I Come
In this the closing message of The Book of the Revelation, we have four precious words concerning the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, “Surely I come quickly.” Let us consider each of these carefully for they are full of meaning to every devout heart.
The word, “surely,” suggests to us the CERTAINTY of Christ’s coming. In the first chapter of The Book of the Acts, we read of the Lord, “He was taken up” (V. 9), “He went up” (V. 10), and then, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (V. 11). What a word of assurance to His gazing disciples is embraced in the language of the heavenly messengers, “Shall so come.” Thank God for the certainty of our Lord’s return!
The second word, the personal pronoun, “I”, reveals the PERSONALITY of His coming. In 1 Thess. 4:16, we read, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” He will not send an angel, not even a host of heavenly ones; no one less than the Lord Jesus Himself will come to call His waiting people heavenward. What a precious promise, “I will come”! Let us, therefore, be ever looking for the realization of that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ (Tit. 2:13).
In the word, “come,” we have the REALITY of His coming. His own blessed promise is found in the opening verses of John’s Gospel chapter 14, “Let not your heart be troubled … in My Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you…. I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” During the last war, many bade loved ones farewell with a promise that they would come back; but, alas, their words of assurance never were fulfilled because death intervened. How comforting to know that nothing can hinder or deter our Lord’s return! His unfailing words are, “I will come again,” “Surely I come.” Does the reality of this truth grip our hearts? May we not only hold to this important doctrine of the personal return of Christ, but may this doctrine hold us in this day of political confusion, of moral instability, of spiritual decline.
The FINALITY of His coming is intimated by the fourth word in the text, “quickly.” From chapter one of the Epistle to the Phillipians, we learn that “our conversation (our manner of life, our citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; Who shall change our vile body (the body of our humiliation), that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body (the body of His glory) (Vv. 20-21).
1 Corinthians 15:51-52, also states, “We shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” What a change! Our glorified bodies will tingle with eternal life, even to the very tips of our fingers. Then, “There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there by any more pain” (Rev. 21:4).
“Our pain shall then be over,
We’ll sin and sigh no more;
Behind us all of sorrow,
And nought but joy before.”
Dr. R. A. Torrey once wrote, “Our Lord Jesus is coming again! Yes, He is coming, perhaps this year; perhaps this month; perhaps to-morrow; perhaps today. Listen once again to His own last and sweetest promise, Surely I come quickly.” Every true believer will exclaim from his heart, “Amen, Even, so come, Lord Jesus!”