01.01.03. The Power of His Coming

Part I. Chapter III. THE POWER OF HIS COMING.

Christ is not only coming in power at the last day, but the power of His coming is to be constantly operating in the present day. As God has appointed the moon to lift the tide by its at­traction that it may flood and fill all the inden­tures of the coast, so has He ordained this great event of Christ’s parousia to draw up the faith and hope and love of the Church, when these have ebbed towards the world. If the philosopher is counted to have embodied the highest practical wisdom in his maxim, “Hitch your wagon to a star,” can we question the efficacy of the divine method which has fastened all our hopes to “the Bright and Morning Star”? For, indisputably, the chief motive by which duties, obligations, as­pirations, and attainments are determined in the New Testament is this, the ever-imminent return of the Lord from heaven. Therefore even the highest commendation that could be put upon a primitive church— “ye come behind in no gift” —was not so high that this crown could be omitted from it, “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:7). Such a tribute sounds strange to the Church of today, because she has so much accustomed herself to steer by the compass of her creed, instead of by the star of her hope; and to measure her position by the dead-reckoning of ecclesiastical history, instead of determining it by observation of those heavenly lights which God has given to rule the day and to rule the night. Yet here is a motive so tran­scendently powerful that, were it taken away, the Church would lose her upward gravitation. 1

It is easy to say that absorption in the state of glory tends to render us careless concerning the serious claims of the state of humiliation. But we believe that quite the contrary is true. For our present not only makes our future, but is made by it; and that Christian alone can live well in the life that now is, who lives much in the life that is to come. As one has well written: “Only from the point of view of eschatology can we understand aright the problems of the human life; for only when we recognize what is the final aim of life and being can we also set forth the goal to all the efforts of man. Therefore it has been said from an early period, Respice finem,” (look to the end; consider the outcome; Ed.). Do we apprehend the total change of outlook which Christ has effected for the believer by His redemption, transforming a “fearful looking-for of judgment” into a joyful “looking for that blessed hope”? A sinner cannot look upward if he real­izes his doom; a saint cannot look downward if he realizes his destiny. How deplorably, therefore, do they lower the standard of redemption who, by substituting thanatology for eschatology fix our anticipations upon our departure through the gates of the grave, instead of lifting them to Christ’s return through the gates of glory. If we make Death our hope, let us not be surprised if others learn to make him their hero. 2

What, let us ask, are the attainments of the Christian life most insisted on in Scripture, and yet the most difficult to achieve, and how does the hope of Christ’s personal return affect them?

Unworldliness, in the midst of the present evil world! —there is nothing which so powerfully promotes it as the realization that He whose ser­vants we are may appear at any moment to reckon with us, and take us out of this world. Why is it that so many Christians make Death their ex­ecutor, leaving thousands and millions to be dis­pensed by his bony fingers? Because they are exitists, rather than adventists; their going, and not Christ’s coming, being the goal towards which they calculate. Therefore, if they die their wealth can stay behind: their covetousness can still sur­vive and reap post-mortem usury. Living men, transporting their riches in daily installments into the world to come; or dead men remitting back their fortunes into this world, and still fingering the interest thereof in mortuary incomes, —here are the two ideals: and our Lord has plainly in­dicated which should be the Christian’s in His saying, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” And can there be any doubt that, if the position to which we have been called and raised by Christ’s enthronement were really occu­pied and exulted in by us, —“For our citizenship is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour,” —the achievement of making heavenly investments would be easy and inevitable, and the grip of avarice be unclasped from the purse-strings of multitudes of Christians? The old nature is not sufficient for itself; and as truly as “the ex­pulsive power of a new affection “is needed to overcome the heart-contraction of self-love, so truly is the uplifting power of a new hope required to break that purse-contraction of self-enrichment which is now the greatest obstacle to the evan­gelization of the world. The logic is inevitable; if we are citizens of heaven, we are “strangers and pilgrims in the earth; “and every rational instinct will lead us to make our investments where we hold our residence. Not less difficult to overcome is that worldly-mindedness which seeks a present reward and a present glory. “But it shall not be so among you,” is the decisive rebuke of our Lord to such aspirations. But how not? By the vision of a millennial crown and throne, the heart is recon­ciled to a present cross and humiliation. “We have forsaken all and followed Thee; what shall we have, therefore?” “Ye that 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 “(Matthew 19:28). A dispensation of reproach for the Church cannot be perpetual; neither can a dispensation of glory be premature. The disciple must wait; but, in waiting for the reign of Immanuel, he is waiting for his own reign as heir-apparent to a crown of glory. Let us not, through a false humility, reject the doc­trine of rewards, which Scripture so strongly emphasizes. But when and where? are the all-important questions. Constantly do we hear it said of one deceased, “He has gone to his re­ward.” But, from the testimony of the Word, tell us where the believer is directed to look for his recompense at death? He is taught to aspire to a crown. But we are not to infer, because it is said, “Be thou faithful unto death,” — that is, up to the point of suffering martyrdom for Me, —“and I will give thee a crown of life,” that our dying day is our crowning day, and that St. Sepulchre has been especially commissioned to preside at our coronation. To those who share Christ’s travail and sorrow in the present life, for the rescuing of souls, a coronet of joy is promised. And when? “For 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 Thessalonians 2:19). To those who have chosen the portion of suffering with Christ in this world, as a little flock, it is written: “And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away,” (1 Peter 5:4). To the steadfast soldier, who has fought the good fight, and finished his course, and kept the faith, the assurance is: “Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing,” (2 Timothy 4:8). Of that other crown—the fourth—the time of the bestowal is not mentioned: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been approved he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to them that love Him,” (James 1:12, R.V.). But since it is the corona vitae., it is evident that it will be given at Christ’s advent, when forever “death is swallowed up in victory,” and not at our decease, when for the time life is swallowed up in defeat. Most inspiring is this doctrine of an open and final award to Christian fidelity. Martyrs have grasped it from afar, and been upheld amid the flames; and we, who are not called to suffer like them, learn also to exult in it as that which shall bring our vindication against such as contemn us, because we run not with them to the same excess of riot in world-getting and gain-grasping. For there is a real choice of recompense. Let no one say that this world has nothing to give the Christian; it has. Three times our Lord pronounces that solemn sen­tence concerning religious man-pleasers, “Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.” The preeminent question is, whether there is power enough in the Redeemer’s proffer, “Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every man according as his work shall be,” to disenchant the heart from this temporal and sor­did recompense? Only when we realize our call­ing as the sons of God, “begotten again unto a lively hope,” and made heirs of a reserved inher­itance, can it be so. “The servant abideth not in the house forever;” and if we are only such, we shall demand day-wages, even as “the hireling looketh for the reward of his work.” But “the son abideth ever,” and therefore can “both hope and quietly wait” the final award of the inherit­ance.

If we turn from the perils of worldly-minded Christians to the trials of serious saints, we find the advent-hope serving the same end. Unless one is completely in the spell of a delusive op­timism, he must often be appalled in contem­plating the condition of the world. A thousand millions of the race still strangers to any form of Christianity; two thirds of nominal Christendom lapsed into an apostasy hardly better than paganism; and of the remaining third, only a meager proportion really spiritual disciples! Without, the whole world lying in the Wicked One; and within, perpetual corruptions of doctrine, con­stant estrangements from the faith, daily repri­sals of the Prince of Darkness upon the domain of light! A heart-swoon, like that which fell upon holy Daniel at the river Ulai, must some­times seize the thoughtful Christian in view of all this, from which only a vision of the Ancient of Days, coming in the clouds of heaven, can rouse him. As, amid the desperate corruptions of the Catholic Church just previous to the Reforma­tion, we find some who, having abandoned all hope from prelates and councils, took the name of “Expectants,” and simply waited, such must we become, if we would be saved from dishear­tenment. We must not only look forward to the deliverance of the Coming One, but sometimes take our seat with Him in His throne, and share His attitude and anticipation as He sits there, “expecting till His foes be made His footstool.”

Then for that great overshadowing woe of mor­tality and corruption, what is the cure but the coming of the Coming One? “Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just,” said our Lord, speaking concerning the good deed done to the poor. But, in the light of other Scriptures, we may say that there is no promise that has so general an application. If death be the payment of the debt of nature, the first resur­rection, at our Lord’s appearing, will be the full repayment of the debt of grace. For this event will give us back all that we have lost: our friends in Christ, looking and speaking as they were wont; our inheritance in an earth renewed and glorified; and the temple of our body, no longer a, house divided against itself through the conflict of sin, but raised up and rededicated with surpassing glory. Christ’s redemption is not a compromise with Death, but a reimburse­ment for all of which he has robbed us, —a full refunding, exacted by the lawsuit of the atone­ment, of our defrauded inheritance. “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me,” was all that the broken-hearted David could utter con­cerning his dead child. But we who look for a Saviour can say more than this, since “them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him.” What a beautiful, prophetic suggestion there is for us in that record of the Bethany feast which immediately follows the story of the raising of Lazarus: “But Lazarus, which had been dead, whom He raised from the dead, was one of them that sat at the table with Him” (John 12:1-2). Often, in our advent anticipations, have we dreamed of the arrival of the long-looked-for con­summation, and of our beloved dead suddenly re­appearing, taking the vacant chair at the table, greeting us with the old familiar look, and speak­ing to us in the old familiar tones. If but a dream, this certainly is true: that the parousia will bring a real restoration, not simply a trans­fer into some strange society of shadows and spirits. Many seem to take pride in death, since they have learned to call it their dies natalis (day of birth; natal day; Ed.); but we confess that we are ashamed to die, rather than proud, since we know that in this event we shall have reached the pay-day of sin’s wages. 3 Praised indeed be Immanuel, that dying now means our departing to be with Christ; but, nevertheless, it is a return for which we now wait, —His return, and our return with Him. There­fore has the Holy Ghost drawn for us that mag­nificent vision of the Lord Himself descending from heaven with a shout; and then, for the Church of all ages, is added the injunction: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words,” (1 Thessalonians 4:18).

“Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty: they shall behold a land of far distances,” (Isaiah 33:17). Blessed is it if we are so long-sighted as to catch glimpses of that better country, amid the trial and turmoil of this; but doubly blessed, if we can look down upon this country through the far-reaching vistas of that, viewing the pres­ent life from the exalted stand-point of our Re­deemer’s throne. And this is permitted us. For there are what we may call spiritual rehear­sals of the advent rapture, in which, like Paul, we are “caught up into Paradise” and hear un­speakable words. Let those bear witness who have proved it, —and there are such, —how utterly the whole scene of life has been changed in such moments. “Like Philip, I was caught away by the Spirit,” writes one, “and was found, not at Azotus, but in the advent cloud, seated with my Lord in the chariot of His descending glory. A fire devoured before Him, and it was very tempestuous round about Him. I heard Him call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He might judge His people, saying, ‘Gather my saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.’ And as His redeemed ones came flying to Him, ‘as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows,’ from every tribe and kindred of earth, I beheld such as had been left behind. What wringing of hands there was among those who had loved gold su­premely in a world which God so loved as to give His only Son for its redemption! What blanched faces upon those who had fared sump­tuously and lived deliciously amid a starving and perishing race! Many of them who did so seemed to have worn the name of Christians; for, as I listened, I could hear a mighty wail borne up from them towards the descending Judge: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out devils? and in Thy name done many wonderful works? ‘ But He only answered them: I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.’ Whether in the body or out of the body when this trans­port was upon me, I cannot tell. But never since it occurred has the world been the same to me; nor can I think of its wealth, its luxury, its ease, its honors, without an instant prayer to be deliv­ered from making these my gods.”

Such “instant prayer “we may all well learn to offer, in the midst of our necessary work con­stantly sending up ejaculatory petitions that we may be delivered from the present evil world, so that, when our Lord appears in the clouds of heaven, we may bound towards Him by a resist­less attraction, and be forever with Him. 4 Noth­ing can compensate for their loss who have elim­inated this advent-hope from their creed. One love conquers another; and only by tasting “the powers of the world to come” can there be wrought in us a radical and enduring distaste for the vanities of the world that now is. Well, therefore, has one written concerning this hope, that, “of the life of watchfulness, patience, and heavenly-mindedness, it is the soul and power; and history makes abundantly manifest that, where this prospect has temporarily receded in the Christian consciousness, the spiritual life also has declined. One may confidently say that to a healthy Christian life ‘etwas Apocalyptisches” —something apocalyptical— lso belongs; and that obligation to observe the signs of the times cannot possibly be fulfilled so long as the question as to the final whither has not, at least in prin­ciple, received an answer.”

Endnotes:

1 “All the Apostolic exhortations and consolations are so closely connected with the prospect of the personal return of the Lord, that whoever contradicts this last, thereby takes away the roof and cornice from the structure of Apostolic Theology.”—Van Oosterzee.

2 Professor Duncan, commenting on the famous book of Car­lyle, exclaims: “Hero-worship! Ah, well he and I have to meet a strange hero yet—qdnatoV—the greatest that I know of next to Him who overcame him.” Let us look to it that by our death-homage, expressed in such mortuary poetry as, “Death is the crown of life,…

Death gives us more than was in Eden lost, The King of Terrors is the Prince of Peace,” we do not take the crown from the head of the greater and place it on the head of the less.

“For my own part, I must confess to you, that death, as death, appeareth to me as an enemy, and my nature doth abhor and fear it. But the thoughts of the coming of the Lord are most sweet and joyful to me; so that, if I were but sure that I should live to see it, and that the trumpet should sound, and the dead should rise, and the Lord appear before the period of my age, it would be the joyfulest tidings to me in the world. Oh that I might see His kingdom come!” —Richard Baxter.

“O Almighty God, grant that those necessary works wherein we are engaged, whether in the affairs of Thy Church or of this world, may not prevail to hinder us; but that, at the appearing and advent of Thy Son, we may hasten with joy to meet Him, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.”