Some may think that this subject is more suitable for advanced Christians, but when we come to examine Scripture we find that it formed a part of the very gospel, which the apostle Paul preached to the youngest believers. He went to Thessalonica and reasoned with the Jews in the synagogue, out of the Scriptures, three Sabbath days. Some, both of the Jews and Gentiles, believed, and he was almost immediately driven away by persecution. Shortly afterward, he wrote his first epistle, in which he says that they turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to "wait for His Son from heaven." They were delivered from the wrath to come, and they were waiting for the Deliverer from heaven. They must therefore have been instructed in these truths.
Many would be surprised to find how much the Lord's coming formed a part of the teaching of the servants of Christ in those early days, and how it was intended to enter into every detail of life. What a mighty effect it would have if these truths were really held in freshness and power by every young believer! Reader, are you "waiting for the Son from heaven"-expecting the return of the Lord Jesus at any moment?
Some are looking for the fulfillment of certain signs and events before the Lord comes. Now, it is quite true that there will be many remarkable signs and events before He appears with all His saints in power and glory to judge-before He comes as the lightning which shines from one part under heaven even to the other part under heaven; but this is subsequent to His coming for His saints. When He appears in manifested glory, God will bring with Him those who are now asleep in Jesus (1 Thess. 4:1414For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. (1 Thessalonians 4:14)). It is evident, therefore, that they must first have been raised from their graves in order to so come with Him. Now, the manner in which this takes place is just what we have so beautifully unfolded in the closing verses of 1 Thess. 4. Those who are alive when the Lord comes shall not precede those who have died, for the dead in Christ will be raised first, then, in the twinkling of an eye, the living will be changed, and all together will be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so to be forever with the Lord. This may take place at any moment.
Our object now is, not to endeavor to prove the doctrine of the second coming, but to present it as a practical living hope to the young believer. It is this very truth which is brought before us in the last closing words of the inspired volume-the Bible. Christ presents Himself as the bright and morning star-that which we are to be watching for during the night of His absence and His rejection by the world. He who testifies these things ( Jesus Himself) says, "Surely I come quickly"; and the proper answer of the Church is, "Yes, come, Lord Jesus." Nothing tests the heart more than this, for the question at once arises, "Am I wishing He would defer His coming?" It enters practically into all the details of life. Our work or business, our household duties, or whatever little bit of service to Christ we undertake, will all be done better and with more heart and energy if this blessed hope is burning brightly in the soul.
"Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord.”
Not merely like men who hold the doctrine of the second advent, for we may do this in a cold formal way, but like men that wait. It is a heavenly Christ who claims the affections of His people, and who promises as a reward to those whom He finds watching, that He will Himself spread the table in heaven, so to speak, and will come forth and serve them. The present is the day of the "patience of Jesus Christ." He is waiting, sitting on His Father's throne, but soon He will arise and shout that resurrection shout, which shall raise the dead and change the living, and all shall be caught up together, to meet the Lord in the air, and go to be forever with the Lord.
Again we would ask the young believer-Are you waiting for the Son from heaven, even Jesus? Has he not died to deliver you from the wrath to come? Has He not suffered all those agonies on the cross for your sins? Does He not live as your High Priest and Advocate in the presence of God? And this is the One who is coming-coming as the Savior from heaven to change these bodies of humiliation and transform them to be like His own body of glory. This is indeed a blessed hope-it detaches from the world, it brightens even the sorrows of life, it links the heart and affections with a heavenly Christ, and it fills up the future with the joyous prospect of soon seeing a coming Christ.
May the Lord, in His infinite grace, revive this hope as a bright and living and practical one in the hearts of all those who love His name in sincerity and truth, for His name's sake!