(Read 1 Cor. 15:51-5851Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. 55O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:51‑58); 1 Thess. 4:1313But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. (1 Thessalonians 4:13) to end.)
THESE scriptures set before us the hope of the Christian, and how the coming of the Lord affects the believer and the unbeliever. What the believer waits for is Christ, not the crown, nor the kingdom, nor the glory, though we shall have a crown, which He will put on our heads with His own hands. We shall be in the kingdom, we shall be sharers of His glory; but we do not wait for these, but for the Lord Jesus Christ Himself — for the One who loves us.
Is there one who cannot speak in this way of waiting for this coming Saviour? See what 1 John 3:55And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin. (1 John 3:5) says, “He was manifested to take away our sin,” and verse 8, “He was manifested to destroy the works of the devil!” He came to undo the effects of Satan’s work. Are you waiting for Him? If not, you do not believe God loves you. Satan has destroyed our hearts’ confidence in God. Was it not so in Eden? He said, “Hath God said?” God was never a judge till our sins made Him so — see how He walked with them in Eden, He talked with them too, but then He became a judge. But Jesus came to remove all the effects of Satan’s work there, all our false thoughts of God. How that blessed One came and sat down beside us in all our sins and wickedness, and set before us all the love of God! All His love was set before our eyes. He dried up the widow’s tears, &c., but what did we do? We hated Him, and at last nailed Him to the cross — He who came to undo the effects of Satan’s work.
See what He says, “In this was manifested the love of God.” He sent His Son, and He laid down His precious life for us (1 John 4:99In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. (1 John 4:9)). It was His only begotten, He had not another, His only one, His beloved Son. Until that mountain, our sins, was removed, we could never be brought to God. How wonderful God’s love to us! and that the Son was willing to come. He gave Himself for our sins, gave Himself for beings that were offensive to God, and then He was made sin — that nature we all bear about in us, He was made it, that your sins and doubts and misgivings might be put away, and you set in God’s presence as His beloved child.
Christ has answered every question with His blood, and God has accepted it by setting Him on His own throne and giving Him a name above every name. God is satisfied, and surely the believer may well be satisfied too. How many say, “I have a hope through grace that I shall be saved,” or “My hope is that I shall die in the faith, and through the infinite mercy of God!” Is that the hope that Scripture presents? No, ‘tis to be conformed to His image — that every believer will be glorified, and a body given like Him who sits upon the throne of God. Some say they would be like the angels, but God has something different for us than that. He is going to conform us to the image of His Son! His own blessed Son! No angels as they think of Christ as He walked this earth could have the feeling we have; they saw Him and wondered; they saw Him on the cross; they saw Him risen; they could not say, “He died for us.” God has given us a place as sons and children. They are strangers to our feeling; they cannot say, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me.” But we can, and when the gladsome moment comes He will change us into His likeness.
In the end of Thessalonians 4 we get what had not been revealed before. We shall not all die (1 Cor. 15:5151Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, (1 Corinthians 15:51)). “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after,” &c. — not all men, but men. It was God’s appointment when sin came in, “Dying, thou shalt die.” Now He is waiting for the purchase of His love, waiting for you, for me. Are you sure He is waiting more than you are? Yet we do long to see His blessed face. We are going to see the face that was spit upon, that patient face; and oh, we are going to see it not with all the traces of suffering, but “the same Jesus.” Our eyes will rest upon that face, and read as we gaze upon it all His love to us.
He is coming for you, for me, for all those at the bottom of the sea, in all the graveyards. The dust of all is watched over by the blessed Saviour. You see the poor body being put down, down, down into the grave, but it is coming up again. What a moment when Christ shall speak that word which will call us up, and who can say when it will be — tonight? Then what will it be for us? We shall never go down into the grave at all, but in the twinkling of an eye the body that carries about weakness and feebleness will be made like Him. Those asleep will be raised, we changed, and caught up to be with Him and like Him forever.
Waiting! watching! is it not a purifying hope as we think, “Would this do for Jesus on His return? Should I like Him to return and find me in this, doing this?” What I dread for you, for me, is, lest we should have it only in our heads, this second coming, this second advent — know all about it, and walk through the world with our hearts not affected by it.
There are two things said in Luke 12:36-4436And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. 37Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. 38And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. 39And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. 40Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not. 41Then Peter said unto him, Lord, speakest thou this parable unto us, or even to all? 42And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? 43Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. 44Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath. (Luke 12:36‑44). He speaks of reward, as a little bit of cheer, of comfort by the way to those watching and those waiting. Two rewards in connection with watching and doing. The most valuable reward surely, we should all say, is in connection with watching. Perhaps we think what He would estimate most would be active work, preaching, &c., but there is something more precious to His heart than our service. It is watching for Him, for Himself. Nothing tests the soul like watching. You can get absorbed in service, and be engrossed with what you are doing. All well and good; I say nothing against service. For those watching His reward is, He’ll set them down and come and serve them Himself with heavenly joys. A dear old saint said to me last week, “Ah, when I see a beautiful cloud in the sky I say, ‘Lord, are You coming?’” Can we say, “I am waiting, watching?” That is the thing that delights His heart. To those doing He says, “I’ll put you over all My goods.” Which would you rather have — the glories of the kingdom, or for Him to serve you? Well, let us have both.
In Thessalonians we get the order of the coming. In Revelation 22 we have three times, “I come quickly.” My Lord is coming, not my Lord delayeth His coming. The evil servant does not say this right out straight with his lips, but in his heart, and goes to work in his evil ways, having fellowship with the world; he says, “He may come today, but I hardly think He will.” This is the beginning of evil, and you will go in for the world, and the things of the world; but “every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (John 3:33Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. (John 3:3)).
What will be the effect to the world of His coming? The Lord is coming to take us all to be with Himself, and then He will come to this earth to judge the quick and dead. That is what He rises up for, and before He comes to the earth He calls us up into the air. There we meet our beloved Saviour, and then come on with Him, and then every eye shall see Him. You will either see Him as your own blessed Saviour, or as a Christless soul. Men boast of what they have done, and of what will be done in another fifty years, and put God on one side.
What do we see and hear all around, even in the professing Church? What is openly seen on the placards? “Is Christianity played out?” How little is a clear gospel preached! No, they know it would not do, people would not come to hear it. They must have something different — amusements, entertainments, good, clever sermons, perhaps, but not man’s state and God’s remedy. It is the person of Christ we need, may that be more precious to our souls! ‘Tis Him we look to see, for Him we wait. Do not our hearts long to gaze on that face? the One who hung on that cross for us? And His last word was, “Surely I come quickly.”
J. N. D.