III. THE BLESSEDNESS OF OUR HOPE.
It is both interesting and profitable to notice
the several adjectives which are used in connection with the believer's Hope.
In 2 Thess. 2:16 it is termed a "good hope." In Heb. 6:19 it is
described as a hope "both sure and steadfast." In 1 Pet. 1:3 it is
denominated "a living hope." In Eph. 4:4 it is styled the "one hope"
of our calling. While in Titus 2:13 it is spoken of as blessed
hope." The blessedness of our Hope is that which is now
particularly to engage our attention. In what respects is our hope a "blessed"
one? We answer -
Israel's future blessings wait for the Return
of their Messiah. When He was here before He was despised and rejected by His
brethren according to the flesh, but when He comes back again to this earth
they shall welcome and worship Him. That prophecy of Zechariah's which
received a partial fulfillment when He was here before, is yet to receive a
further and complete fulfillment, in the days of His Second Advent. This is
clear from the words which immediately follow these which had reference to His
entry into Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion - "Rejoice greatly, O
daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto
thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon
a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and
the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall
speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to
sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth" (Zech. 9:9,10). And
note further the closing verses of the same chapter - "And the Lord their God
shall save them in that day as the flock of His people; for they shall be as
the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon His land. For how great is
His goodness, and how great is His beauty! corn shall make the young men
cheerful, and new wine the maids" (vss. 16, 17). The real "Triumphal Entry
into Jerusalem" is yet future. Our Lord is to enter the royal city again and
at the time of His return He shall enter it as King in fact and in full
manifestation of that fact. Then it is that Zion's King shall come to her
"having salvation," and then it is that Israel shall marvel at His grace and at
His excellency; and then it will be that the daughter of Jerusalem shall be
exalted and be once more owned and blessed by Jehovah. It is on the return of
Christ to this earth that Israel shall enter into the enjoyment of that
inheritance which was given unto their fathers, and under the reign of their
Messiah shall become a blessing to all nations. Again; the Redeemer's Return
is a blessed Hope.
This aspect of our subject has not received
the attention which it deserves. It has been assumed by some that the present
dispensation is the time when God is blessing the Gentiles and that in the
Millennium the Jews will be the special objects of God's favor. It is
true that in the Millennium Israel shall enter into the enjoyment of their
inheritance and that at that time they shall occupy the chief position,
governmentally, among the nations, but it is a mistake to suppose that
the Gentiles will receive less notice from God then than they do now. During
this Age God is merely taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name,
and hence it is that the vast majority of them are still living amid the
darkness of heathendom. But it will not always be thus. The restoration of
Israel to God's favor will result in wide blessing to the Gentiles.
In the eleventh chapter of Romans, where the
apostle is showing that Israel's present "blindness" is not to continue for
ever, he declares, "I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God
forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for
to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them (Israel) be the riches of
the world (i.e., the enrichment of the Gentiles by the Gospel), and the
diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their
fullness? (that is, How much more will Israel's latter-day blessing enrich
the Gentiles). For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the
world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead?"
(vss. 11, 12, 15). How clear it is from these verses that, universal blessings
for mankind are not to be brought about by the indefinite prolongation of this
present dispensation and the preaching of the Gospel, but by the restoration of
Israel, after Christendom has been cut off for its non-continuance in God's
goodness. As another has said, "The end of apostate Judaism was judgment: the
end of apostate Gentile Christianity will be judgment also. But just as
blessing came to us when judgment fell upon the Jew, so when judgment falls
upon Christendom, blessing will be restored to Israel, and Israel's restoration
will bring still fuller blessing to the world than any it has had during the
present dispensation; it will be as "life from the dead!" (W. Trotter).
The words of Simeon recorded in Act 15 are in
perfect agreement with the teaching of Romans 11 - "Simeon hath declared how
God at the first did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His
name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, after
this, I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David (i.
e., Israel), which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins
thereof, and I will set it up; that the residue of men might seek after the
Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom My name is called, saith the Lord,
who doeth all these things" (vss. 14-17). It is to be noted that here again
the "seeking of the Lord" by the "residue of men and all the Gentiles" is
subsequent to the restoration of Israel.
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament
which speak of the Millennial blessedness of the Gentiles. We single out one
or two without commenting extensively upon them. "And the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of
the Lord hath spoken it" (Is. 40:5). "O sing unto the Lord a new song; for He
hath done marvelous things: His right hand, and His holy arm, hath gotten Him
the victory. The Lord hath made known His salvation: His righteousness hath
He openly shewed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered His
mercy and His truth toward the house of Israel: all the ends of the earth
have seen the salvation of our God" (Ps. 98:1-3). Once more the order is
the same: God's righteousness is displayed before the "heathen" and His
salvation is made known to the ends of the earth following God's dealing in
mercy with Israel.
One more quotation must suffice: "And ye shall
know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and
none else: and My people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass
afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh" (Joel 2:27,
28). Like all prophecy, this one receives a double fulfillment. It is
to be observed that when Peter quoted from Joel on the Day of Pentecost he did
not say, "And now is fulfilled that which was spoken by the prophet
Joel" (Acts 2:16), because the words of Joel quoted above will not be filled
until the Millennium, then and not till then, will God's Spirit be
poured out upon "all flesh" - for that glad day, the earth waits the Second
Advent of our Lord. Thus we see that the Return of Christ to this earth to
usher in the Millennium will be attended with gracious and wide blessing to the
Gentiles, for then it will be that "The earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea" (Is. 11:9).
Again, the Return of the Redeemer is a Blessed Hope.
Concerning this point we shall here merely
generalize, for this precious aspect of our subject will come up for
consideration again in a later chapter. In a word, we may say that, the Hope
of the Church lies in the future and not in the present, is heavenly and not
earthly. To His disciples our Lord said, "In the world ye shall have
tribulation" (John 16:30). This is the present portion of the Church
which is His body: this is all that the believer is to expect from the world in
which he is now living. We are not to be surprised if the world "hates" us,
because it first hated our Divine Master. Said the apostle "Unto you it is
given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
for His sake." Yea, we are assured that "all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution." The Lord's path to the Throne was via the
Cross, and we are called to "follow His steps." The Hope of the Church then
lies not in this world, but above it; not in the present, but in
the future.
At first sight it may appear strange, especially
to unbelievers, that the Christian should speak of his hope. In
contrast to the wicked who have "no peace," the saint has a satisfying
portion. The believer has already drunk of that "living water" of which those
who drink shall "never thirst." The believer is already in possession of
"eternal life," but he has not yet entered into the full and unhindered
enjoyment of it - that is still before him as the object of his hope. In
one sense then, the Christian is satisfied, in another sense he is not.
The believer already knows One, yea, is not indwelt by One who can
satisfy him. He knows Christ, possesses Christ, enjoys Christ; but, as
yet, he has not seen Christ. It is by faith (not feelings) that we know
and enjoy Christ, but the more we know and enjoy Him thus, the more we long to
behold Him - "Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see
Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;
receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls" (1 Pet. 1:8,
9).
"Yes, my brethren, believing in Christ, whom we
have not seen, we love Him; we rejoice in Him with unspeakable joy; we receive
the salvation of our soul. But to see Christ - to have the salvation which He
wrought out on the cross applied to our bodies as well as to our soul - to have
it perfected in our experience even as it respects our soul - to have it
consummated thus in all who are follow-partakers with us of Christ - to be with
Him, and with them, in our Father's house - to behold His glory which the
Father has given Him - to appear with Him in glory when He appears - to reign
with Him over a ransomed and redeemed and happy creation - to fulfill our part
in the universal harmony of all in heaven and all in earth, when all shall bow
the knee to Jesus, when every tongue shall own Him Lord, and all voices shall
join to celebrate His praise, - this, and far more than this - far more than
heart can conceive or tongue explain, is what we wait for; and, above all, we
wait for Him whose return shall introduce us to all this perfect blessedness -
we wait for God's Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus,
which delivered us from the wrath to come. HE IS OUR HOPE. We know Him now by
faith as our Saviour, our Lord, our life, our peace, our joy, our all. AND HE
IS OUR HOPE. He is plainly said to be so in 1 Tim. 1:1 - "Paul, an apostle of
Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ OUR
HOPE." And what He is thus in so many plain words expressly declared to be in
this passage, He is shown to be by the uniform, unvarying testimony of Gospels,
Acts, Epistles, and Revelation ("Plain Papers on Prophetic Subjects" by W.
Trotter[4]). Again, the Redeemer's Return is a
"Blessed Hope" -
Our Lord Himself is waiting that blest moment
when He shall rise from the Father's Throne, descend to the air and catch up
His loved and redeemed ones to be for ever with Himself. What other meaning
can possibly be given to that remarkable word recorded in Rev. 1:9 - "I John,
who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ." And again we read, "But this Man, after
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 His footstool"
(Heb. 10:12, 13). Yes, for well nigh two thousand years, our Lord has
patiently waited for the last predestined member to be added to the Church
which is His body. Nay, may we not go further, and reverently say, from all
eternity the Lord Jesus has been waiting to possess that people given to
Him by the Father before the foundation of the world! It was for this "joy"
that was set before Him that He despised the cross and endured its shame (Heb.
12:2). It was for this "one pearl" which He esteemed of "great price" - oh!
wondrous thought - that He went and sold all that He had to buy it (Matt.
13:46). It is for this blood-purchased people that He has been interceding on
high since the day of His ascension. And at His Second Advent the time of
waiting, the long interval of His "patience," will be ended. Then it will be
that He shall come to receive us unto Himself. Then it will be that He shall
present the Church to Himself "a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. 5:27).
Then it will be that "He shall see of the travail of His soul and be
satisfied" (Is. 53:11). O blessed Hope. Well may we cry "Even so,
come, Lord Jesus." For Him, too, as well as for us, this is "that
blessed hope."
And now, dear reader, What is your
hope? What is it that is occupying your heart and filling your vision? Is
it the prospect of a speedily returning Redeemer? If you are truly the Lord's
then do you not yearn to see Him face to face? Do you not long to fall
at His feet and say "my Lord and my God"? Surely you do, for you
cannot be fully satisfied in this world. How could you be? How can you find
satisfaction in a world from which your Saviour is absent? "Earth is a
wilderness, not merely (no, nor chiefly) because of its trials and its
hardships, its sorrows and its pangs, its disappointments and reverses, but
because He is not here. Heaven would not be heaven to the saint if Jesus
were not there. He, His presence (as that which introduces us to it), His
coming is our hope - the hope of the Christian, the hope of the Church. May
our hearts cherish it as we have never done! May its brightness so attract us
that earth's fairest, loveliest, most enchanting scenes may be weariness itself
to our hearts, as detaining us from the object of our hopes! May that object
so animate us that earth's heaviest afflictions - the narrowest, most rugged,
and most thorny portions of the narrow way - may be welcome to us, as the path
that leads us onwards to the goal of our expectations the home of our heart,
the Jesus whose presence makes it what it is, whose love made Him tread a
narrower and a darker path than this, and whose smile of ineffable satisfaction
shall crown the faith that has trusted Him, the love that has followed Him, and
the patience of hope which has waited for Him, throughout this dreary journey,
along this narrow way, amid the darkness and solitude of this long and dismal
night" (W. Trotter).
[4]600 pp. $1.25. Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, Pa.