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"Even So, Come, Lord Jesus"Lesson #57
Revelation 22:20
The Book of Revelation reveals many things which must come to pass. The prophecies of this Book are matters of absolute certainty. All that is revealed in these twenty-two chapters is fixed by God’s immutable, unalterable decree. We look upon the promises and prophecies of Holy Scripture as matters of certainty because we know that they are matters of divine predestination. Were God not totally sovereign, both in predestination and in providence, no promise of God could be believed with confidence, and no prophecy of Scripture could be looked upon as that which must come to pass. But this Book is the Revelation of One who is sovereign in all things and over all things. Therefore the prophecies of the Book are certain. The Church of God will be triumphant at last. The gospel of Christ shall be victorious. God’s elect shall all be saved. The enemies of Christ and his people shall be put to open and endless shame. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, into whose hands all things have been committed, shall be glorified in all things. The most prominent and glorious prophecy that is yet to be fulfilled is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the subject of Revelation 22:20. "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." With those words the Holy Spirit teaches us three things about the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IS CERTAIN. It is the Lord Jesus himself who speaks first. He says, "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come." I make no effort to prove that Christ is coming a second time to this earth with power and great glory. Scoffers and infidels do not bother me. And I will not bother them. I refuse to mar the beauty of the gospel by lowering it to speculation, investigation, and argument. We simply declare the naked truth of God and demand that all men believe that which God has revealed. Any who refuse to believe God’s revelation upon its own merits shall perish forever under the wrath of God.
However, in this text, the Lord Jesus Christ does emphasize the certainty of his second coming. He says, "Surely," in spite of all the mockery of scoffing infidels, "I come." In that declaration our Savior is graciously assuring us of his glorious advent. Knowing the weakness of our flesh, knowing our tendency to forget his promise and see only our present trouble, our dear Savior condescends to our need and gives this word to drive away doubt and unbelief - "Surely I come!"
It has been almost two thousand years now since our Lord died for us and ascended back into heaven. Men every where say, "Where is the promise of his coming." God forbid that we should be among them. There is a day and an hour appointed by God from eternity when Jesus Christ our Lord shall come again to bring in the fullness of that everlasting covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure. Christ who loved us and gave himself for us will come to gather us unto himself. As he ransomed our souls from the curse of the law and delivered our hearts from the bondage of sin, the Son of God will yet retrieve our bodies from the power of the grave. "He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied." The second coming of Christ is promised repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. In fact, the Bible is so full of promises regarding the second coming of our Lord that it cannot be denied without denouncing the Word of God as a mere religious myth that is full of lies.
The patriarchs of old, those fathers of the church who were examples of faith, spoke plainly of our Lord’s second coming. I do not know how much those ancient believers knew, or how clear their knowledge was. But they knew more than most religious people in these "enlightened" times. They knew that God would come in the flesh to redeem his elect by substitutionary atonement (Gen. 22:8). And they knew that that God-man Redeemer would come again in glory to reign forever. Enoch, who lived before the flood, gave a full description of Christ’s coming in power and great glory (Jude 14-15). Job, who probably lived in the days of Abraham, lived in hope and expectation of Christ’s second coming (Job 19:25-29). And David, the sweet singer of Israel, spoke with joy of the Lord’s coming to judge the world (Psa. 96:13; 98:9).
All the prophets, since the beginning of the world, spoke of Christ’s second coming with precise language (Acts 3:21). To those men of God in the Old Testament, Christ’s second coming was no more vague or uncertain than his first coming. They anticipated his coming in glory as much as they did his coming in humiliation (Dan. 7:13-14; 12:1-3; Zech. 14:3-9; Mal. 4:1-3).
Throughout the days of his earthly ministry, our Savior taught his disciples to look for and anticipate his second advent. While our Lord plainly declared that no man could know the day or hour of his coming (Matt. 24:36; 25:13; Acts 1:7), he did speak of that day when he would personally come again frequently, plainly, and positively (Matt. 24:27, 30, 36, 37; 25:1, 5, 6, 10, 31-46; John 14:1-3).
Even the angels of God have been employed by our Lord to assure us of his glorious second advent (Acts 1:11). Throughout the book of Acts the apostles went everywhere preaching the Lordship of Christ and his second coming in glory. They constantly declared Christ’s sovereign dominion as Lord and the certainty of his coming again to judgment. (3:19-21; 17:30-31). The same is true of their inspired writings in the epistles of the New Testament, in which we are constantly taught to watch for our Lord’s return (I Thess. 4:13-18; Tit. 2:10-14; II Pet. 3:9-14; I John 3:1-3). And, of course, the Book of Revelation declares the promise of our Lord’s return repeatedly (1:7; 3:11; 22:7, 12, 20). We are never told to look for signs of his coming, or given any hint as to when our Lord will come again; but we are constantly urged to stand upon the tiptoe of faith, looking for his return with immediate hope and expectation. If the Bible is truly the Word of God, if there is a God in heaven, if there is any hope for fallen men, then it is certain that Jesus Christ will come again. This is his testimony - "Surely, I come!"
CHRIST WILL COME QUICKLY. Our Savior says, "Surely I come quickly." And he means quickly. Time, in our very limited view of things, seems to be very, very long. But with God one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years is as one day. When our Lord was upon the earth, he spoke of his second coming as being at hand. Paul wrote of Christ’s coming in the language of immediate anticipation. And we should look for our Lord to return quickly. The word "quickly" means two things: (1.) Our Lord Jesus Christ will soon appear. There are no signs to be given, or prophecies to be fulfilled. Christ Jesus may come at any moment. (2.) Christ will come suddenly, without warning! Whether viewed from the standpoint of Christ’s coming to call men away from this state of existence at the hour of death, or from the standpoint of his glorious second advent, the Lord’s coming will be sudden and without warning. While it is true that he sometimes gives advance warning of death, even then the fatal disease or other forerunner of death overcomes the one to be taken so suddenly that death usually takes men by surprise and unprepared.
In the light of these facts, what manner of persons ought we to be? (Read II Peter 3:9-15.) We ought always to live in the immediate prospect of eternity. Like Paul, let us make it our hearts’ desire and determination to be found in Christ, seeking to know him, possess him, and be possessed by him (Phil. 3:8-14).
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST IS GREATLY DESIRED BY HIS PEOPLE (Tit. 2:11-14).
"The Spirit and the Bride say, Come." And when John heard the Savior say, "Surely I come quickly," his heart’s immediate response was, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." He said, "That’s it. That’s what I want! So be it. Come, my Lord and my Savior." How is it possible for sinful men and women, who know themselves to be sinners altogether fit for hell and unfit for heaven by nature, to love Christ’s appearing and anxiously desire it? Let me give you three answers to that question. (1). Because we look to Christ alone as our Savior, we look for Christ anxiously. Christ alone is all our hope before God (I Cor. 1:30). His blood is our only atonement for sin; and his righteousness is our only righteousness before God. Believing him, we have all that God demands of us and are accepted in the Beloved (Rom 3:28, 31; Eph. 1:6).(2.) Because we have the earnest of the Spirit, we groan for our heavenly inheritance (Eph. 1:14; II Cor. 5:5; Rom. 8:16-23). God the Holy Spirit, by giving us faith in Christ, has sealed to our hearts all the blessings and benefits of the covenant of grace, assuring us that we are indeed the sons and daughters of God. (3.) Because we have a good hope through grace, we anxiously await the fulfillment of our hope (Rom. 8:24-25; I John 3:1-2). We who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ live in hope of all that he has purchased for us and promised to us (I Cor. 15:51-58). When he comes, he shall be satisfied with us (Isa. 53:11); and we shall be satisfied with him (Eph. 5:25-27). "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."