The Blessed Hope: the Appearing of Christ
The difference between the Lord’s coming and His appearing is, that in the former case He comes for His saints, and in the latter with His saints. The kingdom therefore is always connected with His appearing, as it is then that He will assume His power, and “have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth” (Psalm 72:8). This event will be totally unexpected. Buried in profound slumber, and deaf to all warning, the world, under the strong delusion which has been sent upon it, will have believed a lie, Satan’s falsehood, and trusted his masterpiece, the antichrist. Men will have at length found their happiness in forgetting God; and hence “as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be” (Matt. 24:38, 39). Yes, so sudden will it be, bursting with horror upon an astonished and careless world, that “as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in His day” (Luke 17:24).
But for the more intelligent conception of this wonderful event, it is advisable to obtain a general idea of the state of things then existing. Towards the close of the tribulation, there will be a coalition of hostile powers against the Jews. It is thus spoken of in one of the Psalms: “They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance” (Psalm 83:3-4). The chief actors in this confederacy would seem to be the Assyrian, so often spoken of by Isaiah (see Isa. 10:24; Isa. 14:25), otherwise the king of the north, or the little horn of Daniel 8, the first “beast,” that is the head of the revived Roman empire, and the false prophet—the antichrist (Rev. 13). Zechariah refers to this when he cries in the name of the Lord, “Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zech. 12:2-3). It is Satan, as ever, who inspires the hearts of these enemies of Israel, but the Lord uses them to chastise the apostate nation, and hence Zechariah also says, “Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle” (14:1-2). In Revelation we find other chief actors in the scene, though their hostility is there described as against the Lamb and against His saints, and presumably, therefore, we have there a later development of their schemes, occasioned by the appearing of Christ. John says, “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army” (Rev. 19:19).
Combining these accounts, together with the additional details to be found in Zechariah, the order of events may be indicated. All nations are gathered to battle against Jerusalem, and “the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (Zech. 14:2). But at this juncture, when they are wreaking their vengeance upon this unhappy people, when the malignant purposes of Satan are near their accomplishment, “then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle” (Zech. 14:3). But Satan’s instruments are not to be baulked of their prey, and goaded on to the crowning act of their impious course, led by the “beast” and the false prophet, who have long been seeking to wipe out the name of God and His Christ from the earth, and to erase their memory from the hearts of men, they dare now “to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army” They thus rush to their doom; for “the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” (Rev. 19:20-21). Isaiah speaks of this when he says, “He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the Wicked” (one) (Isa. 11:4); and Paul, “And then shall that wicked (one) be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thess. 2:8). Thus God arises, and His enemies are scattered.
If we turn now to another scripture, we shall find other details connected with the appearing. After describing the tribulation, our Lord proceeds: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 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,” etc (Matt. 24:29-30). The prophet Joel spoke in like manner: “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come” (Joel 2:30-31). There will be thus signs above and below to herald the appearing of Christ, when He comes with ten thousands of His saints, when “every eye shall see Him, and they [also] which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him” (Rev. 1:7).
It will, therefore, be a scene of awful and impressive grandeur; for it will be the “appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13)—God’s public display in His own glory of the One who was once rejected and crucified, but who now returns as the Son of man to take up the sovereignty of the whole world. And them that sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him (1 Thess. 4:14), associated in glory with their Lord, as they were once associated with Him in His rejection; for He comes to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that have believed (2 Thess. 1:10).
Having touched upon the fact and manner of His appearing, we may indicate some of its accompanying events. One of these has already been noted—the destruction of His foes. Thereon follows the conversion of Israel: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him,
as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart.... In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” (Zech. 12:13, 9-14:1). As soon as the church is removed, God will begin to act by His Spirit in the hearts of some of His ancient people—the remnant so constantly mentioned in the Psalm and the prophets; and these, as may be gathered from the Psalm and portions of Isaiah, will be bowed to the dust, under the sense of God’s holy indignation against His people Israel on account of their apostasy; and it is this feeling, combined with their fearful trouble, that gives character to their cries as there recorded. It is at this moment, when the furnace into which they have been cast burns most fiercely, and when they are hanging as it were over the abyss of utter destruction, that the
Lord appears for them, and they instantly recognize and look upon Him whom they have pierced. The true Joseph discovers Himself to His brethren, and they are at once plunged into bitter sorrow and humiliation on account of their, and their nation’s sin. But provision is made for this also in the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and they can now cry, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us: this is the LORD: we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (Isa. 25:9).
It is not only the remnant in Jerusalem that will be affected; for we find that in connection with His appearing “He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other” (Matt. 24:31). Wherever they are found not one will escape the notice of His eye, but all will be brought to share in the blessings of the kingdom which He comes to establish. As we read in Isaiah, “He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth” (Isa. 11:12). It may be that this will not be completely accomplished until after the commencement of His reign; for after the display of His power and glory, after the Lord has come “with fire, and with His chariots like a whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire,” some of the saved are sent forth to declare His glory among the Gentiles; and it is said that “they (the Gentiles) shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the LORD out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to My holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the LORD, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the LORD” (Isa. 66:15-20).
There is another event of great importance to be noted in connection with, and probably preparatory to, the establishment of the kingdom. After describing the destruction of the “beast” and the false prophet, and the slaughter of their followers, John says: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Rev. 20:1-3). Thus the Lord asserts His power in judgment upon the whole trinity of evil—Satan, the “beast,” and the false prophet—which had impiously risen up against Him, and blasphemously usurped His authority; and at the same time He delivers His people—the elect of Israel—and thereby clears the way for, and lays the foundations of, His millennial sway.
Leaving, however, the consideration of the kingdom itself to a future paper, we shall now ask the reader’s attention to those whom Christ will associate with Himself in His reign. There are several distinct classes that will have this honor. Everyone understands that believers of this dispensation will reign with Christ. This is too plainly asserted to admit of a single doubt. “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him” (2 Tim. 2:12). But it is not so generally apprehended that there are others to be singled out for this special exaltation; and yet this is as distinctly stated in the Scriptures. John says: “And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which [those who] had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4-6). The class sitting on thrones to whom judgment is given is composed of the armies that followed Christ out of heaven (Rev. 19:14)—the saints who had been caught up previously to meet the Lord in the air (1 Thess. 4), in a word, the Church, and perhaps the saints of previous dispensations. But there are two other classes; first, those who were martyred during the power of the antichrist— those who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God; and secondly, those who stood aloof from his seductions, and, unmoved by his threats, refused to receive his distinguishing sign. As a special mark of the Lord’s favor and approbation, in recompense for their fidelity amid the general unfaithfulness, they are made partakers of the first resurrection, and consequently of association with Christ in His kingdom. They share both in the priestly and kingly dignity—the wondrous honor they inherit through the grace of Him who had marked their sufferings, and rejoiced in their constancy to His name and testimony. It is not forgotten that the force of this passage is often explained away by the contention that the resurrection here spoken of is figurative. If so, the resurrection and judgment described in the latter part of the chapter will also be figurative, and thus the whole truth of a final judgment will be frittered away. No; words so plain cannot be robbed of their significance, to say nothing of their perfect agreement with other portions of the word of God. Blessed prospect for the saints of God! And how will they rejoice, not so much in their association with Christ in the splendors of His kingdom, unspeakable as will be the honor, but in the fact of His receiving the place belonging to Him both by title and purchase! There are even great voices in heaven to celebrate the event, saying, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats (thrones), fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wart, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned” (Rev. 11:15-18). But with what terror will this poor world be filled, when they behold the One whom they refused and rejected coming in power and great glory, to judge everything now according to the standard of His immutable righteousness! And He will come “as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thess. 5:2, 3).
“Can this be He, once wont to stray 
A pilgrim on the world’s highway;
Opprest by power, and mocked by pride, 
The Nazarene—the Crucified?”