COMING GRACE
‘Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end [perfectly marg.] for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.’
There is to be a revelation of Jesus Christ. He is to appear, to be unveiled, to manifest Himself. He appeared once at His Incarnation to seek and to save that which was lost, God manifest in the flesh; but He appeared only for a time. Finishing the work of redemption, He went back to where He was before, became unseen, and abides there and thus now, and till the time of the restitution of all things. When He shall be revealed we know not; nor would it do us good to know. Enough for us to know and believe that He is coming.
The revelation of Jesus Christ brings grace. This does not imply that there is little or no grace now. Salvation is not postponed to the second Advent. We have sonship, living hope, security, faith, joy, love, here on earth. The Lord keeps His best wine unto the last. But with all the grace given now to believers, they need more, and get more, at His revelation. There is brought to them—
I. The grace of perfect vision of Him Who is now unseen.—They shall see Him as He is. To what extent and in what way He is seen between their death and His coming we know not. Their souls depart to be with Him where He is. Yet such a vision cannot be perfect in comparison with that which takes place when He appears in glory and they appear with Him. St. John places the beatific vision in connection with the manifestations of the sons of God at the redemption of the body, i.e. at Christ’s reappearing. Now we see only the reflection, as in a mirror, of Him and His glory; then we shall see Him face to face, and know even as now we are known.
II. There is brought to them the grace of perfect likeness to Christ.—They shall be like Him, for they shall see Him as He is. While they gazed only at the image on the mirror, the assimilation was imperfect, slow, and gradual. When Christ is seen at death the likeness is complete as regards the soul. The revelation of Jesus Christ brings perfection of resemblance to the whole man, when He raises the body incorruptible, and spiritual, and glorious, changing it and fashioning it like unto the body of His own glory.
III. There is brought the grace of perfect acquittal.—Now they have the grace of justification freely and fully; are pardoned and accepted in the Beloved; are assured, more or less, of their righteous standing before God through Christ’s righteousness. But all this is done very much as a secret between God and them, out of sight of the world, and sometimes without an undoubted assurance of it on their part. Grace, however, in the day of the revelation of Jesus Christ, will openly and fully declare and manifest their past justification, putting their salvation beyond all doubt, and ratifying all former gracious judicial action with them.
IV. There is brought the grace of perfect avowal and recognition.—Christ then owns them as the ‘blessed of His Father, for whom the kingdom was prepared’: confesses them, without any shame, as worthy of Himself and their sonship and inheritance before the Father and the holy angels. Now He does acknowledge them, but not always openly, mostly in secret, by the witness of His spirit, by the works and sacrifices He enables them to do and make; not so, however, as that the world shall recognise this His testimony to them without fail, or account for it on other than natural and worldly principles. His name is not now visible on their foreheads, though written there; they carry no marks of their spiritual dignity on their persons here; the world knoweth them not, as it knew Him not. But then they shall appear with Him in His glory and sit with Him on His throne, claimed and manifested and treated as His own, whom He is not ashamed to call His brethren and to identify with His own eternal future.
V. There is brought the grace of perfect joy and glory for ever.—Then they actually enter upon the inheritance, which is now reserved for them as they are kept for it; beyond all heaviness or need of it, no longer in pupilage or minority, no longer receiving earnests and first-fruits; having all happiness unalloyed; having God Himself as their God and portion for ever, with all enemies subdued.
Illustration
‘While apostolic men looked for the coming of Christ, they looked for it with no idea of dread, but, on the contrary, with the utmost joy. In this chapter St. Peter sets forth the glorious advent of our Lord as an event to be hoped for with eagerness. It was to him not a day of terror and of thunders and of overwhelming confusion, but a day of the consummation of the work of grace—a period in which glory should crown the grace received through the first manifestation of the Lord. It was all joy to the early believers to think of the Lord’s appearing. The falling stars, the darkened sun, the blood-red moon, the quivering earth, the skies rolled up like an outworn vesture—all these things had no horror for them since Jesus was thus coming. Though all creation should be in a blaze, and the elements should melt with fervent heat, yet Jesus was coming, and that was enough for them; the Bridegroom of their souls was on His way, and this was rapture unspeakable.’
(SECOND OUTLINE)
THE HOPE OF THE ADVENT
A Christian man’s thoughts and energies should be concerned with the Lord’s reappearing, and not the day of death. The day of death is never held up to us as the object of preparation. It is not in itself attractive. Whatever grace it brings is little in comparison with that brought by ‘the revelation of Jesus Christ.’ The revelation demands—
I. Spiritual readiness, in the loins of the mind girded, the thoughts collected, braced, prepared, and on the alert, with nothing left till the last (cf. Luke 12:35-36).
II. Spiritual self-restraint, in sobriety; neither too elated nor too depressed; using the world as not abusing it; not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought to think, taking heed to ourselves lest at any time our hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness and cares of this life, and so that day come upon us unawares (St. Luke 21:34).
III. Perfect hope; desiring, picturing, expecting the revelation and what it brings; hoping perfectly, never letting go hope, though the day seems far off and the prospect grows dim; never saying, ‘My Lord delayeth His coming,’ but rather, ‘He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.’ Hope, perfect hope, sustains and stimulates, gladdens and purifies, and so prepares us for the grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Illustration
‘How full of the Lord were the minds of the holy writers! St. Peter can scarcely write a verse without an allusion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then, again, how ardently these men expected the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ! St. Peter was continually speaking of it, and so was his beloved brother St. Paul. They evidently looked upon His advent as very near. They were not mistaken in this belief. It is very near. A long time has passed, say you? I answer, By no manner of means; two thousand years is not a long time in the count of God, or in reference to so grand a business. We are dealing with eternal things, and what are ages? Let us patiently wait. “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness”; let us persevere in the same belief which filled the minds of the early believers, that Jesus will come, and that He will surely come quickly. Be ye as men that look for His coming at any moment.’