The Hope Of The Christian Is Christ Himself
The teaching of the book of Revelation, above all, is, that the Lord is coming back, and that He is coming back for His people first, and then to set the earth right. I know that the general thought abroad is, that when the Lord comes back, the next time, it is for the purpose of judging the world. There is no doubt He will judge [Malachi 4:1]. There is no doubt that the return of the Lord Jesus to deal with the earth is perfectly certain [Rev. 19:11]; but...that is not the Christian hope...the Christian hope relates to heaven [Eph. 2:5-6].
I repeat, then, that the hope of the Christian is not the earth being set right,—although, thank God, it will be set right,—but the hope of the Christian is Christ Himself [Titus 2:13], and Christ as coming for His blood bought people [Acts 20:28]. Why have we the Lord presenting Himself to us as the “Bright and Morning Star” in Rev. xxii. 16? Every person understands what the morning star is. It is not daylight. You never saw a man wakened up in the morning by the morning star. You must get up early to see the morning star. What wakes people up in the morning is the sunlight,—-it is daylight. What you have in this passage is that the hope of the Christian is Christ, now known in heaven as the Saviour, and as the One who is coming back for His own people, and the manner of our going up to be with Him is most blessed [1Thes. 4:16-17,18]. The Morning Star is Christ for the watching Christian [Phil. 3:20], while the world is buried in slumber.
What is the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ comes? "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Will the world see, or be aware of that coming? I do not think so. The coming of the Saviour, as the Bridegroom, is for the bride, it is for the saved — His own beloved people.
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Excerpted from 'Behold, The Bridegroom' (1895) by W.T.P. Wolston, widely known bible expositor among the 'Plymouth Brethren' of the 19th and early 20th century
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Rev. 22:16 'I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star' [link]
The teaching of the book of Revelation, above all, is, that the Lord is coming back, and that He is coming back for His people first, and then to set the earth right. I know that the general thought abroad is, that when the Lord comes back, the next time, it is for the purpose of judging the world. There is no doubt He will judge [Malachi 4:1]. There is no doubt that the return of the Lord Jesus to deal with the earth is perfectly certain [Rev. 19:11]; but...that is not the Christian hope...the Christian hope relates to heaven [Eph. 2:5-6].
I repeat, then, that the hope of the Christian is not the earth being set right,—although, thank God, it will be set right,—but the hope of the Christian is Christ Himself [Titus 2:13], and Christ as coming for His blood bought people [Acts 20:28]. Why have we the Lord presenting Himself to us as the “Bright and Morning Star” in Rev. xxii. 16? Every person understands what the morning star is. It is not daylight. You never saw a man wakened up in the morning by the morning star. You must get up early to see the morning star. What wakes people up in the morning is the sunlight,—-it is daylight. What you have in this passage is that the hope of the Christian is Christ, now known in heaven as the Saviour, and as the One who is coming back for His own people, and the manner of our going up to be with Him is most blessed [1Thes. 4:16-17,18]. The Morning Star is Christ for the watching Christian [Phil. 3:20], while the world is buried in slumber.
What is the way in which the Lord Jesus Christ comes? "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Will the world see, or be aware of that coming? I do not think so. The coming of the Saviour, as the Bridegroom, is for the bride, it is for the saved — His own beloved people.
***
Excerpted from 'Behold, The Bridegroom' (1895) by W.T.P. Wolston, widely known bible expositor among the 'Plymouth Brethren' of the 19th and early 20th century
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Rev. 22:16 'I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star' [link]
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