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THE KING’S BUSINESS
VI. Christ in the glory of His Second Coming. W e sometimes sing'; “Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King.” W.e do well to remem ber, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not yet"King. He is on the right hand o f His Father’s throne. He has not yet taken His seat on His own throne. I f we look in the Gospels, Christ is the King of the Jews, but if we look in the Acts and the Epistles, especially the latter, practically nothing is Said of Christ Jesus as the King. Never once is He called the King o f the Church, only the Lord. But when we go to the Apocalypse and look to the future, He is seen to be King o f the Jews and King o f kings. So that-theologically and strictly it is notr right to call Christ King now. He is Prophet in the past, Priest and Lord ip. the present, He is to be King in the future. W e may notice the three appearances of Christ in Heb. 9 :24, 26, 28. I know, of course, that they represent different Greek words, but the thought is certainly there. In verse 26, “ He appeared to put away sin.” Christ in the past. In verse 24, “ Now to appear in the presence o f God for us.” Christ in the present. In verse 28, “ Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time.” Christ in the future. And the glory o f that future is very prominent in the New Testament and in the Old. The first part is that He is coming for His people (1 Thess. 4). He is coming, as we Often say and sing, when every member o f His body has been,saved, and when that body has been completed. Heiis coming, not to the earth, but into the air for" His people. And then He will come with His people. I am not concerned with details, but I ask you to notice the glory o f this future when He will come with His saints, and will reign over the earth, ushering in ’ what we believe to be the Millennium—that wonderful time o f which the Old Testament is so full. If we want to know about the Millennium, it is unnecessary to concentrate upon Rev. 20. W e can look at Isa. 4, 9, 11, 25, 35, 65, 66. If we are not convinced about the Millen
nium from these passages, then nothing will convince us. W e must be particularly careful in read ing Isa. xl. to lxvi. Our older Bibles have headings descriptive o f the Church. “ The Church afflicted.” ", But when we look -in the chapter there is nothing about the Church at all. It is Israel. The Church is probably not referred to in that section at all from xl. to lxvi. As some one has said, we have taken to ourselves all the blessings, and left to the Jews all the curses. The Lord Jesus Christ is coming to introduce a reign o f peace, quiet and rest, such as we find in these passages, and we cannot spiritualise them without mak ing them absolutely meaningless. They mean what they say, and refer to some future time, and not one that has ever yet been realized through the Gospel. The Lord Jesus Christ has. been given the throne: “ The Lord God shall give unto Him the throne o f His father David, and He shall reign over the house o f Jacob for ever; and o f His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke i. 32-33). In Psalm ii. is another picture, and in Ps. lxxii. there is yet another. The Old Testament is full o f the glory to be seen when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be on His throne. Christ in the glory pf His Advent, first coming for His people, and then coming with His people. And we can put into this section the three hundred or more passages about the coming o f the Lord which we find in the Bible. ■ VII. Christ in the glory of the Future Eternity. At the end o f our Lord’s reign on earth the great white throne will be" set up, and judgment will be executed; then there will be the delivery o f the kingdom to the Father, when God shall be all in all; and we find last o f all, the eternal home. Almost the closing picture is that o f the throne o f God and o f the Lamb. And so we notice that Christ has an essential glory, as the effulgence o f the Father, and an acquired glory by reason o f His redemptive work. God raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory; God highly exalted Him,_and
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