Scripture Reading: 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Thes. 1:9-10; Phil. 3:20; Titus 2:11-13
According to the Scriptural teaching, the Lord came once in the flesh; He died for us on the cross to satisfy God's righteousness and then resurrected and ascended to be our High Priest. He is now interceding for us before God and acting on our behalf as our Executor and Guarantor. He also will come to the earth a second time. The Old Testament says that when the Lord comes back again there will be no more sin on earth (Isa. 2:11). Many portions of the Bible tell us specifically about the Lord's return. The Lord Himself said, "I go to prepare a place for you....I am coming again and will receive you to Myself, so that where I am you also may be" (John 14:2b, 3). Acts 1:11 says that when the Lord was taken up to heaven, two angels declared, "This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you beheld Him going into heaven." This tells us that our Lord will come a second time. In Hebrews 9:28 the writer declared to God's children, "So Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time to those who eagerly await Him, apart from sin, unto salvation." By the time of Revelation 22:20, the Lord had come once and had ascended. The Holy Spirit had come. Most of the apostles were gone, and the holy city was destroyed; only John was left. At this juncture the Lord comforted His saints, saying, "Yes, I come quickly." John responded, saying, "Amen. Come, Lord Jesus." From these verses we can see that the Lord has not only come once. He will come a second time.
Every Lord's Day evening, we gather together to break bread and remember the Lord. The Lord commanded us to do this, and we will continue to do this until He comes. We will never stop this kind of glorious waiting. Every time we break bread and remember the Lord, we are waiting for His return. We believe that He has come not only once but that He will come a second time. This fact is as sure as the fact of the cross. The cross dealt with our sins, but the history of sin is not finished. To the believers, the matter of sin and the history of sin will not be terminated until the Lord comes back again. The cross judged sin, while the second coming will terminate sin. There are many testimonies concerning the Lord's coming in various passages in the Bible.
Having realized that the Lord will come again, we need to have a proper attitude toward His coming. Hearing a message on His coming and knowing the doctrine of His coming are not the end; we have to be those who wait for His coming. We have to read the passages concerning the Lord's coming to new ones right after they believe. This will make them persons who "await His Son from the heavens." Suppose your supervisor sends a letter saying that he will come back on July 1. Would you merely mark "read" on the letter and file it away? Of course not. You would prepare for his return. The proper attitude towards the Lord's coming is to wait. We do not search with curiosity the prophecies concerning His second coming. A Christian who lives on earth today should adopt a waiting attitude for the Lord's return. It is wrong to give up this waiting attitude. Waiting for the Lord's return means that a man still goes about his business, but his eyes are set on the Lord's coming. He knows that when the Lord comes back, He will demand certain things and ask him certain questions. He waits for the Lord like a slave waiting for his master to return. While he waits, he cannot beat his fellow slaves. Rather, he has to serve faithfully and wait patiently.
The Lord said that He could come any time, but before He comes there will be signs. These signs will all be fulfilled. There are five kinds of signs concerning His coming. The first concerns the Jews, the second concerns the Roman Catholic Church, the third concerns the church, the fourth concerns the world, and the fifth concerns other matters in general. The signs concerning the Jews are mostly fulfilled. During the first half of the twentieth century, Palestine freed itself from the British colonial rule, and the Jews formed their own nation in 1948. They had been without a nation for 2,600 years, but the time of their restoration has come. In Matthew 24:32 the Lord told the disciples to learn from the fig tree. When the nation of Israel is restored, we know that the day of the Lord is near. God's children should be aware of the events leading to the Lord's soon return and wait for His return daily.
We have to show new ones that it is one thing to believe in the Lord's return and to research the subject, but it is altogether a different matter to wait for His return. Not many people see the difference. First Thessalonians 1:9-10 says that the believers reported how they turned from the idols to serve a living and true God and awaited His Son from the heavens. This shows that as soon as a person believes in the Lord, his attitude toward the Lord and His return changes. Waiting for His return is not the same as studying prophecy or researching the millennium and the new heaven and new earth. The latter belong to a different category. As soon as a person believes in the Lord, he should have a different attitude toward the Lord's return. This is right and proper. Unless he makes this turn, all his actions and possessions will still be earthly. A believer has been brought into the heavenly new creation. All his actions and possessions should work towards his heavenly deposit. A person who waits for the Lord's return does not busy himself with writing books and establishing a name for himself. While he is on earth, he waits for the Lord to return from heaven. He is a heavenly citizen, one who follows the teaching of the anointing. This waiting should be a lifetime yardstick of a believer; it should bring about a change in his living and lifestyle. He has touched the city which has the foundations, and he has no further hope for anything earthly. Everything about him should revolve around his hope for the Lord's return.
In my whole life I have never been impressed by another person like I was by Miss M. E. Barber. She was indeed a person who waited for the Lord's return. There are many famous men in Christianity who studied prophecy, such as D. M. Panton. They all knew about the Lord's return. But to my knowledge, only Miss Barber was a person who truly waited for His return. It was a big surprise to her that the Lord had not returned in her time. One year I spent the last day, New Year's eve, with her. She prayed, "Lord, if You want to come now, there is still time this year; You do not have to wait until next year." Her face was towards the Lord's coming. Christians do not wait for a time when we will serve the church; we wait for a time when the Lord will come again. If a believer is not careful, but substitutes other things for the Lord's return, he becomes fallen immediately. Once Miss Barber wrote a hymn concerning the Lord's coming. I did not understand one line she wrote in her hymn. She answered, "Come with me and I will show you." We went out and took a walk. When we were about to turn a corner, she said to me, "The Lord is coming; He is getting closer and closer. Perhaps we will see Him around the corner." In her I saw a person who was waiting for the Lord's return, and I realized what it means to wait for the Lord to return. Her whole life was a life of preparing for the Lord's return. Day by day, while she lived on the earth, she waited eagerly for the Lord to return.
In His first coming, the Lord became flesh and was crucified on the cross for man's sin, giving man the power to overcome sin and to draw near to God. Man receives the power of life, but this power is only half of the story, because he is only delivered from sin. The life that he has received is a life that delivers, but it does not deal with sin itself; sin itself has not been annihilated. Hence, we can say that the first coming of the Lord liberates us, that is, we are liberated from sin. But sin still exists on this earth. In one sense the salvation of the Lord is not yet complete. Suppose a man falls into the hands of robbers. Christ's first coming is likened to deliverance from the hands of such robbers; He delivered us from the power of sin. But the robbers are still there. In His second coming He will do away with the "robbers." Sin will be removed. The cross is a deliverance in our inward being. His second coming is a deliverance in our outward environment. The first coming of the Lord brought us salvation in life. The second coming of the Lord will bring us a complete salvation because He will wipe out sin altogether.
A Bible seller in Shanghai said, "Once a man is saved, he will not need to sin." But another person retorted, saying, "As long as a man remains on this earth, he will sin. This is like living in a coal mine; everyone in it is black with soot." The first brother answered, "But never forget that the sea water may be salty, but all the fishes in the sea are not; they are fresh." The first coming of the Lord made the "fish" no longer "salty." His second coming will make the "sea" no longer "salty." In His first coming, the Lord saved us individually one by one. In His second coming, He will save the world as well. In His first coming, He dealt with everything related to life. In His second coming, He will deal with the environment. Today all of us who are saved through His first coming have a new life. When He comes again, we will inherit a new environment to match our new life within. Although He gave us a new life in His first coming, our bodies are still mortal; they will still die. But when He comes again, our body will swallow up mortality. His first coming does not remove the weaknesses in our bodies; our bodies still pose limitations to God's work in us. In His second coming, our bodies will be fully redeemed. All weaknesses will be gone, and God's work will be fully accomplished in us.
Today a Christian overcomes many things inwardly, but he is not yet delivered from many environments around him. The outward environment is like Sodom. Although Lot was a righteous man, it was a suffering for him to live in Sodom. Today sin is our neighbor. The more we are delivered from sin, the more we feel the evil of sin around us. When the Lord comes again, we will be saved even in our environment. Our body will be saved, and death will not have any power over our body. Then there will be no more weakness and no more thorns. We are looking for the Lord's soon return. Those who are under some kind of oppression are even more eager for His return. The more we hate sin, the more we cry out for the Lord's return. How terrible is the environment around us! Not only are sin and death unresolved, even Satan is unresolved. God's word shows us that the whole world lies in the wicked one (1 John 5:19). His power is still operating in this world. In His first coming, the Lord gave us the power to overcome Satan. In His second coming, He will deal with the power of Satan Himself. He will even deal with the sin in our environment and the death in our body. We are full of joy and thanksgiving. Before that day comes, we have to wait for the Lord to finish that second half of His work.
Because of their ignorance of the Lord's work in His second coming, some people have formed wrong concepts about Christianity. They think that Christians are only interested in a gospel for individuals, that they are not interested in a gospel for society as a whole. Actually we believe in an individual gospel, and we also believe in a social gospel. The time for the social gospel will be when the Lord comes again. Today the Lord has not charged us to take care of the society around us. The world tries to change society with science. But we are changing society with life. We can do what the world cannot do. We are here to save the souls of those in society. When the Lord comes the second time, the world will not only be saved inwardly but will be saved outwardly as well. In His first coming the Lord saved individuals. In His second coming He will save the entire society. Today Christians are engaged in a spiritual work, while others are engaged in social work. We do not reform society; we only bring men to God and save them one by one.
This world has many fundamental problems that man cannot solve. They can only be resolved when the Lord comes again. The first thing that will be resolved when He comes again will be justice. In this world, there are oppressors and there are the oppressed. There are exploiters and there are the exploited. Not only is there injustice in material things but also in nonmaterial things. Throughout history we find people who were so oppressed that they could suffer no longer. As a result, they rose up, rebelled, and revolted. Sadly, however, they became oppressors once they became the kings and the rulers. Isaiah 11:4 says that in the future, the world will be filled with justice and righteousness. This is what the Lord will do when He comes again.
Second, when the Lord comes again, all the wars in this world will be over. One problem with this world is war. Human history is full of wars. Since the dawn of human history, there have only been 268 years when there was no war on this earth. There are international wars and national wars. The two greatest wars were the First World War and the Second World War. Now there is still a chance of a third World War. The world is full of big wars and small wars. War comes from passions; it is the result of man's constantly unfulfilled passions. Isaiah 2:4 says that when the Lord comes back again, all the swords will be beaten into plowshares and all the spears will be turned into pruning hooks. No nation will wage war against another nation, and no one will learn war any more. What is this? This is salvation of the entire society.
Third, when the Lord comes back, all the sicknesses in this world will be gone. There will be no more sickness. Today the world is full of sickness. Science has invented all kinds of medicines, but with the increase of medicine, there has also been an increase of sickness. Many viruses and bacteria improve their immune system with the introduction of more antibiotics; there is no way to eradicate them. A man can be healed by one kind of medicine. But he can become sick again and need further treatment. No matter how hard man tries, he cannot get rid of sickness. According to Leviticus and Deuteronomy, sickness has much to do with sin; it is the result of judgment on sin. When the Lord comes again and eventually in the new heaven and new earth, there will be the tree of life whose leaves will heal the nations (Rev. 22:2; Ezek. 47:12). In the coming world, there will be no sickness.
Fourth, when the Lord comes again, He will remove famine from humanity. The Old Testament tells us that the earth does not yield to man because of man's sin. Vegetables do not grow naturally by themselves; they have to be cultivated. However, useless thorns and thistles flourish. It is interesting to note that all vegetation that is beneficial to man does not grow naturally. The only vegetation that flourishes naturally is the kind that is not beneficial to man. Today famine is found everywhere. Even when man applies all kinds of fertilizers, he is not guaranteed good harvests. It seems that man must struggle with the environment before he can find food. Such problems will be solved when the Lord comes back. Isaiah 35:1 and 6 say that the desert will flow with rivers and the earth will no longer bring forth wild weeds. Now, whatever man does not cultivate will not proliferate. Then, man will no longer have to wrestle with nature.
Fifth, when the Lord comes again, the question of education will be resolved. Today some are educated while others are not. Today's education does not help man to know God but to know good and evil and to turn from evil to good. But education cannot solve the problem of sin within man's heart. Today some people know God while others do not. But when the Lord comes back again, no one will need to teach his fellow citizen or brother to know God; from the little one to the great one, all will know Him (Heb. 8:11). When the Lord comes back again, all will know God.
Sixth, when the Lord comes back, He will deal with all the establishments that induce man to sin. On the one hand, man sins because he has a sinful nature within him. On the other hand, he sins because there are many sinful places in this world. Such places as brothels, opium dens, cinemas, and dance halls encourage man to sin. In the cities one finds more rich people and correspondingly more sinful establishments. Matthew 13:41 says that when the Son of Man comes, He will send His angels to pick out from His kingdom all the stumbling blocks and all the wicked ones and cast them into the furnace. Today there are all kinds of means and places that induce man to sin. When the Lord comes again, they will all be cast into the fire. We believe that when the Lord comes back, He will do this.
Seventh, when the Lord comes back, the entire creation will be redeemed. Some living creatures are suffering today on account of man's fall. Many kinds of animals, whether higher or lower, are suffering and oppressed in this world. It is impossible for tigers and man to coexist in peace. It is likewise impossible for lions and human beings to cohabit together. In the old days animals were even more abused than they are now. The same can be said of house pets and domesticated animals. They are all sighing and suffering, waiting for the day of redemption to come (Rom. 8:21-22). When the Lord comes back again, the sighing of the whole creation will cease. Isaiah 11:6 and 9 say that the wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling will be together, and a young boy shall lead them. They will not hurt nor destroy anyone or anything. That will indeed be a grand release and great deliverance of the whole universe.
Eighth, when the Lord comes again, all earthly governments will cease. Today is the day when man reigns. But no one can be just and righteous. This is the reason many people are oppressed. Revelation 11:15 says that one day all the nations of the earth will become the kingdom of our Lord and His Christ. Then no government will oppress its people. Then the earth will be filled with righteousness and justice. Without the second coming of the Lord, salvation will not be complete. Day by day as we observe the injustice, unrighteousness, and oppression of the weak by the strong, the small by the great, and all other such things in the world around us, we believe even more firmly that the Lord will come back again. Once He comes, all these negative things will be done away.
The Lord's coming is our hope of glory. In the course of our waiting for His return, we should have a proper kind of living and a proper waiting attitude. There are many unbelievers in this world, and we have to know that we can never join them in their kind of gospel. Man's basic need is life, not material or psychological satisfaction. Salvation is the fundamental guiding principle of a believer. We cannot allow unsaved persons in this world to do gospel work. Their so-called social gospel is not a gospel at all. They have rejected the Lord's redemption altogether. Our preaching of the gospel results in men being saved, not in the problems of society being solved. We are commissioned by the Lord to save every lost soul. Today as proper human beings, we can do our best to help others. But we have to know that we are limited. Our main work on earth is to bring men to God.
Before the Lord became flesh, that is, before His first coming, everyone was a sinner living in a sinful world. After the Lord's first coming, all the believers became righteous men living in a sinful world. When He comes again, we will be righteous men living in a righteous world. We have to show the new ones that while we are living on this earth, we have to fulfill our duty as a Christian; we have to help to save more men. This is our only hope. Other problems will be solved when the Lord comes back again. All the signs and signals of this world point to the soon approach of the day of the Lord, and for this we have to watch and wait.
