The Lord's Coming Part 19

[29] Contrast with this reluctant departure His ready entrance into the tabernacle in Exodus xl.; and into the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 1. No sooner was the habitation ready for Him, than down He came to occupy it, and fill it with His glory He was as quick to enter as He was slow to depart. And not only so, but ere the book of Ezekiel closes, we see the glory coming back again; and "Jehovah Shammah" stands engraved in everlasting characters upon the gates of the beloved city. Nothing changeth G.o.d's affection. Whom He loves, and as He loves, He loves to the end. "The same yesterday, to-day, and forever."

Nor was it otherwise with Jehovah Messiah, in Matt. xxiii. Witness His touching words, "How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!" Here lay the deep secret. "I _would_." This was the heart of G.o.d. "_Ye would not._" This was the heart of Israel. He, too, like the glory in the days of Ezekiel, was forced away; but not, blessed be His name, without dropping a word which forms the precious basis of hope as to the brighter days to come, when the glory shall return, and the daughter of Zion shall welcome her King with joyful accents.

"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jehovah."

But, until that bright day dawn, darkness, desolation, and ruin, make up the sum of Israel's history. The very thing which the leaders sought, by the rejection of Christ, to avert, came upon them, in stern and awful reality. "The Romans shall come, and take away both our place and nation" How literally, how solemnly this was fulfilled!

Alas! their place and their nation were gone already, and the significant movement of Jesus, in Matt. xxiv. 1, was but the pa.s.sing sentence, and writing desolation upon the whole Jewish system. "Jesus went out and departed from the temple." The case was hopeless. All must be given up. A long period of darkness and dreariness must pa.s.s over the infatuated nation--a period which shall culminate in that "great tribulation" which must precede the hour of final deliverance.

But, as in the days of Ezekiel, there were those who sighed and cried over the sins and sorrows of the nation, so in the days of Matt. xxiv.

there was a remnant of G.o.dly souls who attached themselves to the rejected Messiah, and who cherished the fond hope of redemption and restoration for Israel. Very dim indeed were their perceptions, and their thoughts full of confusion. Nevertheless their hearts, as touched by divine grace, beat true to the Messiah, and they were full of hope as to Israel's future.

Now, it is of the utmost importance that the reader should recognize and understand the position of this remnant, and that it is with it our Lord is occupied in His marvellous discourse on the mount of Olives. To suppose for a moment that the persons here addressed were on Christian ground would involve the abandonment of all true thoughts of what Christianity is, and the ignoring of a company whose existence is recognized throughout the Psalms, the Prophets, and various parts of the New Testament. There was, and there always is, "a remnant according to the election of grace." To quote the pa.s.sages which present the history, the sorrows, the experiences, and the exercises of that remnant would demand a volume, and hence we shall not attempt it; but we are extremely desirous that the reader should seize the thought that this G.o.dly remnant is represented by the handful of disciples which gathered round our Lord on the mount of Olives. We feel persuaded that if this be not seen, the true scope, bearing, and application of this remarkable discourse must be lost.

"And Jesus went out and departed from the temple; and his disciples came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world" (or age, a?????)?

The disciples were, naturally, occupied with earthly and Jewish objects and expectations--the temple and its surroundings. This must be borne in mind if we would understand their question and our Lord's reply. As yet they had no thought beyond the earthly side of things.

They looked for the setting up of the kingdom, the glory of the Messiah, the accomplishment of the promises made to the fathers. They had not yet fully taken in the solemn and momentous fact that the Messiah was to be "cut off and have nothing" (Dan. ix. 26). True, the blessed Master had, from time to time, sought to prepare their minds for that solemn event. He had faithfully warned them in reference to the dark shadows that were to gather round His path. He had told them that the Son of Man should be delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked and scourged and crucified.

But they understood Him not. Such sayings seemed dark, hard, and incomprehensible; and their hearts still fondly clung to the hope of national restoration and blessing. They longed to see the star of Jacob in the ascendant. Their minds were full of expectancy as to the restoration of the kingdom to Israel. As yet they knew nothing--how could they?--of that which was to spring out of the rejection and death of the Messiah. The Lord had no doubt spoken of building an a.s.sembly; but as to the position and privileges of that a.s.sembly, its calling, its standing, its hopes, they knew absolutely nothing. The thought of a body composed of Jew and Gentile, united by the Holy Ghost to a living and glorified Head in the heavens, had never entered--how could it have entered?--their minds. The middle wall of part.i.tion was still standing; and one of their number--the very foremost amongst them--had, long after, to be taught, with much difficulty, to take in the idea of even admitting the Gentiles into the kingdom.

All this, we repeat, must be taken into account, if we would read aright our Lord's reply to the inquiry as to His coming and the end of the age. There is not a single syllable about the church, as such, from beginning to end of that reply. Up to verse 14, He pa.s.ses on to the end, giving a rapid survey of the events which should transpire amongst the nations. "Take heed," He says, "that no man deceive you.

For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pa.s.s, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations: and then shall the end come."

Here then we have a most comprehensive sketch of the entire period from the moment in which our Lord was speaking, down to the time of the end. But the reader will need to bear in mind that there is an unnoticed interval--a parenthesis, a break--in this period, during which the great mystery of the church is unfolded.

This interval or break is entirely pa.s.sed over in this discourse, inasmuch as the time had not arrived for its development. It was as yet "hid in G.o.d," and could not be unfolded until the Messiah was finally rejected and cut off from the earth and received up into glory. The entire of this discourse would have its full and perfect accomplishment, although such a thing as the church had never been heard of. For, let it never be forgotten, the church forms no part of the ways of G.o.d with Israel and the earth. And as to the allusion, in verse 14, to the preaching of the gospel, we are not to suppose that it is at all the same thing as "The glorious gospel of the grace of G.o.d," as preached by Paul. It is styled, "This gospel of the kingdom;"

and, moreover, it is to be preached, not for the purpose of gathering the church, but "as a witness to all nations." We must not confound things which G.o.d, in His infinite wisdom, has made to differ. The church must not be confounded with the kingdom: nor yet the gospel of the grace of G.o.d with the gospel of the kingdom. The two things are perfectly distinct; and, if we confound them, we shall understand neither the one nor the other. And, further, we would desire to press upon the reader the absolute necessity of seeing the break, parenthesis, or unnoticed interval in which the great mystery of the church is inserted. If this be not clearly seen, Matt. xxiv. cannot be understood.

But we must proceed with our Lord's discourse.

At verse 15, He seems to call His hearers back a little, as it were, to something very specific--something with which a Jewish believer would be familiar from the fact of Daniel's allusion to it. "When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth let him understand): then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains.

Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house: neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.... But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

All this is most definite. The quotation from Daniel xii. fixes the application beyond all question. It proves that the reference is not to the siege of Jerusalem, under t.i.tus; for we read in Daniel xii.

that, "At that time thy people shall be delivered;" and, most clearly, they were not delivered in the days of t.i.tus. No; the reference is to the time of the end. The scene is laid at Jerusalem. The persons addressed and contemplated are Jewish believers--the pious remnant of Israel, in the great tribulation, after the church has left the scene.

How can any imagine that the persons here instructed are viewed as on church ground? What force would there be to such in the allusion to the winter or the Sabbath day?

Then, again, "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.... If they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the desert, go not forth: Behold he is in the secret chambers, believe it not." What possible application could such words have to persons who are instructed to wait for G.o.d's Son from heaven, and who know that ere He returns to this earth they shall have met Him in the clouds and returned with Him to the Father's house? Could any Christian, instructed in his proper hope, be deceived by persons saying that Christ is here or there, in the desert or in the secret chambers? Impossible. Such a one is looking out for the Bridegroom to come from heaven; and he knows that it is wholly out of the question that Christ can appear on this earth without bringing all His people with Him.

Thus, the simple truth settles everything; and all we want is to be simple in taking it in. The simplest Christian knows full well that his Lord will not appear to him like a flash of lightning, but as the bright and morning Star, and hence he understands that Matt. xxiv.

cannot apply to the church, though most surely the church can study it with interest and profit, as it can all the other prophetic Scriptures; and, we may add, the interest will be all the more intense, and the profit all the deeper, in proportion as we see the true application of such Scriptures.

Limited s.p.a.ce forbids our entering as fully as we could wish into the remaining portion of this marvellous discourse; but the more closely each sentence is examined, the more fully each circ.u.mstance is weighed, the more clearly we must see that the persons addressed are not on proper Christian ground. The entire scene is earthly and Jewish, not heavenly and Christian. There is ample instruction supplied for those who shall find themselves, by-and-by, in the position here contemplated; and nothing can be clearer than that the entire paragraph, from verse 15-42, refers to the period which shall elapse between the rapture of the saints and the appearing of the Son of Man.

Some may perhaps feel a difficulty in understanding verse 34: "This generation shall not pa.s.s till all these things be fulfilled." But we must remember that the word "generation" is constantly used in Scripture in a moral sense. It is not to be confined to a certain number of persons actually living at the time, but takes in the _race_. In the pa.s.sage before us it simply applies to the Jewish race; but the wording is such as to leave the question of time entirely open, so that the heart might ever be kept in readiness for the Lord's coming. There is nothing in Scripture to interfere with the constant expectation of that grand event. On the contrary, every parable, every figure, every allusion is so worded as to warrant each one to look for the Lord's return in his own lifetime, and yet to leave margin for the elongation of the time according to the long-suffering grace of a Saviour G.o.d.

CHRISTENDOM

What varied thoughts and feelings are awakened in the soul by the very sound of the word "Christendom!" It is a terrible word. It brings before us, at once, that vast ma.s.s of baptized profession which calls itself the church of G.o.d, but is not; which calls itself Christianity, but is not. Christendom is dark and a dreadful anomaly. It is neither one thing nor the other. It is not "the Jew or the Gentile, or the church of G.o.d." It is a corrupt mysterious mixture, a spiritual malformation, the masterpiece of Satan, the corrupter of the truth of G.o.d, and the destroyer of the souls of men, a trap, a snare, a stumbling-block, the darkest moral blot in the universe of G.o.d. It is the corruption of the very best thing, and therefore the very worst of corruptions. It is that thing which Satan has made of professing Christianity. It is worse, by far, than Judaism; worse by far than all the darkest forms of Paganism, because it has higher light and richer privileges, makes the very highest profession, and occupies the very loftiest platform. Finally, it is that awful apostasy for which is reserved the very heaviest judgments or G.o.d--the most bitter dregs in the cup of His righteous wrath.

True it is, blessed be G.o.d, there are a few names even in Chistendom who, through grace, have not denied their garments. There are some brilliant embers amid the smouldering ashes--precious stones amid the terrible _debris_. But as to the ma.s.s of Christian profession to which the term Christendom applies, nothing can be more appalling, whether we think of its present condition or its future destiny. We doubt if Christians generally have anything like an adequate sense of the true character and inevitable doom of that which surrounds them. If they had it would solemnize their minds, and cause them to feel the urgent need of standing apart, in holy separation, from Christendom's ways, and distinct testimony against its spirit and principles.

But let us turn again to our Lord's profound discourse on the mount of Olives, in which, as we have already observed, He deals with the subject of the Christian profession. This He does in three distinct parables, namely, the household servant; the ten virgins; and the talents. In each and all we have the two things noticed above, the genuine and the spurious; the true and the false; the bright and the dark; that which is of Christ, and that which is of Satan; that which belongs to heaven and that which emanates from h.e.l.l.

We shall glance at the three parables which embody, in their brief compa.s.s, a vast mine of most solemn and practical instruction.

Turn to Matt. xxiv. 45-47. "Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his lord, when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you that he shall make him ruler over all his goods."

Here, then, we have at once the source and object of all ministry in the house of G.o.d. "Whom _his lord_ hath made ruler." This is the source. "To give them meat in due season." This is the object.

These things are of the very highest possible moment, and they are worthy of the reader's most profound thought. All ministry in the house of G.o.d, whether in old or New Testament times, is of divine appointment. There is no such thing recognized in Scripture as human authority in appointing to the ministry. Neither is there such a thing as a self-const.i.tuted ministry. None but G.o.d can make or appoint a minister of any sort or description. Thus, in Old Testament times, Jehovah appointed Aaron and his sons to the priesthood; and if a stranger presumed to meddle with the functions of the holy office, he was to be put to death. Even the king himself dared not touch the priestly censer, for we are told of Uzziah, king of Judah, that, "When he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction; for he transgressed against the Lord his G.o.d, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of incense. And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, that were valiant men. And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the Lord, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary: for thou hast trespa.s.sed: neither shall it be for thine honor from the Lord G.o.d.... _And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death_" (2 Chron. xxvi.).

Such was the solemn result--the awful consequence of man's daring intrusion upon that which was wholly of divine appointment. Has this no voice for Christendom? a.s.suredly it has. It sounds a warning note in our ears. It tells the professing church, in accents not to be mistaken, to beware of human intrusion upon a domain which belongs only to G.o.d. "Every high priest taken from among men is ordained _for_ [not _by_] men in things pertaining to G.o.d, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins.... And _no man taketh this honor unto himself_, but he that is called [not of men but] of G.o.d, as was Aaron."

Nor was this principle of divine appointment confined to the high and holy office of the tabernacle. No man dare put his hand to the most insignificant part of that sacred structure unless by Jehovah's direct authority. "The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, See _I have called_ by name Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah."

Nor could Bezaleel choose his companions in labor, or appoint whom he would to the work, any more than he could choose or appoint himself.

No; this, too, was divine. "And I," says Jehovah, "behold _I have given_ with him Aholiab." Thus Aholiab, as well as Bezaleel, held his commission immediately from Jehovah Himself, the only true source of all ministerial authority.

Nor was it otherwise in the case of the prophetic office and ministry.

G.o.d alone could make, and fit, and send a prophet. Alas! there were those of whom Jehovah had to say, "I have not sent them, yet they ran." They were unhallowed intruders upon the domain of prophecy, just as there were upon the office of the priesthood; but all such brought down upon themselves the judgment of G.o.d.

And, may we not ask, Is this great principle changed now? Has ministry been s.h.i.+fted from its ancient base? Has the living stream been diverted from its divine source? Is it true that this more precious and glorious inst.i.tution has been shorn of its lofty dignities? Can it be possible that, under the times of the New Testament, ministry has been cast down from its divine excellency? Has it become a mere human appointment? Can man appoint his fellow, or appoint himself to any one branch of ministry in the house of G.o.d?

What answer is to be returned to these questions? No doubtful one, thank G.o.d; but a distinct and emphatic _No!_ Ministry was, is, and ever shall be, divine; divine in its source; divine in its nature; divine in its every feature and principle. "There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same G.o.d which worketh all in all" (1 Cor.

xii. 4-6). "But now hath _G.o.d_ set the members every one of them in the body _as it hath pleased him_." "And _G.o.d_ hath set some in the church; first, apostles; secondarily prophets; thirdly, teachers; after that, miracles; then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues" (verses 18, 28). "But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.... And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of G.o.d, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ" (Eph. iv.

7-13).

Here lies the grand source of all ministry in the church of G.o.d, from first to last--from the foundation laid in grace, to the topstone, in glory. It is divine and heavenly, not human or earthly. It is not of man or by man, but of Jesus Christ, and G.o.d the Father who raised Him from the dead, and in the power of the Holy Ghost (see Gal. i.). There is no such thing recognized in Scripture as human authority in any one branch of ministry in the church. If it be a question of gift, it is emphatically stated to be "the gift of Christ." If it be a question of a.s.signed position, we are, with equal clearness and emphasis, told that "G.o.d hath set the members." If it be a question of local charge, whether elder or deacon, it was entirely of divine appointment, by apostolic hands or apostolic delegates.

All this is so clear, so distinct, so palpable, on the very surface of Scripture, that it is only necessary to say, "How readest thou?" And the more we penetrate beneath the surface--the more we are conducted by the Eternal Spirit into the profound and precious depths of inspiration--the more thoroughly convinced we shall be that ministry, in its every department and every branch, is divine in its source, nature, and principles. The truth of this s.h.i.+nes out in full-orbed brightness, in the Epistles; but we have the germ of it in the words of our Lord in Matt. xxv. 45, "Whom his lord hath made ruler over his household." The household belongs to the Lord, and He alone can appoint the servants, and this He does according to His own sovereign will.

Equally plain is the object of ministry, as stated in this parable, and elaborated in the Epistles. "To give them meat in due season."

"For the edifying of the body of Christ"--"that the church may receive edifying." It is this that lies near the loving heart of Jesus. He would have His household perfected--His church edified--His body nourished and cherished. For this end, He bestows gifts, and maintains them in the church, and will maintain them until they shall be no longer needed.

But alas! alas! there is a dark side of the picture. For this we must be prepared since we have the picture of Christendom before us. If there is a "faithful, wise, and blessed servant," there is also "an evil servant" who "says in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming."

Mark this. It is in _the heart_ of the wicked servant that the thought originates as to the delay of the coming.

And what is the result? "He shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken." How awfully this has been exemplified in the history of Christendom, we need not say. Instead of true ministry flowing from the risen and glorified Head in the heavens, and promoting the edification of the body, the blessing of souls, and the prosperity of the household, we have a false clerical authority, arbitrary rule, a lording it over G.o.d's heritage, a grasping after this world's wealth and power, fleshly ease, self-indulgence, and personal aggrandizement, priestly domination in its nameless and numberless forms and practical consequences.

The reader will do well to apply his heart to the understanding of these things. He will need to seize, with clearness and power, the distinction between clericalism and ministry. The one is a thoroughly human a.s.sumption; the other, a purely divine inst.i.tution. The former has its source in man's evil heart; the latter has its source in a risen and exulted Saviour, who, being raised from the dead, received gifts for men, and sheds them forth upon His church, according to His own will. That is a positive scourge and curse; this, a divine blessing to men. In fine, this in its root-principle, flows from heaven and leads back thither; that in its root-principle flows from h.e.l.l and leads thither again.

All this is most solemn, and it should exert a mighty influence upon our souls. There is a day coming when the Lord Christ will deal, in summary justice, with that which man has dared to set up in His house.

We speak not of individuals--though surely it is a most serious and terrible thing for any one to put his hand unto, or have aught to do with, that on which such awful judgment is about to be executed--but we speak of a positive system--a great principle which runs, in a deep and dark current, through the length and breadth of the professing church--we speak of clericalism and priestcraft, in all its forms and in all its ramifications.

Against this dreadful thing we solemnly warn our readers. No human language can possibly depict the evil of it, nor can human language adequately set forth the deep blessedness of all true ministry in the church of G.o.d. The Lord Jesus not only bestows ministerial gifts, but, in His marvellous grace, He will abundantly reward the faithful and diligent exercise of those gifts. But as to that which man has set up, we read its destiny in those burning words, "The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites; there shall be weeping and gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth."

May the gracious Lord deliver His servants and His people from all partic.i.p.ation in this great wickedness which is perpetrated in the very bosom of that which calls itself the church of G.o.d. And, on the other hand, may He lead them to understand, to appreciate, and to exercise that true, that precious, that divine ministry which emanates from Himself, and is designed, in His infinite love, for the true blessing and growth of that church which is so dear to His heart. We are in danger, very great danger, while seeking (as we most surely should) to keep clear of the evil of clericalism--of rus.h.i.+ng into the opposite extreme of despising ministry.