Lord, come quickly! Lord, come soon! How often have we uttered these exclamations? It seems to occur more often as I get older, and especially in times of anxiety. In Revelation we read…
I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. Rev 3:11 ESV
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Rev 22:20 ESV
Some translations use the word “quickly” instead of “soon.” The preterists seize upon this to argue that the bulk of Revelation occurred in 70AD. But we won’t get into that here. Other commentators take the terms “soon” or “quickly” to either mean that when these events begin they will come together quickly; or that this denotes the Lord’s imminent return.
Of course among those who hold to the latter position there’s vigorous debate about what part of the Lord’s coming is imminent. Is the 70th week (including Christ’s return at its end) of Daniel imminent? Or is Christ’s coming for His Church imminent? I happen to hold to the latter. Again, it isn’t my intention to argue for it here.
Notably, Charles Spurgeon was a premillennial Covenant Theologian with a historicist view of prophecy. Despite the fact that he wasn’t pretribulational, he held to an imminent return of Christ (as did others). In fact he used this idea to motivate his readers and congregation.
Oh, Beloved, let us try, every morning, to get up as if that were the morning in which Christ would come! And when we go up to bed at night, may we lie down with this thought, “Perhaps I shall be awakened by the ringing out of the silver trumpets heralding His coming. Before the sun arises, I may be startled from my dreams by the greatest of all cries, ‘The Lord is come! The Lord is come!’” What a check, what an incentive, what a bridle, what a spur such thoughts as these would be to us! Take this for a guide of your whole life – act as if Jesus would come during the act in which you are engaged – and if you would not wish to be caught in that act by the Coming of the Lord, let it not be your act. ~ Spurgeon
So how can Christ’s return be soon given all these years? Well Peter wrote:
But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:8-9
A pastor recently pointed to a scene in C. S. Lewis’ book The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. The Christ-figure Aslan is speaking to the little girl Lucy.
As he is about to leave, Aslan says to her, “Do not look so sad. We shall meet soon again.”
“Please, Aslan,” said Lucy, “what do you call soon?”
“I call all times soon,” said Aslan….
I like that! All times are soon for the Lord. But be ready, just in case – soon might be even sooner than we imagine. Let’s get busy.
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