THE THREE APPEARINGS [Baptist, Evangelical, and/or Dispensational]

THINGS TO COME -- A Journal Of Biblical Literature | July, 1894 | Cannon Faussett

[John Leland 1789]

THE THREE APPEARINGS

BY THE REVEREND CANON FAUSSET

(At the York Conference, May, 1894)

DEAR BRETHREN, I call your attention to Hebrews 9:24, 26, and 28, "for Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, but into heaven itself. For then must He often have suffered since the foundation of the world," &c. Last verse, "So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

Notice that in this Authorized Version, which is in the Main correct, we have three appearings mentioned, and they correspond to the present, the past, and the future. In the past we have the once-four-all offered sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You find that expression in verse 26. "But now once in the end of the world hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself."

Then, lest we should think, as a large portion of the professing Christian Church think, that the sacrifice was once completed, but that the offering is still continued, it is expressly written in verse 25, "nor yet that He should offer himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others," &c.

The statement is clearly made that offering Himself would involve suffering, but, reasons the writer, He has once for all suffered, that one sacrifice has been completed, and the once-four-all sacrifice involves that the offering too should only be once for all.

Then we have the great work that the dear Lord is carrying one at the present time----appearing in the presence of God for us. This connects together the time that elapses between His ascension and the blessed Lord's return.

He appeared once one Calvary to make one completed sacrifice, and then in His entering into the heavenly holy of holies to offer Himself there, and to sit down at God's right hand.

Now, between His ascension and His return, He is ever appearing in the presence of God for us; not standing, as that would imply that the sacrifice and the offering were not completed.

He is sitting, which implies that the work is a finished work, and that every believer who has come to God by Him, is complete in the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Sin is abolished once for all, and through that precious blood, once for all shed and presented to God, we have a continued means of justification and purification.

Notice the three great truths here presented to us----justification once for all through the sacrifice of Christ, and sanctification which the blessed Jesus is carrying on, preparing a place for us.

That work having been completed and of the work of sanctification continually more and more are being realized, by the Holy Spirit which He sends down from His seat at God's right hand, what remains is that we should be looking for the blessed hope. "Unto them that look for Him shall he He appear a second time."

Our meetings together are amongst the most remarkable signs of the times. I do not think there is a more noteworthy sign then these Conventions which are being held in various parts of the country, gathering together Christians of all denominations of the orthodox faith.

Surely it is like the first beginning of the cry, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh; go ye forth to meet Him." Just a notice in passing Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching."

The same Greek word, here used for assembling or gathering together, is used in 2 Thessalonians 2:1, of the gathering of the Saints to Him at His coming, but the gathering will not be until the Lord comes, therefore in Scripture our attention is directed not to what the natural man would direct his attention to, namely, that we are all liable to die at any moment. Christ puts the truth before us that we are to be looking not for death, but the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, watching with our loins girded, waiting for Him.

If you look at Psalm 50:5 you will see the same word and the same thought again occur in describing the Lord's coming. Read from verse three, "our God shall come and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him; he shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth that He may judge His people.

Gather My saints unto Me; those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice"----those who through the once completed sacrifice are at peace with Me, those who are becoming purified and sanctified through Jesus pleading for them at God's right hand.

This gathering together unto Him refers by interpretation to the Jews, but it certainly is applicable to believers gathering together to the Lord at His return. Now notice further, in Malachi 3:16, 17, that it is precisely at the time when the words of the ungodly and unbelieving world are stout against the Lord, as we read in chapter 3:13, "Your words have been stout against Me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, what have we spoken so much against Thee?"

And in the next verse the Lord fixes upon the point where even they spake against Him, "Ye have said, it is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts," and in verse 15, "And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are delivered."

Then comes that very emphatic word, "THEN." "Then, they that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon His name." It is precisely at that time when the ungodly speak stoutly against Jehovah, the saints speak often one to another.

I would ask anyone who is conversant with our modern popular literature, whether you do not hear on every side the babbling of wicked men against God and His revealed truth?

The Lord hearkens to every word which is spoken before Him. "They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him."

You will see then that there is an eternal and everlasting distinction between them that serve God and them that serve Him not. Immediately after that gathering together of the ungodly who say, "Where is the promise of His coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were," comes the "then" in verse 16, followed by the same word in the 18th. When the Lord comes you will discern between the righteous and the wicked, between whom unbelievers say there is no final distinction.

He comes as a Shepherd separating those who look for Him from those who looked not for Him; then you read, "the proud and all who do wickedly shall be stubble, and shall be burnt up, but to them that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings."

You will remember that in Genesis 3 there are three great allies which the father of lies speaks. His first lie is, "EAA, hath God said." Very rightly the first place at these Conferences is the inspiration of the Scriptures.

The devil's first lie by in simulation seeks to shake confidence in God's Word. We hear a great deal nowadays about what is called the Higher Criticism.

It is puny man setting himself up to be the () judge of God. But the Lord saith, "the word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day." (John 12:48) May God stifle in our hearts the very first beginning of the thin end of the wedge of doubt of God's Word.

The Bible is a perfect whole. You cannot take any part out; it is a perfect organic whole; not one single book can be taken away without impairing the integrity of the whole.

The Devil' s second lie is, "Ye shall not surely die." How many in the present day are trying to shake the doctrine of the eternal punishment of the lost. The words of the Master Himself tell us that it will be better for a man to lose one hand, one eye, one foot, then to be cast into hell fire where their warm dieth not.

Depend upon it, if people believed that God means what He says, and that the wages of sin is death, and that death is not mere separation of soul and body, but separation of man in his integrity from his God who is the source of life and blessedness, they would flee from the wrath to come, flee from sin, and looked to the Saviour in faith, hope, and love.

The third lie spoken by the devil is, "Ye shall be as gods." In the literature of today we see man defying God and glorifying himself.

We cannot have too much knowledge, provided that knowledge is recognized as coming from God and is used for God and His glory. Let me notice another occasion on which the word "gather" is used.

Will you turn to Revelation 16? In the 14th verse we read, "For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, and gather them to the war [Greek] of the great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come is a thief.

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

There, you see, we have the word "gather" again. We read about the spirits of demons working miracles. We have these in our midst today.

We have spiritualism in this city of York. Just as in the time of our Lord's first advent demons took the bodies of men; so now, near the Lord's second Advent, demons are working miracles. We read of the spirits of demons going forth to gather them to the war.

I use the word war because it is not till the 16th verse that we come to the actual battle. What is happening now? Every nation in Europe is arming itself with the most deadly weapons, and if there are coats which are said to be bulletproof there are terrible engines of war which will sweep away regiments of men, bulletproof coats and all.

Archibald Forbes, in a magazine article, has described the implements of war as of a most deadly description. The devil, with a power such as he never had before, is arming the nations for one fearful last war. All honour to the Friends, or members of whatever denomination, who are seeking to disarm the nations.

From my very heart and soul I earnestly wish and pray for the accomplishment of their purposes, but at the same time I cannot hide from myself that man's passions must be disarmed by God. You must begin by healing men's hearts. We see only the outward and visible signs.

Revelation tells us that in the invisible world preparations are being made for the last awful war of the Lord God Almighty. In the 16th verse we see the actual conflict. Notice that when the Saints are gathered together for prayer, waiting for the Lord's coming, the ungodly and the demons are gathered together for that awful conflict with which this present dispensation of grace is about to close.

I will throw out just one hint here. Remember not to expect dogmatic accuracy in statements of this kind. We must be content with accepting the great general truths without any doubt about them, but when we come to details we have to be very moderate and undogmatic.

Between the gathering together of the nations for that war which is evidently imminent, and the actual gathering unto the battle-field, stands this 15th verse: "Behold, I come as a thief.

Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." It seems not improbable at that point that the Lord comes.

Remember that there are two stages in the Lord's coming. There is the stage in which the Lord will come for His own people; for those who while they are in the world are not of the world, for those who are now seated in heavenly places.

And there is the stage when He returns with them to inflict the blow which is to decide the issue whether Christ is to reign or Antichrist. The conflict is between God and the evil one, between the Lord God of heaven and the usurper, Satan, energizing the Antichrist, and the ten confederate kings of the earth. That decisive blow shall be given near Jerusalem, as we read in Zechariah 14.

As to the signs of the Times a difficulty presents itself. Many may say, How can the Lord be coming as a thief if the signs are given? If the signs have not been fulfilled yet, it is a clear token that the Lord will not yet come.

If certain signs are given to us and they have not been fulfilled, cannot we reason that the Lord is not coming? The simple answer to these questions is that the signs are not designed for believers, but for unbelievers.

St. Paul says, "Signs are given not for them that believe, but for them that do not believe." In 1 Thessalonians 5 the apostle says, "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for your selves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh to as a thief in the night."

Evidently the day of the Lord is that day which shall come with awful vengeance upon the unbeliever. For the unbelievers there will be condemning signs, but God's believing children need not wait for signs; for they know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

One sign I may refer to, and that is the growth of knowledge. I spoke of the gathering together of the saints. In Daniel 12: for we read, "But now, oh Daniel, shot up the words and the seal the book, even to the end of the time; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."

In Revelation 22:10 you have the very opposite direction. "And He saith unto me: Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book; for the time is at hand." What is this knowledge it shall be increased? It is the knowledge----the knowledge of the truth of the Lord's coming and of the times.

May God give us grace that we may be taking heed to His sure word of prophecy as to a light shining in a dark place until the day dawn.

I do not know anything that will lift us above self-seeking, above ambition-seeking, above Mammon-seeking, so much as to be longing for the blessed hope, looking for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and sanctify to Himself a peculiar people zealous of good works.

This is the great hope that the world needs today more than it needs anything else, a hope that will lift it above the contemplation of this restless, rushing world, with all its transient interests.