During the course of His public ministry our
Lord made frequent reference to His Second Coming. When we consider how few of
His discourses have been transmitted to us and how brief is the inspired record
of His teachings as found in the New Testament Scriptures, we are deeply
impressed with the importance of our present inquiry as we note how much
there is in the Gospel narratives which relates to our Redeemer's Return.
Not only do we find many incidental references, but most of His "parables"
treat of those things which have to do with His Second Advent, and,
furthermore, several whole chapters in the Gospels are devoted to a fuller
setting forth of the same great event. Unto our Lord's own teaching, then,
upon His Second Coming we turn our attention. We cannot now review all that He
said upon the subject, but must content ourselves with singling out two or
three of His utterances thereon.
In Matt. 24 and 25 we have two whole chapters
occupied with this theme, and in them we find that again and again our Lord
made mention of His Return - "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and
shineth even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the Son of man
be" (24:27), which means that our Lord's Return to this earth will be
visible, public, and attended with awe-inspiring glory. The same ideas are
presented in the 30th verse of the same chapter - "And then shall appear the
sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth
mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory." Further down in the chapter, our Lord bids His
people make preparation for His appearing because He may return at any moment.
"Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of
Man cometh" (vs. 44). In the next chapter, in the Parable of the Virgins,
the subject of the Bridegroom's Coming is again brought before us, while the
closing verses furnish us with a detailed description of His judgment of the
living nations which introduces the setting up of His Millennial Kingdom -
"When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be
gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another, as a
shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats" (Matt. 25:31, 32).
In the nineteenth of Luke we have the Parable of
the Nobleman which is very plain and pointed: "He said therefore, A certain
nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to
return. And He called His ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and
said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated Him, and
sent a message after Him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.
And it came to pass, that when He was returned, having received the
kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had
given the money, that He might know how much every man had gained by trading"
(Luke 19:12-15). The "Nobleman" is the Lord Jesus. The "journey into the far
country" was His Ascension to heaven. The "Kingdom" which He went to "receive"
is His Millennial Kingdom for which He taught His disciples to pray. The
"return" is His Second Advent to this earth. The "servants" are believers.
The "money" (marg. "silver," which in Scripture symbolizes redemption)
seems to typify the Gospel, which has been committed into our hands to proclaim
to a lost world. The "occupying till He comes" is the faithful giving out of
the Gospel and the daily witnessing for Him during the time of His absence.
The "message" sent by "His citizens" refers to the continued rejection of
Christ and His Gospel by the Jews during the days of the apostles and
particularly under the ministry of Stephen. The rewarding of the servants at
the time of His Return, is the allotting to them of places of honor in His
Millennial Kingdom. That to which we would specially call attention is the
fact that our Lord here expressly declares He will "return," come back
again to this earth.
Perhaps the most explicit of all the statements
which the Lord Jesus made upon our present theme is that recorded in the
opening verses of John 14. Our Lord was alone with His disciples. He was
about to be separated from them. For three years they had companied with Him,
but now the cross with all its suffering and shame lay athwart His path. The
realization of His approaching death had filled His followers with fear and
anguish. Their hearts were heavy and sad. Turning to them in their grief, the
Master speaks words of solace and cheer - "Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if
it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And
if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you
unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also" (John 14:1-3). These
words of our Lord can have only one possible meaning: He was going away, but He
would return again, return in person to receive His own unto Himself. Such was
His positive and unconditional promise. Thus we see that the
fulfillment of His promises, the keeping of His Word, necessitates the personal
Return of our blessed Redeemer.
The testimony of our Lord given while He was here
upon earth was confirmed, and rendered even more unequivocal, if that
were possible, by His post-ascension utterances. Fifty years after He had
returned to heaven the Lord Jesus sent His angel to the beloved John on the
Isle of Patmos to give unto him "The Revelation" and in it we hear our Lord
saying, no less than six times, "Behold, I come quickly." This is His last
promise, His final word to His people now on earth. He is coming back again.
He Himself has said so. He said so repeatedly during the days of His
earthly ministry. He said so in language about which there was no ambiguity
whatsoever. He said so both to His friends and to His enemies. He said so
again fifty years after His ascension to heaven. And He cannot lie. He is
Himself the "Truth" - the Truth incarnate. He is "The Faithful and True
Witness," therefore He must keep His Word, fulfill His promises, and
Return in person.