Every Eye! # 1

Every Eye! # 1

"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him!" (Revelation 1:7).

There is many a "behold" in Holy Scripture, but in this passage, we reach the climax of them all.

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear Him" (Psalm 33:18).

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).

"Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

"Behold the Man" (John 19:5).

"Behold your King" (John 19:14).

Every one of these views of God's love and of the Saviour's grace, are full of deepest meaning and instruction to us.

But in grandeur and solemn awe, none can for a moment reach the "behold" of the Revelation. It sounds the keynote of the whole Apocalypse. It gathers within itself the great prophecy of Daniel spoken centuries before, and the bold utterance of Christ as He stood before the Jewish Council. Look at the words of the prophet Daniel 7:13, "I saw in the night visions, and behold One like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him, and there was given Him dominion and glory and a kingdom," etc.

Consider the words of Christ when standing before His bloodthirsty judges (Matthew 26:64), "Hereafter shall you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of Heaven!"

Then take the words of John as given in Revelation, "Behold, He comes with clouds, and every eye shall see Him!"

In each of these passages two points are very prominent.

It is everywhere distinctly affirmed that He comes in the clouds of Heaven. When He ascended to the Father, we are told that a cloud received Him, and hid Him from the sight of His disciples. And as He ascended, so the angels declared that He must come again. So shall it be. In a cloud He departs - and in a cloud He shall return to the earth. And is there not here a plain evidence of His Divine power and authority?  Is it not this one of the symbols of Jehovah's majesty and glory? We read in Psalm 18 something of the greatness which appertains to God, and here is one part of that description: "He made darkness His secret place. His pavilion round about Him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies". Look again at Psalm 104:3, "Who makes the clouds His chariot - who walks upon the wings of the wind."

To none but Jehovah's fellow, to none but the coequal  Son of the Most High, would it have been granted thus to come back to our earth, mighty and glorious, seated on the very chariot of Jehovah Himself!

No less impressive is the second point. The Lord Jesus is to be the one object on which every eye is to be fixed. "Every eye shall see Him!"

These words have never been true of any who yet has lived. Kings and conquerors have had their days of triumph, and perchance hundreds of thousands have looked upon them as they celebrated the victories they had achieved. We read of notable scene in olden times, when a monarch gathered together an army of some three million, and placed his throne where he could gain a sight of them all, and where a large proportion of them might be able to see him.

But far higher, grander, vaster, is the prospect set before us of Christ at His appearing. In that concourse, none are absent. All ages, countries, races, and divisions of mankind are present there. None can escape that vision. None are lost or hidden amidst the assembled myriads. How it can be, no thought can possibly fathom. That it shall be, no room is left for doubt.

He who once trod the shore of Galilee's lake.
He who once was the Friend of the fishermen,
He who was meek and lowly of heart,
He who endured so patiently the scorn and the shame of His bitter Cross - it is He who shall then be manifested as the Glorious King and Judge of human kind, and upon whom every eye of sinner and of saint shall then be turned!

By that look, there will arise an extremity of woe and of gladness, the possibility of which has never yet been realized. There are the two sides. It may be well to consider both.

~George Everard~

(continued with # 2)