166. II. The Advent In The Light Of Its Concomitants.

II. The Advent In The Light Of Its Concomitants. By the concomitants of the advent we mean the great facts of eschatology which shall be cotemporary with it or immediately follow it.

1. The General Resurrection.—The Scriptures place the coming of Christ in close time-relation with the resurrection. “The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth” (John 5:28; John 5:39). These are the words of Christ himself. It is true that they do not formally name his advent, but they clearly imply it. He had just declared himself invested with the power of judgment, the final and supreme exercise of which is frequently set forth in connection with his advent. Further, that the dead shall hear his voice associates the resurrection with his advent. This is a general resurrection in the fullest sense of the term. Some texts set forth the resurrection of the righteous only, but in the most general sense, and formally associate it with the coming of Christ (1 Corinthians 15:22-23; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17). That the wicked rise at the same time is made certain by the words of Christ above cited; so that we still have a general resurrection in connection with his coming. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). The dead must be raised prior to their judgment; and the text properly means all the dead. These facts place the general resurrection in close connection with the coming of Christ.

2. The Final Judgment.—It is a truth of the Scriptures that Christ shall finally judge the human race: “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son” (John 5:22). “Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained” (Acts 17:31). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10). A few texts will suffice to show the coincidence of the final judgment with the second advent. We first adduce the closing paragraph of that notable discourse of our Lord which began with the destruction of the temple (Matthew 25:31-46). The citation may be omitted, since the facts which it sets forth are familiar. The passage is too broad in its scope for any limitation to the destruction of Jerusalem. There is the coming of Christ in his glory, with all the holy angels; the gathering of all nations before him; the judgment of all; the final destinies of all. No events in the destruction of Jerusalem could fulfill the scope of these facts. That fulfillment is possible only with the final advent of our Lord and the judgment of mankind. Hence the passage places these events in close connection. The same is true of a similar text, in which there is a like judgment of men at the coming of Christ, and a punishment of the wicked when he shall come to be glorified in his saints (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10). A text before cited in proof of the time-association of the resurrection with the second advent equally proves such association of the final judgment: “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom” (2 Timothy 4:1). The quick mean all who shall be living at the time of the advent, and the dead, all who have previously died. Hence the text sets forth the final judgment as a concomitant of the second advent.

3. The End of the World.—The second advent will be in the consummation of the world’s history. “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool” (Hebrews 10:12-13). This text surely means that Christ will administer the affairs of his kingdom, even to the end, from his throne in heaven; and this fact places his advent at the end of the world. “Whom the heaven must receive, until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets, since the world began” (Acts 3:21). These words mean that Christ shall remain in heaven until the fulfillment of all the prophecies; and this fulfillment will not be complete until the consummation of the world’s history. Thus again the second advent is placed at the end of the world. The same fact is made plain by the words of St. Peter (2 Peter 3:3-10). He forewarns the Church of certain scoffers who should come, saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Peter answers them beforehand. They would come with the understanding that the end of the world would be coincident with the coming of Christ. Hence their objection: all things continue as they were from the beginning; there are no signs of the world’s dissolution; it will abide forever; hence Christ will never come. Peter answers in two points: first, he sets forth a former destruction of the world; secondly, he declares the manner of the second destruction. In the first he corrects their mistake respecting the past; in the second, their mistake respecting the manner in which the world should come to an end. The end should come, not as the result of a gradual process of decay, as these scoffers would falsely assume, but suddenly, through the agency of fire, as the world perished before by the flood. Thus St. Peter clearly sets forth the truth, that the end of the world shall be concomitant with the final coming of Christ. The Scripture proofs of a personal advent disprove the figurative interpretation. The concomitants of the advent, which we have set forth on the ground of Scripture, forbid its limitation to any such local event as the destruction of Jerusalem. Further, they thoroughly disprove the theory of a premillennial advent. Not in any assumption of the theory shall there then be either a general resurrection of the dead, or the final judgment of mankind, or the end of the world. This theory is not only opposed to the Scriptures, but is in itself open to serious objections. Its natural tendency is to a depreciation of existing evangelistic agencies; and consequently to discouragement, and the enervation of effort in such work. Why strive for the achievement of that for which there are no sufficient means? Why not wait for the divine efficiencies which shall accompany the personal advent and reign of Christ? Yet existing agencies are such as our Lord ordained for the achievement of this great work. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you” (Luke 24:49). “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations: . . . and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20). Here are, at once, the divinely instituted agencies for the evangelization of the world and the divine guaranties of success. But there is no premillennial advent nor personal reign of Christ in the assuring promise of his abiding presence. The reign of Christ from his throne in heaven, through the mission of the Spirit, is better for the Church and the accomplishment of its work than would be his personal reign on earth. He said himself: “It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you” (John 16:7). What was the better then is the better now, and will be the better even to the end of time. The personal presence of Christ in Jerusalem, with the assumed splendor of his advent and throne, instead of being an organizing and energizing agency, would disorganize all existing agencies and enervate all present endeavors for the evangelization of the world. If vast multitudes once swept onward to the Orient simply to possess the empty tomb of Christ, what would be the movement thither if he were there in all the glory of his personal reign? The social order of the world would be deeply disturbed, while the interests of Christianity would suffer very serious detriment.

Pearson: Exposition of the Creed, article vii; Brown: The Second Advent; Carson: The Personal Reign of Christ During the Millennium Proved to be Impossible; Merrill: The Second Coming of Christ; Liddon:The Two Comings of Our Lord; Cunningham: The Second Advent of Christ; Lee: Scripture Doctrine of the Coming of Our Lord; Duffield: The Prophecies Relative to the Second Coming of Christ; Bonar: The Coming and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus; Lord: The Coming and Reign of Christ; Warren: The Parousia.