NO GOSPEL doctrine stands out in bolder relief, in the inspired Scriptures, than that of the second coming of the Redeemer. The roots of this great truth ramify the whole range of the Bible. It is dwelt upon insistently by the Spirit-guided writers of the New Testament. Perhaps barring the sin-atoning death of our Lord and His glorious resurrection, His coming in power and glory is the most momentous event in the history of redemption. We shall see why.
Ultimate Salvation Contingent upon That Event
Complete salvation comprises three distinct steps:
First, a present salvation from the GUILT of sin, from its condemnation; as when Christ said to the penitent Zaccheus, in the latter’s own home, “This day is salvation come to this house.”
Secondly, a progressive or disciplinary salvation; as when the inspired apostle enjoins us to work out our “own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” The thought here is that the Spirit of God in the believer’s heart, throughout his probationary life, educates, inspires, and disciplines him to the end that he shall become fitted for a place in the coming kingdom of glory.
Thirdly, the complete and irrevocable salvation of the body as well as of the spirit or character, at the second appearing of our Lord. This third and final step in the process of saving individual sinners is brought to view by Peter, when he declares, in referring to believers, that they “are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed IN THE LAST TIME.”
That this “last time” has regard to the time of the coming of Christ is clearly attested by the following inspired declaration: “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear THE SECOND TIME without sin unto SALVATION.” Heb. 9: 28. The results of the first two steps in the process of salvation could be only temporary, were it not for the final salvation brought to us at the Master’s advent in glory. It is then that He will save His trusting children from the desolating EFFECTS of sin, from the LIABILITY of again sinning, from the POSSIBILITY of ever dying—from mortality to immortality. It is then that our vile or corruptible bodies shall be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body. Phil. 3: 20, 21. Does not the Holy Spirit declare that, until the time of the bestowal of the final installment, so to speak, of salvation, we “ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, . . . groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the REDEMPTION OF OUR BODIES”? If, then, complete salvation is inseparable from the coming of Jesus, how ineffably precious must that event be to every trusting soul!
No Final Reward Until He Comes
God is good, God is love; and, most naturally, therefore, He is planning to bestow upon His confiding and obedient children all possible blessing. Hence in His Word He iterates and reiterates the assurance that at the time of ultimate deliverance He will in a preeminent sense bestow REWARDS upon His redeemed children. The apostle Peter, in respect to the crowning reward or incorruptible inheritance, says that it is “reserved in heaven” for us until “the last time.”
In Matt. 16: 27 is recorded the Master’s own assurance, “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.” A parallel declaration is found in Rev. 22:12. Note the stress with which He affirms, “Behold, I come quickly; and My REWARD is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Most assuredly, then, our Lord must come again, if we, His children, shall ever receive the crowning and eternal reward so often and so emphatically set forth in the Scriptures. Not until He comes again will He sit upon the throne of His glory. Matt. 25: 31. Hence His coming and the setting up of His kingdom are synchronous. (See also 2 Tim. 4:1.) It inevitably follows that it will be at His coming that He will summon His children with the superlatively precious words, “Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25: 34.
Are you seeking the kingdom of God, dear Christian? Are you hoping to enter into that kingdom? Do you hope to realize the Saviour’s assurance that “it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom”?—Assuredly you do. Then, must you not hope in, work for, and look for the glorious advent of the Master? If no second coming of Christ, there is no everlasting inheritance, no eternal kingdom, no imperishable reward.
When the Lord told His disciples that He was about to leave them in person and to return to His Father, their hearts were wrung with anguish. They could not endure the thought of being separated from the visible presence of their beloved Master. How did He reassure and console them? Ah, He assured them that He was going to prepare a place (kingdom) for them, and that He would COME AGAIN to receive them unto Himself, THAT where He should be (in His kingdom), there they should also be. Yes, He declared that He must come again if His disciples should ever be with Him again, in His timeless kingdom. John 14:1-3. In His matchless parable of the pounds, He compares Himself to a certain nobleman who “went into a far country TO RECEIVE FOR HIMSELF A KINGDOM, AND TO RETURN.” We see, then, that the Spirit of inspiration has, in the clearest possible language, set forth the fact that the saints will not enter into their eternal inheritance, into the ageless kingdom which the Father has prepared for them, until the Redeemer shall come again in the plenitude of heavenly glory.
The Resurrection of the Righteous at the Advent of Christ
On a certain occasion while on earth, Jesus accepted an invitation to a notable supper. Always alert to give needed counsel, He said to the host, a representative of God’s servants: “When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not . . . thy rich neighbors, . . . and a recompense be made thee. But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind: and thou shalt be blessed; for they can not recompense thee: for thou SHALT BE RECOMPENSED AT THE RESURRECTION OF THE JUST.” Luke 14: 12-14. We have already studied the Scripture testimony to the effect that Christ will bestow the final reward of immortality, of entrance into the endless kingdom of glory, to His trusting children, at His coming. In the scripture just cited our Lord unequivocally declares that they shall be recompensed (rewarded) at the resurrection of the just. Hence the conclusion is inescapable that the second coming of the Lord and the resurrection of the just (the righteous) are concomitant events. That these two momentous events are simultaneous and inseparable is expressly declared by the divine Spirit through the apostle Paul.
This testimony is set forth in 1 Thess. 4: 15-17, and is as follows: “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain UNTO THE COMING OF THE LORD shall not prevent [go before] them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself SHALL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and THE DEAD IN CHRIST SHALL RISE FIRST: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD.” Do you, dear reader, accept that testimony of the divine Spirit? Can the Spirit of divine wisdom be mistaken?—Impossible. Note again that it is when our Lord descends from heaven with the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God, that those who have fallen asleep in Christ shall awake to life and immortality. Do you long for the time when your loved ones who have died in Christ, shall be raised to life and glory?—You certainly do. Then you must work and pray and look for the coming of the Lord, for it is THEN, and6not till then, that the sleeping saints shall rise to die no more.
This great fact is further enunciated by the Lord’s apostle in these sublimely impressive words: “Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND THE DEAD SHALL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. Observe that it is at the sounding of the last trump that the dead shall be raised. The righteous dead are unmistakably referred to here, inasmuch as they are raised INCORRUPTIBLE, that is, immortal. The unrighteous dead can not be raised to immortality, for they are destined to suffer a “second death,” from which there is no resurrection. See Rev. 2:11; 20: 6, 12-15.
But the sounding of the last trump is an accompaniment of the coming of the Lord, as already noted in 1 Thess. 4:16. Here again we learn that the dead in Christ can never attain to a resurrection to immortality, and the righteous living can never hope to be “changed” to immortality and consequent incorruptibility, UNLESS OUR LORD SHALL COME AGAIN. But He WILL come again; for does He not emphatically promise, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I WILL COME AGAIN, and receive you unto Myself”?
Note, too, how conclusively these scriptures teach that the Master’s children can never “be with the Lord,” can never dwell in His visible, personal presence, unless He shall come again to receive them unto Himself. In verses 16 to 18 of 1 Thessalonians 4, it is clearly shown that the Lord will descend from heaven, raise the dead in Christ, and, with them, translate the righteous living to meet Him in the air. The explicit statement immediately follows, “SO SHALL WE EVER BE WITH THE LORD.” Is not the coming of Christ a transcendently important event in the Gospel scheme if our ever being with Him in His kingdom is inexorably conditioned upon that event?
What the Lord’s Coming Means to Unbelievers
In the foregoing part of this article it was repeatedly shown from Holy Writ that the glorious appearing of Christ is the crowning hope of the Christian. THEN his body shall be redeemed, he shall receive the gift of immortality, and shall have a triumphant entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our God and His Christ. But what meaning has that event to the unbeliever? Ah, it means anguish, despair, death. In reference to the “man of sin”—and all unbelievers are in a state of sin—the Spirit of God attests, “And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and SHALL DESTROY WITH THE BRIGHTNESS OF HIS COMING.” 2 Thess. 2: 8. His glory is sin’s destruction.
In His great second advent message and prophecy, as recorded in Matthew 24, the Lord compares all unbelievers who will live in the day of His coming again, to the faithless multitudes that perished in the Noachic Flood. The people in the days of Noah scoffed at the divine message given through Noah, and hence “knew not until the Flood came, and TOOK THEM ALL AWAY; SO SHALL ALSO THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN BE.” Read also Rev. 6:12-17. At the appearing of Christ, the heavens depart as a scroll, all the mountains and islands are moved out of their places. It is then that all who are unprepared for the Master’s coming, rich and poor, high and low, cry to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
Aye, who shall stand in that great day?—Thank God, all who have responded to His love in Christ, and have received into their hearts the Spirit of the blessed Jesus. They shall stand gloriously—forever. They will look up and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us; . . . we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isa. 25: 9.
In view of what we have learned thus far, it is not at all surprising to find that the Spirit of inspiration should characterize the glorious appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ as “that BLESSED HOPE” to all who at the time of His coming shall be found LOOKING for Him. Titus 2:11-13. Every one of the exceeding great and precious promises of God is for the Christian a distinct HOPE; but the promise that our Lord will come again God Himself marks off as distinctly and essentially “that BLESSED HOPE.” How natural! For the realization of that blessed hope necessarily carries with it the realization of every other possible hope.
Dear reader, is your heart set on the “beloved Son” of God? Is He to you the One altogether lovely, the chief among ten thousand? Do you long to dwell in His imperial presence and “see His face”? Are you by patient continuance in well-doing seeking “for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life”? GLORY, HONOR, IMMORTALITY, ETERNAL LIFE—all shall be forever yours at His “glorious appearing,” if you love Him supremely, and work and watch and pray for His coming. Yes, if the most adorable One is the joy and rejoicing of your heart, you will, with the beloved disciple, instinctively pray, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
“For 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; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.” Titus 2: 11-14.
THE COMING CHRIST
By L. D. Avery-Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE
I have climbed the hoary mountains where the rocks are rough and steep,
And watched the blazing sun arise from out the shadows deep,
And seen the twinkling stars go out like candles in the sky,
And heard the heralds of the morn proclaim that day was nigh.
E'en thus I've watched the dawning day that hasteth on apace,
And marked the fleeing shadows gray that hide Immanuel's face;
I've heard the waking nations as they hasten to the fray—
The mighty hosts preparing for Armageddon's day.
O, hast thou heard the baying of the angry dogs of war,
And seen the gory banners on the battlements afar?
Ah! soon the wailing tribes of earth shall feel the chastening rod,
And see the blazing glory of the chariots of God.
I have heard the invitation to the coming marriage feast,
And seen the Bridegroom's chariot car light up the red'ning east;
Ho! watchman true on Zion's walls, shout ye aloud and sing,
“Lo, this is He for whom we wait,—Immanuel our King!”
I'm weary of the conflict and the bitter strife of sin,
And sigh for that eternal day which Christ shall usher in.
But when my heart is saddest I will not weep, but sing,
“He's coming soon to save me,—Immanuel my King.”
Christ Is Coming
Christ is coming; and those who love Him will be glad. “Whom having not seen we love.” We know Him. He loved us, and gave Himself for us. He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” When we were worthy to be cast off forever, wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, in infinite and unasked love He gave Himself for us. He “loved us, and nakedness, bestowed riches for poverty, happiness for misery, sight for blindness, righteousness for sin. We know His love, His mercy, His goodness. He is coming again, our Friend forever. Why should we not love Him, long to see Him, and tell others that He is coming, the “One altogether lovely”?
The Bible
“The Book contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way to salvation, and the destiny of the righteous and the wicked. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be right, and practise it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler's map, the pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword, and the Christian's character. Here Paradise is restored, heaven opened, and the gates of hell are disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end. It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a Paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be open at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It invokes the highest responsibility, rewards the greatest labor, and condemns all who trifle with its holy contents.”
The Hope of the Ages
By L. A. Reed
By L. A. Reed
The second coming of Christ has well been called the “hope of the ages,” because in that hope are concentrated all the promises of God. Outside of Christ’s promise of daily help, every promise finds its complete fulfilment at the second advent.
It is then that the righteous dead are to be resurrected and given their reward. “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52.
It is then that the living righteous shall be changed, glorified, made immortal, and caught up to Christ in the heavens, to be forevermore with Him. “For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:16-18.
It is then that the last enemy, death, will be destroyed. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15: 53-55.
The Expectation of the Faithful
Having this hope through all the ages, the faithful children of God have looked forward to the time when Christ would appear to remove sin, grant fulness of life, and companionship with Him forevermore. So long ago as the days of Job this hope was most gloriously expressed in the words, “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another.” Job 19: 25-27.
David also had this hope, for he chants in sublime rhapsody these words: “For He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth.” Ps. 96:13.
The prophet Daniel was shown the history of the world from his time on down to the closing of all things earthly. As his eye looked forward, beholding, one after another, the world’s events, he sees in the far distance the last earthly thing, and then exclaims in triumph: “At that time shall Michael stand up, the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people: . . . and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Dan. 12:1.
Paul was favored of God in doing a great work in the world. When that work was practically done, and he looked forward only a short way to his death by the Roman power, he did not talk of going at once to heaven and receiving his reward. He looked forward to that time which has been through all the ages the time emphatically understood by all the saints when rewards should be given. He says: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8.
The apostle John, who had been favored with the direct presence of the Lord for three and a half years, who had received the Saviour’s instruction at first hand, who knew all the fundamental tenets of the Christian church, does not give us any warrant for supposing that the Christian will receive his reward at death. He says: “We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3: 2.
From Earliest Ages
Thousand of years ago, even before the great Flood that came upon the antediluvians, we read that there existed in the early days of the earth’s history, a preacher of righteousness, the noble Enoch, who walked with God, who was instructed in the doctrines of the Lord, who thus knew the plans and purposes of his Maker; we read these words of him: “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15.
The Saviour Himself, in admonishing His believers to be true and steadfast, and make a good confession of their faith before mankind, says: “Whosoever shall be ashamed of Me and of My words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when He shall come in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9: 26.
It is therefore at the appearing of Christ that He accepts those who have lived true to Him, and rejects those who have rejected Him.
And again, when the Saviour was about to leave the disciples, He said, “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:3. And again He said: “Then shall be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14.
All this is clear enough in showing us the importance of the second coming of Christ. It is so important that no Christian has any promise that does not find its continuation and complete fulfilment in the Saviour’s advent. And it is of so much importance to us, that the promise is, “Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Those that look for Him, to these He will appear without sin, unto salvation. And the crown laid up, as Paul tells us, is not alone for him, but for all them also that love Christ’s appearing. Are you looking for Him? Do you love His appearing? Only to such as do this is the promise made.
And so we wait, loving His appearing, and looking forward with joy and expectancy to that time when His salvation shall be revealed.
“The heavens shall glow with splendor,
But brighter far than day
The saints shall shine in glory,
As Christ shall them array.
The beauty of the Saviour
Shall dazzle every eye,
In the crowning day that’s coming
By and by.
“Let us that look for, hasten
That coming glorious day,
By earnest consecration
To walk the narrow way,
By gathering in the lost ones,
For whom our Lord did die,
For the crowning day that’s coming
By and by.”
“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall ALL BE CHANGED, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, AT THE LAST TRUMP: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.” 1 Cor. 15: 51-54.
Obedience the Key of Knowledge
[The following paragraphs should have constituted the closing portion of Prof. G. W. Rine’s paper of last week. It was omitted by mistake, which we greatly regret. While it is complete in itself, it left his excellent article incomplete.—Ed.]
Our Lord Jesus Christ explicitly taught that obedience is the one eternally requisite condition of spiritual knowledge. “If any man willeth to DO His [God’s] will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God.” John 7:17. God does not promise to reveal truth to the man who dreams or debates, but to him who keeps His commandments. It is only in the soil of obedience that the seeds of truth sprout. To submit our wills in loyalty to God’s law, is to open our minds to the light of His truth. Doing and knowing are blood relatives. Some one has aptly said, “The words of Jesus in the mind of a disobedient man are no more vital than wheat in the wrappings of a mummy.”
It is because the religious teachers have closed their eyes to the claims of the divine law, and have turned to the commandments of men, and have, in so doing, removed their hearts far from God, that the vision (prophecy) has become to them as a book that is sealed. Their eyes are closed, their ears dull, and their hearts heavy, because they refuse to “hear the law of the Lord.” The Master is still asking, “Why call ye Me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?” Moral disobedience means mental darkness. Our Lord teaches unmistakably that if we would “have right to the Tree of Life,” and “enter in through the gates into the city,” we must “do His commandments.” Rev. 22:14. Hence the remnant church, preparing to enter into the city of God, are keeping the “commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Rev. 12:17.
Christ’s Words Shall Not Pass Away
Jesus says: “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.” Luke 21: 33.
The “same Jesus” who was a little babe in the arms of His human mother is coming again.
The “same Jesus” who gave the Sermon on the Mount is coming again to make good all His promises.
Christ Will Come Again
By George B. Thompson
How? When?
By George B. Thompson
He Will Come Again
THERE is no truth of the blessed Gospel which is more clearly taught than that our Redeemer will return the second time. Before this awful event all others pale. It is the sublimest spectacle and most marvelous display of transcendent glory connected with the scheme of redemption. When the Lord spoke the eternal principles of His own perfection from the flaming top of Sinai, and traced them in stone with His own finger, the whole earth trembled, and the glory of God was revealed in mighty majesty. But this divine exhibition of heavenly glory will be surpassed when the Redeemer comes to take to Himself the people whom He has saved from the terrible thraldom of sin.
At His first advent He came in weakness. He came a helpless babe, to show the frailties of our frame. As a lamb He came, to bear the burdens of a weak and degenerate race. But how different the scene when He appears the second time, to overturn the proud and stately empires of earth, and scatter them like the chaff driven by the wind. We may think of the glorious event, and it is well to let the picture linger in the mind, yet we can never take it in. The human mind can never comprehend in its fulness the hour when, crowned King of all kings, the Saviour comes to reap the harvest of the earth.
How He Will Come
The coming of Christ is a real thing. It is no phantom. It is the advent of a real, personal being. Jesus left the earth a real person, bearing in His body the marks of His humiliation. “And while they [the disciples] looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, ‘Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?’ This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall SO COME in LIKE MANNER as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10, 11. An angelic cloud received Him into glory, and when He appears the second time He is seated upon a “white cloud,” “having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.” Rev. 14:14.
When He comes He will be escorted, like the victorious conqueror that He is, by “all the holy angels.” Matt. 25:31. When one angel came to the sealed tomb to call the Redeemer as He lay locked in the fixed embrace of death, the glory which attended the celestial messenger struck to the earth the guard of Roman soldiers who were watching the sepulcher. How much glory, think you, will be revealed when the unnumbered millions of mighty angels come with their Redeemer? They come as reapers to gather the sheaves into the heavenly garner. But this is only a little of the glory which is to be seen. The King comes in the most supernal glory, “the glory of His Father.” Matt. 16:27. He will come in “His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26.
In the past, kings, emperors, and potentates of earth have sought to show the glory of their empires. In triumphant splendor and overweening pride they have exhibited all their regal pomp and glory. Yet they have perished, and their glory is no more. But the consuming majesty and glory which attends the coming of Jesus, overshadows theirs as the sun shining in its zenith power eclipses the rays of a candle. And His glory will endure throughout all ages. Its luster will not be dimmed by passing cycles.
When He Is Coming
And now, as in ages in the past, the Lord will warn the world of the event which is approaching. He warned the antediluvians; He warned Sodom; He warned Nineveh; and when His first advent was impending, He sent His forerunner with a special message for the time. And when we reach the closing days of the world’s history, we read that there will be “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. AND THEN SHALL THEY SEE the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.” Luke 21:25-27.
Reader, this glorious day draws near; it will soon be ushered in. Prepared or unprepared, its stern realities will soon be upon us. For the righteous it is a day of the greatest joy, when they can look up and rejoice. For sinners it is a day of gloominess, desolation, and destruction. While the Life-giver is still on the mercy-seat, offering pardon to the impenitent, shall we not turn to Him with full repentance, that we may find forgiveness, and be numbered among those who can look up and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us”? Isa. 25:9.
