A massive earthquake in Japan, record-setting floods in Europe, continued turmoil in Russia (see “Signs of the Times”) and explosive terrorism in the Middle East. “And there shall be signs…upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring…and then shall they see the Son of man coming…” (Luke 21:25-27).
Joy and sorrow
The Master goes on to say, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh” (v.28). “Your redemption” -the message is one of joy as our daily prayer, “thy kingdom come,” will finally be answered. We long for God’s new order upon the earth; we anticipate being united with loved ones who have passed away; we sigh in relief that the struggle against sin will finally be over.
But not all of Christ’s servants will rejoice; some will have said, “My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken.” Others will have exhausted their supply of enthusiasm and Bible interest while still others will never have applied their talents to the work of the Truth (Matt. 24:48-49;25:8,25).
These will be rejected. The Lord will “cut him asunder and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites…and the door was shut…cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness” (Matt. 24:51; 25:10,30). Predictably, the rejected will react with panic and anguish, “Lord, Lord, open to us…There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
They did not expect Christ to come
“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” (Matt. 24:50). This situation is not unusual, for the Lord repeats the point several times, “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (v. 44 and note vs. 36,42 and 25:13).
How could it be that believers who have been given so many signs could be caught unawares?
All we have to do is look inside ourselves for an answer. We know this is the generation of the Lord’s return. Forty-seven years Israel has been a nation; twenty-seven years the Jews have controlled Jerusalem, bringing the times of the Gentiles to a close; never before have people gone to and fro as they are now and never before has knowledge increased with such dramatic, unceasing rapidity (Luke 21:24; Dan. 12:4).
We know it is the time, but when we look inside ourselves some of us will see talent and opportunity lying dormant not being used in the work of the Truth; some will recognize that former interest and enthusiasm has died out and others will have to admit they are sometimes unkind to Christ’s brethren. If we knew Christ was coming next week, we’d change fast. Yet soon, it will be next week. Why don’t we always behave as if he is coming very soon?
Part of the problem is our perspective of time
Today has to be lived and probably tomorrow, next month and next year. When enough tomorrows come without the return of Christ, we can begin thinking that a very long time is going by without the advent. We forget, “How frail I am. Behold, thou hast made my days as an hand breadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity” (Psa. 39:4-5).
Our mortality means we are always susceptible to unexpected death. A more common problem, however, is that we lose our perspective as to how short our present life is compared to eternity. As Christ remains away, we can too easily slip into an absorption with comfort now, success now, security now, yet “now” is but a hand breadth when set beside eternal life. If we could only see things from God’s point of view, we would fully realize how foolish it is to let our enthusiasm wane or invest all our effort in temporal things.
Thinking we can get away with it
From what Christ says, another part of the problem is that, if our Master isn’t coming soon, we can mistreat our brethren. The servant thought that “my Lord delayeth his coming” therefore he began to smite his fellowservants.
Nobody does this literally, of course, and physical smiting is hardly what the Master means. We smite our brethren in other ways, by word or pen, or even by ignoring them. Crushing a person’s spirit can do much lasting damage. We can do this by persistently ignoring his needs when he is sick or lonely. We do it, too, by withholding our help when he is spiritually or physically hungry and thirsty.
Smiting can also be done by vicious gossip which is so one-sided that it is slanderous. And both pen and word can be mightier than a sword in inflicting scars that disfigure for life.
The Master’s teaching is that if we expected him to come today, we would treat his servants with compassion and love. That is what we will do if we are preparing for him.
The tragedy of rejection
It will be an agony to be rejected by the Lord; it will be a personal tragedy. But the greater tragedy is that rejection is totally unnecessary. The Son wants to save, not reject; the Father is willing to go to great lengths to give eternal life.
The fact God “spared not his own Son” should convince us that He will “with him also freely give us all things” needful to our salvation. And the Son, for his part, even now is at the Father’s right hand acting with all power in heaven and earth on behalf of his brothers and sisters (Rom. 8:32-34). They want us to be saved.
In fact, it is a mistake to pray, “Save us a place in thy kingdom if it be thy will.” It is His will. The question is, “Is it ours?”
When we consider all aspects of the matter, the choice of being in the kingdom is not God’s, it is ours. He is willing to do whatever is necessary to help us serve Him faithfully. He is willing to forgive our sins, if we confess them and do not walk in darkness. He loves us and wants us to be saved; He couldn’t prove it anymore convincingly than by giving His only begotten Son on our behalf.
Are we ready for Christ? We certainly can be; let us see to it that we will be.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One