Introduction
The Redeemer’s Return! Here is a
theme which in this day is regarded by many well-meaning people as an ideal of
visionaries or as the pet hobby of certain cranks. So grievously has the study
of Prophecy been ignored, so little place is given in the modern pulpit to the
exposition of eschatology, and so generally is the daily reading of the Bible
neglected by those in the pew, that it is an easy matter to persuade the
average church-goer that the subject of the Second Coming of Christ is impractical
and one that had better be left alone. Moreover, this subject has suffered
so grievously at the hands of those who are the enemies of
the Cross, that many Christians have been prejudiced against it. Satan has not
been slow to avail himself of the wild and unscriptural teaching of such men as
Irving and Joseph Smith, and more recently, Dowie and Pastor (?) Russell; nay,
he has employed them to cast reproach on those who do seek to search and
interpret the Prophetic Scriptures. Yet, notwithstanding, it
is the imperative duty of every believer to seriously and prayerfully examine
the Scriptures for himself and see what the Word of God has to say about
Coming Events. In that Word we are plainly warned that in the "last
days" (of this age) there should arise those who ridicule and mock at the
very doctrine of which we are now speaking (see 2 Peter 3:3, 4). Therefore we
need not be surprised if we hear and read of those who seek
to cast reproach upon this blessed theme; instead, as the Dispensation draws to
a close, we should expect just what we now hear and see on every side.
The Redeemer’s Return! Is there
anything that can be compared with this momentous and stupendous prospect?
Excepting the Cross of Calvary, the greatest event of all in
the past history of the world was the Advent of God’s Son to our earth. The
Divine Incarnation was the theme of Old Testament prophecy. The very first
promise ever given to fallen man was that the woman’s Seed should come and
bruise the Serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). When the Divine revelation was committed
to writing, numerous passages recorded the promised descent of God’s Son to
this earth. The prophets of Israel made known the fact that
the Coming One was to be of the stock of Abraham and a lineal descendant of
David, and thus for fifteen centuries the Hope of Israel was the Messianic
Hope. And, when the fullness of time was come God sent forth His Son born of a
woman.
It is impossible for us to fully estimate the tremendous
importance of the first Advent of Christ to this
earth, The Divine Incarnation is without a parallel in the annals of the human
race. Heaven itself was stirred at the miraculous birth of the God-Man. Unto
the angels was entrusted the honorous commission of announcing the birth
of the Savior. Heathendom was affected, the good news being
conveyed to Chaldea by means of a mysterious "star" which
heralded the birth of the King of the Jews. The Coming of
Christ to this world changed its chronology, for all civilized
time is now by common consent dated from the Bethlehem manger. As the result of
the first Advent a new era was inaugurated, a new prospect was set before the
sons of men, the door of mercy was flung wide open, and command was given that
the glad tidings should be made known to every creature.
But wondrous and blessed as was the
first Advent of our Lord in many respects, His Second Coming will be even
more momentous. At His first appearing He was here in weakness and
humiliation, but at His second He shall come in power and glory. When He was
here before He was "despised and rejected of men," but when He comes
back again every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue confess His Lordship. When He was here before He paid tribute to Caesar,
but when He returns He shall reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. When He
was here before His personal ministry was confined to the land of Palestine,
but when He returns "the earth shall be filled with the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab.
2:14). Who can comprehend or enumerate the blessings which shall attend the Return of our Redeemer! Then will it be that the
"dead in Christ" shall be raised from their graves and the living
saints "changed," so that every believer will then be
"conformed to the image of God’s Son." Then it will be that the
Lord’s servants will be rewarded for their labors and those that wets despised
and hated by the world shall be recognized and honored by the Christ of God.
Then it will be that Israel shall repent of their sins,
receive Christ as their Messiah and Savior, and be restored to the Holy Land.
Then will the promise made to the patriarchs be literally and completely
fulfilled. Then it will be that that old Serpent the Devil shall be removed
from these scenes where he has wrought such havoc and produced such misery, to
be chained for a thousand years in the Bottomless Pit. Then it will be that a groaning Creation shall be delivered from its present
bondage, when the Curse which now rests upon all Nature shall be removed, and
when the wilderness and the solitary place shall be made glad; and the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose (Isa. 35:1). And, best of all, then it
shall be that Christ Himself shall enter into His blood-bought inheritance,
when He shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied.
Therefore, ought not such a subject, which presents such a glorious prospect,
gladden our hearts and secure our most diligent attention!
God does not desire His dear people to remain in
ignorance of His future purposes concerning them, concerning His Son, and
concerning this earth. Said the apostle as he was moved by the Holy Spirit,
"We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy; whereunto
ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place,
until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (2 Pet. 1:19).
If then we give diligent heed to the Prophetic Word, if we will prayerfully study
that which God has been pleased to reveal unto us concerning things to come,
and if we will believe in our hearts all that the prophets
have spoken, then shall we be like the Thessalonians of whom
it could be said—"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 that day should overtake you
as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day:
we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others,
but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thess. 5:1-6).
The Redeemer’s Return! This was the
great hope of the early Christians. In the first century of the Christian era
it was the normal and regular thing to find that the expectation
of a returning Savior filled the vision and hearts of His followers. The
apostles themselves taught their converts to look for the appearing of
Christ. Writing to the Thessalonian saints the apostle Paul reminded
them how they had "turned to God from idols to serve the living and true
God; and to wait for His Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1:9,
10), Writing to the twelve tribes scattered abroad, the apostle
James bade them be patient and stablish their hearts, basing his
exhortation on the fact that "The Coming of the Lord draweth nigh"
(James 5:8). Writing to "the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia "who were in heaviness through
manifold temptations," the apostle Peter expressed the wish that
the trial of their faith "might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" (1
Pet. 1:7). Writing to his "little children" (a term of endearment)
the apostle John lovingly exhorted them to abide in Christ so that when
He should appear they might have confidence and "not be ashamed before Him
at His coming" (1 John 2:28). Writing of the apostasy which
was to come, the apostle Jude quoted the prophecy of Enoch, who
declared, "Behold, the Lord cometh with ten
thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all" (Jude 1:14,15).
Thus we find that it was the uniform practice of the apostles to hold up
a returning Savior before the children of God.
Right at the close of the first century A. D. when the
time had come for the Sacred Canon to be completed, our Lord Himself sent His
angel to communicate a special message to each of the seven
Churches which were in Asia, and in five of them, namely, in the Epistles
addressed to the Churches in Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and
Philadelphia (see Revelation 2:5, 16, 25; 3:3, 11) Christ makes distinct
reference to His imminent appearing; while His last words to His loved
disciple were, "Surely I come quickly" (Rev. 22:20).
We have thus shown that this Age
began with a ringing testimony to the truth of our Lord’s Return. Each of the apostles
of whose writings we have any inspired record, taught their converts to look
for their Savior’s appearing. Alas! that this testimony was not maintained.
Alas! that this Blessed Hope should ever have become dim. Alas! that it should,
for more than a thousand years, have been almost totally lost to the Lord’s people. Yet so it was. The immediate successors of
the apostles turned their attention to other things: as it was with the
Pharisees in the days of our Lord, so these tithed anise and mint but "omitted
the weightier matters." Instead of expounding the Prophetic
Scriptures and setting before the Church its one great Hope, the early
"Church fathers," for the most part, spent their time in
wrangling among themselves. Even before the apostles
themselves had left the earth, false teachers crept in and began to
devour the flock, and within three centuries the whole professing Church had
become Paganized. Then followed the Dark Ages—aptly named, for the lamp of
Prophecy had ceased to shine and the prospect of the speedy return of
the Morning Star had completely disappeared. As our Lord Himself had foretold, the virgins all slumbered and slept: no longer were
His people looking for the Coming of the Bridegroom. (No doubt the parable of
the Bridegroom in Matthew 25 refers primarily to the Jewish remnant in the
tribulation period as its opening word "Then" indicates, but, like
all prophecy, this has a double fulfillment and unquestionably applies to the
Christian profession.)
We need not remind our readers it
was during this period known as the Dark Ages that the Roman Catholic Church
sprang into prominence and power, holding sway over all Europe and binding
burdens on the souls of men which were grievous to be borne. The Bible was
withheld from the laity and the vain traditions of men were substituted for the
living Oracles of God. Instead of proclaiming salvation by the finished
work of Christ, the multitudes were taught that heaven could only be obtained
by penance, legal works, priestly mediation, and purgatorial fires. Instead of
teaching her people that the hope of the saints was the appearing of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ, Rome taught that the hope of humanity lay in the
subjugation of the entire world to the imperial rule of the Pope. Instead of
exhorting believers to "look up" (Luke
21:28), the Roman Pontiff sought to dazzle the eyes of his devotees with the
gorgeous ceremonialism of an earthly ritual.
After a thousand years of spiritual darkness the Sun of
Righteousness shone forth over Europe with healing in His beams. During the
sixteenth century God raised up a number of mighty men who, by the power of His
Spirit, were delivered from the iron shackles of the Papacy
and made to rejoice in the freedom into which the Lord Jesus brings His people.
Under God, these men brought about what is known as the great Reformation.
During this Reformation the Holy Scriptures were restored to the people and
given to them in their own native tongues. The glorious doctrine of
Justification by Faith alone, was sounded forth throughout Germany,
Switzerland, Italy and the British Isles, and multitudes
were "added unto the Lord." Many precious truths, which for long
centuries had lain buried beneath the rubbish heap of human traditions, were
recovered and given out to the masses. But the Reformation, glorious as it was,
witnessed only a partial recovery of long lost truths. The Hope
of the Church was not yet restored! The prospect of a soon returning Redeemer was not yet set before God’s people again. Three more
centuries passed by before the third part of our Lord’s prophecy in the Parable
of the Virgins received its fulfillment. It was not until the nineteenth
century that the midnight cry arose "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye
out to meet Him" (Matthew 25:6). Then it was that God raised up another
baud of witnesses, sent forth by Him to herald the approach
of His Son. The result has been that an ever increasing number of the saints
have given studious attention to the prophetic portions of the Word, until,
today, in every, section of Christendom, there are companies of believers who
are eagerly waiting for the Shout of the Lord which shall call them away from
this earth to be for ever with Him. It is our humble desire to unite with these
witnesses of God in testifying that the Coming of the Lord
"draweth nigh." The Signs of the times speak plainly to those who
have ears to hear, and singly and collectively bear witness to the fact that
this Dispensation of Grace is now almost ended. The prophecies of the New
Testament show clearly that we are living in the "last days" of this
Age, and by the help of the Spirit of Truth we would herein call attention to those Scriptures which make known to us the stupendous events
which shall surely and shortly come to pass.