VII. THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION AND THE FIRST RESURRECTION

There are some who appear to shrink from using any testimony from the Book of Revelation, either from mistrusting their ability to comprehend any part of it, or else from alarm at the additions to Holy Scripture found in some of the professed expositions. But when the Book of Revelation touches on common points of truth, every believer who knows what the Cross of Christ has wrought, may feel in his soul a response as to such things at least. Thus the thanksgiving, “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood...To Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever” (1:5,6), is one to which every believer can respond. [6] So, too, in the heavenly scene in Chapter 5, where “thou art worthy” is the address to the Lamb once slain, on the ground of the redemption wrought out in His blood. So, too, in Chapter 7, where the great multitude appear before the throne: “These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore are they before the throne of God”, etc. Whatever difficulty there may be in understanding Chapter 12, we seem to find in verse 11 a key-note to connect us with those there spoken of: “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved not their lives unto the death”: thus, whoever they are, it is the blood of the same Saviour whom we know which is the ground of their victory. Whatever the Revelation teaches as to redemption and its results has an identity with what we know.

But it is not only the mention of the blood of the Lamb which connects this book with our familiar thoughts; for where it speaks of Resurrection, it tells us of one of the fundamental verities of our faith, and one which may be the more illustrated from what we here find.

In Revelation 20 we read of “the first Resurrection”. The whole scene is thus described: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them; and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and [those] which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.) This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years”. This is not only a vision, but also an explanation. John is taught what the thrones with certain sitting upon them meant. They are the faithful in Christ in general (i.e. the whole family of faith from Abel onward), and one special class, those suffering for the witness of our Lord Jesus; and the glory given to them is explained to be the first resurrection. This is in full accordance with other Scriptures; for instance, 1 Corinthians 15:23, where the order of the resurrection is taught: “Every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward (i.e. next in order), they that are Christ's at His Coming”. The concluding part of 1 Thessalonians 4 equally connects the resurrection of the Church with the coming of Christ, so that there can be no resurrection of the saints till then. And so in this passage in Revelation 20; for the narrative, both in vision and in explanation, runs on from the time when He whose “name is called the Word of God” is seen on the White Horse, when the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies are gathered to make war with Him, and when destruction falls upon them: then it is that those recently suffering under the persecuting power of this beast are sharers in the first resurrection. Until the beast and his persecution are destroyed together, there can be no first resurrection.

Thus, in the teaching of Christ himself, and of His apostles, the one object before the souls of believers is His own personal coming in manifested glory. This is our hope; for then, in body and in spirit, we shall share His glory. That coming will bring destruction on Gentile power then in its height of blasphemy and persecution: then will Israel look on Him whom they pierced and mourn for Him: then shall the spirit of grace and supplications be poured on them, and then shall they know the fountain for sin and for uncleanness to be opened for them.

If we receive this hope, as taught us from the Word of God, we must also see that it is given us to strengthen and sustain during the intervening time; not as telling us that there is no such interval (for God can only teach truth), but as sustaining us through it; so that while we learn of false teachers and evil in the Church, and while we know much of the course of sin and its fruits in the world, we have before us the brightness of the morning to sustain during the darkness of the night.

The ancient prophecies of universal blessing must have their full accomplishment, but that can never be till the Lord takes the dominion manifestly into His own hand. During this dispensation the broad way is thronged by the many, while but few find the narrow; all that will live godly in Christ Jesus must expect persecution, at least in principle. Christ's people shall be hated of all nations for His name's sake. But when the Lord comes, not only shall the Church of the First-born enter into heavenly blessing, both in body and in spirit, but restored and believing Israel shall know God's faithfulness to them, and then shall the nations be blessed under the rule of Christ.

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[6] Although the object of this paper is not critical, yet I may point out the ancient reading in Revelation 22:14: μακαριοι οι πλυνοντες τας στολας αυτων, “Blessed are they that wash their robes”, instead of μακ. οι ποιουντες τας εντολας αυτου, “Blessed are they that do His commandments”, or the common and recent text. This ancient reading (confirmed by the recently discovered Codex Sinaiticus) is one which has refreshed many a believing heart; for while it is true that those who are accepted in grace are doers of His commandments, yet the ground of all blessing is the blood of the Lamb that was shed, and this it is that entitles those whose garments are washed, to enter into the holy city above. To prevent all misconception, it is right to state that, although the ancient reading in Revelation 1:5 (quoted above) is τω αγαπωντι ημας και λυσαντι ημας, “to Him that loveth us and freed us” (instead of τω αγαπησαντι ημας και λουσαντι ημας) “from our sins in His own blood”, yet no part of the doctrine of redemption by blood is lost: we are only thrown back from the present application of the blood to us, to the far deeper thing, its having been given as the availing price of redemption. The blood was the λυτρον given once for all. The first use that we have of λυω relates to deliverance by price paid. 

VI. APOSTOLIC TESTIMONY

Five of the Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ have left in their epistles instruction for the Church in all ages. Amongst other subjects of which they all treat, more or less, is that of the coming of the Lord, and the facts or moral features which precede that event. Thus the Apostle John (1 John 2:18) says, “Little children, it is the last time; and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know it is the last time”. This one passage shows us that the Church had then been taught concerning the coming of Antichrist; that the Apostle knew that they had received this teaching; and that it was right that Christians should understand that this is a thing that concerns the Church: in the beginning of the next chapter he speaks of the hope of our being like Christ when He shall be manifested: that is our hope; and because it is our hope, we may contemplate the rise and working of Antichrist, or of anything else that the Scripture says shall take place first. Opposers of simple Scripture teaching sometimes ask, “For which are you waiting, Christ or Antichrist?” The answer might be, “Which does the apostle teach us shall be first, the coming of Antichrist, or the revelation of Christ?” for if we take these things in their Scriptural order, we shall not go wrong. We wait for Christ, and therefore we can take heed to the warnings concerning the rise of Antichrist; “These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you”; and we can seek to be so instructed from God's Word as not to be entangled with the snares of the many Antichrists, or those of Antichrist himself, the denier of the Father and the Son. Will any one, with the Scripture before him, say that he there learns that the rise of Antichrist shall not precede the coming of Christ? Will he say that the warnings of the inspired Apostle have no application?

The Apostle James (Chapter 5) speaks of the evil characteristics of “the last days”; in contrast to which he ways, “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 the latter rain. Be ye also patient, establish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (7, 8). This, then, shows what the kind of waiting for the Lord's coming was which this Apostle taught: it was that in which “long patience” was needed. The expression, “the coming of the Lord draweth nigh”, is not one to be measured by mere interval of time, but rather with the intelligence of its absolute certainty, even though the intervening period might seem great.  [5]

It was not only revealed to the Apostle Paul that there would be evil days, both in the Church and in the world, before Christ's second advent, but he was also inspired by the Holy Ghost to communicate this as being profitable and needful warning. Not only do we find the prophetic statements in the Thessalonians to this effect, but also in other places. For instance: “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils”, etc. (1 Timothy 4:1). Until these things had been accomplished, the coming of the Lord could not take place. So, too, in the Second Epistle to Timothy, containing, as it does, what may be called the dying testimony of the Apostle: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come” (3:1). “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (13). “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (4:3,4). The servant of the Lord, in contrast to all this, had to look to the crown of life, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give in that day unto all that love His appearing. Thus the hope of the Lord's coming is in perfect harmony with the knowledge of intervening events. Indeed, if this had not been the case, not a single future occurrence, not a single direction which involves the knowledge of interval of time, could the Lord have given to His people. If a moral effect were thus to be wrought, it would be by the withholding of truth, and not by its communication. All the teaching of St. Paul's Epistles for the continuous guidance of the Church, assumes, as an admitted truth, that there would be those living on the earth, prior to the Lord's coming, who should be so guided.

Jude, in his one short epistle, gives a solemn testimony as to the condition in which the coming of the Lord (as prophesied of old by Enoch) should find the world and the Church. He does not communicate these things in order to discourage Christians, but rather that they might see proof of the faithfulness of God, and of the mercy of His warnings: “But, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before of the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; how that they told you that there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts” (17,18).

The Lord Jesus had declared to Peter “by what death he should glorify God” (John 21:19): thus that Apostle himself knew, and other Christians also knew, that the coming of the Lord could not take place until after He had thus suffered martyrdom. If our hope of the second advent be the same as theirs, we may at once see that absolute certainty of previous events does not interfere with it. Now the Apostle Peter was desirous that the hope of those coming after him should be the same as that which he had himself cherished and taught. He not only thought it meet while in this tabernacle to stir up believers by putting them in remembrance, but he says, in relation to his approaching death, which the Lord had shown him, “Moreover, I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance” (2 Peter 1:15). The scene on the Mount of Transfiguration had been a showing forth of the glory of Christ at His coming, and to this Peter directed the minds of Christians, teaching them that they ought to give heed to the prophetic word while waiting for the dawning of the day. What, then, were Christians to expect during the interval before the coming of Christ? “There shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction: and many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of”; and so on throughout the second chapter. These were to be the expectations of those whose hope was like that of the Church as then taught. In warning of the heed which should be paid to the words spoken before by the holy prophets, and to the commandments of apostles, he draws their attention to one special point: “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?” (3:3,4). Thus the moral power of the hope of the coming of Christ was not marred in the apostles' days from their possessing a certain knowledge of events that would intervene: the apostles authoritatively taught this doctrine as being of importance to the Church; and if any doctrine of the second advent is now taught which cannot be held with such knowledge of events, or which would deny that such knowledge could be held compatibly with the maintenance of the hope, then we may be sure that such doctrine is not in accordance with Holy Scripture, and that, in fact, it sets aside its solemn teaching. The promise of His coming must be held as the promise was made, and not in some manner wholly different. At the Pentecostal preaching of the Gospel, the apostles of the Lord well knew that they were not setting forth that which was to bring in universal blessing; they knew that although the promise of the return of the Lord Jesus to reign was a portion of their testimony, it would not be as yet; and thus part of the exhortation of Peter was founded on that knowledge: “Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40). Thus a definite interval was part of the original doctrine.

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[5] We also learn in the Epistle of James how to act and to speak in relation to present plans. In reproving those who plan what they will do, he tells them that what they ought to say is, “If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that” (4:15). He does not make instantaneous looking for the coming of the Lord the reason why such things should not be said or done. He does not say (as some now do), in speaking of things presently before them, “Unless the Lord come first”. 

V. AN INTERVAL TAUGHT BY THE LORD

In the discourse of our Lord to His apostles the evening before His crucifixion (John 14-16), He contemplated His Church as being left here on this earth for a considerable period: the instruction then given for its guidance during such an interval, and the mission of the Holy Ghost, as the other Paraclete, was for the right endowment of such to live and act in the circumstances. Our Lord Jesus tells them in the beginning of this discourse, what their hope should be: “I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also” (14:3). So that every direction, every warning, and every promise of support, would relate to persons thus waiting. From this we may draw the instruction, that it is thus, and in no other way, that we are called to wait. One thing especially which the Lord promised to His disciples was suffering: “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you...if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (15:18,20). “They shall put you out of the synagogues; yea, the time cometh that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service” (16:2). The whole of the three chapters may be taken as containing proof after proof, not only that there would be (as we know that the facts have shown) a long interval between the departure of the Lord and His personal return, but that they were taught that such an interval would be; so that they knew that the Lord's coming could not take place until certain things had occurred, and until certain moral features of opposition between the Church and the world had displayed themselves.

Persecution is here one of the significant tokens; and this, too, had been specified particularly in Matthew 24: “Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you; and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake: and then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and hate one another” (Verses 9,10). This shall be the treatment received by the Church from without; but will all be truth and peace within its professing pale? “Many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (11,12). In all this a course of time is distinctly marked out, as that which must elapse before Christ should come to receive His people to Himself.

In every place in which the commission to preach the Gospel is stated, it is very clear that a sufficient length of time is supposed during which it would go forth into the different spheres of testimony. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost; teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [age]” (Matthew 28:18-20). “Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The Church was taught that she was called to a place of service, and also of trial: the hope of the coming of her Lord was that by which she was to be animated in the one, and sustained in the other. She knew that certain moral signs should precede that coming; she knew also that certain definite occurrences should first take place; but, resting on the word of her Lord, it was her calling to look onward, even though the interval were of necessity long. The Lord showed His grace in instructing His people by His truth. Had He held out different expectations, might it not have seemed as if He had indeed given a hope that must make ashamed?