Joyful Anticipation of the Second Advent
(No. 2496)
A SERMON INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY, DECEMBER 20, 1896.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON THURSDAY EVENING, APRIL
23, 1885.
"And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up
your heads, for your redemption draws near. And He spoke to them a
parable, Behold this fig tree and all the trees. When they are budding,
you see and know, yourselves, that summer is now near. So likewise,
when you see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God
is near." Luke 21:28-31.
I have already said that I conceive our Lord Jesus Christ to have
regarded the destruction of Jerusalem as "the beginning of the end."
Although some 1800 years have rolled away since that terrible event,
we, with Him, may make but small account of the interval and regard it
all as one dispensation of passing away. That beautiful city was the
very crown of the entire earth because God had dwelt there. It may be
compared to the diamond in a ring, the jewel whose setting was the
whole world–and when that jewel was destroyed and God did, as it were,
grind it to powder–it was a warning that the ring, itself, would,
by-and-by, be crushed and consumed, for "the heavens shall pass away
with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the
earth, also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up." The
destruction of Jerusalem was, so to speak, the rolling up of the
curtain on the great drama of the world's doom. It will not fall again
until all the things that we now see shall have passed away and only
the things that cannot be shaken–the things of God and of eternity,
which we cannot see–shall remain.
Moreover, I think that from this chapter, if we are to understand it
all–and it is confessedly very difficult to comprehend–we must regard
the siege of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple as being a
kind of rehearsal of what is yet to be. God's long-suffering was
displayed with Israel for centuries. The rebellious tribes had ample
space for repentance. They had even been carried away into captivity
and, by the Lord's gracious loving kindness, they had struggled back
again. Yet, only changing the form of their apostasy, they continued to
wander away from God. They were bent on backsliding from Jehovah even
when their idols were all destroyed and the seed of Abraham had come to
hate every sort of symbol and image! Yet, then, they began to set up
other kinds of idols in the traditions of the fathers, and the
inventions of the scribes. Thus they lost the spirit of Divine teaching
in the mere letter of it and became only formalists when they ceased to
be idolaters, for, mind you, the truth, if it is dead, has no more
virtue in it than falsehood has.
When the Spirit of God is gone out of that which, in itself, is right,
it becomes often a cover wherein a thousand evils conceal themselves.
So, at last, God's long-suffering had come to an end and, according to
current tradition, there was a sound as of the moving of wings in the
Holy Place at Jerusalem and it is reported that one priest, who stood
to officiate at the altar, heard the solemn sentence, "Let Us go
hence," for God was about to leave His Temple. That Temple had already
torn its veil from top to bottom for very shame at what had been done
to the Lord's Christ–and now the fabric, itself, must be consumed with
fire, even in spite of the order of the Roman emperor. With all his
power, he could not save it from ruin, and so completely was the city
destroyed that Zion was plowed as a field and the very site of the
Temple was, for many a day, a question in dispute.
Ah, my Friends, this was a picture–a faint picture–of what shall be
the case when the Lord Jesus Christ shall come again! Then, all
external religion–if it is but external–shall perish in the fire and
only the spiritual and the true shall live. "For, behold, the day comes
that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yes, and all that do
wickedly, shall be stubble and the day that comes shall burn them up,"
as it was, with the Temple fabric! In the day that is coming, only that
shall endure upon which fire can have no power. Only that shall stand
which is God's own eternal Truth. So, then, I regard that destruction
of Jerusalem and its Temple as the beginning of the end, and also as
the rehearsal of what is yet to be.
The times before the destruction of Jerusalem were terrible to the last
degree. If you have read Josephus, you cannot but feel your heart bleed
for the poor Jews. They were utterly infatuated. They were so carried
away with heroic madness that they fought against the Romans with a
desperate valor after the city had been surrounded. Never upon this
earth were there braver or more fanatical spirits than were those who
were cooped up within those city walls. When they were weary with
fighting the Romans, they turned their swords and their daggers against
one another, being divided into sects and parties who hated each other
with the utmost fury. Jerusalem was a cauldron, a boiling pot, seething
full of all manner of evil, mischief and misery. The land was devoured
before the Roman armies. Everybody seemed to be either driven from the
country, or else to be left dead around the city walls. They crucified
the Jews in such numbers that they left off doing it because they could
find no more wood upon which to nail them! Those who were taken captive
were sold for slaves till a penny was refused as their price–they
literally sold them for a pair of shoes! The precious sons of God, as
the Prophet said, comparable to fine gold, were esteemed as earthen
pitchers, cracked and broken–and only worthy to be thrown on the
dunghill.
But all the time–the most awful time, perhaps, that any nation ever
endured–the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ were altogether
unharmed! It is recorded that they fled to the little city of Pella,
were quiet according to their Master's command and not a hair of their
head perished. Indeed, it was to them a time of redemption, for the
persecution which the Jews had carried on against them had been
exceedingly cruel, but now there was a pause. The Jews' miseries were
so great that they had no care nor thought for the poor Christians!
They, at least, were secure–they looked up and lifted up their heads,
for their Master's prophecy was verified–and the full force of the
curse fell upon those who had cried to Pilate, "His blood be on us and
on our children."
Now, dear Friends, it will be just so at the last. I am not about to
enter into any prophecies of what is yet to be, but here are the
Master's own words–"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them
for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the
earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they
see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great Glory. And
when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads, for your redemption draws near."
That is my subject, dear Friends, and we will consider, first, the
terrible time in which this precept is to be carried out ' 'Look up,
and lift up your heads." Secondly, the remarkable precept itself '
'Look up, and lift up your heads." And thirdly, the encouraging parable
which is given in order to induce us to look up and lift up our heads.
"Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they are budding, you see
and know, yourselves, that summer is now near. So likewise, when you
see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near."
I. First, then, here is A TERRIBLE TIME in which we are told to look up
and lift up our heads.
It is evidently to be a time of fearful national trouble. And if such
times should ever come in our days–if there should ever arrive times
that are worthy to be compared with the destruction of Jerusalem–here
is the Master's word to us, "When you shall hear of wars and
commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass;
but the end will not come immediately." Should great wars occur, as
they certainly will, there is nothing in them to terrify the Christian!
Should they even come to your own doors, it is not for Believers in
Christ ever to be the victims of a scare. Whatever may happen, what is
there for them to fear? The Savior gives them this precept for a time
when it will be impossible for them to carry it out unless it is by
faith in Him–"Look up, and lift up your heads." Whatever chastisements
shall befall the nations, you shall be secure in following to the full,
the principles of peace that your Master has enjoined upon you.
Further, this precept is given, not only in times of fearful national
trouble, but also in times of awful physical signs and wonders in the
world–"There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars." It may be a season of preternatural darkness, or the solar
system may be disturbed so that the stars of Heaven, which have been
fixed for centuries, shall fall like unripe fruit from the trees, or as
the withered leaves of autumn are scattered by the stormy blast. You
know that when there is some phenomenon such as no one has ever seen
before, how frightened people are! But suppose there should be visible
in the heavens manifestations such as have never been seen, yet even at
such times the children of
God are to look up and lift up their heads! And if they should not
merely be in the heavens, but if the earth, also, should shake and
tremble–if that which is supposed to be most stable should become most
fickle–yet even then we are to look up and lift up our heads.
And if the sea and the waves thereof should roar in a manner altogether
unusual, so that landsmen should hear the noise afar off, or if, being
out at sea, ourselves, the waves should run mountains high and the
vessel should threaten to sink to the bottom, yet this is still the
precept for the worst of times that are supposable–"When these things
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads." Even in
such a trying time as that, take up the language of the 46th Psalm and
say, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear though the earth is removed, and though the
mountains are carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters
thereof roar and are troubled, though the mountains shake with the
swelling thereof."
"Nature cannot rise to that height," says one. No, I know it
cannot–but Divine Grace can! "I cannot rise to it," says one. Perhaps
you cannot, but there is One who can raise you up to it, and it is He,
Himself, who bids you to rise. "Then," says Jesus, "when these things
begin to come to pass, then l ook up, and lift up your heads."
This terrible time which our Lord describes is, in addition, a time of
universal alarm–"Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things
which are coming on the earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be
shaken." You know that fear is contagious–when one person trembles,
many begin to feel the same sort of tremor. And when all the people,
wherever we shall go, at home or abroad, shall be in distress–when
everywhere the hearts of men shall seem to die within them, or turn, as
it were. to stone, so that they cannot act or move, like those who
guarded the tomb of Christ, when they saw Him rise, were as dead
men–if it should ever come to that and there should be a general
panic, then you who have Christ for your Master, God for your Father,
eternity for your heritage and Heaven for your home–even then you may
"look up, and lift up your heads."
You ask, perhaps, "How shall we do that?" You cannot do it without your
Lord. With God, all things are possible. In Christ, you can do all
things. Without Him you can do nothing. If you live away from your Lord
and Master, in those days of terror that are yet to come, your hearts
will quail for fear, and you will be like other men. If you run with
them, you shall fear with them. If your strength is where their
strength is, you shall be as weak as they are! But if you have learned
to look up, why, even in those stormy times you shall keep to the habit
of looking up! And if you have learned to lift your heads above the
world, you shall keep to the habit of lifting up your heads! If your
portion is in Heaven, it shall not be shaken when the earth rocks and
reels to its very foundations. If your treasure is in Heaven, then your
treasure shall not be lost.
If God is with you, you can stand between the very jaws of death, or in
the center of Hell, itself, and feel no fear! With Christ by your side,
you may be as calm amid the wreck of matter, and the crash of worlds,
as your Lord, Himself, is in His Glory. He can work even this in you if
you but cast yourself on Him and live wholly to Him.
Once more, the time when we are to be thus calm and quiet, and to look
up, and lift up our heads, is to be at the coming judgment My dear
Brothers and Sisters, whatever I might say to you about the calamities
that are yet to come upon the earth. Whatever description I might give
of wars, earthquakes and storms–if I were to make each word as black
as night and each sentence as sharp as a killing sword–yet could I not
fully describe the final scene when the Lord, Himself, shall come in
all the pomp and splendor of the last dread assize! No human tongue can
tell, as no human heart can imagine the terrors of that tremendous day,
especially the sight of the once-crucified King when He appears seated
upon His Great White Throne, and when the summons shall ring out–
"Come to judgment! Come to judgment, come away!" when the grave shall
not conceal the unnumbered dead, nor even the depths of the ocean
suffice for a hiding place from Him that sits upon the Throne, for all
shall be gathered before Him! Every eye shall see Him and they, also,
that pierced Him. You will be there, my Friend! You will be there as
certainly as you are here!
O you who are without Christ, all the fear and dread you have ever had
in this life will be as nothing compared with the alarm and terror of
that day! Your fears, when you have been laid low with fever, and have
been near to death's door, will be but as child's play compared with
what you will feel at that tremendous day which is soon to come! Yet
Christ says to His people, concerning even that time of terror, "Look
up, and lift up your heads." There is nothing for you who have put your
trust in Him, to ever fear! It is your Judge who is coming, but He
comes to acquit you and to exhibit you to the assembled universe clad
in His own righteousness which you already wear. He who is coming is
your Lord, your Friend, your Bridegroom! He who has sworn to deliver
you is coming to call your body from the grave and to raise you up to
dwell together with Him forever. That day of Christ's appearing shall
be to you a morning of the ringing out of harps and a time ofjoyous
shouts and blissful songs–
"There shall be weeping, there shall be weeping, At the Judgment Seat
of Christ," but not for you who are in Him! It shall be your joy day,
your wedding day, the brightest day in all your history!–
"When these things begin to come to pass, Then look up, and lift up
your heads."
I must leave this first point concerning the terrible time when this
precept is to be carried out by reminding you that when the Lord Jesus
Christ shall come, the heavens shall tell us–"There shall be signs in
the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars." The earth shall tell us,
for upon the earth there shall be "distress of nations, with
perplexity." The sea shall tell us, for the sea and the waves thereof
shall roar. Men shall tell us, for men's hearts shall fail them for
fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth.
And then, as all these voices shall proclaim His coming, our own eyes
shall tell us, for they shall see "the Son of Man coming in a cloud
with power and great Glory." "Then shall the righteous shine forth as
the sun in the Kingdom of their Father." And in anticipation of that
glorious day, each Believer can say with the Patriarch Job, "I know
that my Redeemer lives, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon
the earth: and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall
behold, and not another."
II. Now I come to THE REMARKABLE PRECEPT itself–"Then look up, and
lift up your heads."
My dear Brothers and Sisters, there are some Christian people who seem
to think that it is almost wicked to look up, and lift up their heads.
When they come before God, their cry is, "Lord, have mercy upon us,
miserable sinners." Well, but surely a true child of God gets above
that condition! He is a sinner, it is true and, as far as he is a
sinner, he is unhappy, but still, he has been regenerated by the Holy
Spirit! He has been washed in the blood of the Lamb! He has been
adopted into the family of God–surely there is some nobler note for
him to reach than that doleful dirge! If, amid plague and pestilence,
or amid earthquakes and storms and wars, we are to look up, and lift up
our heads, that ought to be our daily attitude–
"Why does your face, you humble souls, Those mournful colors wear? What
doubts are these that waste your faith, And nourish your despair?"
Listen to your Lord's gracious command–"Look up, and lift up your
heads." What does this precept mean? First, it implies an absence of
fear. "Perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment." He that
fears is not made perfect in love. What cause has a Christian for fear?
What is there that can harm the man whom God loves? Will He trample on
His child, or allow anyone else to hurt him? No, for "all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to His purpose." The sun and moon and stars. The earth and
the seas. Wars and pestilences all work together for good to God's dear
children. Let us therefore cast out all fear!
This precept, surely, also means the removal of all grief While the
Christian is here, there will always be more than enough to make him
grieve as a man, but there will also always be Grace in Christ to wipe
every tear away. We are born to grief, but then, we are also born
again, so we must not give way to weeping more than is right. We must
not be overburdened with sorrow, lest we become like a drunk man. It is
as evil to be drunk out of the bitter cup of affliction as out of the
sweet cup of sinful pleasure. Let us put away our sorrow, grief and
misery, and say with the Prophet Habakkuk, "Although the fig tree shall
not blossom, neither shall fruit be on the vines; the labor of the
olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall
be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: yet
I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation."
"Look up, and lift up your heads." This precept of our Lord seems to me
to be very wonderful because it does not merely mean that there is to
be in Believers no fear and no grief, but that even in the worst times
we are to show the signs of joy. This expression implies to me signs
and tokens of an outward kind–"Look up, and lift up your heads." Our
Lord seems to say to us, "Now fly your flags and ring your bells! Let
your hearts be exceedingly glad–so joyous that those who look at you
cannot help seeing your happiness. "Look up, and lift up your heads."
Let there be no looking down because the earth is quaking and shaking,
but let there be a looking up because you are going to rise from it! No
looking down because the graves are opening–why should you look down?
You will quit the grave, never more to die. "Lift up your heads." The
time for you to hang your heads, like bulrushes, is already over and
will certainly be over when the Lord is coming and your redemption
draws near! Therefore, "look up, and lift up your heads."
It will be an amazing sight when Jesus comes again! It must have been
an amazing sight when Jerusalem was destroyed, but the true Christian
knew all that was going to happen. And all that didhappen, terrible as
it was, was only a confirmation of his faith and a fulfillment of his
Lord's prophecies. So shall it be when, at the Last Great Day, we walk
among the sons of men calmly and serenely! They will marvel at us. They
will say to us, "How is it that you are so joyous? We are all alarmed,
our hearts are failing us for fear." And we shall take up our wedding
hymn, our marriage song, "The Lord is come! The Lord is come!
Hallelujah!" The burning earth shall be the flaming torch to light up
the wedding procession! The quivering of the heavens shall be, as it
were, but as the dancing of the feet of angels in those glorious
festivities! And the booming and crashing of the elements shall,
somehow, only help to swell the outburst of praise to God, the Just and
Terrible, who is to us our exceeding joy!
I cannot speak as I would upon this glorious theme, but I think I catch
some of our Master's meaning when He said, "Then look up, and lift up
your heads." Did He not mean that then, and always, Christians are to
be filled with an inward peace and with a holy expectancymixed with it?
Whatever happens, all is well with the righteous! I know not what is to
be, nor do I wish to know, but I do know that all is well and that all
shall be well forever and ever. "Look up, and lift up your heads,"
Beloved, for it is better than before. There is something brighter and
more joyful coming than we have ever yet known! All our earthly bliss
is but as the vestibule of our eternal delights. The Lord's Kingdom is
yet small and feeble, apparently, but it is to be world-wide and He,
Himself, is to be manifested in His Glory! Therefore, let us look up,
and lift up our heads. Look up for Him who is coming! Look up for Him
who has already come! Lift up your eyes to the hills, from where your
help comes "Look up, and lift up your heads." It seems to me as if the
text, itself, is quite enough to make you march to the strains of
martial music straight away to victory! Come, let us be a band of men
and women who fully trust our Lord and, who henceforth say farewell to
doubt and trembling! "Look up, and lift up your heads."
III. Our text finishes with A PARABLE TO ENCOURAGE US TO OBEY THE
PRECEPT–"Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they are
budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is near."
First, notice the signs mentioned in this parable. Summer is the time
of the bursting of buds, the unfolding of flowers, the forming and
ripening of the fruit. There may come many a shower in the spring, but
that will not hinder the arrival of summer–it will rather help summer
to come! It may be cold and chill beneath the black cloud that hovers
over us for a while, but that will not hinder summer. "April showers
bring forth May flowers." All these things are the tokens of the
summer's coming. So, Brothers and Sisters, when you are in trouble,
expect that you are going to have a blessing! When you are passing
through a great trial, look out, for there is another sign that summer
is coming! Do not fear to look up, and lift up your heads, for–
"The clouds you so much dread Are big with mercy, and shall break In
blessings on your head."
"Look up, and lift up your heads." I wish we could get into the habit
of believing that every time of need, every time of pain, every time of
depression is but the commencement of a season of blessing! "Though
now, for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations," remember that the Lord's objective in this experience is
"that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold
that perishes, though it is tried with fire, might be found to praise
and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ." Therefore, as
you look at the black buds on the tree of your life, say to yourself,
"I wonder what bright flower is coming out there!" Look at the dark
bulbs, without any beauty at all in them, which we put into the ground,
yet the flowers which come out of them are charming and fragrant. So,
when God plants some black bulbs in the garden of your soul, do not cry
out because of their ugliness, but look for the flowers that shall, in
due time, appear–and expect something beautiful from God's sowing!
Yes, and if again the heavens should be darkened, the earth should
shake, the sea should roar, kingdoms should be dissolved and pestilence
should slay its myriads, yet still "look up, and lift up your heads."
Your Master bids you do so! He, the Crucified, who made a coronet of
beauty out of the crown of thorns. He who is bedecked today with jewels
which are the scars of His own suffering. He whose very Glory it is
that He once died–He it is who would have you see, in all the trials
of the present hour, tokens of the benediction that is yet to come!
Therefore, "look up, and lift up your heads."
Further, the signs mentioned in this parable tell ofcertainty. When the
trees are in bloom, hastening to display their leaves, there may come a
frost, there may come many cold days–there will certainly come rough
winds and clouds–but the summer will come along in due time. Every day
will bring it nearer. All the devils in Hell cannot keep the spring
from going on to summer, it is not possible! The forces of nature are
so ordained by God that the trees must come to their perfection at the
crowning of the year and, in like manner, the signs that God gives to
His people, though they may not always seem promising, are very sure.
Have you trusted in Christ? Then, to you He has given peace and joy!
Are you still trusting Him and will you continue to hang only upon Him
and to trust wholly in Him? Then, your righteousness shall break forth
as brightness and your salvation as a lamp that burns! The Lord will
light your candle. The night may be very long, but the morning must
come when the Sun of Righteousness shall rise upon you with healing in
His wings, and you shall "go out and grow up as the calves of the
stall."
As for the coming of our Divine Master and the triumph of everything
that is right and true. As to the fulfillment of His Covenant and the
perfecting of all His everlasting purposes. As for the salvation of His
elect and redeemed ones, Heaven and earth may pass away, but His Word
shall not pass away till every jot and tittle of it shall be fulfilled!
God is with you, God is in you–who can stand against Him? Trust in the
Lord, even in the mighty God of Jacob, and you shall never be ashamed
nor confounded, world without end! Go your way, and say, "All is well,
for it is in my Father's hands; therefore will I look up, and lift up
my head."
And as for you who are not His people, begin to look out for a place to
hide yourselves, for Christ is coming! O you earthworms, begin to look
for the holes into which you will wish to creep to hide yourselves! I
wish that you would so look out for a hiding place that you would find
one in that Man who presents Himself as the best hiding place for every
sinner who will trust Him. God bring you all to find refuge in Christ!
Amen.
EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON: LUKE21.
Luke 1-6. And He looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts
into the treasury. And He saw, also, a certain poor widow casting in
her two mites. And He said, Of a truth I say to you, that this poor
widow has cast in more than they all: for all these have, of their
abundance, cast in to the offerings of God: but she of her penury has
cast in all the living that she had. And as some spoke of the Temple,
how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, He said, As for these
things which you behold, the days will come, in which there shall not
be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. This was
literally true of the Temple at Jerusalem and, today, there remains
nothing of it. It is also true of all earthly buildings and of all
earthly things. However firm they appear to be, as though they might
outlast the centuries, themselves, yet the things which are seen are
temporal and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, they shall all melt
into thin air and pass away. "The things which are seen are temporal;
but the things which are not seen are eternal."
7. And they asked Him, saying, Master, but when shall these things be
and what sign will there be when these things shall come to pass? Those
questions are always being asked. They are being asked at this very day
about Christ's Second Coming. They shall have no answer, for Christ,
Himself, assures us that as the Son of Man, He knew not the day nor the
hour of His own coming. As the Son of God He knew all things, but as a
Man like ourselves, He was willing to be a know-nothing upon that
point.
8. And He said, Take heed that you are not deceived: for many shall
come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go you
not therefore after them. This passage refers, in the first place, to
the siege of Jerusalem and in its second and yet fuller meaning, to the
coming of the Lord. It looks to me that our Lord regarded the
destruction of Jerusalem as "the beginning of the end," the great type
and anticipation of all that will take place when He shall stand in the
latter day upon the earth. And, as before the destruction of Jerusalem
there were many false Christs, so will there be more of them the nearer
the end of the world shall be. This shall be to us one of the tokens of
our Lord's speedy appearing, but we shall not be deceived thereby.
"Take heed that you are not deceived: for many shall come in My name,
saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go you not therefore
after them."
9. But when you shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified;
for these things must first come to pass; but the end will not come
immediately. Everywhere throughout the Scriptures there is this double
message of our Lord– "Watch, for I may come at any moment. Expect Me
to come, and to come soon; yet never be terrified as though the time
were immediately at hand, for there are certain events which must occur
before My Advent." How to reconcile these two thoughts, I do not know
and I do not care to know. I would like to be found in that condition
which consists in part of watching and in the other part of patiently
waiting and working till Christ appears.
10, 11. Then said He to them, Nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom: and great earthquakes shall be in divers
places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great
sights shall there be from Heaven. Someone says, perhaps, "All this we
have had, times without number, yet Christ has not come." Just so, for
these signs are not sent to minister to our curiosity, but to keep us
always on the watch. And whenever we mark these earthquakes, wars,
famines and pestilences, then are we to think, "Behold, He comes," and
watch the more earnestly! You know how it is often with the man who is
very sick. It is reported that he cannot last long. You call many
times, yet he is still living–do you, therefore, conclude that he will
not die? No, but you more certainly expect that he will soon be gone.
So is it with Christ's Second Advent. He bids us note the signs of His
coming, and yet, when some of those signs appear, He does not come–all
this is to keep us still on the alert watching for Him. Even in His own
day, when He so spoke that His servants expected Him to come at once,
yet He also added words from which they might fairly judge that He
would notcome directly.
12-16. But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and
persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons,
being brought before kings and rulers for My name's sake. But it shall
turn out for you an occasion for testimony. Settle it, therefore, in
your hearts, not to meditate before what you shallanswer: for I will
give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be
able to gainsay nor resist Nowadays, the fashion is always to meditate,
and think, and excogitate a gospel for yourself. To be a thinker–that
is the very crown of perfection to some minds–but it is not so
according to our Master's mind! His servants are to speak not their own
thoughts, but His thoughts! If they will keep to His Gospel, He will
give them a mouth and wisdom which all their adversaries shall not be
able to gainsay nor resist. We are to be the repeatersof a message
which is given to us, not the manufacturers of tidings! There is to be
an exhibition of inventions very soon and it is quite right and proper
that there should be, but I pray that none of us may ever be the
inventors of a new Gospel, or of new doctrines, or of new systems of
theology, but, on the contrary, let us settle it in our hearts that we
will speak Christ's Word all our days! And if thereby we are brought
into trouble, we will depend upon Him to give us a mouth and wisdom
which all our adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
16. And you shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and
kinsfolk, and friends and some of you shall they cause to be put to
death. How true that has been many a time! For how long a period the
saints were martyred! And the days of martyrdom are not yet over.
17, 18. Andyou shall be hated by allmen for My name's sake. But there
shallnot an hair ofyour headperish. During all the terrible siege of
Jerusalem, it is believed that not one Christian perished, for God took
special care of the followers of His Son. They were the most hated of
all men, yet nobody could touch them! None of them took up arms, for it
was contrary to their religion as, indeed, if we are Christians, it is
contrary to our religion to resist evil, but we are to bear and endure.
The early Christians did so–and because of their very defenselessness,
they were safe under the guardian care of the Lord their God!
19-24. In your patience possess you your souls. And when you shall see
Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation thereof
is near Then let them which are in Judaea flee to the mountains and let
them which are in the midst of it depart; and let not them that are in
the countries enter into it For these are the days of vengeance, that
all things which are written may be fulfilled. But woe to them that are
with child, and to them that give suck in those days! for there shall
be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they
shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into
all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until
the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled. And it is so even to this day.
Here is another instance in which the Lord bade His people expect His
coming and yet, at the same time, told them that He would not come so
long as Jerusalem should be trodden down of the Gentiles. "Until the
times of the Gentiles is fulfilled" means the time when the Messiah
shall gather in those Gentiles to Himself, for, when He shall appear,
they shall look on Him whom they have despised, and turn to Him whom
they have so long rejected.
26. And there shall be signs in the sun–As there were at the
destruction of Jerusalem, and as there will be at the Second Coming of
Christ. We have had a rehearsal of that coming in the destruction of
the favored city, but the grand event, itself, who shall rightly speak
of it?
25-27. And in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress
of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's heart
failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are
coming on the earth: for the powers of Heaven shall be shaken. And then
shall they see.–Whether they wish to see Him or not, "then shall they
see"–
27-32. The Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. And
when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your
heads, for your redemption draws near And He spoke to them a parable;
Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they are budding, you see
and know of yourselves that summer is no w near So you, also, when you
see these things happening, you know that the Kingdom of God is near
Verily I say to you, This generation shall not pass away, till all is
fulfilled. As I understand it, for the first time. And afterwards it
shall be fulfilled again. It is a prophecy that bears two meanings–an
outer and an inner. It has been fulfilled once and it shall soon be
fulfilled again.
33, 34. Heaven and earth shallpass away: but My words shall not pass
away. And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be
overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this
life.–Please notice that "cares of this life" are put down with
over-eating and over-drinking, for men can be intoxicated and surfeited
with care, either the care of getting, or the care of keeping, or the
care of spending, or the care of losing. Any of these cares may cause a
surfeit and a drunkenness. Therefore, "take heed to yourselves, lest at
any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness,
and cares of this life."–
34. And so that day come upon you unawares. All that you can see in
this world, you are to regard as being doomed to destruction. That
destruction commenced, so to speak, when Jerusalem fell beneath the
Roman sword. Everything earthly is doomed. You are living, not in your
eternal mansions, but you are living a makeshift life. You are passing
through a wilderness, you are pilgrims, you are sojourners–this is not
your rest. Do not get to love this world, or to be taken up with it. Do
not strike your roots into it–you are not to dwell here and to always
live here. You are walking among shadows–regard them as such. Hug them
not to your bosom. Feed not your souls upon them, lest, when that Day
comes, before whose coming all of them shall melt away, you shall be
filled with amazement and shame.
35-37. For as a snare shallit come on all them that dweel on the face
of the whole earth. Watch, therefore, andpray always, that you may be
accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and
to stand before the Son of Man. And in the daytime He was teaching in
the Temple; and at night He went out, and abode in the mountain that is
called the Mount of Olives. You know what He did there, for–
"Cold mountains and the midnight air,
Witnessed the fervor of His prayer" Jesus always practiced what He
preached. He said to His disciples, "Watch, therefore, and pray
always," so He, Himself, both watched and prayed.
38. And all the people came early in the morning to Him in the Temple,
to hear Him. May we all be willing, not only to hear Him, but also to
heed what He says! Amen.