While our Lord was here upon earth and on the
eve of His crucifixion, He promised to send His disciples another Comforter,
even the Spirit of Truth. He further promised the apostles that, when the
Spirit came to them, He would guide them "into all truth." Therefore,
it is to the Divinely inspired writings of these apostles we must turn if we
would learn all that God has been pleased to reveal concerning our present
inquiry.
As we read the Epistles of the New Testament it
is highly important for us to keep in mind the fact that we have in them not
the suppositions and speculations of their human writers but reliable and
authoritative information communicated by the Holy Spirit Himself, for "All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God" (2 Tim. 3:16). As we turn to the
Epistles we find that each writer made some contribution to our present theme:
Peter and Paul, James, John, and Jude all referred to the prospect and
certainty of the Return of our Redeemer.
The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian
saints, "I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all
utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed
in you. So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be
blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 1:4-8). To the
Philippian saints he wrote, "For our citizenship is in heaven; from whence also
we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our
vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to
the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself" (Phil.
3:20, 21). To the Colossians he wrote, "When Christ, who is our life, shall
appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). To the
Thessalonians he wrote, "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing?
Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?"
(1 Thess. 2:19). To the Hebrews he wrote, "So Christ was once offered to bear
the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the
second time without sin unto salvation" (9:28).
The apostle James wrote, "Be patient,
therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the
husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience
for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient;
stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh"
(5:7,8).
The apostle Peter wrote, "Wherefore gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is
to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1:13).
"And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of
glory that fadeth not away" (1 Pet. 5:4).
The apostle John wrote, "Beloved, now are
we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know
that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him
as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself,
even as He is pure" (1 John 3:2,3). And again, "For many deceivers are gone
forth into the world, even they that confess not that Jesus Christ cometh
in the flesh" (2 John 7, R. V.).
The apostle Jude wrote, "Keep yourselves
in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto
eternal life" (vs. 21).
Here then is an argument simple but conclusive.
Each Epistle writer of the New Testament makes mention of the Redeemer's
Return. These men were not hallucinated. They were not giving expression to
impracticable ideals which would never be realized. Their writings were
Divinely inspired. These holy men were "moved by the Holy Spirit" and recorded
truth "not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit
teacheth" (1 Cor. 2:13). The very fact, then, that the Holy Spirit of God
has, through the apostles, testified again and again, ratifying the
declarations of Old Testament prophecy and affirmations of Christ Himself,
necessitates and demands the personal Return of our Lord.