CONCERNING THE PROMISED RETURN OF THE
LORD JESUS. By W. F. P. Burton.
I cannot even remember the time when I was ignorant of the promise of
the Lord Jesus to return again and take the saints to Himself. As soon
as I learned to spell, I could decipher on our sitting room wall the text,
"Surely I come quickly," Rev.22v20., and underneath, in red
letters, "Perhaps today."
I was saved at nineteen years of age, and very literally, for over
sixty years, my whole life has been, and still is, one great yearning
longing for His return. Such passages as, "To those who look for
Him for Him shall He appear..." Heb.9v28. "Be ye also ready,
for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh." Matt.24v44.
"Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. Titus.2v13. Such passages, I
say, and many others of a similar nature, were construed as meaning
that I must be in a constant attitude of expectancy. Hundreds and thousands
of times, by day and by night, I have looked up and thought that those
fleecy coverings of the sky might burst asunder and reveal my beloved
Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, coming for His bride.
Of course, I know all about the sceptics jibe, that "up"
in Great Britain would be "down" in New Zealand. I know, too,
that there are billions of clouds over the earth. Nevertheless, "Behold
He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him." Rev.1v7. At
least ten times in Scripture His return is associated with clouds. Since
He has promised to take the dead in Christ and the living in Christ,
I shall be caught up, for I am in Christ. 1Thes.4v16,17. "We shall
all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye." 1Cor15v51,52.
Some have imagined a secret coming, when the unsaved will suddenly
find their Christian associates and relatives missing. They have imagined,
for example, the Christian engine-driver caught up and his train hurtling
on driver-less to destruction. I could not agree to that, since the
shout and the trumpet blast must be heard by all alike. 1Thes.4v10.
It will be with blazing splendour, like the lightening, or day-dawn.
Matt.24v27. 16v27. True, His coming is likened seven times to that of
a thief, but that must be in its unexpectancy; hardly in its secrecy.
It will not be silently, but with a mighty shout. "Every eye shall
see Him." Rev.1v7.
I have given years of intensive study to dispensational truth. Some
Christians dismiss prophetic teaching as something incomprehensible,
or at least as a hobby for a few visionary cranks. Early in my Christian
experience, however, I saw that the young Thessalonian believers were
not ignorant of the times and seasons, so I must be ignorant either.
1Thes.5v1,2. For example, concerning "the abomination of desolation
spoken of by Daniel the prophet," the Lord Jesus said, Matt.24v15.,
"Whoso readeth let him understand." I determined to understand
and have frequently given whole days to ferreting out these precious
truths, reading through the whole Bible repeatedly in over twenty different
versions, in four different languages, marking and tabulating with concordances
and lexicons at my elbow, lest I should miss some truth. Of late I have
devoted from twelve midnight till two or three in the morning to Bible
study, when the world is quiet and there are no interruptions.
In my early Christian experience, I was taught to believe that first Christ
would come FOR His saints, into the clouds, and that after an indeterminate
period, covering at least part of that unparalleled tribulation which
is to precede Christ's return, He would descend WITH His saints
to earth.
It is evident that the last days of this dispensation are to be the
darkest. "In the latter times some shall depart from the faith."
1Tim.4v1-3. "In the last days perilous times shall come...."
2Tim.3v1-5. "That day shall not come except there come a falling
away first." 2Thes.2v1-4. "In the latter time of their kingdom,
when transgressors are come to the full...." Dan.8v23-25. "At
that time there shall be a time of trouble such as never was...."
Dan.12v1,2. "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since
the beginning of the world to this time, no nor ever shall be."
Matt.24v21. "At midnight... Behold the bridegroom cometh."
Matt.25v6.
As I have ministered God's Word in assemblies large and small, white
and black, for over sixty years, I have desired to be most careful that
I was in line with the Truth. I have consulted the standard works on dispensational
truth by Seiss, Trotter, Savage, Anderson, Pember, S. D. Gordon, Tregelles,
McConkey, Samuel Wilkerson, David Baron, and many others less well-known.
These books I have not only read, but studied deeply, making marginal
notes, etc. In order to facilitate my study, I have devised a series of
marks in one of my Bibles: a yellow arrow UP indicates verses dealing
with Christ's coming in the clouds and our rapture to Him, and a
yellow arrow DOWN beside verses which speak of His return to earth with
His saints. Here, however, I found myself in some quandary, for certain
passages obviously refer to both. For instance:
(1) When Christ rose from the Mount of Olives and disappeared in
the clouds, the two messengers in white declared that "He shall come in
like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Acts.1v11. with Luke.24v50,51.
Bethany is on the Eastern slope of the Mount of Olives and when the Lord
returns to deliver Jerusalem "His feet shall stand in that day upon the
Mount of Olives....and all the saints with Thee." Zech.14v4,5. That obviously
calls for a yellow arrow DOWN, yet the spectators of His ascension were
believers, and if He is to return for believers, that should be indicated
by a yellow arrow UP. The messengers in white spoke of no intermediate
coming for His saints, nor of a subsequent coming to the earth. It was
just ONE coming for His saints to the Mount of Olives.
(2) I have used Acts.15v14-18. as a clear passage, showing God's
programme in the administration of His authority in this world. The passage
shows four definite steps: first Israel; then the Gentiles; after that
Israel again; and, finally, a universal world-wide sway. "I will build
again the tabernacle of David," points back to God's dealings in
the past and forward to His taking up Israel again. In between is the
Gentile dispensation, the Church, in which we find ourselves today. God
is taking out of the Gentiles a people for His Name. The next step is
to be ushered in by the return of the Lord, for He says, "I will return
and rebuild...." How can one point the arrow in that case? UP for the
consummation of the Gentile age, yet DOWN for the time when Christ will
return to reign as Israel's king. It is just one coming.
(3) A similar passage is in 2Thes.1v7,8. Our rest will be when
Christ comes for us, but Paul places it "WHEN the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with His mighty angels. In flaming fire taking vengeance....."
That is certainly at His coming to earth. Was Paul right in placing the
saints rest at the time when Christ comes to earth? Of course the God-inspired
epistle to the Thessalonians is without fault, even though it may not
fit in with our theories. But this passage continues further in the same
strain, for in 2Thes.1v9 and 10, Paul speaks of the punishment of the
wicked with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and
the glory of His power, "WHEN He shall come to be glorified in His saints
and to be admired in all them that believe....in that day." In other
words His coming to punish the wicked and to be glorified in the saints
IS THE SAME COMING.
(4) That brilliant and devout scholar S. P. Tregelles draws our
attention to 1Cor.15v51-54., where the resurrection and translation of
the saints is associated with a particular passage in Isaiah, "Then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory." Is.27v7 and 8 shows it to be the time when the Lord shall reign
in Mount Zion, so there cannot be any lapse of time between His coming
for the saints and His coming to reign. Rev.11v15-18. 22v12.
For many years, though teaching in all its fullness the second coming
of the Lord, I have hesitated to speak of the TIME of His coming. I
have answered questions as to when He will come by Luke.21vv27-31.,
the nations moving toward their final condition, as indicated in Daniel
and Revelation, "when these things begin to come to pass, then
look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh."
Or I have shown enquirers Mark.13v13v32., "Of that day and hour
knoweth no man."
In order to support the teaching of two distinct comings, it is necessary
to add "Of course, that is not His coming for His saints but His
coming with them." But was it? These were the same disciples who
were the foundation members of His Church and in Mark.13v37. Christ
says, "And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch."
Again, "For the elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
Matt.24v22. One had to add, "Of course, this does not refer to
the Church, for she will have been taken up to heaven before that. This
must refer to the tribulation saints." But Jesus did not say that.
He simply said, "The elect," and we are all part of that elect.
In dealing with Matt.24v14., "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached
in all the world, for a witness to all nations: and then shall the end
come;" it was added (by those who believe in the pre-tribulation rapture
of the Church), "Of course, that is quite different from the gospel of
God's grace." But is it? Jesus said, "THIS GOSPEL." Paul said,
"Though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than
that which we have preached unto you, let Him be accursed." Gal.1v8. Right
up to the last sight we have of Paul, in the last verse of "The Acts of
the Apostles," He was still expounding and testifying the kingdom of God.
The Gospel of the kingdom is just the same sweet old Gospel by which we
are saved and Jesus is our king too, "The blessed and only Potentate,
the King of kings and Lord of Lords." 1Tim.6v15.
To return to my own experience, I had to make a solid determination
that at all costs, I would read no more into the Scriptures than was written.
To add or detract would bring very serious results. Rev.22v18 and 19.
Let me be sincere at all costs. His coming should be His coming: just
that and no more. The elect should be the elect, and not this or that
elect unless Jesus said so.
Considerable light came to me in looking up in Moulton and Milligan's
Greek Lexicon the word "apantesin," "to meet," used in 1Thes.4v17.,
"caught up to meet the Lord in the air." It is an exact
word implying an official welcome to a newly arrived dignitary. It is
used in Acts.28v15. where "the brethren came to meet us." The Christians
went out of Rome to meet Paul and to conduct Him into their city. Just
so we shall be caught up to give the Lord Jesus an official welcome and
to return with Him to the Mount of Olives.
In Rev.20v4 and 5., those who refuse the worship and mark of the Beast,
the man of sin, are included in the first resurrection, so they cannot
partake in that resurrection before the man of sin has appeared. Moreover,
since it is the FIRST resurrection, there can have been no other before
it. The usual explanation given is that the rapture is "the first part
of the first resurrection." Is not that a quibble? Surely it is adding
to the Word of God and making it of none effect. Note that in 2Thes.2v8.,
the man of sin, the Anti-Christ, is to be destroyed by the brightness
of Christ's coming ("epiphaneia tees parousias autou"), so that Christ's
coming cannot occur before "that Wicked" has run his three year course.
Rev.13v5.
Another passage which teaches that there will be one coming and not
two is Matt.13v24-30. and 37-43.. v38. "The good seed are the children
of the kingdom." The bad seed "are the children of the Wicked One." v30.
"Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time the harvest
I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares and bind
them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."....
v41. "The Son of man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather
out of His kingdom all things that offend."... v43. "Then shall the righteous
shine forth in the kingdom of their Father." Note particularly, "both
grow together until the harvest," and the tares dealt with FIRST.
The second chapter of Second Thessalonians was for some time a puzzle
to me. However, I note that nearly all the translations put for "huper,"
"as touching, concerning," and the whole passage becomes plain. "CONCERNING
THE COMING OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND OUR GATHERING TOGETHER UNTO HIM....THAT
DAY SHALL NOT COME, EXCEPT THERE COME A FALLING AWAY FIRST, AND THE MAN
OF SIN BE REVEALED." The rapture of the saints cannot occur before
the great apostasy and the revelation of the Man of Sin: the beast
whose picture is seen in Rev.13. 2Thes.2v1-10.
The Lord Jesus said that He would go away and come again. He told them
that they should not see Him till they could say, "Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord." Mt.23v39. No sort of discrimination:
just that He would return. So the disciples asked, "What shall be the
sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?" Matt.24v3. In reply He
told them of the intervening tribulation and of the abomination of desolation
spoken of by Daniel the prophet. Then in Matt.24v29,30. He continued,
"IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS shall the sun
be darkened....and THEN shall appear the sign of the Son of man
coming in the clouds of 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." When shall He come? "IMMEDIATELY AFTER
THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS." It is THEN that the seventh and last trumpet
will sound; 1Cor.15v52. Rev.11v15-19. Matt.24v31. 1Thes.4v16.; when He
will pour wrath upon the godless and give rewards to the saints. Rev.22v12.
One of the surest ways of exposing and error is to note the weakness
of the arguments advanced in its favour. The two texts so often used
to prove the pre-tribulation rapture are Dan.12v1. and 1Thes.5v9.. In
Daniel 12v1., after speaking of a time of unparalleled tribulation,
Daniel says, "At that time thy people shall be delivered, every
one that shall be found written in the book." Now thank God we
are among His people, and we are written in the book, so at that time
we shall be delivered, but note that it does not say before the tribulation,
or in the tribulation, or after the tribulation. Thus it is no proof
either the one way or the other.
Of 1Thes.5v9., "God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ." We all know that for us the wrath is passed
and that when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming
fire, it is to take vengeance on those who know not God and who do not
obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Thes.1v8. Thus we have no fear
as to that day of wrath, but the passage says nothing about being delivered
from tribulation. How about the millions that have been put to awful
deaths in China, Russia, Congo and Korea, for no other sin than that they
were Christians. Thus neither text can be taken to prove that the saints
will not go through the tribulation, and the weakness of the pre-tribulation
teaching is evidenced in its having to quote such texts to support it.
The question arises: How can intervening events, before the return
of the Lord, affect our looking for Him, waiting for Him, being ready
for His coming? How can we live in eager anticipation if we know that
the awful tribulation must come first? It is moving to notice in the
last few chapters of John, Christ's eager looking forward to His
return to the Father. There are fourteen mentions of His going away,
going to the Father, etc.. Even though the Lord Jesus knew that Calvary
lay between, yet it did not dim His hope of seeing His Father again.
Indeed, it was the joy that was set before Him which sustained Him in
those awful hours of enduring the cross and shame. Heb.12v2.
A woman, as she draws near to the time when she will take her new-born
babe in her arms, naturally dreads the ordeal of the birth pangs, but
that does not hinder her eagerness to welcome her little one. Similarly,
though every one of us would prefer to think that we would escape the
coming tribulation, yet in spite of it, we look forward to the glories
that lie beyond. Indeed, it is that blessed hope of His coming which
will sustain the saints in their hour of greatest trial.
This is not a question of what we would like, but of what the Bible teaches.
One naturally inclines to the attractive idea that the Church will escape
the great tribulation, but by all means let us be loyal to THE WORD OF
GOD. There is no Scripture to say that the Holy Spirit, or the Church
is to be removed before the Great tribulation. The restrainer of 2Thes.2v7.
is recognised government. 1Tim.1v9,10. 1Pet.2v13,14. Rom.13v1-7. At the
end there will be, indeed there already is, a breakdown of lawful control.
2Tim.3v1-5.
If the Spirit and the Church are to be removed from the earth dominated
by Satan, how can the world have its greatest revival, with converts that
no man can number? Rev.7v14. The saints will continue to be massacred
till the end, Rev.6v11., but they are promised preservation through and
out of tribulation. Ps.121v6. Isa.26v20. Jer.39v17,18. Zeph.2v3. Dan.12v1.
Luke.21v36. John.17v15. 2Pet.2v9. Rev.3v10. (Exod.9v6,8,26. 10v23.)
It is amazing to note how persistently false teachers echo the error that
the Church will be removed, and the Holy Spirit taken away, before that
last great tribulation. One would almost think that by their constant
reiteration they could make wrong right, and all because of 2Thes.2v7.
where the Holy Spirit is not even mentioned. They tell us that Matthew
24. is "Jewish," yet it is spoken to some of the same disciples as John
chapters 14 to 16. Are they also "Jewish?" These were the foundation members
of the Christian Church.
Was ever so important a doctrine as the return of the Lord Jesus mishandled
so sadly, without any solid foundation whatever. They virtually declare,
"I have made up my mind, so please don't confuse me with facts."
Brethren, may I plead for a sane return to the Word of God, and let us
not read into it more than is written there.
WHEN WILL CHRIST COME? IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION. Matt.24v29,30.