Galatians 4:4,5; Titus 2:11-13
When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): Few people stop to inquire for an explanation of one of the most amazing facts which is presented to the notice of everybody, namely, the fact that all civilized time is dated from the birth of Jesus Christ…To have some common measure of time is, of course, a necessity of organized society, but where shall we find an adequate starting point for the calendar—one which will be acceptable to all civilized nations? A world-shattering victory, the founding of some many-centuried city, the birth of a dynasty, the beginning of a revolution: some such event, it might reasonably be expected, would give time a new starting point. But no conqueror’s sword has ever cut deep enough on Time to leave an enduring mark.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): The chief landmark in all time to us is the wondrous life of Him who is the Light of the world! We date from the birth of the Virgin’s Son—we begin with Anno Domini—A.D.—“in the year of our Lord.” All the rest of time is before Christ, and is marked off from the Christian era. Bethlehem’s manger is our beginning. The dense darkness of the heathen ages begins to be broken when we reach the first appearing—and the dawn of a glorious day begins!
A. W. PINK: The Coming of Christ to this world changed its chronology, for all civilized time is now by common consent dated from the Bethlehem manger—from the birth of a Jew, who, according to the view of Infidels, if He ever existed, was a peasant in an obscure province, who was the author of no wonderful invention, who occupied no throne, who died when, as men count years, He had scarcely reached His prime, and Who died the death of a criminal. And how is that strange yet startling fact to be explained? It was imposed neither by the authority of a conqueror, the device of priests, the enactment of a despot, nor even by Constantine; but by slow and gradual consent. The Lord of time has indelibly written His signature across time itself; the years of the modern world being labeled by common consent the years of our Lord! Every dated letter you receive, though penned by an atheist, every newspaper carrying the date of its issue, even though published by Communists, bears testimony to the historicity of Christ!
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): He is the Lord of time, and will be so, till day and night shall come to an end, and the stream of time be swallowed up in the ocean of eternity.
A. W. PINK: As the result of the first Advent a new era was inaugurated, a new prospect was set before the sons of men, the door of mercy was flung wide open, and command was given that the glad tidings should be made known to every creature. Heaven itself was stirred at the miraculous birth of the God-Man. Unto the angels was entrusted the honorous commission of announcing the birth of the Saviour. Heathendom was affected, the good news being conveyed to Chaldea by means of a mysterious “star” which heralded the birth of the King of the Jews. It is impossible for us to fully estimate the tremendous importance of the first Advent of Christ to this earth. The Divine Incarnation is without a parallel in the annals of the human race. But wondrous and blessed as was the first Advent of our Lord in many respects, His Second Coming will be even more momentous.
C. H. SPURGEON: The Apostle Paul in his epistle to Titus describes our position. The people of God stand between two appearances. In the 11th verse of Titus Chapter 2, he tells us, “The Grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” And then he says, in the 13th verse, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.” We live in an age which is an interval between two appearings of the Lord from Heaven.
J. C. RYLE (1816-1900): I believe that the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is the great event which will wind up the present dispensation, and for which we ought daily to long and pray.
C. H. SPURGEON: Brothers and Sisters, we look forward to a second appearing! Our outlook for the close of this present era is another appearing—an appearing of Glory rather than of Grace. After our Master rose from the brow of Olivet, His disciples remained for a while in mute astonishment. But soon an angelic messenger reminded them of prophecy and promise by saying, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into Heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven,” Acts 1:11. We believe that our Lord, in the fullness of time, will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the trumpet of the archangel and the voice of God. We look from Anno Domini, in which He came the first time, to that greater Anno Domini, or year of our Lord, in which He shall come a second time, in all the splendor of His power, to reign in righteousness and break the evil powers as with a rod of iron!
A. W. PINK: The need of the world for a competent and righteous Ruler was never as apparent as now.
J. C. RYLE: In a day like this there is no comfort like that of looking forward to Christ coming again—there is a time coming when sin shall be cast out from this world.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): Yea, the day is appointed when this judgment will proceed by Him, and He is at the door.
A. W. PINK: When He was here before He was “despised and rejected of men,” but when He comes back again every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue confess His Lordship.
J. C. RYLE: Christ Himself shall be King. He shall return to this earth, and make all things new—His dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
C. H. SPURGEON: See, then, where we are—we are compassed about, behind and before, with the appearings of our Lord. Behind us is our trust. Before us is our hope. Behind us is the Son of God in humiliation. Before us is the great God, our Saviour, in His Glory. To use an ecclesiastical term, we stand between two Epiphanies—the first is the manifestation of the Son of God in human flesh in dishonor and weakness. The second is the manifestation of the same Son of God in all His power and Glory!
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): And time shall be swallowed up in eternity.
C. H. MACKINTOSH (1820-1896): May the Lord give to thee, my dear reader—thus to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ before this year closes; and we can promise you truly, a divinely Happy New Year.
