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. There is no doubt that the return of the Lord Jesus to deal with the earth is perfectly certain; 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, and Christ as coming for His blood bought people. 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. 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" - 1Cor. 15:52. 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 Brethern' 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. There is no doubt that the return of the Lord Jesus to deal with the earth is perfectly certain; 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, and Christ as coming for His blood bought people. 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. 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" - 1Cor. 15:52. 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 Brethern' 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]
6 comments :
Yes, how marvelous that He left us his chronology that we may be aware of the nearness; 2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,(#1) except there come a falling away first, (#2)and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
anon,
One thing to clarify - as there are many these days who would have the Antichrist revealed before the church is raptured - (pre-wrathers, mid/post tribbers, etc.)
2Thes. 2:1-3 is in reference to the "day of Christ" (v. 2), not the "day of the Lord", as found in corrupted Westcott-Hort versions. The difference is critical. 2Thes. 2:2 the 'day of Christ' is not the rapture - it is the actual second coming of the Lord and Saviour returning in judgment at the end of the tribulation:
2 Thessalonians 2
(1) Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
(2) That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
(3) Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
The 'man of sin' must in fact be revealed before the second coming - the 'day of Christ'. He will absolutely not be revealed before the 'rapture'. This passage was written to counter the first rapture-deniers in church history who had said that there was no rapture, only Christ soon coming in judgment. No, said the apostle, the second-coming (not the rapture) will not come before the 'falling away' and the revealing of the man of sin...
which of course neither of those had yet at that time happened, so not to believe the false reports that there was no rapture and that the 'day of judgment' was "at hand" - i.e. about to happen.
They were in fact to continue hoping and believing in the imminent (v. 1 "our gathering together together unto him" - any moment...nothing preceding) coming of the Lord Jesus, as believers today, per the previous revelation of 1Thes. 4:15-18
WH's changing the 2nd verse to read 'day of the Lord', which term encompasses the entire tribulation period - allows the verse to then be interpreted to say that the 'rapture' cannot happen before the "day of the Lord" begins, which includes the Antichrist appearing - hence putting the church in the tribulation.
This is a great deception and widespread, accomplished, once again, by changing the KJV - -in this case to rob the church of her blessed hope.
v. 3 be not robbed by any means
maranatha
I was taught that the day of Christ is divided into two phases: the rapture and the Second Coming. Is this incorrect?
anon,
That is incorrect.
The 'day of Christ' is the second coming - only. It is not the rapture. As the topic of this post points out, the rapture will not occur in the 'day', but before the break of day, when the Lord Jesus will appear as the "bright and morning star".
The second coming i.e. the 'day of Christ' will be in full daylight - in power and great glory:
Matt. 24:30 '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'
and not like the morning star before dawn that none will see except the waiting bride, on that 'day' every eye shall see him:
Rev. 1:7 'Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen'
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus - Rev. 22:20
Antichrist has been revealed since the early Christian Congregation times, it's called the papacy and the futurist teaching of the antichrist being some satanic filled super human is heresy and is not in line with historic Christian end times views. Futurism is a Jesuit deception. The reformers were Historicists not futurists or preterists.
2Peter 3:3-4
'Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation'
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