Chalk, John Allen

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Abilene Christian UniversityDigital Commons @ ACUHerald of Truth Documents Herald of Truth Records10-2-1966What if Christ had Come Yesterday?John Allen ChalkFollow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/hot_docsThis Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Herald of Truth Records at Digital Commons @ ACU. It has been accepted for inclusionin Herald of Truth Documents by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ ACU. For more information, please contact dc@acu.edu.Recommended CitationChalk, John Allen, "What if Christ had Come Yesterday?" (1966). Herald of Truth Documents. Paper 4.http://digitalcommons.acu.edu/hot_docs/4HIGHLAND CHURCH OF CHRIST radio program P. 0. Box 2439 Abilene, Texas 79604 II.I ~ :c I-= CO LL le O L I-., D. [~ ~ .Q -E a: ::s <.) z~ <( ~ a: ~· I-~c Ot ~~ ~~ ~-~ • = • NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION What If Christ Had Come Yesterday? Tod ay is forev er!" shouts the common voice of our age. Everywhere one turns - jobs, homes, churches, parks, theaters, schools - the same fundamental propo-sition colors all that we think and all that we are . Things will always be as they now are! Nothing will change! Life is guaranteed! Man has the peculiar capacity to live as if everything will always be as it now is. Paul detected the same attitude in New Testament times. "When they are saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall in no wise escape" (I Thes-salonians 5 :3). In the face of this blatant affirmation of "no-change" and "never-ending happy land" comes the wit-ness of God's Word talking, of all things, about "the end." "Then cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have abolished all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death" (I Cor inthians 15 :24-26). The Apostle Paul in this passage speaks without embarrassment about a definite point in time when our historical period will conclude. He calls it "the end" without explanation, without footnote, without any con-dition. Why is it that most of us simply can not face the certain reality of the final conclusion of our in-dividual lives and of our epoch"! Christ's followers are even directed to anticipate His return which will signal the end of our brief era in the history of the universe. Jesus urged this posture on His disciples. "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads; because your redemption draweth nigh" (Luke 21:27, 28). Rather than fear such an event Christians believe that "the end" will come as the Bible promises. In fact, Christians openly welcome such an event. We live and prepare ourselves spiritually for that moment in history when Christ will return and we will "look up, and lift up our heads" to see our redemption drawing near. The angels ministering at Jesus' ascension reminded His Apostles that "this Jesus, who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven" (Acts 1 :11). Peter, years following that incident, wrote, "But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness" (II Peter 3 :13). In-stead of plying ourselves with ease, comfort, and de-ceptive pleasures Christians are instructed to expect-antly await and hopefully anticipate the Lord's return! Yet most of us are thoroughly conditioned by the past. We make our decisions on the basis of our own per-sonal history. Any new situation is measured by similar situations of the past. We think in terms of the past rather than the future. All of which indicates that either the question, "What if Christ should come tomor-row?" or the query, "What if Christ were to come to-day?" hopelessly loses its effectiveness on a mentality and outlook shaped almost exclusively by yesterday. This leads to the more pertinent and, we pray, more provocative question, "WHAT IF CHRIST HAD COME YESTERDAY?" Make no mistake, Christ could have come yester-day! Every Biblical indication or sign of the last "last days" is favorable for our times. The Apostles asked Christ at the end of His ministry, "Tell us, when shall these things be? What shall be the sign of thy com-ing and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24 :3). The disciples were not only concerned about the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 24 :1, 2) but inquired on the same occasion about how they (and us for that mat-ter) might know the "end of the world" - the return of Christ - was imminent. Jesus then presented signs of that great event in Matthew twenty-four and in other parts of the New Testament. Notice how well they por-tray OUR AGE! First, Jesus says He will return during a time of great religious confusion. "For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray" (Matthew 24 :5). Dr. Eugene Carson Blake ac-curately described the religious turmoil of our times when he said, "Americans more than ever see the churches ... as competing social groups, pulling and hauling, propagandiz:ng and pressuring for their own or-ganizational advantages" (Eugene Carson Blake, "Re-union for Protestants," Time, December 19, 1960, p. 64). We must agree that so-called Christian groups present a repulsive spectacle to the intelligent observer. When religious confusion, moral decay, spiritual quackery, and Biblical ignorance prevail Christ says He will come! Second, the time for His return will be one of natural and civil unrest. "For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail" (Matthew 24:7, 8). Political intrigue, civil war, rebellion, border con-flict, espionage and counter-espionage indicate ripeness for the end! Africa is but one example of world-wide upheaval. "The swift and bewildering changes in a con-tinent nearly four times as large as the United States might well deter the observer from rash pronouncement on Africa's future. Thirty-one new states within a mere fourteen years have brought a host of new and complex problems," an observer has remarked. ("Continent in Crisis," Christianity Today, July 31, 19€4, p. 1006.) And as the political currents are stirred so famines and earthquakes - natural disorders - from Alaska to Australia are experienced! Third, the gospel will be preached around the world. Jesus pictures this great event as a definite sign of the end. "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24 :14). Never have God's people more earnestly attempted to utilize every available means to preach the gospel. Millions are hearing Christ proclaimed every day for the first time. Radio, television, the printed page, and ever-increasing numbers of missionaries foretell a world to whom the searchless message, God's forgiveness through Christ , has been announced. Yes, Christ could have come yes-terday! Peter offers a fourth "sign of the time" when our Lord will return. He sees the "last days" as a time of impiety and hatred toward religion. "Knowing this first that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (II Peter 3 :3, 4). Many prominent pulpits of our day cry out, "Where is the promise of his coming?" even as Peter predicted of the last days. Described either as a symbol or as a myth the Biblical doctrine of the second coming of Christ is rejected by liberal, humanistic theology. Peter has properly caught the spirit of our times. Distinguishable signs, definite conditions, prevalent at-titudes, and marked indications are what the New Testa-ment presents by way of warning that the Lord is "at hand." "If we can be sure of anything about Jesus, we can be sure that He would come again to this earth, visibly, in glory, accompanied by the heavenly beings, and at a time of terrible distress and suffering among men and nations." (Clarence E. Macartney, Twelve Great Questions About Christ, Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1956; p. 150). The Apostle Paul was also concerned about the es-sential characteristics of the "last days." The following passage from his pen is more contemporary than to-day's newspaper. "But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, dis-obedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godlin ess, but having denied the power there-of: from these also turn away" (II Timothy 3 :1-5.) Every Biblical indication, every Scriptural picture of the last days points clearly to times just like those in which we are now living. There is no doubt, Christ could have come yesterday! Most of us have persuaded ourselves that more time will dapse before Christ returns. We have assumed that many generations will come and go before that great day of the Lord. Yet, such an attitude is in direct and open violation of the teachings of Peter when he warns, "But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (II Peter 3 :8). Time is of no conse-quence to God! He is God and therefore not limited to time and space. So it has only been nineteen hundred years since Christ lived among men. Peter remarks, "Do not let that fool you. Remember one thing above all else my brethren, one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. Regardless of the time when Christ returns, which could have been yesterday, his return will be an un-expected one. The New Testament writers searched their minds for figures of speech to describe this aspect of the Lord's coming. They needed something forceful, vivid, and consistent with the surprise element. Paul used the picture of a thief in the night. "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that aught be written unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night" (I Thessalonians 5 :1, 2). Obviously the Thes-salonian Christians were unlike their twentieth-century counterparts. There was no need to warn them that Christ would return at an unexpected hour! Jesus reminded His apostles, "Watch therefore: for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh" (Matthew 24-42). Even His closest disciples who knew Him per-sonally would have no prior knowledge of His return. Attempting to deeply impress this on His followers Christ likened His return to lightning in the night. "For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west: so shall be the coming of the Son of man" (Matthew 24 :27). This aspect of Christ's return receives little atten-tion in our daily m€ditations. But the New Testament emphasis on it should lead us toward a deeper and more continual consideration. Jesus feared the lethargy that often overtakes men and spoke for the third time in Matthew twenty-four saying, "Therefore be ye also ready; for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 24 :44). Here Jesus actually warns that He will come at the very time we least expect Him! The matter does not end when we have said that Christ's return will be unexpected. Jesus will appear when we are thinking and living as if He could not come at that time! Yes, Christ could have come yesterday. Did you give one fleeting thought to Him and to the prospect of His return? Think about your activities yesterday. Would it have been advisable for Christ to have come during your family's breakfast hour? What about dur-ing the first activities of the morning on your job? During your lunch period? Or at some other time of the afternoon or evening? It looks like yesterday was a perfect day from all the signs and from the insig-nificant amount of time you took to think about Christ! The final day of the Lord will be unforgettable. We have all had things we wanted to remember and other things we wanted to forget. Despite our predilections Christ's coming will be totally unforgettable. The sounds that attend His return will be awesome. "For the Lord him self shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archange l, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first" (I Thessalonians 4:16). The voice of the archangel shouting the Lord's coming, the trumpet of God mak-ing sounds never before heard by human ear, the noise and stirring of the dead coming to life, eternity will not be long enough to forget these sounds. The memory of them will either make hell even more horrible or heaven more wonderful! Observe the effect of Christ's return on the uni-verse. Just when we are becoming more familiar with the almost limitless expanse of the universe comes Christ. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass awa y with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and th e eart h and th e works that are therein shall be burned up" (II Peter 3 :10). Can you now imagine that noise as the planetary bodies about which we know so little pass away? What of heat so int ense that the elements - the basic materials out of which everything is made - will be disso lved! My friend, such phenomena cannot be forgotten . It will eith er make hell more un-bearable or heav en more enjoy able. The nature of this unforgettable happening is de-scribed by Jesus and Paul as a "glorious" event. Jesus told those who questioned Him about His return, "And then shall they see th e Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory" (Luke 21:17). Paul describes it as "the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with the angels of his power in flaming fire" (II Thessalonians 1 :7). What sounds, what uni ver sa l upheaval , what glory and brilliance! "In terms of tre-mendou s imagery, an ext ingui shed sun, a dimmed moon, stars falling from heaven, the powers of heaven and earth shaken, the whole univer se in convulsion, He de-scribes the conditions which shall exist when the Son of man cometh" (Ibid., p. 149). Not only are we taught the unforg ettablen ess of Christ's return but the Bible specifically reveal s that every person regardless of spiritual condition will wit-ness these happen ings. John r eminds us, "Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him , and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him" (Revelation 1 :7). Your business will wait that day! Your club will not even take time to adjourn when Jesus comes! Nothing on the face of the earth or in the universe will be more important than every person witnessing His appearance . Imminent, unexpected, and unforgettable are the three Biblical themes that picture the day of the Lord. Yet the fact of His return as it has been established from these Biblical passages is really only the beginning. Once Christ has returned we will then answer for our deeds! Jesus described th e events imm ediate ly following His second coming as the day of great separation . "But when the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him .shall be gathered all the na-tions: and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from th e goa t s" (Matthew 25 :31, 32). Husbands from wives, mother from daughter, father from son, friend from friend, and on go th e various and frightening separations that the great judge will effect among the gathered billions! It will be a time of either the most intense sorrow and an-guish or the sweetest joy and peace ever known to man! Paul describes this unexpec t ed and unforgettable day as the great reckoning. "For we must all be mad e manif est before th e judgm ent seat of Christ that each one may receive the things done in th e body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (II Corinthians 5: 10). Is it possible to imagine being un-able to cover or hid e a wicked deed? Think of hav ing one's every thought re vealed! Nothing hidden but every-thing made known - that is the judgm ent ushered in by Christ's return. Let the Apostle John present his powerful and poignant picture of the day Christ returns. "And I saw a great white throne , and him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the hea ven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, the great and the sma ll, standing before the throne; and the books were opened: and another book was opened: which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works, And the sea gave up the dead that were in it; an d death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them: and th ey were judged every man according to their works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. And if any was not found written in the book of life , he was cast into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-15). If Christ had come yesterday where would you be today? Were you concerned abo ut your sins yesterday? Were you a firm believer in Christ ? Were you penitent and believing enough to obey His request that you be baptized for the remis sion of your sins yesterday? You may have every good intention for tomorrow but tomorrow is future while yesterday is fact . Think abo ut every activity and every thought of your life yes-terday . WHAT IF CHRIST HAD COME YESTERDAY? John Allen Chalk , dynamic evan -gelist and long-time radio speaker, is the first full-time speaker on the Herald of Truth radio program. He began his work with the Herald of Truth on January 1, 1966. Previously, Chalk was the featured personality in a 13 week Herald of Truth television series. A native of Lexington, Tennessee, he began preaching at 15. Chalk and his wife and two children now live in Abilene, Texas where he spends full time working with the Herald of Truth . He is a graduate of Tennessee Tech and has written a book , "The Praying Christ and Other Sermons" and two tracts . Chalk was nominated for the Outstanding Young Man of Tennessee in 1964 and was named Cookeville ' s Young Man of the Year in 1963. 

What if Christ had Come Yesterday?

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What if Christ had Come Yesterday?

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