PROMINENCE OF THE DOCTRINE.

Bickersteth affirms, after careful examination, that one verse in thirty of the New Testament relates to the second coming of Christ. If to these are added the numerous references in the Old Testament to the same momentous event, surpassing the allusions that are made to His first coming in the proportion of at least twenty to one, some conception may be formed of the prominence given in the word of God to the doctrine here advocated. The fact that a certain subject pervades the Sacred Scriptures is sufficient to indicate the high value placed upon it by the Holy Ghost, who dictated to inspired men precisely what to write. When, for example, we find the doctrine of our Lord’s divinity constantly asserted, and the doctrine of redemption through His blood running through Revelation from first to last, and the doctrine of faith in His name stated more than five hundred times by Christ Himself and the Apostles, it is legitimate to infer that these truths are regarded as of special importance by the Spirit of God.

What shall we say, then, when we discover that one verse of thirty in the New Testament is occupied about the second coming of our Lord? Can it be right to neglect such a truth Can it be right to banish it from our thoughts, our social circles, and our public discourses as a forbidden topic Can it be right to speak of those who love His appearing as eccentric, and as engaged in disseminating extravagant and unprofitable views? Alas! that they are eccentric is too true, but this only proves the lamentable condition into which the Church has drifted; for if it can be shown that a doctrine everywhere found in the Bible is overlooked or ridiculed by a majority of Christians, at the present day, we need no other evidence to convince us of their departure from the faith in one important particular. But how many Christians of the present day have ever heard a single statement of the doctrine of our Lord’s second coming? They may have listened to occasional sermons about the judgment, but let the reader determine for himself whether he has been accustomed to hear from the pulpits of the various ecclesiastical organizations the slightest mention of the personal return of Jesus Christ as the proper hope of the Church.

In contrast with this melancholy silence concerning our blessed hope, let us glance at the testimony of our Lord and His Apostles. Scattered through the discourses of the former we find such declarations as the following: “The Son of Man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works,” (Matt, xvi: 29); “Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel,” (Matt, xix: 28); “As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be,” (Matt, xxiv: 27); “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory,” (Matt, xxiv: 30); “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be,” ( Matt, xxiv: 36-39); “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come,” (Matt, xxiv: 42); “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you. That he shall make him ruler over all his goods,” (Matt, xxiv: 44-47); “When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory,” (Matt, xxv: 31); “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,” (Matt, xxvi: 64).

These quotations are from Saint Matthew alone, and they are far from exhausting all the references made in that single gospel to the coming of our Lord. Nearly the whole of the thirteenth, and the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth chapters are filled almost exclusively with statements touching the entire character and course of the present dispensation, terminating with the personal advent of Christ, and bearing upon that advent as the end to which the disciples should constantly look. Contrast the fulness and frequency of His allusions to His second, coming with His silence concerning the Church and baptism, the former of which He mentioned but twice incidentally, and the latter only once, and that after His resurrection. Then contrast the prominence that is given in these days to the Church and baptism with the total silence which prevails in thousands of pulpits concerning the second coming of our Lord: and it will be seen that the faith of multitudes is sadly out of proportion to the teachings of the Saviour. It is to be feared that the Church and baptism are too often substituted in the place of Christ, and this may explain why the heart so feebly responds to the blessed promise of His coming.

Passing by testimony upon the same subject that can be found abundantly in Mark, Luke, John, and the Acts of the Apostles, let us glance at the declarations contained in the inspired Epistles. Let us begin with the Epistles to the Thessalonians, because it is known to every scholar that they were the first Saint Paul was directed by the Holy Ghost to write, and because they furnish such clear intimations of the doctrines he made prominent in his discourses, even where he preached but a short time. By consulting the Acts of the Apostles we learn that after his release from the prison of Philippi on his first visit to Europe, he passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, and came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews. “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus whom I preach unto you, is Christ. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few,” (Acts xvii: 24). Whereupon it appears that a tumult arose among the people, the result of which was the departure of the Apostle by night. Tarrying for a little season at Berea, he next visited Athens, and went to Corinth, where the Spirit of God commanded him to address a communication to the believers in Thessalonica.

In the first chapter of the first Epistle he describes them as those who had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come,” (1 Thess. i: 9, 10). The translation of Conybeare and Howson, in the “Life and Epistles of Saint Paul,” makes this language still stronger, for they render it, “Now you wait with eager longing for the return of his Son from the heavens, even Jesus, whom he raised from the dead, our deliverer from the coming vengeance.” It seems plain, then, that these saints, who were once groping in the darkness of heathenism, had learned truth enough in the course of a few weeks to know that Jesus had delivered them from the wrath to come, and to understand that it was their proper attitude of soul to wait with eager longing for His return from the heavens. Neither they nor the Apostle were told when He will return, but they were taught to wait for Him, instead of looking for the universal triumph of the Church, and the boasted progress of Christian civilization. The first step in the experience of a saint is to know upon the sure testimony of God that Christ has actually delivered him from wrath, and the next step as the logical result of this accomplished redemption is to wait for Christ from heaven, so that Christ is the beginning, the middle, and the end, the centre and the circumference, the motive and the object, the all in all to the believing soul. “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they that watch for the morning,” (Ps. cxxx: 5, 6).

In the second chapter the Apostle writes, “What is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” (1 Thess. ii: 19). Conybeare and Howson render this, “When you shall stand before our Lord Jesus Christ at his appearing.” Here also the inspired writer points his brethren to the second coming of Christ as the time of a glad reunion, as the time of mutual recognition and bliss, as the time of glorious reward and sweet rest after the toils of his earthly ministry, when, surrounded as it were by those who had received the gospel at his hands, he can say, in the language of his Master, “Behold I and the children which God hath given me,” (Heb. ii: 13).

In the third chapter he writes, “The Lord make you to abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 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,” (1 Thess. iii: 12, 13). If all the saints come with the Lord Jesus when He is finally revealed here on the earth, it follows that they must have been previously caught up to meet Him and be with Him, and it is this happy day of the coming of Christ for the saints before He comes with them, which the Apostle ever seeks to keep before the minds of believers as a powerful incentive to diligence and fidelity, that then they may be found unblameable in holiness.

In the fourth chapter he writes, “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” (1 Thess. iv: 14-18). The meaning of this precious passage is too obvious to need the slightest exposition, but the exact import of some of the terms may be better understood if we look at other renderings that have been given. Dean Alford’s Revised New Testament translates it as follows: “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which fell asleep through Jesus will God bring together with him. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we which are living, who remain behind to the coming of the Lord, shall in no wise gain an advantage over them which fell asleep. Because the Lord himself shall come down from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are living, who remain behind, shall be caught up all together, with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord, into the air: and so shall we be always with the Lord. So then comfort one another with these words.” Darby’s Translation gives it as follows: “If we believe that Jesus has died and has risen again, so also God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. For this we say unto you in the word of the Lord, that we, the living, who remain to the coming of the Lord, are in no way to anticipate those who have fallen asleep; for the Lord himself, with an assembling shout, with archangel’s voice and with trump of God, shall descend from heaven; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we, the living who remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and thus we shall be always with the Lord. So encourage one another with these words.” What comfort and encouragement they afford is known best to those who are sorrowing over the graves of their beloved dead; and to them, if taught in the word, it seems strange that any Christian can think of the promised coming of Christ except with irrepressible yearning.

In the fifth chapter the Apostle says, “Of the times and 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,” (1 Thess. v: 1-5). In the same chapter we read, “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” (1 Thess. v: 23).

It may be well to notice here that the Thessalonian Christians did not need the Apostle’s instructions concerning the times and seasons, because they themselves knew perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. It is not said, the coming of the Lord is like that of a thief in the night, but the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night, and “the thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill, and to destroy,” (John x: 10). But It may be asked, how did these Christians, so recently brought out of the darkness of heathenism, know so perfectly the things of which the Apostle speaks? Obviously by the teachings of the Apostle himself during his brief stay of a few weeks among them. If this be so, what conclusive evidence does it afford of the prominence of the doctrine of our Lord’s coming in his preaching, and of its importance in his estimation! There are thousands of ordained clergymen at the present day who really plume, themselves on their profound ignorance of a truth perfectly familiar more than eighteen hundred years ago to men, women, and children just delivered from idolatry, and who give as an excuse for this ignorance that they are occupied with something far more important than that which the inspired Apostle thought it needful to teach at the very beginning of his ministry among the Thessalonians. Thus faithfully taught, that day could not overtake them as a thief in the night, but it must be conceded that its arrival now would be a most unexpected event to a vast majority of those who claim to be Christians. “Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares,” (Luke xxi: 34).

Proceeding now to the Second Epistle we read in the first chapter, “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 his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day,” (2 Thess. i: 7-10).

In the-second chapter we read, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand [or rather, is come, as Alford renders it; has already arrived]. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [hindereth] will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming,” (2 Thess. ii: 1-8).

Here again it may be well to notice that the Apostle says, “remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you I told you these things?” Is not this another proof of the prominence of the doctrine in his preaching, since he took opportunity to tell these things to recently converted heathen during a stay among them of three or four weeks.? Can these things be of less importance now, when the lapse of eighteen hundred years has certainly brought us that much nearer the great event to which the minds of the early Christians were habitually turned in eager waiting and watching.? Surely it does not become the disciples of Christ to speak slightingly of a truth to which the Holy Ghost has assigned the chief place in the first communications He was pleased to make, no less for our instruction, than for the benefit of those to whom they were immediately addressed.

In the third chapter we read, “The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ,” (2 Thess. iii: 5). Thus do we find the second coming of our Saviour distinctly mentioned in every chapter of both these Epistles, occupying about one verse out of five in the entire revelation the Spirit gave to the Thessalonians. Nor is it a doctrine peculiar to the Epistles at which we have just glanced, but it is a pervading characteristic of the Epistles in general as will abundantly shown in the next chapter. We find it wherever we turn until we reach the last book of the Bible which opens with the solemn announcement, “Behold, he cometh with the clouds,” and closes with the joyful promise, “Surely I come quickly.”

The word baptism occurs four times in the Epistles, the word baptize once, the word baptized twelve times; twice in Rom. vi: 3, five times in 1 Cor. i: 13-16, once in 1 Cor. x: 2, once in 1 Cor. xii: 13, twice in 1 Cor. xv: 29, and once in Gal. iii: 27. In thirteen of the Epistles baptism is not once named, nor is there the slightest allusion to it, and yet how prominent a place it occupies in the thoughts and discourse of well nigh the entire Church. No intelligent Christian can despise or neglect this sacred ordinance, however rarely it is brought to our notice by the inspired writers; but surely no intelligent Christian will despise or neglect a truth mentioned a score of times where baptism is mentioned once. The Holy Ghost seldom refers to the one, but He constantly speaks of the other; and whatever may be our views of the coming of Christ in relation to the Millennium, it can not be right to exclude from our pulpits and social circles, and books and periodicals, a doctrine taught in every thirtieth verse of the New Testament.

Rev. John Ker, of Scotland, in one of his excellent sermons, published in 1869, by Robert Carter & Brother, of New York, under the singular title of “The Day-Dawn and the Rain,” well says, “This great event is constantly represented in the New Testament as near, and the view is natural and true. Never does the meeting with a beloved friend come so close to us, as when we have just parted from him. Love makes the tears of farewells sparkle into welcomes; and if we could only retain the same impression of Christ’s loss, his return would be as nigh. It is moreover, in the New Testament, the great event that towers above every other. The heaven that gives back Christ, gives back all we have loved and lost; solves all doubts, and ends all sorrows. His coming looks in upon the whole life of the Church, as a lofty mountain peak looks in upon every little valley and sequestered home around its base, and belongs to them all alike. Every generation lies under the shadow of it, for whatever is transcendently great is constantly near, and In moments of high conviction it absorbs petty interests and annihilates intervals. It may surely be for us to consider, whether our removal of Christ’s coming further from us in feeling does not arise from a less vivid Impression of its reality and surpassing moment. Such views depend in no way upon peculiar opinions regarding his advent, for the longing expectancy of his appearance should be as common to all Christians as is their hope, and a thousand years are as a day to the grand event which opens everlasting life.” If the mass of Christians, who are notoriously indifferent to the doctrine of our Lord’s second advent, could be brought into practical sympathy with the thoughts here expressed, the aim of the most ardent Pre-millennialist in testifying of Christ’s coming would be happily accomplished.