Where Will the "Experts" Be When Jesus Comes?

Where Will the "Experts" Be When Jesus Comes?
And may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7b)
ARE YOU READY FOR THE APPEARING of Jesus Christ or are you among those who are merely curious about His coming?
Let me warn you that many preachers and Bible teachers will answer to God some day for encouraging curious speculations about the return of Christ and failing to stress the necessity for "loving His appearing"!
The Bible does not approve of this modern curiosity that plays with the Scriptures and which seeks only to impress credulous and gullible audiences with the "amazing" prophetic knowledge possessed by the brother who is preaching or teaching!
I cannot think of even one lonely passage in the New Testament which speaks of Christ's revelation, manifestation, appearing or coming that is not directly linked with moral conduct, faith and spiritual holiness.
The appearing of the Lord Jesus on this earth once more is not an event upon which we may curiously speculate - and when we do only that we sin. The prophetic teacher who engages in speculation to excite the curiosity of his hearers without providing them with a moral application is sinning even as he preaches.
Foolish formulas
There have been enough foolish formulas advanced about the return of Christ by those who were simply curious to cause many believers to give the matter no further thought or concern. But Peter said to expect "the appearing of Jesus Christ." Paul said there is a crown of righteousness laid up in glory for all those who love His appearing. John spoke of his hope of seeing Jesus and bluntly wrote: "Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (1 John 3:3).
Peter linked the testing of our faith with the coming of the Lord when he wrote:
though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor [at the appearing of Jesus Christ, KJV]. (1 Peter 1:6–7)
Think of the appearing of Christ for here is a word which embodies an idea - an idea of such importance to Christian theology and Christian living that we dare not allow it to pass unregarded.
This word occurs frequently in the King James version of the Bible in reference to Jesus, and has various forms - such as appear, appeared, appearing. The original word from which our English was translated has about seven different forms in the Greek.
Its prophetic use
But in this usage, we are concerned only with the word appearing in its prophetic use. Unquestionably, that is how Peter used it in this passage. Among those seven forms in the Greek there are three particular words which all told may have these meanings: "manifest; shine upon; show; become visible; a disclosure; a coming; a manifestation; a revelation."
I point this out because Peter also wrote that the Christians should "gird up the loins of their minds and be sober and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:13, KJV).
Some of you might like to ask the translators a question, but they are all dead! The question might well be, "Why was the similar form of the original word translated in one case as the appearing and in the other as the revelation of Jesus Christ?"
There may have been some very fine shade of meaning which they felt must be expressed by one word and not the other, but we may take it as truth that the words are used interchangeably in the Bible.
Shouldn't have to try so hard
We do not have to belabor this point, and actually some people are in trouble in the Scriptures because they try too hard! The Lord never expected us to have to try so hard and to push on to the end of setting up a formula or a doctrinal exposition on the shades of meaning and forms of a single word.
Some of the cults do this. There are prophetic cults whose entire prophetic idea and scheme rest upon the words appearing or revelation or manifestation or disclosure. Their leaders write page after page and book after book upon the difference between one shade of meaning and another.
I can only say that I have learned this, having been around for a while - if that cult is forced to belabor a word in order to make a point, check it off and give it no more thought!
If that cult that is obviously a cult with no standing in the historic stream of Christianity and no standing in the long corridor of approved Christian truth tries to build on one word's shade of meanings, you can just shrug it off.
Why do I say that?
Because the Bible is the easiest book in the world to understand - one of the easiest for the spiritual mind but one of the hardest for the carnal mind! I will pay no mind to those who find it necessary to strain at a shade of meaning in order to prove they are right, particularly when that position can be shown to be contrary to all the belief of Christians back to the days of the apostles.
So that is why I say it is easy to try too hard when we come to the reading and explanation of the Scriptures. You can actually try too hard at almost anything, including baseball.
A certain baseball team, for instance, at the opening of the season tries so hard to win that the players get up-tight, become jittery and jumpy, and they make many errors.
After they find out that they do not really have a chance at the championship, they become relaxed and suddenly they are playing very good baseball. They didn't change any of the men around; they just relaxed and quit pressing so hard!
I think this matter of pushing and trying too hard may also be of concern to the young preacher getting up before his first audience. His muscles tighten, his throat gets dry, he may not remember his main points - (and I have been there myself) - pushing like everything, trying too hard!
But we will never mature in the kingdom of God by pushing and pressing because the kingdom of God is not taken that way. Rather, you trust the Lord and watch Him do it!
The same thing is true concerning interpretation of the Bible. If we insist upon those fine shades of definitions, we may just be trying too hard and we may end up with the wrong point of view!
Perhaps we can illustrate it. Suppose a Chicago man visits his family in Des Moines and after getting back home, writes a number of letters in which he mentions the trip to Iowa.
In one letter he writes, "I visited Des Moines last week."
In the second, he writes, "I went to Des Moines last week," and in a third, "I motored to Des Moines last week." In still another, he mentions, "I saw my brother in Des Moines last week."
He seals all of the letters, mails them and thinks no more of it.
But what would happen if a group of interpreters were turned loose on those five letters after a thousand years, particularly if they were interpreters pushing too hard, insisting that there are no synonyms in the Bible and that the kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven are never used synonymously?
They would make their notes and insist that the writer must have had something special in his mind when he wrote, "I went to Des Moines," and "I motored to Des Moines." Therefore, he must have made at least two trips or he would have said the same thing each time! And then, he must have had some reason for saying in one letter that he visited in Des Moines, which must mean that he stayed longer that time than when he merely saw his brother!
Actually, he was only there once, but in writing, he knew the English language well enough to be able to say it in four different ways.
So, when we come to Peter's use of this word appearing - just relax, for that is what it means! If a different form or word is used in another place and the same thing is being stated in a different way, it simply shows that the Holy Ghost has never been in a rut - even if interpreters are! The Spirit of God never has had to resort to clichÈs even though preachers often seem to specialize in them!
What it might mean
The appearing of Jesus Christ may mean His manifestation. It may mean a shining forth, a showing, a disclosure. Yes, it may mean His coming, the revelation of Jesus Christ!
The question that must actually be answered for most people is: "Where will this appearing or coming or disclosure or revelation take place?"
Those to whom Peter wrote concerning the appearing of Christ were Christian men and women on this earth. There is no way that this can possibly be spiritualized - the scene cannot be transferred to heaven.
Peter was writing to Christians on this earth, to the saints scattered abroad by trial and persecution. He was encouraging them to endure affliction and to trust God in their sufferings, so their faith may be found of more worth than gold at the appearing of Jesus Christ!
Common sense will tell us that this appearing could only be on the earth because he was writing to people on this earth. He was not writing to angels in any heavenly sphere. He was not saying it to Gabriel but to people living on this earth.
Now, Peter also spoke of this as an event to happen in the future, that is, the future from the time in which Peter wrote nineteen centuries ago. Writing in the year 65 A.D., Peter placed the appearing of Christ some time in the future after 65 A.D.
We are sure, then, that Peter was not referring to the appearance of Jesus at the Jordan River when John baptized Him, for that had already taken place thirty years before.
Jesus had also appeared in Jerusalem, walking among the people, talking to the Pharisees and elders, the rabbis and the common people, but that had also taken place thirty years before. He had suddenly appeared in the temple, just when times were good and people were coming from everywhere with money to have it exchanged in order to buy cattle or doves for sacrifice. Using only a rope, He drove the cattle and the money changers from the temple. He appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration and after His resurrection appeared to the disciples. He had made many appearances. He was there in bodily manifestation, and He did things that could be identified. He was there as a man among men. But Peter said, "He is yet to appear" for the other appearances were all 30 years in the past.
Peter was saying: "I want you to get ready in order that the trial of your faith, your afflictions, your obedience, your cross-bearing may mean honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ" - the appearing in the future!
No reputable testimony
There is not reputable testimony anywhere that Jesus Christ has appeared since the events when He appeared to put away sin through the sacrifice of Himself.
Actually we haven't found anyone that says Christ appeared to him in person, except some poor fanatic who usually dies later in the mental institution. Many new cults have arisen; men have walked through the streets saying, "I am Christ." The psychiatrists have written reams and reams of case histories of men who insisted that they were Jesus Christ.
But our Lord Jesus Christ has not yet appeared the second time, for if He had, it would have been consistent with the meaning of the word as it was commonly used in the New Testament. He would have to appear as He appeared in the temple, as He appeared by the Jordan or on the Mount of Transfiguration. It would have to be as He once appeared to His disciples after the resurrection - in visible, human manifestation, having dimension so He could be identified by the human eye and ear and touch.
If the word appearing is going to mean what it universally means, the appearing of Jesus Christ has to be very much the same as His appearing on the earth the first time, nearly 2,000 years ago.
When He came the first time, He walked among men. He took babies in His arms. He healed the sick and the afflicted and the lame. He blessed people, ate with them and walked among them, and the Scriptures tell us that when He appears again He will appear in the same manner. He will be a man again, though a glorified man! He will be a man who can be identified, the same Jesus as He went away.
We must also speak here of the testimonies of Christian saints through the years - of Christ being known to us in spiritual life and understanding and experience.
There is a certain sense in which everyone who has a pure heart "looks upon" God.
There are bound to be those who will say, "Jesus is so real to me that I have seen Him!"
I know what you mean and I thank God for it - that God has illuminated the eyes of your spiritual understanding - and you have seen Him in that sense. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."
The eyes of our heart
I believe that it is entirely possible for eyes of our faith, the understanding of our spirit, to be so illuminated that we can gaze upon our Lord - perhaps veiled, perhaps not as clearly as in that day to come, but the eyes of our heart see Him!
So, Christ does appear to people in that context. He appears when we pray and we can sense His presence. But that is not what Peter meant in respect to his second appearing upon the earth. Peter's language of that event calls for a shining forth, a revelation, a sudden coming, a visible appearance!
Peter meant the same kind of appearance that the newspapers noted in the appearance of the president of the United States in Chicago. He meant the same kind of appearance which the newspapers noted when the young sergeant appeared suddenly to the delight of his family after having been away for more than two years. There has not been any appearance of Jesus like that since He appeared to put away sins by the sacrifice of Himself!
We can sum this up and say that there is to be an appearance - in person, on earth, according to Peter - to believing persons later than Peter's time. That appearing has not yet occurred and Peter's words are still valid.
We may, therefore, expect Jesus Christ again to appear on earth to living persons as He first appeared.
My brethren, I believe that that is the gist of the Bible teaching on the second coming - we may expect an appearing! In Peter's day the Lord had not yet returned, but they were expecting Him. Peter said He would appear.
When our Lord had not yet come in the flesh, some were expecting Him. They said, "He will appear," for God had told the woman and the serpent, and Abraham and all the prophets, that Jesus Christ would appear to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself!
Then one day He appeared!
He was not an apparition. He was not a ghost. It was not what some of the old madames with their spooky costumes would call a materialization. No one ever said that Jesus Christ would materialize, it was the prophecy that He would appear and that is quite different!
The Bible never talks about materialization. According to the promise of His return, Jesus Christ is not going to materialize, He is going to appear! You can throw out the word materialize; it is a weird word stolen and employed by the spiritists and devil cults. To materialize, a ghost today would have to put on fleshly garments and still walk among us tomorrow. To become material when you are not material, that is to materialize!
There continues to be a lot of curiosity about such matters, and I find that the curiosity that once killed the famous cat has hurt a lot of Christians. There is a certain "eeriness" about them - not spirituality. Eeriness! There are Christians who seem to be ghost-conscious and they can move right into the middle of a supernatural thing and feel right at home - right at home with the mediums, the funny wizards and telepathists and all the rest.
Personally, I don't feel at home with them at all. I cannot feel at home in the realm of the eery and the uncanny.
Peeping and muttering
The Bible calls it peeping and muttering. I do not accept the peepers and mutterers and I will never feel at home among them! I recognize, however, that there is a certain type of mentality that does, and when such a person gets converted, if he does not ask God to sanctify his mind, he will carry this thing right into the church!
In cases where this has happened, their theology consists of a lot of theological peeping and muttering.
Let me mention in this regard my dear old grandmother, who did not know much about the Bible, but spent quite a bit of time with her dream book.
Her dream book was dog-eared and thumb-marked because Grandma would not drink her coffee in the morning until she had consulted the dream book to check up on her dreams.
I know there are people who do not dream very much, but Grandma was a dreamer. She must have had some dreams every night, because she would always open that book when she got up in the morning.
Her dream book had an alphabetical index, and for illustration, we will start at A for Apple. If she had dreamed about apples, the book would tell her what it signified. B for Beets, C for your Country, and so on down the line to Z for Zebra. She had a glossary that told her what she might expect on the basis of what she had dreamed.
May I comment to you that that is a dreadful way to live!
No wonder Grandma was a hustler, for she must have been miserable and worried most of the time, thinking about the meaning of her dreams and the results prophesied in that book!
Actually, Grandma was a sharp little woman and she taught me nearly everything I learned until I was about fifteen years old. But this dream book thing was one of her eccentricities.
I don't know whether she got it out of a similar book, but Grandma had a real thing in her mind about barking dogs.
More than once she told me that if a dog barked under our window, someone would die, sure enough!
At this point in my life I can only comment that if I had died every time a dog barked under my window, I would have been the best customer the undertakers of this country had ever seen! It seems that dogs delight in barking under my window and mosquitoes delight to come into my room, and if there is a fly in the parsonage it will head directly for me!
I have some kind of magnetic attraction for such things and if it had meant something in the realm of the peepers and mutterers, I would have been in a straitjacket and padded cell a long time ago.
I know these curious tenets do not mean a thing and I thank God for a simple, skeptical mind that has kept me from going through my time on earth worrying about such things.
Being of this disposition, I have my own feelings about the prophetic teacher who begins to unroll his chart to impress people with his ideas and theories! When he starts that, I begin to look for the exit because he is trying too hard.
Pushing too hard
He is pushing too hard, like the man who is trying to understand the Sistine Madonna by getting a microscope and examining the toe of the Virgin. You cannot understand or appreciate the beauty of the Sistine Madonna by examining a microscopic portion of it; you have got to get back and give it geography!
It is the same when you come to the Scriptures - you can be led into a blind alley by curiosity about some minor point of emphasis and fail to see the great, broad outlines of truth concerning the spiritual impact which the hope of His coming should have in our daily living!
The Word of God was never given just to make us curious about our Lord's return to earth, but to strengthen us in faith and spiritual holiness and moral conduct!
When Paul wrote to Timothy in his second letter, we find some of the dearest and most gracious words of the entire Bible:
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. (2 Timothy 4:1–3a)
Here the apostle cautions that our Lord Jesus Christ will judge the quick and the dead at His appearing, and then he links that appearing and judgment with the earnest exhortation that Timothy must preach the Word, being prepared in season and out of season.
A bit later, Paul writes more about events to happen when Jesus Christ appears.
He wrote:
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing. (2 Timothy 4:7–8)
Those who receive a crown
It is plainly stated, brethren: those who love the appearing of Jesus Christ are those who shall also receive a crown.
There are some who would like to open this up: "Doesn't it really mean anyone who believes in the pre-millennial position will receive the crown of righteousness?"
I say no! It means that those who are found loving the appearing of Jesus will receive the crown of righteousness! It is questionable to my mind whether some who hold a pre-millennial position and can argue for it can be included with those whose spirit of humility and consecration and hunger for God is quietly discernible in their love and expectation of the soon coming of their Savior!
I fear that we have gone to seed on this whole matter of His return. Why is it that such a small proportion of Christian ministers ever feel the necessity to preach a sermon on the truth of His second coming? Why should pastors depend in this matter upon those who travel around the country with their colored charts and their object lessons and their curious interpretations of Bible prophecy?
Should we not dare to believe what the Apostle John wrote, that "we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2)?
Beloved, we are the sons of God now, for our faith is in the Son of God, Jesus Christ! We believe in Him and we rest upon Him, and yet it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that when He shall appear, when He shall be disclosed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is!
Then, John says bluntly and clearly: "Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure" (3:3). Everybody! Everyone, he says! He singularizes it. Everyone that has this hope in him purifies himself as He is pure!
Those who are expecting the Lord Jesus Christ to come and who look for that coming moment by moment and who long for that coming will be busy purifying themselves. They will not be indulging in curious speculations - they will be in preparation, purifying themselves!
It may be helpful to use an illustration here.
A wedding is about to take place and the bride is getting dressed. Her mother is nervous and there are other relatives and helpers who are trying to make sure that the bride is dressed just right!
Why all this helpful interest and concern?
Well, the bride and those around her know that she is about to go out to meet her groom, and everything must be perfectly in order. She even walks cautiously so that nothing gets out of place in dress and veil. She is preparing, for she awaits in loving anticipation and expectation the meeting with this man at the altar.
Now John says, through the Holy Ghost, that he that has this hope in him purifies and prepares himself. How? Even as He is pure!
Dress worthy of the bridegroom
The bride wants to be dressed worthy of the bridegroom, and so it is with the groom, as well! Should not the church of Jesus Christ be dressed worthy of her bridegroom, even as He is dressed? Pure - even as He is pure?
We are assured that the appearing of Jesus Christ will take place. It will take place in His time. There are many who believe that it can take place soon - that there is not anything which must yet be done in this earth to make possible His coming.
It will be the greatest event in the history of the world, barring His first coming and the events of His death and resurrection.
We may well say that the next greatest event in the history of the world will be the appearing of Jesus Christ: "though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy" (1 Peter 1:8).
The world will not know it, but he that has this hope in him will know it for he has purified himself even as Christ is pure!