Revelation 22:20

Rev_22:20

He which testifieth these things, saith, surely I come quickly.

On the coming of Christ

I. Some of the great events which will most unquestionably take place at our Saviours second appearance.

1. He will come again with inexpressible dignity and grandeur.

2. The resurrection of the dead is another glorious result of our Saviours second appearance.

3. The dissolution of this globe will be the awful consequence, also, of our Saviours reappearance.

II. For what purpose these great events will take place on our Saviours reappearance.

1. Jesus will come again to vindicate the honour of the Divine administration, and to evince the admirable wisdom and justice with which it has been administered.

2. The eternal separation of the virtuous from the wicked.

3. The equitable and unerring distribution of eternal rewards and punishments which will then take place.

Lessons:

1. The consideration of our Saviours second coming to reward every one according to his works, should have a permanent influence on our present temper and conduct.

2. The appointment of our Saviour to be our Judge is a merciful condescension to the weakness and imperfection of our natures, which would be overwhelmed by the infinite splendour of that Almighty Being, in whose presence the angels cover their faces with their wings, which would be otherwise dazzled with such immensity of glory. (A. Stirling, LL. D.)

Even so come, Lord Jesus.

Man hailing the judgment

There are four states of mind amongst men in relation to the last day. Some are indifferent to it, as were the antediluvians in relation to the Deluge; some scornfully deny it, as did the infidels in the days of Peter; some are horror-stricken at it, as were the demoniacs in the time of Christ; and some welcome it, as John did now. Three things are implied in this last state of mind--

I. A conviction that such a day will dawn.

II. A conviction of preparedness to enter on the trial.

III. A conviction that the results of that day will be fraught with personal good. (Homilist.)

Yearning for Christ

A state of expectation tries faith and feeds it too. The veil which hides, suggests. A doubtful bestowment, to be able to raise it before the time! Hope nurses energy. Energy is trained in mingled knowledge and ignorance.

I. The effacing of our souls for the fulness of fellowship with Christ. The life we live is a longing. There is discord which only Jesus can resolve. There is possibility which in the light of His presence will see this out into fact. Gloom, in which we wait with our eyes towards the east, waiting for the sun-rising. We are children crying for the Comforter.

II. The purpose of our hearts to be prepared for the higher service. Come and give us our place in Thy kingdom. Come and take up the fruits of our life into Thy garner, and make them the seed-corn of the everlasting future. The response of the lips will be the key-note; the fullest most varied existence will never lose it; on that the music will rest and melt into the praise of Heaven. (R. Redford, LL. B.)

Sudden death

The primary reference in the words may be, and probably is, to His coming for the initiation of those august procedures in history which are prophetically recorded in the Book of Revelation; but also there may be an underlying reference in them to His appearing at death to the individual disciple. The death of the believer is always, in a true sense, the coming of Christ to him. Applying the words in this way, then, as having a possible personal relation to ourselves, the question naturally occurs: Can we take up and repeat this reply of the apostle, Amen. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus? John evidently spoke thus in all sincerity and solemn earnestness. But we may not feel, perhaps, that John was a type for us, since he surpassed us in so many things. He was the beloved disciple. He had been admitted to a peculiar personal intimacy with Christ. Especially, perhaps, we think he could say this when he may have been at this time--it is not certain--in the decline of life, or already advanced in years; when, at any rate, he was dwelling in a world unfriendly to him and to his faith, without companions, without a home, a lonely exile upon the rock of Patmos. It was then only natural and proper, we may think, that he should utter this prayer to Christ. But we may not so freely repeat it after him. There is a certain tremor of hesitation, natural to the heart, in echoing the words. We have no right to offer such a prayer. Even John did not offer it until the Master had manifested to him His purpose of coming quickly, and then he simply responded to the declared will of the Lord. We may do that, I think, with equal cheerfulness and gladness. When the Master forewarns us that His coming is to be sudden and speedy, we may take up without hesitation, if we are His followers, the words of the apostle: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The example of John justifies us in this. He was an eminent disciple; he had had peculiar intimacy of relation with the Master. But he was still a man who needed forgiveness, even as you and I do. He was a man only sanctified in part, as you and I are. Yet he spoke these words, because he knew the Master fully. He had known Him on earth, and he had now seen Him in heaven. He knew the sovereignty of the Lord, but he knew as well His spirit of self-sacrifice; he knew how He had died on the Cross when He need not have done so unless He had chosen, for the salvation of sinners. Therefore, knowing His tenderness as well as His holiness, His infinite sympathy as well as His sovereign and unlimited power, he could say: Even so, I am not timid before Thy coming; Thy word does-not smite me with fear. Come, Lord Jesus. If we are, then, in fellowship with John, through a similar faith in the Divine Master, we also may take up and echo his words. Consider also why Christ comes at death to His disciple; what things He comes to accomplish.

1. He comes for the recognition of character in His beloved. For this, in part, His approach and death are made.

2. He comes also for the consummation of character in the disciple; not only to recognise it, but to bring it to its completeness. Every Christian grace has its vital root in faith, that is, in loyal and undoubting confidence toward the Son of God. And precisely as this faith becomes clear and firm, in that proportion the graces which spring from it are multiplied and enriched, are raised to a sweeter and mightier supremacy. When, then, at last faith culminates in vision, and we see the Lord--not merely in the evangelical records, not merely in the worship of the Church, or its manifesting sacraments, but face to face--then every grace which has been within us, in element and germ, shall rise to sudden superlative completeness, and to the fulness of perfect exhibition.

3. He comes, too, for the coronation of character, as well as for its recognition and its supreme consummation. Character, rooted in faith towards Himself, is the one thing precious on earth to Christ. The production of it in the human soul was the very purpose of His coming in the incarnation. His whole life on earth bore evidently upon this result. Every miracle said, Believe in Me. Every gracious word of promise attracted to such belief in Him. And when this faith is ready to be transferred to the skies, Christ comes at death to consummate and to crown it. That is the fulfilment of His purpose in Redemption. He must crown the spirit which He seeks and loves. Therefore it was that John could say, Amen. Even so, Lord, come quickly. And so we need not, either of us, fear, if we are in the faith and fellowship of John, to take upon our lips the same sublime and solemn words.

4. I think that here is suggested a fair preliminary test of experience in us. Suppose that Christ were to come to us at this moment, that for us the earth swung suddenly away into darkness and silence, that unto us the heavens were opened would He find in us that which He at this instant would accept and approve? Should we be able to welcome Him now at that swift coming?

5. If we can meet this test we need no more to be afraid of sudden death. Within ourselves is that which Christ Himself hath wrought, in which He has gladness. Then we shall share, when we die, in the glory of the transfigured Lord; not seeing it merely, as silently and suddenly it came to the Apostles, but ourselves being participants in it. And that will be all that death is to the disciple. (R. S. Storrs, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 22:20. He which testifieth these things — Even all that is contained in this book; saith — For the encouragement of the church in all her afflictions, and the warning of all her opposers and persecutors; Surely I come quickly — To judge and punish all my enemies, and the enemies of my cause and people; and to establish my church in a state of perfect and everlasting happiness. The apostle expresses his earnest desire and hope of this, by answering, Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus — Accomplish thy promises in order: and finally crown the faith, patience, and constancy of thy servants with eternal life.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

5. John’s final welcome to the Coming—BENEDICTION, Rev_22:20-21.

20. Testifieth these things—Jesus, who attests his sending the revelation, and the deep danger of corrupting or undermining his truth.

Come, Lord Jesus—Come with that coming which brings the final glory. Note Rev_22:17.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:20 I am coming soon! See 3:11. • Come, Lord Jesus! Paul uttered the same response (1 Cor 16:22; see also Phil 4:5).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

A divine confirmation or sealing of the obtestation: first from Christ avouching the same, and denouncing his coming against all those that shall put their sacrilegious hands hereunto: then from Saint John himself, who by a most holy prayer calleth Christ to take vengeance of them.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

We have now come to the conclusion of the whole, and that in three things: -

I. Christ's farewell to his church. He seems now, after he has been discovering these things to his people on earth, to take leave of them, and return to heaven; but he parts with them in great kindness, and assures them it shall not be long before he comes again to them: Behold, I come quickly. As when he ascended into heaven, after his resurrection, he parted with a promise of his gracious presence, so here he parts with a promise of a speedy return. If any say, "Where is the promise of his coming, when so many ages have passed since this was written?" let them know he is not slack to his people, but long-suffering to his enemies: his coming will be sooner than they are aware, sooner than they are prepared, sooner than they desire; and to his people it will be seasonable. The vision is for an appointed time, and will not tarry. He will come quickly; let this word be always sounding in our ear, and let us give all diligence that we may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.

II. The church's hearty echo to Christ's promise, 1. Declaring her firm belief of it: Amen, so it is, so it shall be. 2. Expressing her earnest desire of it: Even so, come, Lord Jesus; make hast, my beloved, and be thou like a roe, or like a young hart on the mountain of spices. Thus beats the pulse of the church, thus breathes that gracious Spirit which actuates and informs the mystical body of Christ; and we should never be satisfied till we find such a spirit breathing in us, and causing us to look for the blessed hope, and glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. This is the language of the church of the first-born, and we should join with them, often putting ourselves in mind of his promise. What comes from heaven in a promise should be sent back to heaven in a prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus, put an end to this state of sin, sorrow, and temptation; gather thy people out of this present evil world, and take them up to heaven, that state of perfect purity, peace, and joy, and so finish thy great design, and fulfil all that word in which thou hast caused thy people to hope."

Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Amen. Even so, come--The Song of Solomon (Sol 8:14) closes with the same yearning prayer for Christ's coming. A, B, and Aleph omit "Even so," Greek, "nai": then translate for Amen, "So be it, come, Lord Jesus"; joining the "Amen," or "So be it," not with Christ's saying (for He calls Himself the "Amen" at the beginning of sentences, rather than puts it as a confirmation at the end), but with John's reply. Christ's "I come," and John's "Come," are almost coincident in time; so truly does the believer reflect the mind of his Lord.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 20. Surely I come quickly] This may be truly said to every person in every age; Jesus the Judge is at the door!

Even so, come, Lord Jesus.] The wish and desire of the suffering Church, and of all the followers of God, who are longing for the coming of his kingdom.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(20) He which testifieth these things . . .—Better, He saith, who testifieth these things, Yea, I am coming quickly. We have here the final witness; it is in the words of the faithful and true witness Himself. It is the answer to the repeated cry, “Come;” it is the warning to those who forget Him; it is introduced with the emphatic yea! “Yea, I am coming quickly.” The answer breaks forth in prayer from the prophet’s lips—Amen. (We must omit “even so”) Come, Lord Jesus. The prophet is the mouthpiece of the Church; his desire is one with the desire of all who love Christ’s appearing.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. Surely] The word is that rendered Even so in Rev_1:7, and in the next clause here, and which might be better rendered Yea. It should be omitted in the next clause, so that the whole will read, “He that testifieth these things saith, ‘Yea [in answer to the prayers of Rev_22:17] I come quickly.’ Amen: come, Lord Jesus.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He which testifieth these things,.... Not the angel, Rev 22:16 nor John, who sometimes used this way of speaking, Joh 21:24 but Christ, as appears from what follows; for he

saith, surely I come quickly; who not only asserts the speediness of his coming, as in Rev 22:7 but expresses the certainty of it, so that it ought not to be doubted of by any, especially by his own people; though it may seem to be deferred, and, upon that account, be derided by ungodly men; and Christ may have some respect, in this strong repetition of it, to the certainty of the punishment that will then be inflicted upon such who add to, or diminish from this book; for he himself will certainly come in person, and execute the vengeance threatened. John next puts his

Amen to it, signifying his assent unto it, declaring his faith in it, and expressing his earnest desire after it, and wish for it: and in words at length adds,

even so come, Lord Jesus; quickly, speedily as thou hast said, and in all thy glory; set up thy kingdom, let that come, introduce thy people into it, and destroy thine enemies; this he said as one that loved the appearance of Christ, longed for it, hastened to it, and was impatient at the delay of it.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

20 He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.

Ver. 20. Even so; Come, Lord Jesus] This is the common and constant vote of all good people; and is therefore pinned as a badge upon their sleeve, 1Th 1:10. {See Trapp on "1Th 1:10"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He which testifieth these things - The Lord Jesus; for he it was that had, through the instrumentality of the angel, borne this solemn witness to the truth of these things, and this book was to be regarded as his revelation to mankind. See the notes on Rev 1:1; Rev 22:16. He here speaks of himself, and vouches for the truth and reality of these things by saying that he “testifies” of them, or bears witness to them. Compare Joh 18:37. The fact that Jesus himself vouches for the truth of what is here revealed, shows the propriety of what John had said in the previous verses about adding to it, or taking from it.

Saith, Surely I come quickly - That is, the development of these events will soon begin - though their consummation may extend into far distant ages, or into eternity. See the notes on Rev 1:1, Rev 1:3; Rev 22:7, Rev 22:10.

Amen - A word of solemn affirmation or assent. See the notes on Mat 6:13. Here it is to be regarded as the expression of John, signifying his solemn and cheerful assent to what the Saviour had said, that he would come quickly. It is the utterance of a strong desire that it might be so. He longed for his appearing.

Even so - These, too, are the words of John, and are a response to what the Saviour had just said. In the original, it is a response in the same language which the Saviour had used, and the beauty of the passage is marred by the translation “Even so.” The original is, “He which testifieth to these things saith, Yea - ναὶ nai - I come quickly. Amen. Yea - ναὶ nai - come, Lord Jesus.” It is the utterance of desire in the precise language which the Saviour had used - heart responding to heart.

Come, Lord Jesus - That is, as here intended, “Come in the manner and for the objects referred to in this book.” The language, however, is expressive of the feeling of piety in a more extended sense, and may be used to denote a desire that the Lord Jesus would come in any and every manner; that he would come to impart to us the tokens of his presence; that he would come to bless his truth and to revive his work in the churches; that he would come to convert sinners, and to build up his people in holiness; that he would come to sustain us in affliction, and to defend us in temptation; that he would come to put a period to idolatry, superstition, and error, and to extend the knowledge of his truth in the world; that he would come to set up his kingdom on the earth, and to rule in the hearts of people; that he would come to receive us to his presence, and to gather his redeemed people into his everlasting kingdom. It was appropriate to the aged John, suffering exile in a lonely island, to pray that the Lord Jesus would speedily come to take him to himself; and there could have been no more suitable close of this marvelous book than the utterance of such a desire. And it is appropriate for us as we finish its contemplation, disclosing so much of the glories of the heavenly world, and the blessedness of the redeemed in their final state, when we think of the earth, with its sorrows, trials, and cares, to respond to the prayer, and to say, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.” For that glorious coming of the Son of God, when he shall gather his redeemed people to himself, may all who read these notes be finally prepared. Amen.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He that giveth testimony of these things, i.e. God, and Jesus Christ by an Angel, saith, surely, (or even so, or truly, these are certain truths) I come quickly, to reward the good and punish the evil. To which words St. John himself replieth with a zealous prayer and earnest desire, saying, Amen, let it be so. --- Come, Lord Jesus: come, and remain always in my soul by thy grace, and make me partaker of thy glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Witham) --- Conclusion. The Church in sighs and groans, and by the mouth of her children, solicits the coming of Jesus Christ, her divine Spouse. The fruit to be drawn from the perusal of this sacred book, is ardently to desire the kingdom of God, to sigh after the day of eternity, to feel the weight of the yoke of the present life, and the disgrace of our exile, and to live here below as strangers. Enkindle in me, O Lord, this desire; enable my poor soul to join with the beloved disciple in this prayer: Come Lord Jesus; that she may go and lose herself in Thee, who art her Centre, her God, her All.

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George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He which testifieth these things saith viz, the Lord Jesus, as in ver. 16Surely I come quickly; yea, I come quickly. As the book opens, so it closes with this promise. This is the anchor and stay of the faithful, the sound of an alarm and a warning cry to the wicked. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. Omit "even so." Thus in calm and patient hope the apostle answers his Lord. So the writer who delivers the message is the first to proclaim his belief in what is herein contained.

The closing aspiration: "Come, Lord Jesus.

In the homilies on Rev_1:7 and Rev_20:11-15, compared with Rev_22:12, we have touched on the second coming of Christ. But in each case we have done so in direct pursuance of our aim of giving a homiletic exposition of the plan of the Apocalypse. Hence in one case we dealt with it as the one clue threading the entire Scripture; in another case we looked at it as bringing about the consummation of all things. In the passage before us now there is presented to us yet a third point of view from which it is to be regarded, even as the object of the believer"s hope, longing, and prayer. "Come, Lord Jesus." Three inquiries will come up before us, replies to which may throw light on a most important aspect of the Christian faith and expectation.

I WHAT IS INCLUDED IN THIS ONE HOPE OF THE CHURCH? The glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ, is, without doubt, the "blessed hope." The Church is longing for the personal presence of her Saviour. Love cannot be fully satisfied while its fondest Object remains unseen. Still, the expectation of the coming of the Lord is one which includes a great deal more than the hope of his personal presence. For that of itself, without very much more, would not by any means secure all that believers desire. In fact, even as it is, we are better off than the disciples were when Jesus was on earth. "It is expedient for you that I go away," etc. It is not, then, as if we were here weeping and mourning, without a Christ, that we long to see him, but because of the glory which shall be ushered in at his coming. It may be well for us, at this stage of exposition, to locate the personal advent of Christ according to New Testament eschatology. Increasing, repeated studies of the Word drive us further and further away from the pre-millennial hypothesis (although, for the sake of students, we have indicated in a footnote below where they may turn for the clearest arrangement of it which has come before us). We do not look for the personal reappearing of Jesus as near at hand, in point of time, as yet (1889). It is not at the commencement of an era of blessedness that Scripture warrants us in placing it, but at the consummation thereof. Looking, however, at his coming as taking place at the restitution of all things, we must needs include in our aspirations after that glorious goal of human progress every step on the way thither. These steps towards the final blessedness are shown in the New Testament in the following order:

1. The advance of truth and the proclamation of the gospel among all nations must take place before the end.

2. The promise of the outpouring of the Holy Ghost is very far from complete fulfilment. Our Lord lives and reigns to bestow this gracious baptism. The Holy Ghost will both train the Church and convict the world.

3. Through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit Israel is to be restored (Ezekiel 35-37).

4. The effect of Israel"s restoration will be "as life from the dead," and will be followed by the in bringing of the fulness of the Gentiles. (Rom_9:11)

5. Then will follow a long period of millennial rest, during which righteousness, though not absolutely universal, will be in the ascendant; while at the same time the tares as well as the wheat will be ripening for harvest; (Isa 60 Mt 13)

6. After this, for reasons known only to the great Disposer, the evil one, having long been bound, will be "loosed again," but only for a season. He will go forth to deceive. This will be his last effort, which will issue in his destruction. The enemies of God and of his Church will one by one be overthrown.

7. Then will come the appearing of our Lord; the general resurrection; the gathering of the nations; the judgment; the award for the wicked, the second death; for the righteous

8. The in bringing of the new heavens and the new earth, wherein righteousness wilt dwell. It is for this we long. For this believers are waiting, anxiously watching every step in the process which is to bring about that halcyon calm. Yea, in our eagerness for it, we sometimes wish to push forward the wheels of time. We ask impatiently, "Why is his chariot so long in coming?" We cannot rest while wickedness rides high, nor while tares so much abound. Hence our prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Come and complete thy reign. Overturn, and overturn, and overturn. Throw down the wrong; bring in the right, and let the groaning and travailing of the creation cease because of the manifestation of the sons of God!

II WHY IS THIS IN SUCH AN ABSORBING DEGREE THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH? We are not careful to disguise the fact that in this respect the Church"s outlook is very different from that of some who devote themselves to science, philosophy, and literature. There are, indeed, men of highest literary and scientific standing who join heartily in the prayer, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." At the same time, there is no doubt that while men generally deem it wise and right to seek and to expect human progress, there is a great divergence among them in their opinions as to what such progress means, and how it is to be secured. The hope of some is that, through the advance of science, the race will reach its goal; that as law comes to be more definitely understood, nature will be brought more thoroughly under control, etc. In distinction from any or all of these, stands out the Christian hope. If we be asked a reason for it, we are prepared to give it in a series of considerations which, we cannot but think, are too frequently overlooked. Accordingly, we now give in outline the reasons which Christians have for the conviction that nothing less than the in bringing of the Christian hope will meet the cravings of our hearts. These reasons are so given as to be taken cumulatively.

1. We cannot but recognize the superiority of moral considerations to those which are merely physical. Doubtless, neglect of sanitary laws may prove a serious obstruction to men. But that neglect is itself a wrong moral act. And the immorality of the neglect must be done away ere the physical ill can be cut off. In a word, the moral and mental rule the physical.

2. We recognize also the immense importance of men over things, or over any combination of things. There is more worth in one human spirit than in all the material atoms in the universe of God. Nothing can content us that fails to renovate spirit.

3. The true moral and spiritual advance of men depends on what they are, rather than on what they know. Loyalty of heart is more than the furniture of the intellect. And when men talk about science being the regenerator, we ask Which science? We ask How is it, then, that the most accomplished men are sometimes the greatest rogues, and that some who are masters in knowledge are slaves to sin? Man is made for God, and only as he becomes God like is his weal secured.

4. It is impossible to secure the world"s peace while sin reigns in man"s nature. Sin is the great mar-plot of the world. But:

5. With all sin put away, what a change would be brought about! If men were all righteous, if they were like him who went about doing good, our race would forthwith have Paradise again!

6. Now, as a matter of fact, no founder of a religion has ever set on foot a scheme of truth or an apparatus of power with the express purpose of putting down wrong and of bringing in righteousness, but the Lord Jesus Christ. He only has recognized fully the needs of our spiritual nature. But he has. And he is "mighty to save." He has saved millions, and is doing so now. But he alone.

7. This being so, we look to him who is the Author of our faith to be its Finisher too. And he who by his Spirit now quickens men so that they are alive unto God, is effecting a work which is bringing in the issue for which we long. Of this, evolution gives no account, and can give none.

8. The Lord Jesus Christ has left us the direct and. positive assurance that "he will make all things new." And if it be said. to us, "Do not the terrible disorders of earth shake your faith?" we reply Not for a moment. Why should they? Nothing worse has happened yet than the seven seals, trumpets, and vials have indicated. And the end is beyond all these! How far beyond in point of time none can say.

9. Already, in the millions of souls ingathered, we have had many an earnest and pledge of the glorious harvest day. History is opening up strictly according to the lines of the holy book, and it will! "He who hath begun the good work will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ.

10. And the riper we get in grace, the more intense our love for our Lord, the more eagerly and passionately do we long for him to "complete the number of his elect," and to manifest her power and glory. And this desire, which by Christ has been created, by Christ himself shall be ultimately fulfilled. Surely these ten reasons, separately and fairly estimated, and then put together in cumulative force, do furnish an ample reason why believers in Jesus should regard the progress of their race and the glory of their Lord as leagued together in an everlasting bond. Reason enough is there here for the cry, "Come, Lord Jesus: come quickly!

III IN WHAT LIGHT DO ALL THESE CONSIDERATIONS SET THE ASPIRATION OF THE TEXT?

1. They account for the text being the prayer of the Church, for they show that it expresses the longing that the redemption already enjoyed by believers may be manifested in our race.

2. This petition, "Come, Lord Jesus: come quickly!" is a constant revealer of the unity of the true Church. The words go up from all Christian hearts. Romanist, Anglican, Protestant, Conformist and Nonconformist, all unite here.

3. The acceptance of the hope indicated in the prayer of the text is a test of the accuracy of a man"s mental science and philosophic insight. That is no true science, that is no true philosophy, in which there is no room for this blessed hope. Its value can be denied only where plain and palpable facts of human nature, which ought to be taken into account, are ignored.

4. The text becomes a test of character. "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Similarly, as a man longeth in his heart, so is he. Let a man toll us for what he most wishes, and we will tell him what he is. He will thereby show us:

(1) The direction of his life. Every man hopes most for that to which his soul is most akin. And

(2) the intensity with which he is moving in that direction. Hence:

5. The text becomes a criterion of safety. If a man is among those who are looking for Christ, he is among those to whom Christ"s coming will bring in the salvation yet to be revealed. If a man is among those who care not for these things, he is one to whom the second coming will bring weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." And should any urge that "he prophesieth of the times afar off," let such remember that, however distant the consummation may be, the previous preparation is in all cases a continuous process, which is going on now. "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found. "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.

Longing for Christ"s advent.

As to the expression "quickly," it is to be understood either on the principle

(1) that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years; or

(2) that there are many advents of Christ besides that last glorious one of which the New Testament says so much.

In support of this it is to be noted that the prophecies of this book, as other prophecies, refer to classes of events, and not exclusively to any one event. Hence, wherever there is like conduct, whether good or evil, there will be like recompense. Persecuting governments, and religions upholding them, will bring down on themselves Divine judgments. Such conditions of things were present when St. John wrote, and the punishment of them was speeding on to its fulfilment. So we prefer to understand the words of our text. Now, of the comings of Christ there are four, though not to all of them can the "quickly" of the text be applied, except on the principle first named above, and which St. Peter teaches us.

I TO PUNISH NOTORIOUS WRONG. The destruction of Jerusalem was then, when St. John wrote, nigh at hand. The overthrow of the persecuting, pagan Roman empire was not far off; and, again and again, in the judgments that have befallen nations and wicked rulers and Churches, of which the records of history tell so much, may be seen fulfilments of this word. And without any vindictive spirit, from pure love of truth and righteousness, and from concern for human well being, the faithful Church has responded, and will respond, to the announcement of Christ"s advent for this end: "Amen. Even so," etc. What a solemn reminder does this give to those who, in daring, presumptuous way, sin against God! In the midst of their proud defiance of the Lord, he may it is likely that he will come and judge them for their sins.

II TO REIGN ON EARTH. That he will thus come the Scripture statements plainly declare. And these statements are very numerous. This coming of the Lord is perpetually referred to in the New Testament, and is predicted likewise in the Old Testament. No doubt the apostles believed it would be in their time. The Lord had not said it would not, and hoping that it might their wish becoming father to their thought they spoke and wrote as if it would. We are distinctly forbidden to look to them for information as to the date of this advent, for the Lord said to them, "It is not for you to know." Therefore any words of theirs that seem to imply, as they do, the speedy coming of Christ, are to be read with this remembrance, that it was not given to them to speak authoritatively on this matter. And in the later Epistles it is evident that their earlier thoughts had become modified, and they had learnt to contemplate as probable the fact that the Lord"s advent would not be in their time; and hence they give directions for the ordering of the Church after they are gone (cf. Second Epistle to Timothy, etc.). And the declarations concerning our Lord"s advent to reign on earth are to be understood literally. Many, no doubt, affirm that they are to be all interpreted of a spiritual reign, and to be explained as figures, metaphors, and the like. But we have a principle of interpretation laid down for us in the predictions concerning our Lord"s first advent. What was there said of him literally came to pass. A large part of the gospel history may be compiled from those ancient prophecies which told of what literally came true in the life and death of our Lord. The Scriptures were fulfilled in him in no figurative, but in a literal sense. So was it, and, therefore, we believe, so will it be. And when we think of what is involved in the coming of our Lord to reign of glory to God, of good to man how can the Church do otherwise than say, "Amen. Even so," etc.?

III TO RECEIVE US UNTO HIMSELF. For death is for us practically a coming of the Lord. We go to be with him; he comes to receive us. And this, at the furthest, will be "quickly." "Brief life is here our portion." Few and evil are the days of our pilgrimage. And to this coming the believer assents. Not from any fretful longing to have done with this life such longing is always more or less morbid, though explicable and excusable under the distressing circumstances in which it is felt and uttered but to Christians, as to others, life is and should be sweet, precious, clung to. But his "Amen" here is that of submission, of cheerful assent and acquiescence to the Lord"s will. For him death has no terrors, but is the entrance on eternal joy. Nevertheless, the ties of earth, the claims and needs of those we love, are many and strong, and therefore for their sake life is precious. Otherwise death has no sting.

IV TO JUDGE THE WORLD. This is not the same as his coming to reign. Then he shall come for his saints, but in this last advent he shall come with them. Then shall the great white throne be set up, then shall be gathered all nations, and then the final judgment take place. And this, too, for each one of us, comes "quickly." For after death it virtually takes place.

We each go to our "own place." But can we each one say concerning this coming of the Lord, "Amen. Even so," etc.? S.C.

Man hailing the judgment.

"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." There are four states of mind amongst men in relation to the last day. Some are indifferent to it, as were the antediluvians in relation to the Deluge; some scornfully deny it, as did the infidels in the days of Peter; some are horror stricken at it, as were the demoniacs in the time of Christ; and some welcome it, as John did now. Three things are implied in this last state of mind.

I A CONVICTION THAT SUCH A DAY WILL DAWN.

II A CONVICTION OF A PREPAREDNESS TO ENTER ON THE TRIAL.

III A CONVICTION THAT THE RESULTS OF THAT DAY WILL BE FRAUGHT WITH PERSONAL GOOD. D. T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He that testifieth these things - Even all that is contained in this book. Saith - For the encouragement of the church in all her afflictions. Yea - Answering the call of the Spirit and the bride. I come quickly - To destroy all her enemies, and establish her in a state of perfect and everlasting happiness. The apostle expresses his earnest desire and hope of this, by answering, Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

That is, Jesus Christ, the faithful and true Witness, from whom St. John received this revelation, as he formerly had done the holy gospel, saith, Surely I come quickly.

Where note, 1. That this prophecy or promise of Christ’s second coming to judge the world, is here left as Christ’s second coming to judge the world, is here left as Christ’s last word upon record; it is almost the last word in the Bible, doubtless, that it might be seriously minded and frequently remembered by us. Christ had in this chapter twice before, namely, at Rev 22:7; Rev 22:12, testified that he came quickly; yet he repeats it here again, to excite us to prepare for it, and to live continually in the expectation of it.

Note, That as Christ has several times in this chapter given us the assurance of the certainty of his coming, so he prefixes an, Ecce, or Behold, before it, Behold! I come quickly; and here he prefixes the word surely before it, Surely, I come quickly, to awaken the security, and leave the incredulity of sinners without excuse, who live as if they did not believe any such day would come.

To the fore-mentioned assurance of the certainty of our Saviour’s coming, St. John, in the name of the whole church, subjoins a hearty Amen, an earnest wish, a passionate desire and longing for our Lord’s coming, saying, Even so, come, Lord Jesus, as thou has promised, and thy people long expected.

Learn hence, 1. That the coming of Christ to judgment is a truth firmly believed, and earnestly desired by all good christians.

St. John here, in the name of the church, takes, as it were, the word out of Christ’s mouth like a quick echo, and presently improves the promise into a prayer. Christ’s farewell word to his church is, I come quickly; the church’s farewell wuit to Christ is, Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

Quest. But why is Christ’s second coming so exceedingly desired by his church and children?

Ans. For finishing the days of sinning, and destroying the works of Satan; for accomplishing the number of his own elect, and for hastening his kingdom; for freeing the creature from subjection to vanity; for manifesting the glory of his justice and mercy, and for putting his saints into the full and final possession of their promised inheritance.

Learn, 2. That it is the unfeigned desire of God’s faithful servants, to have the full fruition of Jesus Christ; this is the habitual desire of their hearts, that Christ would come, and receive them to himself, though at the same time they may tremble at some circumstances of his coming: there is a degree of sinful bondage, which hinders much our spiritual confidence nad boldness; but the more holy we are, the more emboldened we shall be against the day of judgment.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING

20. “He that testifies these things says, Yea, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

21. “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you all.” Matthew (24:31), corroborated by Mark and Luke, records our Lord’s words in His memorable sermon on the judgments, which He preached on Mt. Olivet the day before He was crucified: “Hear the parable of the fig-tree, and of all the trees. When it putteth forth branches and tender leaves, then you know the summer is nigh.” It is now April, and we are in North Carolina. Ten thousand times ten thousand buds are evolving, leaves unfolding, and flowers blooming throughout the vast forests which everywhere abound. Where is the fool who has to be told that “summer is nigh?” Throughout the political, ecclesiastical, social, and spiritual world the signs of our Lord’s coming are quite as obvious, apparent, demonstrative, and unmistakable as the signs in the natural world that the summer is nigh. It is lamentable to see the depth of that lethean slumber which everywhere encumbers a fallen Church and a wicked world. Recently a great preacher stood in a city pulpit and proclaimed to a vast audience his profound conviction that the world will run on as it is for indefinite ages, only incurring the changes incident to natural evolution. To say nothing of debauched Romanism, many Protestant pulpits are this day filled by infidels. Evolution is the current infidelity of the present age. It imputes everything in religion to growth and other gradualisms. Hence it takes God out of the plan of salvation. Gradualism is all humanism. When you take out the epochs — i.e., conviction, regeneration, and sanctification — you take God out and run into infidelity. The gradualism belongs to man; the instantaneity to God. You will not let Bob Ingersoll come into your pulpit; but you receive his doctrine of evolution, preached by your own pastor, as the bona fide gospel. Whenever you leave the divine interventions — i.e., the distinct epochs of conviction, regeneration, and sanctification — out of religion, and flatten out into gradualism, you run headlong into infidelity. Our Churches are full of it. Of course, they are not expecting the Lord to come. Nothing would disappoint and appall them so much. They would cry for rocks and mountains to hide them from His presence.

THE SIGNS AMONG THE JEWS

Only fifty thousand returned under Nehemiah out of Babylonian captivity to repopulate the Holy Land. This day one hundred thousand Jews are back in the land of their fathers. Eleven different colonization societies are operating constantly to augment that number, among which is the famous work of Baron Rothschild, the richest man in the world. The wandering children of Abraham, after a dreary expatriation of one thousand eight hundred years, are everywhere turning their longing eyes toward the lovely land of the patriarchs and prophets. The wonderful conversion of Joseph Rabinowitz, in Russia, his powerful preaching, the organization of the Jewish Christian Church, denominated “Israelites of the New Covenant,” and the vast multitudes recently converted and added to it, all prognosticate cheering omens of the Lord’s near coming. Mat 24:34:

“Truly, I say unto you, this race (not generation) shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled.”

The Jews are the great miracle of prophecy. Amid the revolutions of two thousand years, nearly all other nationalities have gone into eclipse. The Jews, with no country to hold them together, are a distinct people in every clime. They are a monument of prophetic truth, proclaiming to all the nations among whom they sojourn that the Lord is coming again to gather His people and rule the world in righteousness. Ezekiel (37th) shows in the vision of “dry bones” that the Jews, in the main, will be gathered into Palestine before they are converted to Christianity. When I was in the Holy Land, I was with Simpson’s missionaries among the Jews. They reported great encouragement. All nationalities in the Holy Land are on the constant outlook for the Turkish power to fall. This done, Palestine comes at once into Christendom, and the Jews are called from every land, to the patrimony the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob gave them in “the land flowing with milk and honey.” In that case, all Christendom will make a specialty of their conversion.

When I visited the wailing of the Jews, in their hired avenue, where they are permitted to come to the west wall of the temple on the outside once per week, on Friday afternoon, and bewail the loss of their temple, the desolation of their land, and the affliction of their people, I was profoundly impressed that the God of Israel heard their cry, and would answer their prayer.

The return of the Jews to their native land is fast becoming a foregone conclusion in every country under heaven. After they are gathered into Palestine, the potent evangelizing agencies of the combined Christian world will speedily convert them to Christianity. Zechariah, in his last two chapters, tells us about terrible desolating wars, which shall turn against the Jews after they have been gathered into the Holy Land, and during the tribulation two-thirds of them will be cruelly slaughtered. This awful massacre will go right on, till the King of Glory shall descend on His millennial throne, interpose, and deliver them. The presumption is that these exterminating wars, during the tribulation, in the permissive providence of God, will eliminate out of Israel the material unsuitable and inadequate to the incalculable responsibilities devolving on them in the oncoming millennial reign, in which the surviving third will be called to the front to co-operate with their glorified Brother in the government of the whole world. The Jews are God’s earthly people. Since the conquest of the world by the Gentiles, and the supersession of the theocracy by human governments, B.C. 587, the Gentiles have stood at the front and ruled all nations, while the Jews have been relegated to the rear. When the Lord comes, He will call His people again to the front. In the evangelization, civilization, and education of all nations, during the millennial reign, the Jews will take the lead.

SIGNS AMONG THE GENTILES

Gentile rule properly began, B.C. 587, with the fall of Jerusalem. It is to continue 2478 years by lunar chronology, 2520 by calendar, and 2555 by solar. 587 plus 1896 equals 2483. Hence you see 2555 minus 2483 leaves 72 years by solar time; 2520 minus 2483 leaves 37 by calendar; whereas, 2483 minus 2478 leaves 5 years. So you see the solar time is only 72 years, and calendar 37; whereas, the lunar time has already expired, and four years over. From these figures, you see we are at the end of Gentile rule. It began with the Chaldean golden head (Daniel 2), coming down to the Medo-Persian breast and arms of silver; then the Grecian Empire of brass, represented by the abdomen and thighs; followed by the mighty Roman legs of iron; and, last of all, the toes of iron and clay. Hence you see it depreciates from first to last, beginning with gold and winding up with crude iron and potter’s clay. The Gentile Dispensation is going like every other, confirming the fact that man, without God, is an utter failure. So Gentile government has weakened from the beginning, passing from gold value down to potter’s clay. The trend of the whole world, in the present age, is to democracies, which are the weakest of all governments. The next step is anarchy, which is no government at all. The political world is this day on the verge of universal anarchy. Our government, which is the best in the world, is rapidly becoming more and more unstable and dissatisfactory. In the Lycurgian code of Grecian law, no man could be senator unless he had reached his sixtieth year, and sustained an irreproachable character. Now bribery, peculation, and debauchery are common. “Where the carcass is, there the vultures will be gathered” (Mat 24:28). This is our Savior’s vivid portrayal of the political and ecclesiastical world at the time of the end. He describes it as an old carcass already dead, and attracting the vultures by the scent of its putrefaction. The body politic has certainly reached that awful state. The vultures of divine retribution already darken the atmosphere as they hover around, voracious to light down and devour the debauched governments of this wicked world. I am on the constant outlook for the stone to strike the image on the feet and smash it into the chaff which the wind of premillennial judgment will speedily blow away. Then that stone will cover the whole earth and stand forever. The swift dilapidation and rickety instability of all human governments, proving to a demonstration the incompetency of human rule, this day proclaims the near approach of our glorious King.

SIGNS AMONG THE MOSLEMS [MUSLIMS]

The Moslem Power, the last twelve hundred years, has overtly, avowedly, pertinaciously, and uncompromisingly disputed the claims of Christ to the souls of men and the kingdoms of the earth. During all these dreary centuries, she has done her uttermost to exterminate Christianity from the globe, teaching her murderous votaries that they are to swim to heaven in Christian blood. She waged one series of wars a hundred and fifty years, till defeated by Charles Martel, at Tours, France, A.D. 733; and another war-period of four hundred years, down to her signal defeat by John Sobieski, at Vienna, A.D. 1683. Though all Christendom combined fought the Moslems two hundred years, during the Crusades, they signally failed to drive them out of the Holy Land and restore the patrimony of our Savior from the polluting hands of infidelity. Daniel (8:25) says: “He (Mahomet) shall be broken without hand.” How signally this prophecy is now being fulfilled! Already, within the last two hundred years, a dozen kingdoms have been wrested from the hands of the False Prophet. This day the Turkish Empire, the last and only upholder of the Moslem power, is a political corpse, kept on foot artificially by the jealousy of her neighbors, and liable, at any moment, to fall into her long-merited sepulcher. All nationalities at Jerusalem and throughout the East are in daily and hourly expectation of the Moslem overthrow. Many superstitious Moslem predictions constantly point to the fall of their power. The conquering Omar captured Jerusalem, A.D. 637. John and Daniel both say they will hold it twelve hundred and sixty prophetic years. Hence you see 1897 is no table as the long-prayed-for epoch of the Moslem fall. My Arab guide, at Jerusalem, told me many of their own prophets had warned them that Jesus Christ would light down on Mt. Olivet and take the government out of their hands. “Even so come Lord Jesus.”

SIGNS IN CATHOLICISM

History dates the rise of Mahomet A.D. 607. Procas, king of Italy, crowned Boniface III the first pope, A.D. 606. Hence you see the simultaneity of these two notable events. At this time the Dark Ages, the devil’s millennium, were under headway. As Satan had the whole world on his hands, he needed help. Therefore, he raised up Mahomet to rule the East, and the pope the West. John repeatedly, as well as Daniel, gives the papacy the prophetic period of 1260 years. Hence these two great Satanic powers are contemporary throughout.

A number of notable epochs have already been fulfilled in the papacy. The temporal dethronement (1870) by Victor Immanuel was a literal fulfillment of prophecy. About fifty years were occupied in the consolidation of the papacy after its inauguration. This would bring us down to 1920, the precise date of calendar time. Daniel (7:11) predicts his utter destruction by the Ancient of Days — i.e., God the Father — in His premillennial judgments. The Catholic world today is flooded with omens of this fulfillment. Mexico, Central America, South America, and many European governments are now repudiating the papal authority, and heaving like volcanoes, ready to explode. When I was in Rome, they were building a magnificent monument to the memory of Victor Immanuel, who dethroned the pope in 1870, and another to Garibaldi, who fought the French army and prevented them from reinstating the pope. Both of these monuments are in full view of the Vatican palace, and under the immediate eye of the pope. The King of kings is coming. The papal and all other thrones are ominously presageous of insecurity.

SIGNS IN PROTESTANTISM

About four hundred millions of population and one hundred millions of members stand identified with the great Protestant Churches. In 2Th 2:3, Paul predicts a great apostasy immediately preceding our Savior’s coming. In our Savior’s notable sermon on the judgments, which He preached on Mt. Olivet the day before He was crucified, He lays down among the immediate signs of His coming, “Because iniquity doth abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Mat 24:12).

Among the notable predictions of Paul relative to the last days, and prominent among the signs of our Lord’s coming, is that

“men shall have a form of godliness, denying the power of the same” (2Ti 2:3).

These and other predictions innumerable by our Savior, His apostles, and prophets, most graphically describe the sad condition of the great Protestant denominations at the present day. Who, beside the Holiness people, are now contending for and endued with the power of the Holy Ghost? The lukewarm Laodicean Church is a picture of Protestant Christendom when our Lord shall come and spew them out of His mouth.

My recollection is good fifty years ago, when all the Methodists either got their mouths open in the class-meeting, or they were turned out of the Church. Their popular cognomen was “shouting Methodists.” Now they are a dumb Church, unless they fall in with the Holiness people. Do you not know that dumbness and death are twin brothers? When I was a boy, all applicants for membership in the Baptist Church were required to stand up, face the congregation, and tell their own story. If their experience did not have the genuine Holy Ghost ring, their admission was postponed till they received the clear witness of the Spirit to their conversion. Now they walk in from an ungodly world, without a mourners’ bench experience. The preacher manipulates them, propounding a few easy questions. He presents them to the Church. They are received and baptized, as I seriously fear, without a clear experience of regeneration. When I was a boy, the Presbyterians kept people at the altar weeks and months, seeking the Lord. Within my observation, which is quite extensive, they have abandoned the altar, and simply call them forward to join the Church.

Fifty years ago, shouts of praise were so common in all the Protestant Churches that the meeting was discounted and considered a failure if they were not heard. The presence of the Holy Ghost was so real and impressive that a solemn awe rested upon the congregation, as if the Archangel of Doom had come down and the judgment-trump was roaring. There is nothing more common now than for spiritually-minded people to be painfully conscious that the Holy Spirit has withdrawn from worshipping congregations.

An old man in Arkansas was gloriously sanctified in a Holiness meeting. In his testimony, he said: “When a boy, I went to Methodist meetings, and saw them get happy and shout. I observed the same with the Baptists and Presbyterians. After awhile they ceased to get happy and praise the Lord in their meetings.

“From these and other phenomena I observed, to my sorrow, that the Holy Ghost had retreated away, leaving them lukewarm, formal, and dead. For years I have been wandering about, attending the meetings of various Churches, hunting the Holy Ghost. I heard an evil report of the Holiness people, but was so anxious to find the Holy Ghost again that in my search I came to your meeting. Glory to God here I found the Holy Ghost in full charge, and having right of way in all hearts. I am so glad I have again found the Holy Ghost, and found the people who walk in the light of His indwelling presence. God grant that I may live and die with you!”

The Greek word ecclesia, translated Church, means a body of people whom the Holy Ghost has called out of the world, regenerated, and who want to be sanctified. The absence of the Holy Ghost in a Church is an irrefutable confirmation of its apostasy. Hence this fearfully swift apostasy of the Churches is a literal fulfillment of Paul’s prophecy (2Th 2:3), and that of Jesus (Mat 24:12). The man who does not see to his sorrow the appalling apostasy of the Protestant Churches at the present day, is to be profoundly pitied for his spiritual blindness. But this is the sad concomitant of the apostasy, “That blindness in part bath happened unto Israel.” Multitudes of our wealthy and popular Churches are ruled by “society women” and rich men. That is certainly Satan’s rule, however indirect. Bishop Foster says : “This thing called ‘society’ is a painted harlot, whose breath is pestilential and deadly.” Jesus says : “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” All these fearful omens are fulfilling prophecy, and proclaiming to the world that “the Lord is nigh.”

SIGNS IN SECULARISM, SOCIALISM, SPIRITUALISM, AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

In all these there is a literal fulfillment of Paul’s awful prophecies recorded in 2 Timothy 3, so vividly describing the last days. The increasing corruption of society is seen in the trend of population to all of the large cities. The attractions of Satan are so innumerable and powerful through all sorts of human inventions, that scarcely a tithe of city people ever so much as attend Church. They have enough to do to attend theaters, parties, fandangos, and other entertainments, which Satan has provided for their damnation. Statistics show that only one young man in ten, at the present day, attends Church. Oh, what a huge crop of infidels is coming on! So fast as our cities grow, the populous interior is actually abandoned by the Churches, and given up to infidelity, heathenism, and the devil. All of our large cities are now missionary ground, like the heathen nations. This alarming increase of wickedness in the world is a literal fulfillment of the latter-day prophecies. Mat 24:37, Jesus says:

“As were the days of Noah, so shall be the coming of the Son of man. For as they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage in the days before the Flood, till Noah entered into the Ark, and they knew not, till the Flood came and took them all away, so shall be the coming of the Son of man.”

In the Antediluvian world, the children of Seth, the successor of righteous Abel, were godly, and the children of Cain were wicked. So long as they kept separate, the Antediluvian Church was lighted by such men as Enoch and Noah. When they took down the partition, and the righteous intermarried with the wicked, the earth increased in wickedness with wonderful rapidity, till God, in mercy, was forced to bring on the Flood, and see them sweep into hell by solid generations. The Bible positively forbids intermarriage with the wicked. (2Co 6:14.) But where is the Church that does not flagrantly violate that commandment? The old Methodists turned out every member who dared to enter into wedlock with the unconverted. This sin ruined the Antediluvian world, and brought on the Flood. It is now fast ruining the Post-diluvian world, and bringing on the awful tribulation. As Noah’s family, the elect of the old world, went up in the Ark, escaping the doom of the Antediluvians, so will the Lord’s truly sanctified people go up in the cloud, gloriously delivered from the doom of the wicked.

The Church apostatized with fearful rapidity, and wickedness of all sorts prevailed to an alarming extent, just before God sent the Flood to destroy them all. I verily believe we are rushing to a similar fate. The Churches are so wicked, and literally mixed up with the world in marriage and every other way, that the ken of an angel would fail to draw the line. When I was a sinner, my life was morally far in advance of the average Church member at the present day. “You are a croaker!” Well, I am in good company with Jesus, Paul, Peter and John, James and Jude. The whole country is literally sown with heretical tracts and literature, teaching all phases of Materialism, Universalism, Spiritualism, and infidelity. The secular papers are loaded down with carrion. The Church papers are filled up with Church and secular news, with very little soul pabulum. The popular mind is so debauched that the railroad cars and news-stands are filled with lying novels and all sorts of filth, which mental buzzards devour with avidity. Have we not many valuable inventions? Yes, but Satan has the big end of them.

SIGNS IN THE HOLINESS MOVEMENT

This so-called “movement” is simply a revival of Holy Ghost religion. Amid the unanimous concurrence of the latter-day prophecies, I verily believe this is God’s last call to the world. (Act 2:17-20.) It is utterly impossible to explain this wonderful revival without Divine intervention. It is generally considered to have started in 1874. However, I entered this experience four years previously. It sprang up simultaneously, not only in all parts of the United States, but in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the islands of the sea. When I traveled in the Old World, I found it in all countries and on all seas. It is everywhere undenominational and interdenominational. It not only inculcates salvation from all sin, but from sectarianism and sectionalism. It unifies all countries, Churches, and nations. It is truly a people called out, led, ruled, appropriated, and utilized by the Holy Ghost. The greatest mission of this people is to preach the gospel of full salvation to all nations. Mat 24:14 :

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a testimony to all nations; then the end shall come.”

These are the significant words of Jesus, in that wonderful sermon on the judgments, which He preached on Mt. Olivet the day before He suffered. The Holiness movement, without a dollar, has more missionaries in the heathen field than all the Churches on the globe, with their millions of money. Bishop Taylor has twelve hundred in Africa, Asia, South America, and Oceanica. Hudson Taylor has eight hundred in China. A. B. Simpson has four hundred dispersed around the world. General Booth has fifteen thousand in forty different nations, girdling the globe with the gospel of entire sanctification. Besides, the thousands in the various Evangelical Churches are pressing the battle for God and holiness Oh, what a literal fulfillment of Dan 12:4, “Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be in creased!” i.e., the knowledge of holiness and the Lord’s coming. It is pertinently striking that Jesus said they should preach the “gospel of the kingdom.” Gospel means good news. The kingdom is none other than the glorious millennial reign of our coming Lord. It is quite observable that the Holiness people are alone in the glorious work of preaching the Lord’s coming. The great Churches are asleep. Remember, our Savior says:

“When this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached to all nations, then the end shall come.” So far as we can ascertain, the gospel has already been preached to all nations, except a few in Central Asia, Central Africa, and parts of Oceanica. It is now going with wonderful rapidity to the ends of the earth. We know not but it has already been preached to the present destitute nations at some time of which history gives no record. God is also raising up a mighty army of evangelists, to carry this gospel of holiness and the Lord’s coming to all the ends of the earth. The Holiness movement is the morning star preceding the rising Sun of righteousness. How wonderful has been the rising of this star in every laud and clime! and how benignantly it now sheds its light on millions of souls, whose joyous shouts rise to meet the Lord descending in a cloud!

SIGNS IN THE OPPOSITION

The uncompromising virulence and malignity which everywhere confront the holy people are prominent throughout the world among the signs of His coming. The spiritual blindness which everywhere rests on the clergy and ecclesiastical officials is a literal fulfillment of the latter-day prophecies. Dan 12:7 :

“When He shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.”

With what wonderful expedition is this prophecy now being fulfilled! God is wonderfully using the enemies of holiness to scatter it to the ends of the earth, and hasten the Lord’s coming, which they neither desire nor believe. Church councils, mad at the Holiness movement, put their heads together to scatter the holy people to the ends of the earth, stupidly ignorant of the fact that they are fulfilling these wonderful latter-day prophecies with all their might. The determined efforts of a presiding bishop to utterly break up and discontinue my evangelistic work fledged me with wings as never before. Dan 2:10 : “Many shall be purified, made white and tried;…none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” This prophecy explains why we find so many preachers who can’t understand sanctification. The trouble is with the heart, rather than the head. If they were humble enough to stand under the cleansing blood, they would soon understand entire sanctification. When they are unwilling to throw away their filthy, poisonous tobacco, for Christ’s sake, no wonder they can’t understand sanctification. When the heart gets humble enough to receive it on God’s terms, and they desire it above everything else — which must be an experimental verity in order to seek sanctification — the understanding will come along at race-horse speed. We are surely living down at the end of this wonderful Gentile Dispensation, when the world is actually flooded with the signs of the Lord’s coming. The great majority of the Jews were so blind at His first advent that, instead of seeing their glorious Christ, they saw a malefactor, and killed Him. When the high priest signed His death-warrant, I trow he did it in good conscience, for the glory of God. So the Church of the present day is stupidly blind to the multitudinous signs of the Lord’s near coming; and what a surprise His appearing in the heavens will be! How the great men of science will resort to electricity, magnetism, geology, astronomy, dynamics, and evolution, to explain the mysterious phenomenon! 2Pe 3:3 :

“In the last days, mockers in their scoffing shall go forth walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things remain as from the beginning of creation.”

Then Peter follows with allusions to the Flood, the fiery destruction of the world, and the millennium, confirmatory of the great truth of divine interventions in contradistinction to gradual evolution, which is the popular infidelity preached from so many pulpits at the present day. The mockers and scoffers at the Lord’s coming, the tribulation, and the millennium, are in the popular pulpits all around us. They are literal fulfillments of the prophecies, and literally confirm the near coming of the Lord.

2Jn 1:7 :

SIGNS IN THE PREVAILING HETERODOXY ON THE LORD’S COMING

“Many deceivers have gone forth into the world, who do not confess that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh: the same is a deceiver and antichrist.”

Then John proceeds to admonish us that if any man come to us not bringing this doctrine (of the Lord’s second coming in the flesh), not to receive him into our houses, nor bid him “God-speed.” The English reader utterly misses this wonderful passage. The statement “That Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh,” in the English version reads, “is come,” and is thought simply to refer to His first coming. That is a great mistake. The true translation of the Greek erchomenon reads, “is coming.” Hence the passage reads “that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh.” Therefore, you see it means His second coming. All of the great heresies are direct or indirect assaults on the Christhood of Jesus. He is our Prophet, Priest, and King. As Prophet, He is our great Preacher; as Priest, He has completely atoned for the sins of the whole world; as King, He is coming to rule the world forever. The antichrist in the days of John denied that He had come in the flesh. Victory has obtained on that long and hard-fought battle-field. So they now all admit His first coming.

But the Churches are full of infidelity on His second coming. You see here how positively John denounces all who deny that Jesus Christ is coming in the flesh as “deceivers and antichrists,” and warns us not to receive them into our houses, nor bid them “God-speed.” The apostolical saints were on the constant outlook for the Lord to descend and set up His kingdom. All salvation and revealed truth are in the Christhood. The dogma of His first advent is well established; but oh, the infidelity in the Church, and even in the pulpit, relative to His second coming This infidelity is laid down by the inspired writers among the omens of the last days adumbrating our Lord’s coming.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20. He which testifieth. It is John who now speaks and exults that the Lord has promised soon to come. He adds his prayer for the coming.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

General Information:

In these verses John gives his and Jesus' closing greetings.

The one who testifies

"Jesus, who testifies"

with everyone

"with every one of you"

translationWords

testimony

amen

lord

Jesus

grace

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

20. ἀμήν. א cop[891] omit.

[891] Coptic.

20. Ναὶ.… “Yea (in answer to the prayers of Rev 22:17) I come quickly.”

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Even so [ναι] . Omit.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.