WHAT A CHRISTIAN HOPES FOR
EMPHATICALLY—“that blessed hope.” Hope here is used as a figure for the things hoped for. That blessed hope is the hope of blessedness. A Christian's hope is not in this life; then he would have forlorn hope. There is nothing here to be hoped for but vicissitudes[1]. All the world rings[2] changes, but we are looking for that blessed hope. This is the difference between the seaman's anchor and the believer's anchor. The seaman casts his anchor downwards; the believer casts his anchor upwards in heaven, looking for that blessed hope. The believer is a rich heir (Heb 6:17), and he waits till the royal crown shall be set upon his head.
The object of a Christian hope is set down specifically, “The glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Here, by the way, the Deity and Godhead of Christ is strongly proved from hence against the Arians[3], as Jerome and Chrysostom[4] well observe. The Apostle shows who this great God is. It is, he says, our Savior Jesus Christ; but that only in transit. To speak, then, of the object of a Christian's hope set down here specifically, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior.
There is a threefold appearing of Christ.
1. There is an appearing of Christ to us, as when He was incarnate. “To us a child is born”(Isa 9:6). This was a happy appearing when this morning star appeared. Salvation appeared to mankind when Christ took flesh; He married our human nature to the divine nature. The virgin's womb was the place consecrated for tying that knot. Great is the mystery, God manifest in the flesh (1Ti3:16). 'Tis such an enigma as the angels adore (1Pe1:12). God said, “The man is become as one of us” (Gen 3:22); but now we may say, “God Himself has become as one of us, in the likeness of men” (Phi 2:7). This was Christ's first appearing.
2. There is an appearing of Christ in us, that is, when He appears in our hearts, which is called forming Christ in us (Gal 4:19). Christ is said to appear in us when, by the operation of His grace, He transforms us into His own image. In the Incarnation, Christ made Himself like us. By sanctification, He makes us like Him—holy as He is holy—and this is a comfortable appearing. What are we the better for Christ's appearing in our flesh unless He appears in our hearts? What are we the better for a Christ without us unless we have a Christ within us? Colossians 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
3. There is an appearing of Christ for us, and that two ways:
First, Christ appears for us as an Advocate. Hebrews 9:24, “He is entered into heaven, there to appear in the presence of God for us.” 'Tis a metaphor borrowed from our law courts where the attorney pleads for the client. So Christ pleads as an advocate for the saints. Satan is the accuser, but Christ is the advocate. He answers all bills of indictment brought in, and He appears, says the Apostle, in the presence of God for us. The high priest, under the law, appeared before the ark and the mercyseat, which was but a type of God's presence; but Christ appears in the very presence of God for us, in the face of God. He spreads His merits before His Father and, in the virtue of His bloody sufferings, pleads for mercy. And if Christ appears for us in heaven, shall not we appear for Him upon earth?
Second, Christ appears for the saints as a judge, and this appearing is meant in the text, “Looking for the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior.” Christ's first appearing in the flesh was dark and obscure. His beauty was veiled over (Isa 53:2). All who saw the man did not see the Messiah. But His second appearing as our judge will be a glorious appearing, like the sun breaking out of a cloud. It will be a glorious appearing both in respect of Christ and the saints.
CHRIST'S GLORIOUS APPEARING
First, it will be a glorious appearing in respect of Christ Himself
1. His person will be glorious. That light which shone upon St. Paul, surpassing the glory of the sun (Act 26:13) was but a part of Christ's beauty, like a sparkle of the sun of righteousness. What will it be when He shall appear in all His spiritual embroidery?
2. His throne will be glorious. He shall sit upon the throne of His glory (Mat 25). He shall have His chair of state set Him more rich than ivory or pearl, a throne more sublime and magnificent.
3. His attendants shall be glorious. “When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him” (Mat 25:31). The angels are the courtiers[5] of heaven. They are compared to lightning, (Mat 28:3), in regard of their sparkling luster, and these glorious, sublimated[6] spirits shall be Christ's satellites[7], part of Christ's train and retinue[8], accompanying Him to His throne. Thus it will be a glorious appearing in regard of Christ.
Second, it will be a glorious appearing in regard of the saints. Christ will appear to do three things:
1. Christ as a Judge will appear to acquit His people, and that is by pronouncing the sentence, “Come ye blessed of My Father.” The debt-book shall be crossed[9] in the blood of the Lamb.
2. Christ as a Judge will appear to vindicate His people. The names of the godly, many times, lie buried in reproach; but at that day, they shall, as Bernard[10] said, “Be fragrant with the finest perfumes.” Christ will give them a new name. He will call them His friends, His spouse, the apple of His eye. Their names shall flourish with honor and give forth their perfume as the wine of Lebanon.
3. Christ as a Judge will appear to crown His people when body and soul shall be reunited and perfected in glory. Christ will take His people into His sweet and everlasting embraces. He will lay them in His bosom; He will set them upon His throne; He will fill them with the inebriating[11] wine of His love to all eternity. And thus you see what is the saint's hope, namely the glorious appearing of Christ, when He shall appear as a judge to acquit, vindicate, and crown them.
See here the misery of a wicked man who has all his hope in this life. He makes the wedge of gold his hope; he casts his anchor downwards. He can have no hope of Christ's appearing; he fears Christ's appearing. He does not hope for it; he is like a prisoner who fears the judge's coming to the bench. Christ's appearing will be a dismal appearing to him. When Christ shall appear, “Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (1Pe 4:18).
A wicked man is like a mariner at sea who has no anchor; like a man in a storm who has no shelter. Where is his hope when he shall come to die? It is with a sinner as it was with the old world when the flood came. The water rose higher and higher by degrees. First, the waters came to the valleys, but they encouraged themselves in the hills; then the waters came to the mountains. Aye[12], but there might be some trees upon the hills, and they would climb up to them. Then the waters prevailed and rose to the top of the trees. Now they had nothing to trust in; all hopes of being saved were gone.
So it is with a sinner. If one comfort is taken away, he has another left. If a relation is gone, he has an estate left; if one crutch is broken, yet he has another to lean upon. Aye, but sickness comes, and he sees he must die and appear before his judge. Now he has no hope. He dies despairing; he must lie forever in the boiling furnace of God's wrath.
Put yourselves upon the trial: Do you have this blessed hope of Christ's appearing and of your appearing with Him in glory? Come almost to any man, and you shall hear him say that he hopes to be saved. Well, then, let every soul put itself upon the trial.
Let us live suitably to our hopes in a holy, angelic walking. They who have Heaven in their hopes should have Heaven in their lives. Let us walk after that golden pattern which Christ has left us (1Joh 2:6). As we hope to have Christ's death for our justification, we must have His life for our imitation. I will conclude with Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conversation [behavior] be as it becometh the gospel of Christ.”
—From “A Sacred Anchor” in A Plea for the Godly and Other Sermons by Thomas Watson, reprinted by Soli Deo Gloria. Used by permission.
Thomas Watson (c. 1620-1686): non-Conformist Puritan preacher and prolific author of A Body of Divinity, The Lord's Prayer, The Ten Commandments, Heaven Taken by Storm, and numerous others. Actual place and date of birth unknown.
[1] vicissitudes – changes or variations.
[2] rings – filled with report or talk.
[3] Arians – followers of Arius of Alexandria, Egypt (c. 250–c. 336), who taught that Jesus was not Deity, but the highest of created beings.
[4] Chrysostom – (347-407) early church father, biblical interpreter, archbishop of Constantinople. His zeal and clarity of preaching earned him the name “Golden-mouth.”
[5] courtiers – attendants at a sovereign's court.
[6] sublimated – elevated, exalted.
[7] satellites – willing and obedient followers.
[8] retinue – the attendants accompanying a high-ranking person.
[9] crossed – erased or canceled.
[10] Bernard De Clairvaux – (1090-1153) monk and mystic, one of the most influential churchmen of his time.
[11] inebriating – intoxicating.
[12] aye – yes or yea.