Part 6

Russia: 1,519,810 men, 181,000 horses, 2,084 cannon Germany: 835,000 men, 96,000 horses, 2,022 cannon Austria: 856,980 men, 58,125 horses, 1,600 cannon England: 478,800 men France: 1,850,000 men

The remaining states of Europe make up with the above a total of about 6,000,000 men.

The Final Separation.

VERSES 40, 41: “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left. Two women shall be grinding at the mill; the one shall be taken, and the other left.”

This language shows the final separation between the righteous and the wicked. There is no elaborate explanation as to how the circumstances will meet their fulfillment, but that is not the essential force of the text. The line will in some cases be drawn between those who are intimately related. Some members of the same family will be taken away by the judgments of God, while others will be left to receive their coming Lord.

Those Who Watch Will Know The Time.

VERSES 42‐44: “Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.”

The injunction to watchfulness is repeatedly given by our Saviour in connection with his teaching in reference to his second advent. These injunctions must apply especially to those who live in proximity to that event. This fact is convincing evidence that the Lord is not displeased with those who anticipate his coming, and study the word in reference to it. No one watches for that which he does not expect, and indifference or aversion toward the coming of Christ is sure evidence of coldness toward Christ himself. If we love Jesus, we shall love his appearing and if we love his appearing, we shall be eagerly watching and waiting for it. But if we knew the hour when he would come, we should not watch for his coming, nor could we with eagerness expect his coming if we had no knowledge of its approach. The course of time has been measured off in definite periods down to the beginning of the present generation. The time from the end of the prophetic periods to the coming of Christ is emphatically the waiting, watching time. Those who watch, as our Lord commands, will eventually know the time. No man will make it known, for it is not revealed to man in the Scriptures. Angels will not make it known, though they may minister to, and communicate with, the children of men. Neither will the Son. But the Father will make it known when he speaks again from heaven.

It is undoubtedly true that the unscriptural and irrational course pursued by many so‐called Adventists in repeatedly setting a time of their own for the Lord to come has had the effect to disgust many with the whole matter. This is the enemy’s work. He will seek thus to obscure each truth by bringing it into the shadow of reproach. But it is unwise to be thus misled. Probably there is no prophecy that better describes the present state of unbelief in the world in regard to the second advent, caused partly by fanatical time‐movements, than the following:—

“Son of man, what is that proverb that ye have in the land of Israel, saying, The days are prolonged, and every vision faileth? Tell them therefore, Thus saith the Lord God: I will make this proverb to cease, and they shall no more use it as a proverb in Israel; but say unto them, The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision. For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel. For I am the Lord: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged, for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord God.” Eze. 12:22‐25.

The burden of this prophecy is time; therefore the word here mentioned that the Lord will speak, will be the time. Rev. 3:3, is also to the point:—

“Remember, therefore, how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.”

Those who do not watch, will not know the hour. Those who watch will know the hour.

The present watching, waiting position requires much faith and patience. Says Paul:—

“Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God [in proclaiming the coming of Christ], ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10:35‐39.

Says James: “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 latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:7, 8.

Jesus says: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth.” Rev. 3:10.

The present position and present duty of God’s people are defined in Rev. 14:12: “Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”

The Faithful And Wise Servant.

VERSES 45‐47: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler over all his goods.”

In this figure, Christ is represented as the Lord of the household of faith (see Mark 13:35; Heb. 3:6), leaving his house, and committing the work of caring for his church to his servants. A blessing is promised those servants who are found faithfully discharging this duty when their Lord comes. They are to feed the flock of God, over whom the Holy Ghost hath made them overseers. Acts 20:28. They must preach the word. 2 Tim. 4:2. They should watch for souls as they that must give account. Heb. 13:17. They will not only give meat to the household, but they will give it in due season. They will preach the _present_ truth.

And meat in due season when Christ’s coming draws near, will be the gospel of the kingdom. Verse 14. It will embrace warnings, instructions, and encouragements pertaining to a message that is designed and adapted to prepare the world for so solemn an event. Suppose, for a moment, that when Noah had received his message of the coming flood to give to the world, he had reasoned with worldly wisdom that as such a thing never had occurred, and from all appearances seemed very unlikely to occur, and hence to preach it would subject him to reproach, it would be better to avoid any particular allusion to such an unwelcome subject. His preaching seemed to excite only ridicule. He could retain his own private convictions and preach the ordinary principles of righteousness, saying, “Do not so, my brethren.” And if the people were only prepared for the flood, that would be all that would be necessary. Of such a course we can say two things. He would thus have proved very unfaithful to his trust, and the blood of his fellow‐men would have been upon him; and he would have done just as thousands are doing now. He certainly would not have represented the faithful and wise servant. So it is now. A solemn responsibility is placed upon the watchmen:—

“Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: if when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” Eze. 33:2‐7.

When Jesus comes, the faithful servants will be found proclaiming his coming and teaching the necessary preparation. The Saviour speaks of such as “faithful and wise.”

1. He is faithful. As a faithful watchman, he will give timely warning when he sees the sword coming. His work just before the end, is seen in the following scriptures:—

“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” Joel 2:1.

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.” Isa. 58:1.

“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long‐suffering and doctrine. For 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 into fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.” 2. Tim. 4:1‐5.

2. He is wise. “He that winneth souls is wise.” He must be wise. He will hold forth the truth in its harmony and beauty, and thus expose error and win men to the truth. When it becomes his duty to “reprove and rebuke,” it will be at a proper time and place, and then with all “long‐suffering and doctrine.” He will study to show himself “approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Tim. 2:15.

The Evil Servant.

VERSES 48‐51: “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow‐servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of; and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

What the evil servant says and does, shows most clearly the position and work of the faithful and wise servant. The evil servant says, “My lord delayeth his coming,” because the faithful servant is proclaiming the coming of his lord. The evil servant smites the faithful servant, because he teaches the soon coming of his Lord. The faithful servant, true to his commission to preach the “gospel of the kingdom” to a fallen church and a scoffing world, toils on, and for this the evil servant smites him. Not with the fist, perhaps, but with the tongue of obloquy and reproach. That there should be professed servants of Christ engaged in smiting those who are faithfully warning the world, need not cause surprise in view of the past, but must cause sorrow in the heart of every lover of truth. The wicked servant says in heart, and some are saying with their lips, The Lord is not coming. The world is now just starting out upon its career of knowledge and enjoyment. Where is the promise or indication of his coming? Some say, He may come to‐night, he may not come in a million years, thus neutralizing the truth. Such men will be found criticising and discounting the Scriptures and subjecting them to the tests of human philosophy and science. The only safety for the people is to look beyond such watchmen. Let them take the Bible for themselves, and there discerning the truth, embrace it, and live according to it.

CONCLUSION.

The impression prevails to some extent that he who teaches that Christ is soon coming is acting the _rôle_ of an alarmist. If so, we have seen that the great Teacher has placed himself at the head of the class. No one has spoken more positively upon this point than he has done. He said, “In my Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3. There is nothing ambiguous about that language. A child can understand it. It means that Jesus will come again. In the remarkable chapter we have here reviewed, the Saviour takes up the subject specifically, and not only affirms the fact of his coming, but foretells in explicit language the events which he would have us recognize as signs of the near approach of his coming and the end of the world.

But the message of Christ’s second coming is not sensational in its essential character. It is a solemn, practical truth. It is full of warning and admonition to sinners and worldly professors, and full of comfort to the faithful followers of Christ. It is spoken of in the Scriptures as a fact, established upon the word which never fails. When speaking of his second advent, the Saviour said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.” Matt. 24:35. To disbelieve in his coming would be to doubt one of the two great features of the gospel plan. What the harvest is to seed‐time, Christ’s second advent will be to his first. To doubt that he ever came to earth would be to subvert the gospel. To disbelieve his second coming would nullify in the mind his first coming, and rob the sacrifice of its glorious reward.

The apostle Paul speaks of the second advent as “that blessed hope.” Titus 2:13. Jesus says: “And when these things [the signs of his coming] begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” The prophet Isaiah anticipates the feelings of God’s people who will witness the event, and expresses them in the following manner: “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9.

At his coming, the dead in Christ will be raised to everlasting life. The righteous living will be changed to immortality. The hand of our Saviour will wipe away all tears; “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”

Why should we not rejoice in such a prospect? Who would not welcome such a friend? Who would not rejoice in the prospect of such a consummation?

But it is true that the grand event will not be attended with joy alone. There will be dismay and anguish. For while one prophet records the exclamations of joyful anticipation, another has foreseen and recorded the cry of despair. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15‐17. A vast number will thus lament. All who cannot join the shout of welcome will unite in the wail of despair. There will be but two classes in that day. And to one of those classes each one living will belong. To which shall I belong? Solemn question. To which party will you belong, reader? No one can _wait_ for Christ who is not prepared for his coming. Only the precious blood of Jesus that cleanses from sin can prepare us to receive him and fit us to dwell in his presence. Have you an interest in his forgiving love? Is your peace made with God? If so, his coming will have no terror to you, for he comes to save his waiting people.

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