The Coming Of The Son Of Man

Previous articles in this series have been concerned with matters in which saints of this dispensation will find themselves entering into the joys laid up for them in heaven, and into the joy of the Lord. The more we meditate upon the hope of the believer the better shall we be while we wait here, patience will not be irksome, and waiting will be cheered by anticipation, that joyful meditation which shuts out the desert of earth and makes an oasis of the heart of the believer. The Lord Himself is waiting patiently for the day to come when He will reap His sweet harvest from the earth and then fulfil all that remains to be done upon the earth, in bringing about a state of righteous government, even though it will involve the vengeance of God, for

"He, when He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till His enemies be made the footstool of His feet" (Hebrews 10. 12, 13). Even the creation itself is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God (Romans 8.19), and one of the characteristics of the patriarchs was that they were like Abraham, who "looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God" (Hebrews 11.10). These men cared little for the discomforts of their pilgrim life, for they had seen and greeted something from afar, though it was their lot, nevertheless, to die without having received the promises.

It is interesting to reflect that possibly it is when men sit in darkness and the shadow of death that faith shines most brightly, and testifies most clearly to the sure word of promise. Yet Joseph was at the height of his fame and power when he testified to the children of Israel," God will surely visit you." While the bones and the embalmed body of Joseph reposed in a coffin in Egypt, and during the wilderness journey, it was a testimony from one who had ruled as a king amongst men, but whose power came from resting in the secret place of the Most High. Generations came and went, and no doubt many felt only their sorrows in slavery, and asked like many after them, "How doth God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High?"

In the remaining articles of this series something of the knowledge and will of God will be considered in relation to events after the coming of the Son of Man. He has waited very patiently for very many years, but He waits for the right moment. This was strikingly revealed to Abraham, in Genesis 15., when Abram saw himself a childless old man, but was directed to turn his thoughts heavenward and to consider the purposes of God in the promised seed, Isaac. There was a mixture of joy and sadness for he was informed that his descendants would be afflicted in a strange land, and they would be afflicted for four hundred years, long after Abraham himself had gone to his death in a good old age. He had not the hope that we have, but his faith was certainly greater than ours. God gave him a reason for it all:

For the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."

Whether Abraham understood this we cannot well say, but it was sufficient for him, and we see that running side by side there were two purposes of God, to bless Abraham and his seed, and to judge the world for its wickedness. God is not slack concerning His promises.

As to the length of this day of grace we have no set period, neither 400 years as above mentioned, nor 70 years as in the desolations of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 29. 10.11), nor 70 weeks of years (Daniel 9.20), ere the promises of God will be fulfilled, but just as God enlightened the minds of His servants in those days so He does now. He has purposes to be fulfilled, ere the coming of the Son of Man; there is very much iniquity which is not yet full.

There is nothing revealed as to the immediate reactions of the men of this world when they find that the saints have been removed from among them by the Lord's coming to the air. It will be more than a "nine-days' wonder," but men are callous and will soon turn to the pleasures of earth. Some no doubt will be deeply shocked, their hearts will be stirred as to the meaning of these things. Afterwards some will turn to God and become preachers of the gospel of the kingdom, and they will be prepared to endure to the uttermost for their Lord and Saviour. Such endurance will be as great as was ever necessary in past days, and the words of Hebrews 11. 33-38 will find other exemplars, for there will burst upon the world such a storm of wickedness as the world has never seen. Space will not permit a description of all this, for a great part of the prophets and of the Revelation deals with the events. Satan will let loose all the evil in his heart, and wicked men will abet him. Any who confess Christ will be objects of hatred and persecution, and the Jews will be the special objects of the attack of the persecutors; alas, some of them will welcome the delusions of Satan. The crisis will come when the abomination of desolation (Matthew 24.15) will be set up in the holy place, and horror-stricken men will be required to worship the beast or endure all the agonies which may be inflicted upon them.

It is under such circumstances that the Lord will leave His throne in heaven and will come to earth,

"In flaming fire, rendering vengeance to them that know not God, and to them that obey not the gospel" (2 Thessalonians 1.8).

The Lord Himself uttered solemn words on this matter:

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened... and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven" (Matthew 24.29, 30).

What a scene that will be, when the Lord comes in His glory, and all shall see Him on the clouds of heaven in power and great glory! The hosts gathered against Jerusalem will stand in amazement, terror will seize multitudes who have despised the Name of Christ, and they will desire to hide themselves from that One who comes with the sword of judgement. We read that all the tribes of the earth shall mourn when they see Him, but there will be different reasons for that. The wicked men allied with Satan will see that their day is well-nigh over, but we shall see in later articles how they pull themselves together in their desperation, to fight to the bitter end against Him.

But there will be a people who will have special cause to mourn that day. Such a mourning by the Israelites is pictured by Zechariah (see chapter 12.9-14). They shall indeed see Him whom they pierced; it will not be only His power and evident glory that will bring them down to the dust of earth in contrition, but the sight of that Head which still bears the marks of the crown of thorns, of those hands which still carry the marks of the Cross. Then they will know that the One whom they rejected, the Carpenter from Nazareth, as they thought Him, was what He claimed to be, the Son of God unto whom all power had been given, in heaven and on earth. They had desired a Messiah who would come in kingly pomp and glory, who would restore the kingdom to Israel, and who would perform vengeance upon their enemies, and now He has come, their Messiah without any shadow of doubt. But the cry of Hosanna is not lifted up, cheering multitudes do not throng the streets in welcome to Him, for to this nation has come the realization of the meaning of their great day of atonement (Leviticus 23.26-32), and they have to learn the lesson that we learned through grace, that it is not the enemy without but the enemy within which needs first attention. Out of their heart, during the Lord's sojourn on earth and ever since, had come evil thoughts, false witness, and railings (Matthew 15.18, 19), then the day of affliction of souls will have come. The glory of the Lord will no more prevail over them than it prevailed over Satan, but the showing forth of the One who was wounded in the house of His friends, His own, will bring them down into the dust of affliction, that men might mourn as a man mourns for his only son, husband and wife apart, king and prophet and princes all mourning as individuals. And if it should be that anyone refuse to mourn then he will be cut off from his people, or if he would magnify his work he will be destroyed from among the people. Nothing less than this will satisfy the Son of Man in that day.

Other matters are seen to by the Lord, for with the sound of a great trumpet His angels will gather together His elect from the ends of the earth, those who have endured to the end all that Satan and his adherents could do, who have testified for the Lord, and who must now be removed to safety, for Satan and men will fight against Him (Matthew 24.31). They too will have had their day of mourning since none will be exempt (verse 30), for they will realize as never before what the Lord endured for them. The hidden things of darkness in their own souls will be revealed to them in the light of that Presence, the counsels of their hearts made manifest, as they realize that the Lord did for them far, far more than they have done for Him. But soon they are gathered to Him to enjoy His Presence for evermore.

There remains one other matter concerning the Coming of the Lord in glory, and this is something which affects the saints. The revelation

of the Lord in flaming fire, the showing forth of His power and glory, is not only for the purpose of deliverance of some on the earth and of vengeance upon others. He is accompanied not only by angels but by a host of saints. He comes "to be glorified in His saints, and to be marvelled at in all them that believed" (2 Thessalonians 1.10). It is not so much that He is glorified by His saints, but that all the people upon earth may gaze upon His companions, His brethren, His friends, the sharers of His throne. Men will indeed marvel to see them, for once they were sinners here below, poor and despised, maybe, and now they will be seen in the radiant glory of their Lord, and men will marvel indeed. What had they done to receive such honour? They had put their faith in Christ, they had confessed their sins, and joyfully accepted Him as their Saviour, they had served Him, perhaps in much tribulation, but they had endured all for His sake, and now they reign with him (2 Timothy 2.12).

"Therefore let us also, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us .

Consider Him ... that ye wax not weary" (Hebrews 12.1-3).

The apostle Paul looked with confidence to the day of revelation of Christ when at the Judgement-Seat of Christ he would receive the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4.8), because he had loved the

appearing" of Christ. This is "the shining forth" of Christ, and he had the same confidence that all those who loved that appearing would receive a like reward, so it should be our aim to long for His coming to the air for us, to rejoice in the day of reward, and to have gladness in the thought that at long last the lowly Man of Calvary will be manifested to all the earth as the Lord of Glory.

unknown | Jul 1954
The Coming Again Of The Lord Jesus Christ: