Expository Thoughts on the Gospels

In this part of our Lord's prophecy he describes his own second coming to judge the world. This, at all events, seems the natural meaning of the passage: to take any lower view appears to be a violent straining of Scripture language. If the solemn words here used mean nothing more than the coming of the Roman armies to Jerusalem, we may explain away anything in the Bible. The event here described is one of far greater moment than the march of an earthly army; it is nothing less than the closing act of the present dispensation—the second personal advent of Jesus Christ.

These verses teach us in the first place that when the Lord Jesus returns to this world he shall come with peculiar glory and majesty. He shall come "?in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." Before his presence the very sun, moon and stars shall be darkened, and "?the powers of heaven shall be shaken?."

The second personal coming of Christ shall be as different as possible from the first. He came the first time as "?a man of sorrows, and aquainted with grief.?" He was born in the manger of Bethlehem, in lowliness and humiliation; he took on him the form of a servant, and was despised and rejected of men; he was betrayed into the hands of wicked men, condemned by an unjust judgment, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns and at last crucified between two thieves. He shall come the second time as the King of all the earth, with royal majesty: the princes and great men of this world shall themselves stand before his throne to receive an eternal sentence: before him every mouth shall be stopped, and every knee bow, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. May we all remember this! Whatever ungodly men may do now, there will be no scoffing, no jesting at Christ, no infidelity at the last day. The servants of Jesus may well wait patiently: their Master shall one day be acknowledged King of kings by all the world.

These verses teach us in the second place that when Christ returns to this world he will first take care of his believing people. He shall "?send his angels? and gather together his elect.?"

When Christ returns in glory and the judgment begins, true Christians shall be perfectly safe. Not a hair of their heads shall fall to the ground: not one bone of Christ's mystical body shall be broken. There was an ark for Noah in the day of the flood; there was a Zoar for Lot, when Sodom was destroyed; there shall be a hiding place for all believers in Jesus, when the wrath of God at last bursts on this wicked world. Those mighty angels who rejoiced in heaven when each sinner repented, shall gladly catch up the people of Christ to meet their Lord in the air. The day of Christ's second advent no doubt will be an awful day, but believers may look forward to it without fear.

When Christ returns in glory, true Christians shall at length be gathered together. The saints of every age and every tongue shall be assembled out of every land: all shall be there from righteous Abel down to the last soul that is converted to God, from the oldest patriarch down to a little infant that just breathed and died. Let us think what a happy gathering that will be, when all the family of God are at length together. If it has been pleasant to meet one or two saints occasionally on earth, how much more pleasant will it be to meet a "?multitude that no one can number?"! Surely we may be content to carry the cross, and to put up with partings for a few years. We travel on towards a day when we shall meet to part no more.

These verses teach us in the third place that until Christ returns to this earth the Jews will always remain a separate people. Our Lord tells us, "?This generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.?"

The continued existence of the Jews as a distinct nation is undeniably a great miracle: it is one of those evidences of the truth of the Bible which the infidel can never overthrow. Without a land, without a king, without a government, scattered and dispersed over the world for 1800 years, the Jews are never absorbed among the people of the countries where they live, like Frenchmen, Englishmen and Germans, but "dwell alone?" (? Numbers 23:9). Nothing can account for this but the finger of God. The Jewish nation stands before the world a crushing answer to infidelity, and a living book of evidence that the Bible is true. But we ought not to regard the Jews only as witnesses of the truth of Scripture; we should see in them a continual pledge that the Lord Jesus is coming again one day. Like the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, they witness to the reality of the second advent as well as of the first. Let us remember this. Let us see in every wandering Jew a proof that the Bible is true, and that Christ will one day return.

Finally these verses teach us that our Lord's predictions will certainly be fulfilled: He says, "?Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall never pass away.?"

Our Lord knew well the natural unbelief of human nature. He knew that "? scoffers would arise in the last days saying,?Where is this promise of his coming??' (?2 Peter 3:4). He knew that when he came, faith would be rare on the earth. He foresaw how many would contemptuously reject the solemn predictions he had just been delivering, as improbable, unlikely and absurd. He warns us against such skeptical thoughts, with a caution of particular solemnity: he tells us that, whatever man may say or think, his words shall be fulfilled in their season, and shall not "?pass away?" unaccomplished. May we all lay to heart his warning! We live in an unbelieving age. Few believed the report of our Lord's first coming, and few believe the report of his second.(Isa.53:1) Let us beware of this infection, and believe to the saving of our souls. We are not reading "?cunningly devised fables?" but deep and momentous truths: may God give us a heart to believe them!

There are verses in this passage which are often much misapplied. "?The coming of the Son of Man?" is frequently spoken of as being the same thing as death; the texts which describe the uncertainty of his coming are used in epitaphs, and thought suitable to the tomb. But there is no solid ground for such an application of this passage. Death is one thing, and the coming of the Son of Man is quite another. The subject of these verses is not death, but the second advent of Jesus Christ. Let us remember this. It is a serious thing to wrest Scripture and use it in any but its true meaning.

The first thing that demands our attention in these verses is the awful account that they give of the state of the world when the Lord Jesus comes again.

The world will not be converted when Christ returns: it will be found in the same condition that it was in the day of the flood. When the flood came, men were found "?eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage?" absorbed in their worldly pursuits and utterly regardless of Noah's repeated warnings. They saw no likelihood of a flood; they would not believe there was any danger. But at last the flood came suddenly and took them all away. All that were not with Noah in the ark were drowned: they were all swept away to their last account, unpardoned, unconverted and unprepared to meet God. And our Lord says, " So shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.?"

Let us mark this text, and store it up in our minds. There are many strange opinions current on this subject, even among good men. Let us not flatter ourselves that the heathen will all be converted and the earth filled with the knowledge of God before the Lord comes; let us not dream that the end of all things cannot be at hand because there is yet much wickedness both in the church and in the world. Such views receive a flat contradiction in the passage now before us: the days of Noah are the true type of the days when Christ shall return. Millions of professing Christians will be found thoughtless, unbelieving, godless, Christless, worldly and unfit to meet their Judge. Let us take care heed that we are not found amongst them.

The second thing that demands our attention is the awful separation that will take place when the Lord Jesus comes again. We read twice over that "?one will be taken and the other left.?"

The godly and the ungodly at present are mingled together; in the congregation and in the place of worship, in the city and in the field, the children of God and the children of the world are all side by side; but it shall not be so always. In the day of our Lord's return, there shall at length be a complete division. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, each party will be separated from the other forevermore. Wives shall be separated from husbands, parents from children, brothers from sisters, masters from servants, preachers from hearers. There shall be no time for repentance or a change of mind when the Lord appears: all shall be taken as they are, and reap according as they have sown. Believers will be caught up to glory, honor and eternal life; unbelievers shall be left behind to shame and everlasting contempt. Blest and happy are they who are of one heart in following Christ! Their union alone shall never be broken: it shall last for forevermore. Who can describe the happiness of those who are taken when the Lord returns? Who can imagine the misery of those who are left behind? May we think on these things, and consider our ways!

The last thing that demands our attention in these verses is the practical duty of watchfulness in the prospect of Christ's second coming. "? Watch,?" says our Lord, "?for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.?""?Be ye, for in such an hour ye think not the Son of Man cometh.?"

This is a point which our blessed Master frequently presses upon our notice: we hardly ever find him dwelling on the second advent without adding an injucntion to "?watch.?" He knows the sleepiness of our nature; he knows how soon we forget the most solemn subjects in religion; he knows how unceasingly Satan labors to obscure the glorious doctrine of his coming again. He arms us with heart seaching exhortations keep awake, if we would not be ruined forevermore. May we all have an ear to hear them!

True Christians ought to live like watchmen. The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night: they should strive to be always on their guard; they should behave like the sentinel of an army in an enemy's land, they should resolve by God's grace not to sleep at their post. That text of St. Paul's deserves many a thought: "?Let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober.?" (? 1 Thessalonians 5:6).

True Christians ought to live like good servants whose master is not at home. They should strive to be always ready for their Master's return: they should never give way to the feeling, "?My Lord delayeth his coming." They should seek to keep their hearts in such a frame that whenever Christ appears they may at once give him a warm and loving reception. There is a vast depth in the saying, "?Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing." We may well doubt whether we are true believers in Jesus if we are not ready at any time to have our faith changed into sight.

Let us close the chapter with solemn feelings. The things we have just been reading call loudly for great searchings of heart. Let us seek to make sure that we are in Christ, and we shall have an ark of safety when the day of wrath breaks on the world; let us try so to live that we may be pronounced "?blessed?" at the last, and not cast off forevermore. Not least, let us dismiss from our minds the common idea that unfulfilled prophecy is a speculative and not a practical thing: if the things we have been considering are not practical, there is no such thing as practical religion at all. Well might St. John say everyman who hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure?" (? 1 John 3:3).

The chapter we have now begun is a continuation of our Lord's prophetic discourse on the Mount of Olives. The time to which it refers is plain and unmistakable: from first to last, there is a continual reference to the second advent of Christ and the end of the world. The whole chapter contains three great divisions. In the first, our Lord uses his own second coming as an argument for watchfulness and heart-religion: this he does by the parable of the ten virgins. In the second, he uses his own second coming as an argument for diligence and faithfulness: this he does by the parable of the talents. In the third, he winds up all by a description of the great day of judgment: a passage which for majesty and beauty stands unequalled in the New Testament.

The parable of the ten virgins which we have now read contains lessons peculiarly solemn and awakening.

We see for one thing that the second coming of Christ will find his church a mixed body, containing evil as well as good.

The professing church is compared to "?ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom?."

All of them had lamps, but only five had oil in their vessels to feed the flame; all of them professed to have one object in view, but five only were truly "?wise,?" and the rest were foolish. The visible church of Christ is just in the same condition: all its members are baptized in the name of Christ, but not all really hear his voice and follow him; all are called Christians, and profess to be of the Christian religion, but not all have the grace of the Spirit in their hearts, and really are what they profess to be. Our own eyes tell us that it is so now: the Lord Jesus tells us that it will be so when he comes again. Let us mark well this description. It is a humbling picture. After all our preaching and praying, after all our visiting and teaching, after all our missionary exertions abroad, and means of grace at home, many will be found at last dead in trespasses and sins! The wickedness and unbelief of human nature is a subject about which we all have much to learn.

We see for another thing that Christ's second coming, whenever it may be, will take men by surprise.

This is a truth which is set before us in the parable in a very striking manner. "?At midnight,?" when the virgins were slumbering and sleeping, there was a cry, "?The bridegroom cometh go ye forth to meet him!?"? It will be just the same when Jesus returns to the world. He will find the vast majority of mankind utterly unbelieving and unprepared; he will find the bulk of his believing people in a sleepy and indolent state of soul. Business will be going on in town and country just as it does now; politics, trade, farming, buying, selling, pleasure-seeking will be taking up men's atttention just as they do now; rich men will still be faring sumptuously, and poor men murmuring and complaining; churches will still be full of divisions, or wrangling about trifles; theological controversies will be still raging; ministers will still be calling men to repent, and the vast majority in all congregations will still be putting off the day of decision. In the midst of all this, the Lord Jesus himself shall suddenly appear. In an hour when no man thinketh, the startled world shall be summoned to break off all its employments and to stand before its lawful King. There is something unspeakably awful in the idea: but thus it is written, and thus it shall be. Well might a dying minister say, "?We are none of us more than half-awake.?"

We see in the next place that when the Lord comes again many will find out the value of saving religion too late.

The parable tells us that when the bridegroom came, the foolish virgins said unto the wise, "?Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.?" It tells us, further, that as the wise had no oil to spare, the foolish went to "?buy for themselves.?" It tells us, finally, that they came when the door was shut, and asked in vain for admission: "Lord Lord!?" theycried, "?Open unto us!?" All these expressions are striking emblems of things to come. Let us take heed that we do not find them true by experience, to our own eternal ruin.

We may settle it in our minds that there will be an entire change of opinion one day as to the necessity of decided christianity. At present, we must all be aware that the vast majority of professing Christians care nothing at all about it: they have no sense of sin; they have no love towards Christ; they know nothing of being born again. Repentance, faith, grace and holiness are mere words to them; they are subjects which they either dislike, or about which they feel no concern. But this state of things shall one day come to an end. Knowledge, conviction, the value of the soul, the need of a Saviour, shall all burst on men's minds one day like a flash of lightning. But it will be too late! It will be too late to be buying oil when the Lord returns. The mistakes that are not found out till that day are irretrievable.

Are we ever mocked, and persecuted, and thought foolish because of our religion? Let us bear it patiently and pray for those who persecute us: they know not what they are doing; they will certainly alter their minds one day. We may yet hear them confessing that we were "?wise?" and they were "?foolish.?" One day the whole world will acknowledge that the saints of God made a wise choice.

We see lastly in this parable that when Christ returns, true Christians shall receive a rich reward for all they have suffered for their Master's sake. We are told that when the bridegroom came, "?they that were ready went in with him to the marriage. And the door was shut.?"

True Christians shall alone be found ready at the second advent. Washed in the blood of atonement, clothed in Christ's righteousness, renewed by the Spirit, they shall meet their Lord with boldness and sit down at the marriage supper of the lamb, to go out no more. Surely this is a blessed prospect.

They shall be with their Lord: with him who loved them and gave himself for them; with him who bore with them and carried them through their earthly pilgrimage: with whom they loved truly and followed faithfully on earth, though with much weakness, and many a tear. Surely this is also a blessed prospect.

The door will be shut at last, shut on all pain and sorrow; shut on an ill-natured and wicked world; shut on a tempting devil; shut on all doubts and fears; shut to be opened again no more. Surely we may again say, this is a blessed prospect.

Let us remember these things: they will bear meditation; they are all true. The believer may have much tribulation, but he has before him abounding consolations. "?Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh es in the morning?" (? Psalm 30:5). The day of Christ's return shall surely make amends for all.

Let us leave this parable with a settled determined never to be content with anything short of indwelling grace in our hearts. The lamp and the name of Christian, the profession and the ordinances of Christianity, are all well in their way, but they are not the "?one thing needful.?" Let us never rest till we know that we have the oil of the Spirit in our hearts.