline Epistles
The Epistle to the Romans
The message of the Epistle to the Romans is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the salvation which God has provided in the sacrificial death of His Son. This salvation is threefold, from the guilt of sin, from the power of sin and from the presence of sin.
Chapter v:1, 2 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”” Three things accompany justification by faith. The first is peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. That peace was made in the blood of the cross; the believer enters into it by faith in Christ. There is a present blessing in that the justified believer has access by faith into this grace wherein he stands; then there is something which is future. It is the glory of God. This promised glory is the object of hope. In this hope of the glory of God, the believer rejoices at the present time; it enables him to glory, even in tribulation. What is the hope of the glory of God? It would be a very vague hope if Scripture did not define it. But Scripture tells us what it is. The hope of the glory of God,which is revealed in the Gospel, is to be like the risen Son of God, to share His inheritance and to be forever with the Lord. Other Epistles reveal this fully. But this hope of the glory of God is dependent on His return. If He does not return there will be no such glory for the child of God. His coming again will bring His own to the Father’s house and into the possession of all the promised glory.
In the eighth chapter we reach the summit of this Epistle and the salvation of God. There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. The guilt and condemnation of our sins are forever gone; the believer is freed from the law of sin and death; sin has no more dominion over him. In this chapter we read of the future redemption, the salvation from the presence of sin, and of the glory of God, for which we wait. The body of the believer has the promise of redemption. This we learn from the eleventh verse of this chapter, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.” As we have shown in our work on the ‘Healing Question” is it not a promise that the believer’s body is to be immune from pain and sickness, but the passage teaches the future redemption of the believer’s body either by resurrection, or by the sudden change when the Lord comes (1 Cor. xv1:51).
The Apostle speaks next of the fact that believers are the children of God “and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may be also glorified together.” But when does this glorification take place, when does the believer receive his inheritance, when does he begin to be the joint-heir with Christ? Certainly not at death. Death in the New Testament is branded as an enemy. Nowhere in the Scriptures is the promise of glory and the glorification of the believer’s body linked with death, though it is true that to “depart and to be with Christ, is far better.” The glory of joint heirship with Christ does not come till Christ comes again.
Chapter v1t:18-25 “For I reckon that the sufferings of thas present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature ttself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we are saved in hope; but hope that is seen 1s not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for. But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.” ‘This is a mighty revelation of the future glory. Paul teaches that the present time of suffering will be followed by glory which will be revealed. Then he speaks of creation and the creature. The creature suffered on account of man’s sin; his fall dragged down creation; it is now subject to vanity. The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together till now. But will this be the permanent condition of creation? Is it hopeless? If it were God would suffer defeat; He would be a defeated God. Full redemption demands the removal of the blight and the curse which rests now upon creation. Groaning creation will cease its groans. For that time of deliverance creation is waiting with earnest, longing expecta-~ tion. The divine promise is that ‘the creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” It will come with “the manifestation of the sons of God” (verse 19). But the manifestation of the sons of God does not take place apart from His manifestation (Col. iii:4). And Christ is not manifested in a spiritual way, but His manifestation, His Appearing means in Scripture His personal return in glory.
For this all creation is groaning and waiting. For this we wait, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, the members of His body, we wait for the promised redemption of the body, when we shall be like Him and see Him as He is.
Chapter 0111:29, 30 “For whom He did foreknow, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brethren. Moreover whom He did predestinate, them He also called, them He also justified, them He also glorified.” ‘This precious chain leads from eternity to eternity. He foreknew and predestinated those who believe. He redeemed them by His Son, calling, justifying and glorifying them. All foreknown and predestinated are to be conformed to the image of His Son. He is the firstborn among many brethren, bringing many sons unto glory, (Heb. ii:10). But all is inseparably connected with His return.
Chapter «1:25-27 “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery: that blindness in part 1s happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it 1s written, There shall come out of Sion a Delwerer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this 1s My covenant unto them, when I shall take away their — sins.’ ‘This chapter in Romans contains a great dispensational message, showing that God hath not cast away His earthly people Israel, and that the present-day blindness is ‘neither permanent nor total.* There is a hope of Israel, as there is a hope of the Church, and the Lord Jesus Christ is the hope for both, His earthly and His heavenly people. In — the passage we have quoted, Paul makes known a mystery. Blindness in part has happened to Israel, but that blindness has a limitation. It will be removed when the fulness of the — Gentiles has come in. As stated before, during the present —
*See our book, ““The Jewish Question,” price 75 cents.
THE RETURN OF THE LORD a
age there is a world-wide preaching of the Gospel for the gathering of the true Church. When the full number is reached, the fulness of the Gentiles will have come in, the true Church will be united to the Lord Jesus in glory. Then all Israel will be saved. It does not mean all Israel in the sense as taught by Russellism and other cults, that those who died in their sins will have another chance, but it means all those of Israel living in that day, who wait for Him, a believing remnant, as made known in different portions of the prophets. Their salvation will be accomplished by the coming of the Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ. His return will result in the salvation and restoration of the remnant of Israel. Then all the covenant blessings will be realized, (See Isa. lix:20, 21 and Zech. #xii:10). Apart from the coming of the Lord there is no hope for Israel.
Chapter x10:10 “But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at naught thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.”” Our Lord said “the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment to the Son” (John v:22). Here for the first time we read of the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment of which He speaks in Matt. xxv:31 is the judgment which he executes as the Son of Man, when He occupies the throne of His glory. The passage in Romans and others in the Epistles to the Corinthians do not speak of a judgment throne, but of a judgment seat. The judgment seat (Bema) is for His people; their works and service will be judged; some will be approved and others will be disapproved; some will receive a reward and others will receive none. ‘The question of eternal salvation is not connected with the judgment seat of Christ, for eternal salva-
52.00) THEY RETURN) OFS THE: LORDtion is received and assured by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But does the believer when he dies appear immediately before the judgment seat of Christ, or is the judgment seat in the future? The Apostle Paul answers this question. “Henceforth 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. iv:8). That day, is the day of His appearing. Apart from His appearing there can be no judgment seat of Christ and no promised rewards.
The First Epistle to the Corinthians
The state of the Corinthian church is learned from this Epistle. They were carnal, worldly minded, they envied and had strife and divisions among themselves. (1 Cor. 11:3). They tolerated in their midst the grossest immoralities (1 Cor. v). The Spirit of God had to warn them to beware of fornication, which was so prevalent in Corinth. There were other evils also. The Apostle calls therefore their attention to the judgment seat of Christ, and speaks of it twice in the first Epistle and once in the second.
Chapter 111:10-15 ‘For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this foundation id, silver, precious stones, wood, hay and stubble; every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he has built thereupon, he shall recewe a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.” Without giving a full exposition of these verses we state briefly that the day which the Apostle mentions is the day of Christ, when He will judge His people. The fire of that day, the symbol of His holiness and righteousness, will consume all that is not of Him; then every man’s work will be tried. The believer’s foundation is Christ.
Every one who rests upon this one foundation is saved forever. But the believer is to build upon this foundation. Some build upon it the things which are precious; others build nothing but wood, hay and stubble. Some will receive a reward; others will see everything burned up, while they themselves are saved as by fire.
Chapter iv:5 ‘‘Therefore, judge nothing before the time, until.the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make mantfest the counsels of the hearts, and then shall every man have praise of God.” ‘This passage also refers us to the day of Christ and His judgment seat. The hidden things of darkness will then be brought to light, the counsels of the hearts will be laid bare. The spiritually minded believer does not need to vindicate himself when misunderstood or misjudged; he can afford to wait till the Lord comes. Then in His presence every wrong will be righted and He will praise those who have done well.
Chapter 01:2,3 ‘Do ye not know that the saints shall judge ERE OTE 6. ceticrncsn Know ye not that we shall judge angels?
The Apostle reproved them for going before a heathen judge to have their grievances among themselves adjusted. He reminds them of their coming and promised glory. They are destined, with all other believers, to judge the world and even angels. But the judgment of the world, the nations and the angels in which believers participate, does not take place till He is manifested.
Chapter «1:26 ‘‘For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death, till He come.”?” The Apostle of the Gentiles was not in the upper room when our Lord instituted the memorial feast. The Lord therefore revealed it unto Him with the command to deliver this blessed ordinance to the Church. “For I have received it of the Lord, that which I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body which is given for you, this do in remembrance of Me. After the same manner also He took the cup, when He had supped, saying, This cup is the New Testament in My blood. This do, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of Me.” Whatever else Christendom has made out of the Lord’s supper is unscriptural. The memorial feast is only for true believers. As they gather on the Lord’s day at His table they remember His death, that He died for our sins according to the Scriptures; that He is risen from the dead and seated at the right hand of God as priest and advocate and that He is coming again. ‘Till He come we break the bread and take the cup, and when He comes again the blessed feast of remembrance passes away, for we shall see Him face to face. God’s people in the Old Testament had altars upon which sacrifices were brought. At these altars the Jewish believer looked back to the time when sin entered in, and looked forward to the coming of the better sacrifice and the better blood. In the New Testament the believer has a table; he looks back to the cross, where the Lamb of God died, the true sacrifice was brought; he looks forward to the promised coming again and the promised glory.
Chapter xv:22-25 ‘For as in Adam all die, even so tn Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign till He hath put all enemies under His feet.”
In the great resurrection chapter we find this definite Witness to the second coming of our Lord. Christ arose first from among the dead; He is called the first fruits; then comes the resurrection of those that are Christ’s at His coming. Here as elsewhere the truth is revealed, that the believer’s body will be raised from the grave. This is the first resurrection. It will take place at His coming. Some teach that not all believers will be raised when He comes for His saints; they claim that only a certain class will participate in the rapture, composed of those who have lived a consecrated life, and who attained a deeper experience or higher life, etc.
All these fanciful inventions are scattered by the statement “they that are Christ’s at His coming.” All who belong to Christ will be raised to glory. The weakest believer, the most ignorant and the youngest child of God is included, for it is not the matter of attainment, but of grace. Then after His coming, Christ will reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet.
Chapter xv:51-53 ‘*Behold, I shew you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, ab the last trump; for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on tncorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.”
This is one of the mysteries made known by the Apostle Paul. A “mystery” in the Word of God is a truth which was not made known before. The Apostle Paul was the instrument through whom the great mysteries of God not known in former ages have been revealed. In Romans xi:25 is revealed the mystery of Israel’s blindness and its limitation. In Ephesians the mystery of the Church, as the body and bride. of Christ, is revealed; and in 1 Cor. xv: 51-53 and 1 Thess. iv:14-17 the translation of those who live at the close of the age. Inasmuch as 1 Thess. iv: 14-18 was written before 1 Cor. xv:51-53, the latter passage is supplementary to that great revelation given through Paul in the first Epistle he penned by the Spirit of God. The mystery here is that there will be a generation of believers living who will not sleep,* that is, pass through death. They will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and not pass through the grave. This will be at the last trump, which is not the seventh trump of the book of Revelation. At the same time the dead in Christ will be raised incorruptible. Let it be noticed that the Apostle does not say “and they shall be changed,”’ but “‘we shall be changed.” Qur comment on 1 Thess. iv:14-18 deals with this blessed hope more fully.
Chapter xv1:22 “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maran-atha.” The words “Anathema Maran-atha” mean “Accursed the Lord cometh.” This is a solemn word. It shows that when the Lord returns, He will deal in judgment with the Christ rejectors. (2 Thess. 1:8-9).
The Second Epistle to the Corinthians
Chapter 1:14“As also ye have acknowledged us in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus.” ‘The day of the Lord Jesus, the day of Christ, is the day when His redeemed are gathered in His presence.
*Sleep here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, means physical death. Scripture knows nothing whatever of the sleep of the soul.
This day is an exclusively New Testament revelation. The day of the Lord ( Yom Jehovah), many times mentioned by the prophets, is the day of His visible manifestation, when He comes to deliver the remnant of His earthly people, deals in judgment with their enemies and receives the throne of His father David, to be the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The day of Christ concerns only the Saints of God, the day of the Lord concerns Israel and the nations. The day of Christ is ushered in by the rapture of the Saints, the fulfilment of 1 Cor. xv:51-53 and 1 Thess. iv:14-18; the day of the Lord is ushered in by His return in the cloud with power and great glory. Paul looked forward to the day of the Lord Jesus as a day of rejoicing. (See 1 Thess. ii:19).
Chapter v:1-5 “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven, tf so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing 1s God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.” ‘This passage is also closely related to 1 Cor. xi:51-53 and 1 Thess. iv:14-18. The believer knows that he possesses a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. While he is clothed with an earthly, frail tabernacle, this physical body of our humiliation, he groans and desires earnestly to be clothed upon with the house from heaven. He groans not to be unclothed, which means, to fall asleep and have the body put into a grave, but he groans for something better, to be clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. To be clothed upon means not to pass through death, but to be “changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” The coming of the Lord will bring this about.
Chapter 0:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done tn his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” Once more the Apostle speaks of the award seat of Christ, when the believer’s works will be judged.
The Epistle to the Galatians
This Epistle contains the inspired defense of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Galatians were falling from grace by going back under the law. False teachers were at work among them, teaching the use of the law as a means of justification, and for a God-pleasing life and walk. In matchless divine logic it is proven “if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” (Gal. ii:21). This perverted Gospel which the Galatians began to follow in the first century is also being taught and followed in the twentieth century. Ritualism is Galatianism. Seventh-Day Adventism is also a perverted system, which teaches a Gospel of works, Sabbath-keeping, and other evil doctrines.
The Holy Spirit does not speak of “‘that blessed Hope” in this Epistle; there is only a hint as to that hope. Ritualism does not know anything about the blessed hope. For a ritualist, who prays that the Lord may incline his heart to keep the law, who does not know the assurance of eternal salvation by simple trust in Christ, the coming of the Lord is the Dies Irae, the day of wrath, and to be dreaded. Instead of rejoicing that the Lord is coming again, the ritualist trembles at the thought of His coming. Nor does the Seventh Day Adventist know anything of the blessed hope; he perverts the prophetic Word in such a way which robs the believer of the comfort of hope. The one passage in which the hope is mentioned is found in the fifth chapter.
Chapter 0:4-5 “‘Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” The Christian who falls from grace, goes back under the law, believes as does the Sabbath Day keeper, that only those can be saved who keep the Seventh Day, the Jewish Sabbath, has no hope; but the believer who rests on grace, who is justified by faith, “who worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly” (Rom. iv:5), waits for the hope of righteousness by faith, that is hope which the righteousness by faith has promised; it is “the hope of the glory of God” for which he waits (Rom. v:2).
The Epistle to the Ephesians
‘This portion of the Word of God contains God’s highest and best revelation. ‘The masterpiece of God, the redemption of sinners, through Christ Jesus, is marvelously unfolded in this greatest of all the Pauline Epistles, (11:10), the depths of which no Saint has ever fathomed. The glory of the body of Christ, the Church, which is His fulness, is the special revelation of this document. Each member of that body is seen fully indentified with Christ. They are quickened with Christ, risen with Christ and seated in Christ in the heavenlies, far above all principality and power and might and dominion. The destiny of that body is to be with Him, the glorified head. In the opening chapter the Apostle speaks of a coming dispensation, a future age.
Chapter 1:9-11 “Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather together in one all things in the Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are in earth, even in Him; in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” ‘The dispensation of the fulness of times follows the present dispensation; it will be the result of our Lord’s return. During the present dispensation we see not yet all things put under His feet, but when He comes back all things will be gathered in the Christ. Christ and His body will be united in glory and all will be gathered together in one. It is the blessed consummation in the kingdom to come. This is the inheritance which the grace of God has given to the redeemed. But this dispensation of fulness will never dawn if there is no second coming of our Lord.
In verse fourteen of the same chapter Paul writes of “the redemption of the purchased possession.”? ‘The purchased possession is that which is in the heavenlies. In creation God gave to man the earth — ‘ the earth has He given to the children of men’? (Psalm cxv:16), but in redemption He gives the heavens and their glory. The heavenly spheres have also been contaminated by sin. Satan is still the prince of the power of the air; he has his abode there; his principalities and powers are in the heavenlies where the wicked spirits dwell (Eph. vi:12). That purchased possession will be redeemed by the power of God, when Christ comes again (See Rev. xii:7.12).
Chapter 0:27 “That He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.’ In this section of the Epistle Paul speaks more particularly of the Church as the bride of Christ. The family relation is used to illustrate this truth. Husbands are to love their wives, as Christ loved the Church; wives are to submit themselves unto their husbands as a picture of how the Church is in submission to Christ. Three great facts as to Christ and the Church are brought to our attention. The first is past: ‘‘Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it.””. The second concerns the present: “that He might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word.” ‘The third is future, (verse 27). He is to present the Church to Himself a glorious Church. But that presentation is not now, nor can it be, till He comes and takes the Church to Himself in glory.
The Epistle to the Philippians
This Epistle is not a doctrinal Epistle but is of a practical character. It shows what true Christian experience is. The day of Christ and His coming as the goal of Christian experience and as the Christian Hope are mentioned several times.
Chapter 1:6 “‘ Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” He gives the assurance that the Lord Jesus Christ will not leave those who have accepted Him and in whom a good work is begun. The day of Jesus Christ as stated before, is His day in glory, when His own are gathered in His presence.
Chapter 1:10“That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere and without offence till the Day of Christ.’ This is the second mention of the same day of glory, which can only come with His coming to receive His own unto Himself.
Chapter 11:16 “‘ Holding forth the Word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” For the third time the day of Christ is before us. It is not without meaning that the Apostle in this Epistle of true Christian experience refers thrice to the coming face to face meeting in the day of Christ. Tolivethe life that pleases God means to live Christ. As revealed in this Epistle, He must be the object of our life (chapter 1); the same mind which was in Him, must be in us; He is our pattern (chapter ii). ‘To reach out constantly after the promised goal, the resurrection from among the dead, to prove worthy of the calling wherewith we are called, must be our daily ambitidn (chapter iii); to walk in faith and know that we can do all things through Christ will then be our daily experience (chapter iv). In such a devoted life the heart finds its greatest incentive to look forward to that day, when we shall see Him as He is.
Chapter 111:20 “For our conversation 1s in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He 1s able even to subdue all things unto Himself.” ‘The word “conversation” in the Greek is the word “Politeuma.”’ From this word we have our English word “‘politics.’? One might translate “‘our citizenship, or politics, are in heaven.’ ‘The true believer knows himself in Christ, and in Him, in the heavenlies. His gaze is upward. Christ in glory is His daily contemplation. He looks for Him from heaven. He expects Him as Saviour who will, when He comes, change the body of humiliation, the body in its earthly limitations, subject to pain, disease and death, and fashion it like unto His own glorious body. This is the believer’s hope and daily comfort.
The Epistle to the Colossians
The Epistle to the Colossians is the companion Epistle to Ephesians. In it is revealed the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. His double headship in creation and in redemption is seen in the first chapter. By Him were all things created “and He is the head of the body, the Church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence”’ (i:16-18). After this we read of His atoning work and the double results of this work. Chapter 1:20-22 “And having made peace in the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in His sight.” The great work of redemption was accomplished by Him “‘in the blood of the cross.” There is mentioned a double reconciliation. The reconciliation of believing sinners who were once alienated and enemies by wicked works; this is accomplished throughout this Gospel- -age. The other reconciliation is future. It is the reconciliation of all things in earth and in heaven. This reconciliation is the same as “‘the restitution of all things” preached by Peter (Acts iii:19-21). This reconciliation and restitution is predicted in the Old Testament. It will be realized in the age to come, when righteousness reigns, peace dwells on earth, when groaning creation no longer groans under the curse. It is unattainable during the present age and can only be accomplished by His return, for He paid for this glorious reconciliation on the cross, and when He comes to reign all things will be restored to Edenic conditions. Does this reconciliation include the unsaved, the unregenerated, who reject Christ and die in their sins? Does it include Satan and the fallen angels? Some, who call themselves *‘Reconciliationists” or “‘Restitutionists” teach this; so does the cult of the “International Bible Student Association” alias Russellism. The Scriptures do not teach such a universal reconciliation, which includes the wicked dead and the wicked spirits.
Chapter 111:1-4 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life 1s hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.”’ — Dead with Christ, risen with Christ, the believer’s life hid with Christ in God, these are the great cardinal truths of Christianity. If apprehended in faith they will lead the believer to seek the things which are above; the mind will be weaned away from the things which are on the earth. The things on the earth include what is mentioned in the previous chapter, such as the rudiments of the world, philosophy and words of vain deceit, legalism, ritualism, ordinances, as well as worldly ambitions, honors and pleasures. ‘Then the Apostle speaks of the future. A day is coming when the life, now hid with Christ in God, will be fully manifested. ‘‘When Christ is manifested who is our life, then shall ye also be manifested with Him in glory.” This manifestation of the redeemed comes when He is manifested, when He comes in power and great glory. The day *‘when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day” (2 Thess. 1:10). It is not the day when He comes for His Saints, but the day of His visible and glorious return, the day in which He brings His many sons unto glory.
The First Epistle to the Thessalonians
This is the first Epistle the Apostle Paul wrote. It was written from Corinth about the year 52. In this Epistle we find the great revelation as to the coming of the Lord to receive His Saints. Everything else in the Pauline Epistles, as to the coming of the Lord for His own, is connected with the revelation found in the fourth chapter of this Epistle. It seems the Epistle was mostly occasioned by the death of some of the Thessalonian believers; as they lacked more definite teaching as to the coming of the Lord and the first resurrection, they sorrowed like those who have no hope. To relieve their anxiety and uncertainty, and to give them the full light on the coming of the Lord in relation to those who are asleep and the future reunion with them, the Lord gave the unique and most blessed revelation as to this coming event.
In the first chapter we find a description of the Thessalonian church. They possessed real Christianity, and at the close of this chapter we find in what their experience and Christian life consisted.
Chapter 1:9,10 ‘*For they, themselves, report concerning us what manner of entrance we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He ratsed from among the dead, Jesus, who delivereth us from the wrath to come.”
Here are the three great essentials of true Christianity. A true conversion in turning to God from idols; a true service and life for God which attest the genuineness of conversion; and the third a hopeful waiting for His Son from heaven. To believe in the coming of the Lord and to wait for it is therefore a vital part of Christianity. A sad testimony it is to the superficial knowledge of the Gospel, when men say, and teach, that the belief in the second coming of Christ is unessential and has no practical value.
It is most essential and of the greatest value to the child of God. He is coming again, and with His coming He delivereth us from coming wrath.
Chapter 11:19,20 ‘For what 1s our hope, or crown of regoicing. Are not even ye before our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming. For ye are our glory and joy.” He reminds them, as he did remind the Philippians and the Corinthian believers, that there will be a day of Christ, when they would meet in His presence in glory. Those who were saved through the preaching of the servant of Christ, nourished and built up in their most holy faith, will be the crown of joy and glorying of the servant of Christ. He speaks of the Thessalonians as his glory and joy in the day of Christ.
Chapter 111:13 “To the end He may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His Saints.” This is the third time Paul writes in this Epistle of the coming of the Lord. Here it is His visible manifestation, when He comes with all His Saints. In view of this coming manifestation in glory the Spirit of God urges to holiness, sO as to be unblameable before Him.
Chapter 1v:13-18 “But we do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them that are fallen asleep, to the end that ye sorrow not, even as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus.
“For this we say to you by the Word of the Lord, that we, the living, who remain to the coming of the Lord, shall not precede them who have fallen asleep; for the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout (literally: an assembling shout), with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living, who remain, shall be caught up together with them in clouds, to meet the Lord in. the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” This is the great and unique revelation to which we have referred repeatedly in our previous pages. We remember here what our Lord said to the eleven disciples (John xiv:1-3). The details of this promise, to come again and to receive His own to Himself, remained unrevealed till the Apostle wrote this Epistle. Let us notice first the statement in verse 14 ‘For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, so also God will bring with Him those that have fallen asleep through Jesus.” The Apostle writes ‘‘Jesus died.”? Of the Saints it is written that they fall asleep; but never is it said that the Lord Jesus slept. He tasted death to the fullest as judgment upon sin. Those who have fallen asleep having believed on Christ will God bring with Him. It does not mean that He brings their disembodied spirits with Him to be united to their bodies from the graves, though this will be the case, but it means that those who have fallen asleep as to their physical bodies will God bring with His Son, when He comes with all His Saints, in that coming glorious manifestation. Their loved ones would be with Christ when He returns; and this assurance the sorrowing Thessalonians needed. But this assurance necessitated an additional revelation. How is it possible that they can come with Him? Are they coming as disembodied spirits? What about their bodies which were put into the graves? How shall they come with Him?
In answer to these questions we read first that those who passed away will not have an inferior place when He comes, and that, we, who remain to the time of His coming, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. r
Then follows the greatest of all revelations as to the manner of His coming. Nothing like it is found anywhere in the Old Testament. We know first of all that “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven.” He is now at the right hand of God in His glorified humanity. When the last member is added to His mystical body, the Church, when that body is complete, and the appointed time has come, He will leave the place at the right hand of the Father, and descend from heaven. He will not return to the earth at that time, but the air will be the meeting place, as we read later. When He comes with His Saints in His visible manifestation, He will descend to the earth. When He comes to gather His Saints, He descends with a shout, the shout of power and supreme authority. The Greek word “Kelusma’ used means the shout of the hero to his followers in battie, by which they are gathered unto himself.
That shout may be that beautiful word “Come,” the royal word of grace. ‘There will also be the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. The archangel Michael is the leader of the heavenly hosts. All heaven will be in commotion when the heirs of glory, sinners saved by grace, are about to be brought, fully glorified, into the Father’s house.
The trump of God has nothing to do with the judgment trumpets in Revelation, nor with the Jewish feast of trumpets. It is a purely symbolical term, and like the shout, denotes the fact of gathering. In Numbers x:4 we read “‘and if they blow with one trumpet, then the princes, the heads of the thousands in Israel, shall gather themselves unto thee.” The shout and the trump of God will gather the fellow-heirs of Christ. “The dead in Christ shall rise first.” All Saints of all ages, Old and New Testament Saints, are included. This statement disproves the erroneous belief held in the greater part of Christendom, as to a general resurrection. There is first a resurrection of the righteous, and from the Book of Revelation we learn, that there will be a second resurrection, in which the rest of the dead, the wicked dead, ° will be raised. The resurrection of the dead in Christ will be accomplished first when He descends into the air. What power will then be manifested! Next all those who are living, at the time this shout is heard, will be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. It does not include the unsaved, professing church-members, but all who are Christ’s are included. The change will take place ‘in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. xv:52). Then this mortal puts on immortality; it will be the being ‘clothed upon” of which the Apostle testifies in 2 Cor. v:1-5. It is then that our body of humiliation will be fashioned like unto His glorious body.
It will also bring the blessed reunion with our loved ones, who have gone before. Often the question is asked «shall we meet our loved ones again and shall we know them in glory?’ The blessed revelation before us gives the only definite answer in all Scripture. ‘‘Together with them” tells us of both, reunion and recognition. We shall surely find our loved ones at that time and enter with them upon an eternal conscious and glorious fellowship. ‘Those who deny
this truth and revelation, that the Lord is coming for His Saints, rob themselves of all comfort and assurance as to those who have died in Christ. If the Lord Jesus Christ does not come back as revealed in this Scripture, there will be no resurrection and no reunion with our loved ones.
Then we read that the clouds will be heaven’s chariots to take the joint heirs of Christ into His own presence at the appointed meeting place. “‘Caught up in clouds to meet the Lord in the air’’; all laws of nature will be set aside, for it is the power of God. The same power which raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand, will be displayed in behalf of the redeemed (Eph. i:19-23) Surely this is divine revelation. No human mind could have ever invented such a scheme. How absolutely impossible for any man to have conceived that the Lord’s own should be caught up to meet Him in the air! It carries with it in its boldness and uniqueness, the assurance that it is the truth, and only to the natural mind, to the modernist with his darkening inventions, it appears foolishness.
And the blessedness, ‘“‘to meet the Lord in the air’! Then we shall see Him as He is and look into His face of beauty and glory. And then we shall be transformed into His likeness, for it is written ‘‘we shall be like Him.”? How long will the meeting in the air last? Some teach that it will be only momentary, and that the Lord will at once descend to the earth. We know from other Scriptures that this cannot be the case. Between the coming of the Lord for His Saints, and His coming with His Saints, there is an interval of at least seven years. The judgment seat of Christ must also first be set up, as well as the presentation of the Church in glory (Eph. v:27; Jude verse 24). After the judgment seat with the bestowal of rewards, He will take the Saints into the Father’s house, to behold His glory. (John xvii:22). But what will it be, “Forever with the Lord”’!
Chapter v:1-4 “‘ But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief.’ The Apostle writes now about “the day of the Lord” and no longer speaks of the coming of the Lord for His Saints and the day of Christ. The day of the Lord with its judgments, what precedes that day, and what follows, is often described by the prophets. See Isaiah ii:12-22; Joel ii and iii; Zeph. i: 14-18; Zech. xiv:1-9, etc. Whenever our Lord spoke of that day, He said “when the Son of Man cometh,” that is, His own visible and glorious manifestation. ‘That day will bring judgment for the world. (2 Thess. 1.) The world, and the world-church do not believe in such a day; they dream of peace and safety, of increasing prosperity and expansion, of universal peace and a continued improvement of earthly conditions. Some day the Lord will come suddenly for His Church, and then the world with all its false optimism, false hope, false peace and safety, will suddenly have to face the judgment-tribulations which precede the day of the Lord. Because these judgments, and the times and seasons connected with that day, do not concern those who are the Lord’s, the Apostle states that there is no need to write to them about it.
The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians
The opening verses of the second chapter of this Epistle show that some one had troubled the Thessalonians, and tried to convince them, that the day of the Lord, with its threatened judgments, was actually present. They had received the first Epistle, which must have brought great joy to their hearts. There was on their part renewed waiting for His Son from heaven. A short time after false teachers came, telling them their hope was vain, inasmuch as the predicted tribulation had begun and that they would have to pass through all the horrors of the events, preceding His visible return. As they were then passing through persecutions and tribulations, these false teachers probably told them that their sufferings were the indications that the day of the Lord was upon them. It seems these false teachers had gone so far as to produce a document, which they pretended was a letter from the Apostle (ii:2), in which he seemingly confirmed their views. For this reason Paul attached his own signature to this second Epistle (iii:17).
These teachers belonged undoubtedly to the same class of Judaizers who had sneaked in among the Galatian churches. They attacked the blessed hope given to the Church, and put in its place the judgment and tribulation of the day of the Lord.
They put the Church back under the Law and taught that all which is in storefor the ungodly, before His return, would be shared by Christians. To answer this invention, which is still being taught, that the true Church must pass through the great tribulation, the Spirit of God inspired this second Epistle. It contains additional and important truths on the Lord’s return.
Chapter 1:4-10 ‘‘So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure, which 1s a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer; seeing wt 1s a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of Hts power, when He shall come to be glorified in His Saints, and to be admired in all them that believed, in that day (because our testimony among you was believed).” He quiets first of all their fears. The Apostle assures them, that all their persecutions and tribulations, far from having a punitive character, were ‘“‘a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God,” with this purpose in view, that they might be “counted worthy of the Kingdom of God” for the sake of which they suffered. ‘They suffered with Him, so that they might also be glorified together. (Rom. viii:17). And then the contrast. When the day of the Lord comes it will bring the punishment of the ungodly. The ungodly were now troubling them, but when that day comes the ungodly would be troubled, while the troubles of the Saints of God cease for ever, and rest and glory will be their lot. The day of the Lord therefore had not yet come. That day will bring the visible manifestation of the Lord, in flaming fire with His mighty angels, and judgment will fall upon the ungodly.
Two classes are especially mentioned. ‘Those that know not God, which means the Gentiles, as well as sinners in general, and “those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” These are the Jews and nominal, apostate Christians. The latter class will suffer the greater punishment. But when He comes in judgment upon the ungodly, in that day, He will also be glorified and admired in all them that believed. When He comes in power and glory back to earth again, His Saints, the true Church, will no longer beontheearth. The Church, previously caught up in clouds, will come with Him in glory. The time of the manifestation of the sons of God has come (Rom. viii:19). All are transformed into His image, each member of His body reflects His glory. And so the afflicted and despised Thessalonians will then be glorified when He appears. And this is the glorious future of all the redeemed.
Chapter 11:1-12. (Corrected translation) “Now we beg you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, nor troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as if it were by us, as that the day of the Lord 1s present.
“Let not any one deceive you in any manner, because it will not be unless the apostasy has come first, and the man of sin has been revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself on high, against all called God, or object of worship; so that he himself sits down in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Do ye not remember that, being yet with you, I said these things to you. And now ye know that which restrains, that he should be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of Lawlessness already works; only there 1s He who restrains until He be gone, and then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of His mouth, and shall annul by the brightness of His coming; whose coming is according to the working of Satan in all power, and signs, and wonders of falsehood, and in all deceit of unrighteousness to them that perish, because they have not received the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
And for this reason God sendeth them an energy of error, that they may believe the lie: that they all might be judged who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”
We find here an additional information as to the coming day of the Lord (not the day of Christ as stated by the authorized version). ‘That day cannot come unless two conditions are fulfilled. ‘There must be first the apostasy, the falling away from the truth, and the man of sin, the son perdition must also be revealed. Both these conditions were mentioned before in the Word of God. The Lord spoke of the moral conditions during the end of the age, and predicted the false Christs, which should come. The Old Testament prophetic Word also speaks of these things. When Paul was with them he had taught these things; he reminds them of his oral ministry.
In view of these conditions it has been said by some, how could the early Christians believe in and wait for the imminent coming of the Lord? There was then no sign of apostasy nor the revelation of the man of sin. But the Apostle wrote also “the mystery of lawlessness already works.”? Even in Apostolic times, a falling away began. Such a falling away has gone on throughout this age, but when it closes, the age culminates in the apostasy, heading up in the final, personal Anti-christ, the man of sin and the son of perdition. Throughout this age believers could see the mystery of lawlessness at work in every generation and thus could wait for the coming of the Lord as an event near, and not in the distant future.
Who is the man of sin? — The Roman Emperor, Nero and other emperors, Mohammed, the Pope and the Papacy, the French Revolution, Napoleon I and others have been mentioned as the predicted man of sin. The most common interpretation and most widely accepted view makes the Papacy the Anti-christ. But this is incorrect, for the Papacy does not deny that Jesus is the Christ, nor does the Pope claim to be Christ. That the Papacy has certain marks of Anti-christianity cannot be denied. Recently certain Catholic writers have charged Modernism, which denies the Virgin-birth and the Deity of Christ, with being Babylon and an Anti-christ. With this we are in fullest agreement.
As John tells us there have been and are many Antichrists; and never so many as today. Christian Science, Theosophy, Mormonism Russellism, Modernism, Destructive Criticism, New Thoughtism, the Unity Movement of Kansas City and similar cults are Anti-christian. But Paul speaks here of the final Anti-christ, the heading up of the apostasy, which in its completeness is still unreached.
When he appears he will be the leader of God opposition and Christ defiance. He poseth and exalteth himself against all that is called God. He takes the place of God on earth and demands worship. He will be Satan’s man and Satan’s masterpiece. We find his picture in Daniel x1:36-39 and in Rev. xiii:11-18. In Revelation he is called “the false prophet.” He is the one of whom our Lord speaks in John v:43.
“‘He sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth that he is God.” The temple of God does not mean the Church. It is a Jewish temple. When the true Church is gone from the earth, the Jewish people, partially restored to their own land in unbelief, will erect another temple and institute once more the ancient temple worship. (Isaiah Ixvi:1-4). God will despise their worship. Then, during the great tribulation the man of sin will appear, claiming to be the true Messiah, doing lying signs and wonders, by which he will deceive the Jews and also the Gentiles. He takes his place in that temple. He will undoubtedly be a Jew, for the Jews would not receive a Gentile as their Messiah. The present day rehabilitation of the Jews in Palestine, their eagerness to have a temple, a universal house of worship, all without faith in God and with their hatred against the Christ of God, shows how very near all these predicted events are. The ever increasing apostasy of Modernism in the professing church is the shadow of the soon coming great apostasy.
But who keeps back the full revelation of the mystery of lawlessness? Who is He that restrains? (Verses 5-8). Many answers have been given to this question. It is evident that that which restraineth must be a power superior to man and Satan, and of a nature totally different to the man of sin and his work. The restraining power is a person. It is the Holy Spirit of God. When the Church is taken up to meet the Lord in the air, this restraining person, the Holy Spirit, who dwells in the body of Christ, the Church, will be taken out of the way. His restraining influences will cease.
God will then permit everything to rush into the apostasy and, in due time, the lawless one will be revealed, accepted by all who did not receive the love of the truth.
The First Epistle to Timothy
The two Epistles to Timothy and the one to Titus are generally called the pastoral Epistles, because they are addressed to these two servants of Christ, who had been put in charge of important churches. Timothy ministered in Ephesus and Titus in Crete. The purpose of the first Epistle to Timothy is stated in Chapter iii:14,15. In the first Epistle the Church is seen as the House of God; in the second Epistle the House of God is anticipated in its failure and disorder. Both Epistles, especially the second Epistle, give solemn prophetic warnings as to the closing of the age and the inrushing apostasy. These warnings must be connected with the warnings our Lord gave and with what we have learned from the second chapter in the ia Epistle, to the Thessalonians.
Chapter 1:1 “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons.” It is a prophetic warning. Inasmuch as the true faith revealed in the infallible, inerrant Word of God, is the foundation upon which everything rests, Satan aims at that first of all. He does so today in Modernism and the New Theology. ‘Then when the true faith is given up, the master-mind of the enemy brings in the false doctrines, the fables of seducing spirits and demons.
Only one direct mention is made in this Epistle of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He exhorted Timothy to “keep this commandment without spot, unrebukable, unto the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (vi:14).
The Second Epistle to Timothy
In this Epistle Timothy is repeatedly exhorted to hold fast the form of sound doctrine. It was probably the last Epistle the prisoner of the Lord wrote and in its prophetic testimony we find the most solemn warnings as to our own times. Here the moral and religious conditions of professing Christendom are faithfully and minutely pictured. In the first chapter, the Apostle gives his own testimony. “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.”? ‘This is followed by the first exhortation. (Verses 13,14).
Chapter t11:1-5 ‘*This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.”? Such are the predicted religious conditions which will hold sway during the last days, not in the ungodly world, but among the ungodly masses of professing Christians, who have an outward profession, the form of godliness, but deny the power. Here we see the fruits of the present day modernism, which denies the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These conditions the returning Lord will find on earth.
Chapter 1v:1-4 “I charge thee before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at Hts appearing and His kingdom; Preach the Word, be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come, when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” ‘This is the last, and the most solemn exhortation, Paul wrote to his son Timothy. With the coming of the Lord before his heart, he charges him to preach the Word at all times. The blessed hope gives energy to continue in the faithful ministry of the Truth of God. What the Apostle beheld here and penned by the Holy Spirit nineteen hundred years ago has come to pass. Sound doctrine is no longer endured. The outcry is against the dogma, the form of sound words.
Away with the faith of our fathers! Away with the belief in the Bible as the infallible Word of God! Away with the belief that Christ is the Virgin-born Son of God! This is followed by belief in fables, such as the evolution fable. These conditions which are now with us will lead on towards that complete apostasy of which Paul speaks in 2 Thess. ii and in the manifestation of the man of sin.
Chapter 1v:6-9 *‘For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there 1s 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 unio all them that love His appearing.” The martyr’s death loomed up before the prisoner of the Lord when he wrote these most blessed words.
The correct translation of the first sentence is ‘For I am already being offered,” that is, his heart contemplated in joyful anticipation, the hour when he would depart and be with Christ. He knows there is laid up for him a crown of righteousness. He does not say that he will receive this crown immediately upon his departure, but that He will receive it from the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous Judge, in that day, when he and all the Saints will appear before the judgment seat of Christ. What a crown he will receive in the day of Christ! And the crown of righteousness is here also promised to all who love His appearing. This means more than loving the truth of the coming of the Lord. If we love His appearing, we shall ‘ also walk in separation from the world, and, like the Apostle, fight the good fight and keep the faith. Again we say, how meaningless all this would be if Christ did not come back.
The Epistle to Titus
In this Epistle, addressed to Titus, a Greek convert of the Apostle Paul (Tit. i:4:Gal.iii:3), we find but one reference to our Lord’s return.
Chapter 11:11-13 *‘For the grace of God, bringing salvation for all men, hath appeared, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously and godly in the present age, awaiting the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us from all iniqutty, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”
This is a comprehensive statement of the Gospel and true Christianity. The grace of God appeared in the Son of God, our Lord. This grace comes to man bringing salvation, offering salvation to all men, because Christ died for our sins. ‘The same grace teaches how to live and walk in the present age, and supplies the power for a sober, righteous
Me and godly life. Then we read of the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is coming again for His Saints; this is the blessed hope; He will appear in glory; this is His visible manifestation, when we shall be manifested with Him in glory. This hope is seen once more as an incentive for a holy life. These things Titus was to speak with all authority.
The Epistle to the Hebrews
In the first chapter of this Epistle the Holy Spirit reveals Christ in His exaltation at the right hand of God. After He made purification of sins, He was constituted heir of all things, being made so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. This fact is attested by the Old Testament prophetic Word. The Spirit of God uses the Book of Psalms and quotes from seven Psalms. ‘These Psalms reveal His matchless person, and in several of them His glory, dependent on a future manifestation, is predicted. The second Psalm, which is quoted, reveals the fact that some day He will be enthroned as King upon the holy hill of Zion and receive the nations for His inheritance, over whom He will rule. The next Psalm quoted is the eighty ninth, here we find the promise “I will make Him my Firstborn (as risen from the dead), higher than the kings of the earth.” The forty fifth Psalm, mentioned in verses 8 and 9, speaks prophetically of His future throne, and the one hundred and tenth Psalm tells us that His place at the right hand of God is occupied by Him till God makes His enemies the footstool of His feet. Then He will receive His kingly rights and judge the nations. All these prophetic Psalms can only be fulfilled with His return.
Chapter 11:6-10 ‘*But one in a certain place testified, saying, What 1s man that Thou art mindful of him? or the son of man that Thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels, Thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of Thy hands; Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet. For in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now we see not yet all things put under Him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He by the grace of God should taste death for everything. For it became Him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
The eighth Psalm is quoted and we learn that the second Man, the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, is the One under whose feet all things are to be put into subjection. He was made a little lower than the angels; He suffered on the cross and is now exalted at the right hand of God. As we learned from other Scriptures (see 1 Cor. xv:22-27) all things will be put under His feet, not through the work of the Church, but on the day of His return.
Chapter ix:28 “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall’ He appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation.” ‘The context states three appearings of Christ. He appeared once in the end of the world (that is, age, the Jewish age) to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This is His first coming to suffer and to die.
He appears now in the presence of God for us, as our high priest. This appearing is unseen by human eyes. Then as surely as He appeared once on earth to die, so He will appear a second time unto salvation to them that look for Him. There is then a “second coming” or “‘appearing.”
What does it mean “‘unto them that look for Him”? Some teach that He comes and takes unto Himself only those Christians who actually wait for Him and look for Him. They teach that all others will be left behind to go through the great tribulation. Scripture does not teach any such thing. All true believers believe in a return of our Lord. It is the universal belief of all Christians. If any man denies that He is ever coming again in person, as He promised and as the Holy Spirit so abundantly testifies through His Apostles, that man can hardly be called a true believer. All true believers look for Him at some time. ‘To share in the glory promised with His coming is not the question of belief in the mode and manner of His coming, but it is solely the question of being born again and belonging to Christ. “All who are Christ’s at His coming’”’ will share in that future salvation and glory. (1 Cor.xv:23) Countless thousands ‘of Christians died, who knew nothing of His coming, as we know it. Yet they will all be raised when He comes, not because they had a scriptural creed about His coming, but because they belong to Christ and are members of His body. But there is a more positive interpretation which we must not overlook. The Epistle was addressed to believing Hebrews.
When the age ends, as we have seen before in this volume, a Jewish believing remnant will be on the earth, waiting for Him and His visible manifestation. ‘Those who wait for Him during the tribulation will be delivered when He comes. He appears unto them particularly “‘unto salvation.”
Chapter x:25 ‘* Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some 1s, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” The day mentioned, is the day of His return.
That day is approaching throughout this age. Each generation can say “the night is far spent, the day is at hand” (Rom. xiii:12).
Verse 37 “For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” ‘This is a partial quotation of Hab.ii: 3-4. With God an age of almost two thousand years is. but a little while. But the;emphasis is upon the fact that He will come and will not tarry.