Revelation 1:7 - Homiletics

The outlook: the second coming of our Lord.

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There are one or two more introductory themes presented to us, before we are fairly launched on the exposition of the visions and scenery of this book. In this verse we have a summing up of its specific outlook. The apostolic seer beholds the Son of man enthroned in heaven, and unfolds, in symbol, the movements on earth till the Lord returns again. Hence the view which bounds the scene is this—"he cometh." We propose in this homily to set forth the place which the New Testament assigns to the second coming of Christ, in its relation to the Divine dispensations, to the faith and life of the Church, and to the outlook of the world. We hope, in doing so, to avoid some evils which have given us much concern, and which seriously impede the preparation of the Church for her Lord's return. We must not, in thinking of our Saviour's coming again, be led to think of him as now absent from his Church in such sense as to leave her lonely, helpless, and forlorn. He is not only near his Church, but in it—the Holy Ghost is her Comforter. She is not desolate—the real presence is in the heart of every believer, in the assemblies of the saints, and at the feast of the Holy Communion. Nor must we let our attention be taken off from the responsibilities our Lord has entrusted to us, by any of the interminable and profitless disputes as to the day or the hour of his appearing. It may be questioned whether the evil one ever used a more powerful engine for perplexing and injuring the Church, than by dragging her into disputes of days and years, and so far taking off her attention from the words, "Be ye ready." Nor will it accord with the demands of our Lord on our fidelity if we allow ourselves to drift into the notion that the world is getting worse and worse, that the gospel is meant to be a failure, that the great work of winning the globe for Christ will never be done by any missionary effort, but will be brought about by the reappearing of our Lord. We have no scriptural warrant for any such conclusion, and we regard it as a most lamentably successful temptation of the devil to lure the Church of God away from throwing all her energy to the task of preaching the gospel to every creature. We may not think of the coming of Christ as if it were to effect the new creation of God's grace, or to build the temple of the Lord. That is being done now. Christ will come because the harvest of earth is ripe, and when it is ripe. His work will be that of judgment. He will come, not to assume his sovereignty, but to reveal it to an unbelieving world and to an exultant and victorious Church. There are nine views which we may take of the reappearing of our Lord.

I. THE SECOND COMING IS THE NEXT GREAT EVENT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DIVINE DISPENSATIONS . There are three points on which Old and New Testament prophecy bids us fix our gaze, all gathering round the word "coming:" the Redeemer is "the Coming One"—"coming in weakness to suffer;" "coming in the energy of his Spirit to create and build up and consummate the Church;" "coming in sublime manifestation to judge the world." All is, however, in the scriptural view, an unbroken unity—the working out of a Divine plan, not an evolution of blind force. Our Lord, in the discourse to his disciples recorded in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, speaks of two events then in view—one, the destruction of Jerusalem; another, the end of the world. Of the former he says, "This generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled." Of the latter, "Of that day and hour knoweth no man," etc. And the latter is "the end of the age." When Peter spake on the Day of Pentecost, he declared that the outpouring of the Holy Ghost began on that day, as spoken of by Joel, ushering in, as it were, a period which was bounded in the far distance by "the day of the Lord." And so throughout the Epistles, "the day of Christ," "that day," "the day of the Lord," is uniformly the far point beyond which none can peer, and for which all things are waiting (cf. Acts 1:11 ; Philippians 1:10 ; 2 Timothy 1:12 )—"looking for," "hasting unto," "waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God."

II. IT IS AN EVENT WHICH IS EVEN NOW ON THE WAY . He is coming ( ἔρχεται ). He is, as it were, moving towards us every moment. Not as if nothing were being done now, nor as if there were even a pause for a while. Not as if it were indifferent to us until certain signs meet our eye which tell that the end is close upon us. Not so—not so is the meaning of the text. He is coming. He is actually on the way. The train of events which will bring him to us has long ago begun to move; and only, only as we recognize this do we understand the meaning of the dispensation under which we live. Of old, whether men knew it or not, every event was made subservient to the first appearing; and now every event is being so guided and controlled as to prepare the way for the second. Not a moment is being lost.

III. THOUGH CERTAIN AS TO FACT , IT IS UNKNOWN AS TO TIME — AND UNKNOWABLE . "Of that day and hour knoweth no man;" "It is not for you to know the times and the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power." Ever since the beginning of the Christian age there have been ever and anon men who have professed, by calculations of prophetic time, to assign dates for this or that; but again and again have their systems failed. When even such a one as Dr. Cumming £ was obliged to own that if he could tell when the twelve hundred and sixty years began, he could tell when they would end, but that he must confess that the former was a mere conjecture, who does not see the futility of thus wasting time in the attempt to reveal what our Lord meant to conceal? There are manifestly high and holy ends to be served in this concealment. Did we know the precise moment when all things are to come to a stand, such knowledge would bring them to confusion. Besides, the texts in Mark 13:35 and Matthew 24:36-44 are decisive on this point.

IV. THERE WILL BE SIGNS WHICH WILL PRECEDE THE COMING OF THE LORD . From those convulsions of nations, etc., of which many make so much, we gather no light, since they are to mark the entire duration of this dispensation, and hence neither of them can be taken as a sign of its immediate close. Nor will there be any change in the daily movements of men, any more than there was in the days of Noah, "until the flood came, and took them all away." True, "the heavens and the earth which are now, are reserved unto fire," etc.; but that fire will be one of the accompaniments of the second coming, not a sign to precede it. The sign which will indicate the approaching end will be the ripening alike of tares and wheat—bad and good. The bad will get worse, and the good will get better. Both will ripen. Then the end. The angel will thrust in the sickle because the harvest is ripe.

V. WHEN THE LORD COMES , HE WILL APPEAR IN HIS GLORY . ( Matthew 25:31 ; 1 John 3:1-3 ; Colossians 3:4 , "As he is;" cf. also Hebrews 9:28 , "Without sin.") Not as a "weary man and full of woes," but in majesty and might, "with great power and glory."

VI. THE SECOND COMING WILL CLOSE THE PROBATION OF THE RACE . £ This present time is "the day of salvation" ( Isaiah 49:8 ; 2 Corinthians 6:2 ), during which "whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved" ( Acts 2:21 ). Ere it closes, we cannot doubt that, in some state of being or other, every soul will have been brought into direct contact with the Saviour for acceptance or rejection, so that when the Saviour comes men will give account to One who has all things in readiness for judging the living and the dead ( 1 Peter 4:5 , 1 Peter 4:6 ). And as has been the soul's attitude towards Christ, according thereto will be the sentence from him. How can it be otherwise (cf. Matthew 7:1-29 .)?

VII. THE SECOND COMING WILL BE FOR JUDGMENT . This word "judgment" means very much: and the judgment period may be as long as "the day of salvation;" and we have long thought that in these two positions is the clue to the solution of the difficulties of the millenarian controversy. For the righteous it will mean manifestation, vindication, glorification. For the wicked it will mean manifestation, condemnation, shame. Both are included in Paul's description in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10 . Hence the earth will "wail because of him."

VIII. THE SECOND COMING IS CONSEQUENTLY THE " BLESSED HOPE " OF THE CHURCH , AND THE DREAD OF THE GUILTY . ( Titus 2:13 .) This is emphatically "the hope" which is so repeatedly referred to in the New Testament; it is the distinctive feature of the Christian's faith ( 1 Thessalonians 4:14-18 ). But guilt dreads it.

IX. THE SECOND COMING OF OUR LORD FOR AWARD OR PUNISHMENT casts a hue all its own on the meaning and outlook of our daily life ( Matthew 25:1-30 ; 1 John 2:28 ; 2 Peter 3:14 ; 2 Corinthians 5:10 ; Romans 14:9-12 ; Matthew 7:21-27 ; 1 Corinthians 3:13-15 ). This—this is the intensely practical end which the disclosures of our Lord's reappearing are intended to serve. Not that we may dispute with one another who has the most exact calculation as to the day, the hour, the how; but that our only rivalry may be, who shall be most faithful in doing the work of the day in the day, and thereby best prove himself to be ready, ever ready, let the Lord come whenever he may! Of little worth will it be to any to know the moment, unless at the moment they are ready to go in unto the King. Only as we are ready can we say from the heart, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"