The Day and the Hour
J. Cumming, D. D. Mark 13:32-33 But of that day and that hour knows no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.… I. THE PRACTICAL IMPORTANCE OF CONCEDING THE DAY AND HOUR WHEN THE SON OF MAN SHALL COME FROM THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CHURCH AND OF ALL MANKIND. 1. Were the day and the hour of the Saviour's advent specifically and unmistakably stated, it would contradict constantly those passages scattered throughout the whole Word of God which say He shall come as a thief in the night, etc. After the day of Pentecost the apostles received information upon this subject which they did not previously possess. 2. It would be altogether morally without practical good results, and incompatible with other portions of Scripture, if God were to tell us the precise day and the hour. What would be the practical use of telling us either? 3. Were that day made known to us, it would be gratifying a very worthless curiosity. But if there be one feature in this book more striking than another it is its utter refusal to gratify the curiosity of man. 4. Suppose that this day and hour had been made known, there is no proof that it would be believed by the unconverted masses of mankind. If the unconverted and unsanctified multitude believed it, it would do incalculable mischief. II. ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS MOST PROFITABLE AND MOST IMPROVING THAT WE SHOULD STUDY THE PREDICTED SIGNS; nay, our Lord condemned the men of His day, because, while they could predict wet or fine weather, from the sky at evening and at morn, they were not acquainted with the moral signs of the age in which they lived. The Scripture in every page is most explicit in giving us tokens and signs by which we are to infer either that the time is near, or that it is remote. This leads me to the great sign given here, instead of the day and the hour — the sign of Noah. 1. Notice that there is here a distinct recognition of Noah as a historic person, of the flood as a literal fact. 2. Notice here also that human nature is substantially the same in the days of Napoleon and of Queen Victoria, that it was in the days of Noah and the patriarchs before the flood. The antediluvians, or those that were in the days of Noah, when the flood came, were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage. This is not stated as a sin. In the gospel, where our Lord represents the blessings that He purchased under a feast, those that were invited refused; but the ground they assigned was not any one sinful act. Where then was the sin of the antediluvians? "So shall it be when the Son of Man cometh." This is not a mere history; but also a solemn prophecy. Just as the ark was the only safety in the days of Noah, so the only safety for us this very day is Christ, the living, the glorious, the indestructible ark. Are you trusting to this ark? Are you cleaving to this Saviour? Now there is salvation for the worst and the guiltiest; but at that day, when grace shall depart like a vision, when the last fire shall cover the round globe with its piercing and its searching flames, not one cry will be heard, not one appeal for mercy will be regarded, not one sin will be for. given. The very glory of the gospel is its simplicity: "Look and live;" "Believe and thou shalt be saved." (J. Cumming, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. WEB: But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.