THE INVISIBLE REIGN OF CHRIST AND COMING IN THE CLOUDS
ESCHATOLOGY.COM

I once received this question regarding the invisible reign of Christ and His coming in the clouds:

"I was wondering, since the Apostles have gone to the Lord some 2000 years ago, and you say that Christ promised to come in THEIR generation (by the meaning of the word "generation" you mean the immediate one -- their life times), can you please explain where he is presently ruling, for all eyes to see and all ears to hear on this earth?

As in Wherefore, if they sahll say unto you. Behold, he is in the desert: go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers: believe it not. Matt 24:26

Are you alluding to some kind of Jehovah's Witness idea that Christ is infact invisibly rulling the earth or
on the earth at this time?

Behold he cometh with the couds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him, even so. Amen. Rev 1:7"


Thanks for the question. And just for the peace of mind of many who are concerned about my view of the person of Christ, I most certainly believe that Christ is the almighty God of heaven and earth. In reference to the issue of JW's and the belief that Christ is ruling now, well, I agree. And every true Christian agrees that Christ is ruling now in some sense. You said:

"Are you alluding to some kind of Jehovah's Witness idea that Christ is infact invisibly ruling the earth or on the earth at this time?"

First I would say these things. I am not a Jehovah's Witness. Second, Arminians believe in going to church. Does this mean that Calvinists shouldn't go to church? I am sure you see what I am saying.

Third, I would cite these verses:

Luke 17:20-21 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: {21} Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
And you asked if Christ is invisibly ruling:
1 Timothy 1:17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

John 18:33-37 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? {34} Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? {35} Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? {36} Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. {37} Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.

Notice the words of the sovereign Messiah: "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world." The question is, Is Christ the sovereign God? If so, then He accomplished this purpose and none thwarted it:
Luke 1:31-33 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. {32} He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: {33} And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
He is most certainly ruling now. And as Paul told Timothy, "*Now* unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God." That is Jesus Christ. He is eternal, immortal, and invisible, and He is King and the only wise God.

Even the apostles preached this:

Acts 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
I agree.

Now, the dispensationalist would say that the fourth beast of Daniel is a revived Roman empire. This is exegetically void of any substance. The Bible says:

Daniel 2:44 And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.
Those kings came and went 2000 years ago. Did the sovereign God fulfill His word? Did He set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed? Absolutely.
Daniel 7:14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
I definitely affirm that Christ is ruling in the hearts of His people who are in His kingdom. The destruction of the Jewish Temple was the manifestation and verification of Christ's words to do what He said He would do in (as you emphasized) their generation. There are no 2000 years gaps in the OC prophecies such as this one:
Isaiah 9:6-7 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. {7} Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.
Can you interject a 2000 year gap there? If so, where and where did you find that hermenuetic? If not, then you too believe Christ is invisibly reigning and sovereignly set up His everlasting kingdom when He said He would.

In regard to Revelation 1:7:

Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
First, notice that it says He is coming with the clouds. This is an expression used throughout the Bible:
Isaiah 19:1 The burden of Egypt. Behold, the LORD rideth upon a swift cloud, and shall come into Egypt: and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst of it.
That was performed upon Egypt by Assyria in the 7th or 8th century BC.

Did God come literally riding on a cloud? Absolutely not. No more than He did here:

Psalms 18:6-17 In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. {7} Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. {8} There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. {9} He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. {10} And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. {11} He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. {12} At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire. {13} The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire. {14} Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. {15} Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils. {16} He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters. {17} He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
Even stronger testimony is God's pronouncement of judgment upon Babylon by the Medes:
Isaiah 13:1-17 The burden of Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz did see. {2} Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles. {3} I have commanded my sanctified ones, I have also called my mighty ones for mine anger, even them that rejoice in my highness. {4} The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like as of a great people; a tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of nations gathered together: the LORD of hosts mustereth the host of the battle. {5} They come from a far country, from the end of heaven, even the LORD, and the weapons of his indignation, to destroy the whole land. {6} Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. {7} Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: {8} And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. {9} Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. {10} For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. {11} And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. {12} I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. {13} Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. {14} And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. {15} Every one that is found shall be thrust through; and every one that is joined unto them shall fall by the sword. {16} Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished. {17} Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, which shall not regard silver; and as for gold, they shall not delight in it.
Notice verse 1 and verse 17. Also notice the time statement 'at hand' in verse 6. Babylon was taken by the Medes and the Persians in about 536 B.C. Then look at all the apocalyptic language used in between. The context is clearly speaking of the destruction of Babylon.

The passage in Revelation says "every eye shall see Him." First, as believers in particular redemption we do not believe Christ died for *every* man. Yet the Bible says:

Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.
Of course we qualify every, and justly so (see The Death of Christ for an examination of the word 'every.') So then, is it possible that 'every' in Revelation should be qualified too? Consider those who are mentioned:
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
Another translation reads:
Revelation 1:7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.
When the Bible speaks of tribes, to whom does it usually refer? The 12 tribes of Israel. Compare the clouds and coming and the tribes with:
Matthew 24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Then consider the timing:
Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
Again, examine those involved:
Revelation 1:7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
"They also which pierced Him." This corresponds with Christ's words:
Matthew 23:30-36 And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. {31} Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. {32} Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. {33} Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? {34} Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: {35} That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. {36} Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation.
Again, it was the wicked Jews who crucified Christ, hence, "this generation." Christ predicted that He would be crucified by "this generation":
Luke 17:25 But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
"Those who pierced Him," would see Him coming in the clouds. That is, they would experience the coming of God in wrath upon them just as He did frequently in OT times. If this pertained to a group thousands of years in the future of some cataclysmic event of the dissolution of the world, then why even mention this minute 40-year period of Jews? Not to mention that John also said right before verse 7:
Revelation 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must *shortly* come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
and:
Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is *at hand.* Even Christ said to the high priest:

Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

Also, the book of Revelation was addressed to the seven churches at Asia. He spoke specifically to them:
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee *quickly,* and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
That was to the church of Ephesus. In fact John even said he they were in the tribulation:
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother who share with you in Jesus the persecution and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
Again, to a first-century church:
Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
That was a specific prophecy to the church of Smyrna, not some 20th century Protestant Reformed Church.
Revelation 2:16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
That was to the church at Pergamos.
Revelation 2:23 And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.
Notice that was spoken to the church at Thyatira, and Christ said He would reward them according to their works. But when?
Revelation 22:12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.
Exactly when Christ predicted:
Matthew 16:27-28 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works. {28} Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
This is why even John expected it elsewhere:
2 John 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
Peter expected it:
2 Peter 3:12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Now, some say this refers to the end of the world. Yet they completely ignore the great Puritan John Owen. Please see His interpretation of 2 Peter 3. Also I have written an article on this called Did Heaven and Earth Pass Away?

Christ's kingdom is an invisible kingdom. His kingdom came to earth as the apostles were commanded to pray. Their prayer was answered. The tabernacle of God is with men:

Revelation 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Compare with:
2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Isaiah predicted this removal of sorrows and sickness:
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
Isaiah 33:24 And the inhabitant shall not say, I am sick: the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquity.
The former things of death and sickness have passed away and all things are new for the believer in Christ:
Revelation 21:4-5 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. {5} And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We must view Revelaton 1:7 in a covenantal light, not a cosmological light.

I hope this sort of helped.


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