Fundamental Truths of Salvation

By Edward Dennett

Chapter 11

THE COMING OF THE LORD.

ONE object of hope is placed before the believer in the Scriptures as soon as he has been brought out of darkness into God's marvellous light, and that is the coming or return of the Lord Jesus. This is the case in almost every book of the New Testament; and this fact makes it the more surprising that the hope of the Lord's return has been lost sight of by almost the whole professing Church. Let us examine the Scriptures on this point.

In the first place, we shall find that our Lord Himself was continually pressing this truth upon the attention of His disciples. In the gospel of Matthew it is found again and again, and the “ parable of the virgins” embodies it in its most striking form. (Matt. xxv.) In Mark we get the exhortation, " Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock - crowing, or in the morning, ” etc. (xiii. 35–37.) In Luke we read, “ Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and 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.” (xii. 35, 36.) In John we have those blessed and familiar words: "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if (it were] not [so], I would have told you. 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. ” (xiv. 1-3.)

These are only samples of the way in which the Lord presented His return to His disciples; and we now pass on to the subsequent books of the New Testament, because it is after the resurrection and ascension of Christ that the Holy Spirit reveals this truth as the distinctive hope of the believer. Indeed, no sooner had the Lord been taken from His disciples up into heaven than this message was sent to them: “ Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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 i. 10, 11.) Passing still onward to the epistles which were addressed to churches or to saints, we shall find the same thing. The first epistle to the Thessalonians was the earliest in point of time of these; and in this, describing their conversion, the apostle says: “ They themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven. ” (1 Thess. i. 9, 10; see also ii. 19, 20; iii. 13; iv. 13-18, etc.) The second epistle to the same church treats of the same subject, correcting some mistakes into which the saints were in danger of falling through false teaching. (See 2 Thess. ii. 1–6.) In Colossians we have the same distinct note “ When Christ, (who is] our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory ” (iii. 4), showing here indeed that the saints will have been caught up to meet the Lord before His appearing. In Philippians also we have, “ Our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (iii. 20.) So in Titus, Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” (ii. 13.)

Taking now the last book of the Bible, what do we find? The same thing both at the commencement and at the close. Of all the seven churches Philadelphia seems most in accord with the Lord's mind; and it is to it that He says, “ Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. " (Rev. iii. 11.) And our Lord thus closes His communications to His people, and the whole canon of inspired truth: “ He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly ” (Rev. xxii. 20), sufficient evidence surely of the place He would have His coming to occupy in our minds.

And not only is it the fact that our attitude should ever be that of waiting for the Lord Jesus, but we are also taught that there is nothing of necessity, as far as is revealed, between the pre sent and that coming, no intervening events to occupy us or to turn aside our gaze; but that at any moment, even while this page is being written or read, the Lord may " descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God,” to raise His sleeping saints, and to change the living ones, that both alike may be caught up “ in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. ” (1 Thess. iv. 15–18.) Thus the apostle, in the constant expectation of this event, says, “We which are alive and remain shall be caught up,” etc. (v. 17); and again, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall be changed. ” (1 Cor. xv. 51.) Accordingly, it is the evil servant who is spoken of as saying in his heart, “ My lord delayeth his coming " (Matt. xxiv. 48); and Peter also tells us that there will be scoffers in the last days, “ walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Peter iii. 3, 4.)

Waiting, looking for, expecting the coming of the Lord should thus characterize every believer. For, as we have continually seen in these pages, we are a heavenly people, and hence our hope is also heavenly; and we wait for the Lord Jesus, because He Himself has told us to do so. And, moreover, He has been pleased to reveal to us that then will be the consummation of our redemption. It is then that we shall be like Him (1 John iii. 2); that we shall be like Him bodily as well as morally. (Phil. iii. 21.) For if we shall have died as to the body ere He returns, He will raise us from among the dead, in resurrection bodies like His own; if we are still on the earth, we shall “ be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we ” (i.e. the living) “ shall be changed.” (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52.) Then, too, not only shall we enter upon our association with Him in the glory, but we shall also “ ever be with the Lord.” (1 Thess. iv. 17.)

The effect of this hope upon the soul should be most blessed. We may adduce a few instances of the practical power which it is intended to exercise. Beyond all, the constant expectation of Christ constitutes a searching test of our spiritual condition. This is one of the main points in the parable of the virgins. (Matt. xxv. 1-13.) All the virgins are professors; but the fatal distinction is that while five are wise, five are foolish. All alike had lamps, and all alike professed to go forth to meet the Bridegroom. Outwardly therefore there was no difference; and as far as can be discovered from the parable the essential difference between them was not detected until the cry was raised, “ Behold the Bridegroom! ” Then it is, in the prospect of His approach, and in order to be ready to meet Him, that they are aroused from their slumbers, and that they begin to trim their lamps; but no sooner was the light applied to the wicks of their lamps than five discover their lack of oil: Until now they had thought that all was well. They were professors, and walked, outwardly at least, as the Lord's people; but now, in the near prospect of meeting the Lord, they are made to know that they had no oil, that they had not been born again, that they had no indwelling Spirit to bear witness with their spirits that they were God's children, that they were professors and nothing else, and therefore that as such they could not meet the Bridegroom. Hence their endeavours to get the oil: but no, their efforts are vain; it is too late, for the Bridegroom and those that were ready have gone in to the marriage: " and the door was shut. ” (v. 10.) Undaunted still, they press onwards and reach the door, and standing there, they raise the pleading cry, “Lord, Lord, open to us. But He answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. ” (vv. 11, 12.) And the solemn lesson which the Lord Himself draws is this, “ Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour ” (v. 13); for what happened to the foolish virgins in the parable may happen to any of us, if we take only the lamp of profession, and have no oil; i.e. if we are Christians only in name, never having been born again, and received the Spirit of adoption.

But not only does the expectation of Christ reveal the true state of professors, but it also discovers the condition of the wise virgins. These equally with the foolish had slumbered and slept, and it is the cry, “ Behold the Bridegroom ” which also awakens them, and constrains them to trim their lamps that they might go forth and meet Him; and it is only thus that being ready they went in with Him to the marriage. (v. 10.) Indeed, when believers are constantly expecting their Lord, it is impossible for them to sleep. In spirit they are already in His presence, and their own state and associations are instantly revealed. And it would seem from the parable that there are four things which constitute readiness to meet the Lord: First, the one essential thing, oil; secondly, the lamp trimmed and burning; thirdly, separation, for they were to go out to meet the Bridegroom; and lastly, watchfulness, for their failure was in having slumbered and slept. And it is when the Lord is momentarily expected that believers will seek to have these characteristics of preparedness for His presence.

It should be also an incentive to fidelity in service. Thus in the parable of the ten pounds, the charge which accompanied their delivery to the ten servants was, “ Occupy till I come.” (Luke xix. 12-27.) Concerning the evil servant, already mentioned, it is said, “ The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites, " etc. (Matt. xxiv. 50, 51.) Thus the coming of Christ is a double motive to fidelity; it holds out encouragement to the faithful, and it affords a warning to the careless servant. The former will say with joyful anticipation, " My Lord is at hand, and therefore I must seek to be diligent ere He comes; ” while the latter, if he reflect at all, will surely think, “What will my Lord say if He find me, at His coming, both care less and unfaithful? ” The more fully therefore we live in the power of the expectation of Christ, the more shall we feel the need of serving as in His sight, knowing that He will reckon with us on His return.

The prospect of the coming of Christ exerts also a separating power upon heart and life. The apostle John says, “ 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. And every man that hath this hope in Him (i.e. in Christ) purifieth himself, even as He is pure.” (1 John ii. 2, 3.) Nothing indeed will detach us from all that is unsuited to His presence like the constant expectation of Christ. Knowing that He may return at any moment, and living with this expectation, it will be our desire to be separated from all, whether in heart, manner, habit, life, and walk, on which He could not smile. Yea, it will lead us to judge every thing within and without ourselves by the light of His presence as being in spirit already with Him, and thus having Him in glory continually before our souls, to “ purify ourselves even as He is pure."

These are only some of the practical effects of the living expectation of the coming of Christ. If the Scriptures are examined further on the subject, it will be found that the coming of Christ is always associated with the heart and life of the believer. But enough has been said to indicate the practical character of the doctrine. A grievous wrong is therefore done to the young believer when he is kept in ignorance of this most blessed truth. For if the cross of Christ is the foundation, the coming of Christ is the completion of his salvation, for it is then, as we have seen, that 124 FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHS OF SALVATION. in body also he will be like his Lord. And not only so, but he is also deprived of that hope which, applied by the Holy Spirit, not only sustains him in discouragement, comforts him in trouble, consoles him in bereavement, nerves him for conflict, stimulates his zeal, and calls forth his affections, but also works mightily for his practical sanctification. It is no wonder therefore that Satan should seek to obscure it from the minds of believers; but it is a wonder that so many should fall into his snare, inasmuch as our blessed Lord has for ever associated it with the touching memorials of His own death. For every time “ we eat the bread, and drink the cup, we do show the Lord's death TILL HE COME. ” (1 Cor. xi. 26.)  

" A little while! ' the Lord shall come,
     And we shall wander here no more;
He'll take us to His Father's home,
     Where He for us is gone before:
To dwell with Him, to see His face,
And sing the glories of His grace.

A little while!" He'll come again:
     Let us the precious hours redeem;
Our only grief to give Him pain,
     Our joy to serve and follow Him:
Watching and ready may we be,
As those that wait their Lord to see. "

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