Down to Earth But Heavenly Minded

It must ever be the desire of the heart that loves Jesus to see Him as He is and be with Him and like Him forever. Hence, the proper cry of an affectionate heart is, “Come, Lord Jesus.” But it is our privilege to have fellowship with Him in His longsuffering toward this poor world. “The longsuffering of our Lord is salvation.” Blessed be His name, “He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3). We do not think there is any difficulty in reconciling the two things. A loving wife may mourn the absence of her husband and earnestly long for his return, but he is away preaching the gospel and she may have such full fellowship with him in his work as to be quite willing that he should prolong his absence if only a single soul should thereby be brought to Jesus.

As to your difficulty about the expression “falling away” in 2 Thessalonians 2, it arises, we judge, from your not seeing the distinction between the Lord’s coming to receive His people and His coming to judge the world — between His coming as the Bridegroom and His coming as the Judge. “The day of the Lord” refers to the latter, and before that day comes, there will be a great apostasy or falling away and “the man of sin will be revealed.” It is most needful to understand this distinction. The proper hope of the believer is the coming of the Lord, which may be become reality at any moment, but when the Church has gone to be with her Lord, the man of sin shall be revealed, “whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” This is far too weighty and extensive a subject to be handled in a short letter, but you might study prayerfully 1 Thessalonians 4:3-10 compared with 2 Thessalonians 2:12.

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 the apostle is correcting a mistake into which the Thessalonian saints had fallen. They had been led to think that “the day of the Lord” had actually begun. In the first epistle, he had taught them to look for the Lord’s coming and their gathering to Him in the air, to be forever with Him. Further, he had taught them that “the day” was not to overtake them as a thief. Then, in the second epistle, the apostle exhorts them “by” or on the ground of Christ’s coming, not to be agitated as to “the day.” The former was their proper hope; the latter could not take place until after the manifestation of “the man of sin” which was then and still is future. Your difficulty arises from not distinguishing between “the coming” of Christ for His saints and “the day” of His manifestation in judgment upon the world. We are exhorted by the former not to be troubled about the latter. The two things are as distinct as possible. The one is the bright and blissful consummation of the Church’s hope; the other, the death knell of all this world’s glory. The distinction is very important.

We do not think that Matthew 16:27 and 1 Thessalonians 4:16 refer to the same thing. Matthew refers to the public manifestation, Thessalonians to the coming of Christ for His saints, according to John 14:3. The proper hope of the Church is her Lord’s coming to receive her to Himself. She is called to wait for Himself, not for rewards. There will be rewards, but these belong to the manifestation of the kingdom and are neither our proper hope nor the true motive for service. The love of Christ is our true motive spring — Himself our hope.

As to the expression, “These my brethren,” it refers to the messengers who shall go forth to the nations previous to the setting up of the kingdom. They will be from among the Jews. The entire scene refers to the judgment of the living nations. There is no such thing in Scripture as a general simultaneous judgment. There will be the judgment of “the quick” [the living] before the Millennium and the judgment of “the dead” after the Millennium, and the warrior judgment executed upon “the beast.”

We judge that Philippians 4:5 refers to the Lord’s coming. “Let your moderation [yieldingness] be known to all men. The Lord is at hand.” If our hearts are set upon the blessed hope of the Lord’s coming, we shall not be standing up for our rights or grasping after the perishing things of this world. He may come tonight. Then we shall leave all these things behind forever. It is interesting to notice the two expressions in this passage. Our moderation is to be known to men; our requests are to be made known to God. Men are to see that we are perfectly content with our portion and prospect. We should never go to men with our wants. God is sufficient. Man is sure to disappoint us. God never fails a trusting heart, blessed be His holy name.

The judgment in Revelation 19 is what we may call the “warrior judgment.” Most surely it is after the Church has left this scene. This is obvious from the fact that the saints come forth with the Rider on the white horse.

We believe the midnight cry has gone forth. We recognize the result of that cry in the large measure of attention which has been given since about the 1830’s to the glorious truth of the Lord’s coming. For centuries, not a sound was heard about the Bridegroom’s return. “My Lord delays His coming” was the plain language of the professing Church. Christendom was asleep. But, through the mercy of God, the cry has gone forth — that soul-stirring cry, “Behold, the Bridegroom comes; go ye out to meet Him.” Are we ready? Have we got the oil in our vessels — the true grace of God’s Spirit in our hearts? Solemn enquiry! Those who are “ready” shall go in with the Bridegroom. The rest shall be shut out into outer darkness — the awful region of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth; that place where hope can never come, where not one single ray of light can ever shine in upon the gloom of eternity.

Oh! may God’s Spirit stir up all our hearts and make us thoroughly in earnest! May we be seen with girded loins and burning lights as men who are really waiting for their Lord! May we seek to sound a warning note in the ears of our fellow men as we pass along from day to day. Lord, make us serious!