Such use has been made of the parable recorded in Luke 12:42-48 as to make it appear that the servant was unfaithful, in that he said: “My Lord delayeth his coming.” But they miss the point. As a matter of fact, the Lord has delayed his coming far beyond the time they tell us the inspired apostles said he might come. There was certainly nothing sinful in what the servant said, when it was true that his lord had delayed his coming. There could be no unfaithfulness in his saying what was actually true. But his unfaithfulness consisted in his taking advantage of that delay to do wrong. His wrong doing was his unfaithfulness. Not what he said about that delay, but what he did during that delay, constituted his unfaithfulness. But their use of this parable illustrates the strained interpretations men will put upon the Scripture to propagate a theory.
But another statement in that parable has some bearing on the matter under discussion: “The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his portion with the unfaithful.” This statement applies to all unfaithful servants, and not simply those who will be alive when the Lord comes again. To make this apply only to those who are alive at the Lord’s second coming would leave many unfaithful servants that would not suffer the fate that this one did, for more shall have died before the Lord comes again than will be alive when he does come. It can apply to all unfaithful servants only in the sense that the Lord comes to all at death.
Pointed Paragraphs:
Instead of being afraid of our enemies, let us trust in Jehovah. Why worry overmuch about the evils that we cannot possibly remedy? “Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, neither be thou envious against them that work unrighteousness.” (Ps. 37:1.)
THE “TWO STAGES” THEORY EXAMINED
It would not be fair to myself nor to the reader to charge that any Christian does not believe that the Lord will come again. That event is so plainly taught in the Bible that no one who believes the Book thinks otherwise. But some have engaged in so much speculation about what will occur when the Lord does come that, so it seems to me, their theories virtually deny much of what has already taken place. In some respects the various angles of their theory fail to connect, or even to harmonize.
I have a rather artistic diagram, prepared by a Baptist preacher of some ability, in Houston, Texas. In this diagram the Lord is represented as coming to the air surrounding the earth, where he is met by the living saints, now changed, and the dead saints, now raised from the dead; and there the diagram represents them as remaining some years, or during the time of the “great tribulation” on earth, after which they come on to the earth. Brother R. H. Boll has a diagram in which he sets forth the same idea. The coming of the Lord is thus represented as composed of two “stages”—coming for his saints, and then coming on to earth with his saints. But another angle to the theory does not fit into this, as will be seen.
The theory has the Lord with his saints back in heaven between the two “stages” of his coming. Because we so represent matters, some, who do not consider all the angles of the theory, say we are guilty of serious misrepresentation. Let us not be too hasty. There is another angle to this theory.
The theory represents the whole of the book of Revelation from the beginning of the fourth chapter to the close as dealing with things yet future, and that from the beginning of chapter four to the end of chapter nineteen it tells of things that will occur between the “two stages” of the Lord’s coming; and that is at the time another angle of the theory has the Lord with his saints in the air surrounding the earth. If a man believes that Rev. 4:1 to chapter 19, inclusive, speaks of what is to occur between the two “stages” of their theory, he cannot believe that the Lord remains in the air with his saints during that time. Brother Boll himself does not so believe. “To see these future things John is called up to heaven. For it is in heaven that the plans and counsels of God are laid; and the things that transpire on the earth have their secret source and origin there.... So all the great events of which the book of Revelation tells come from above, first decreed and decided on in God’s council chamber in heaven.” John first saw God sitting upon his throne surrounded by twenty-four other thrones, upon which sat twenty-four elders. “That these are saints, representatives of all saints, seems perfectly evident.” And so there were saints in heaven, around the throne of God, while another angle of the theory has them in the air that surrounds the earth. Then John saw in the right hand of God as he sat on the throne a book, close-sealed with seven seals. None other than the Lord Jesus Christ was found that could open that book. He came and took the book out of the hand of him who sat on the throne. So Jesus was up in heaven, in the presence of the throne of God, at the very time one angle of the theory has him in the air. And Brother Boll believes he was there, for he says: “When John lifts up his eyes to see the mighty Lion, he discerns, for the first time, in the midst of the central glory of the Throne, the figure of ‘a lamb standing.’” From that time on we see Jesus taking an active part in all that transpires around the throne in heaven. And then we come to chapter 19. We here quote some comments made by Brother Boll on that chapter: “With him are armies—the armies which are in heaven.... But who are these ‘holy ones’ (that is, saints), and who are these armies of heaven that follow in his train ‘upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and pure’? The answer is indicated to us a few verses above (1-9). In heaven, the saints previously taken up, have joined their Lord in an eternal wedlock.... It is in this ‘fine linen, white and pure,’ that we see the armies of heaven arrayed, who follow him as he comes forth. These armies are not angels; they are his saints composing His Bride, ‘the Lamb’s wife.’” Here, then, we have Jesus in heaven with his saints ready to come forth from heaven, but another angle of the theory has the Lord and his armies of saints in the air ready to make the second stage of his journey! Again: “So from heaven, riding forth for Israel’s help, comes their Messiah at the head of the heavenly host.”
I do not refer to these matters to provoke any controversy, but to show that we have not misrepresented any one, and also to show that one angle of the future-kingdom theory does not harmonize with another angle of the theory. If a theory contradicts itself, we should be excused if we contradict the theory. Both angles of this theory cannot be true, and no man can put these angles together in such a way as to make the theory look good to one who knows that God’s truth is in perfect harmony with itself.