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Christ's Second Coming

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park, Washington, D. C. · Apr 12, 1915

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 18.

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Christ's Second Coming

A BIBLE STUDY

1. During those sad hours just before his trial and crucifixion, what precious promise did Christ make to his disciples? “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And 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 14:1-3.
2. At his ascension, what assurance was given by the angels of Christ's return? “And while they 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.
3. How ancient is this doctrine of Christ's coming? “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15.
4. What was Job's confidence concerning Christ's coming? “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: . . . whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.” Job 19:25-27.
5. How does David speak of Christ's coming? “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him.” “For he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.” Ps. 50:3; 96:13.
6. How does Paul give expression to this hope? “For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.” Phil. 3:20. “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13.
7. What is Peter's testimony regarding it? “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” 2 Peter 1:16.
8. When are the saints to be like Jesus? “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.
9. What scriptures show that Christ's coming will be a time of reward? “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.” Matt. 16:27. “And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.
10. To whom is salvation promised at Christ's appearing? “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.
11. What influence has this hope upon the life? “We know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” 1 John 3:2, 3.
12. To whom does Paul say a crown of righteousness is promised? “For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. 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. 4:6-8.
13. What will the waiting ones say when Jesus comes? “And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us; this is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” Isa. 25:9.

Manner of Christ's Coming

14. At his ascension, how did the angels say Christ would come again? “And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they 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 1:9-11.
15. How did Christ himself say he would come? “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels.” “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.” Matt. 16:27; 24:30. “For 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.
16. How many will see him when he comes? “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.” Rev. 1:7. NOTE.—Christ's second coming will be as real as was his first, and as visible as his ascension, and far more glorious. To spiritualize our Lord's return is to pervert the obvious meaning of his promise, “I will come again,” and nullify the whole plan of redemption; for the reward of the faithful of all ages is to be given at this most glorious of all events.
17. What wonderful demonstration will accompany the Lord's coming? “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.” 1 Thess. 4:16.
18. What warning has Christ given concerning false views of the manner of his coming? “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Matt. 24:23-26.
19. How visible is his coming to be? “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Verse 27.

Object of Christ's Coming

20. For what purpose did Christ say he would come again? “I go to prepare a place for you. And 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 14:2, 3.
21. What part will the angels have in this event? “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt. 24:31.
22. What takes place at the sounding of the trumpet? “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.” 1 Thess. 4:16.
23. What will be done with the righteous living? “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.” Verse 17.
24. What change will then take place in both the living and the sleeping saints? “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.” 1 Cor. 15:51-53.
25. When are the saints to be like Jesus? “But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.
26. How many will receive a reward when Christ comes? “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.” Matt. 16:27.
27. What does he say he will bring with him when he comes? “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.
28. What promise is made to those who look for him? “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.
29. When did Christ say the good would be recompensed? “For thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14.
30. Have the worthies of old gone to their reward? “And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Heb. 11:39, 40.
31. When did Paul expect to receive from the Lord God his crown of righteousness? “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. 4:8.
THE LAST GREAT EARTHQUAKE
THE LAST GREAT EARTHQUAKE
32. Will this be a time of judgment? “And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all.” Jude 14, 15.
33. How did David express himself on this point? “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.
34. When did Paul say Christ would judge the living and the dead? “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.” 2 Tim. 4:1.
35. What great separation will then take place? “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory; and before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” Matt. 25:31, 32.

The World Not Prepared to Meet Him

36. Will the world be prepared to meet him? “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.” Matt. 24:30. “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.” Rev. 1:7.
37. Why will many not be prepared for this event? “But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Matt. 24:48-51.
38. What will the world be doing when Christ comes? “But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Verses 37-39. “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30. NOTE.—The idea is, not that it is wrong in itself to eat, drink, marry, buy, and plant, or build, but that men's minds will be so taken up with these things that they will give little or no thought to the future life, and make no plans or preparation to meet Jesus when he comes.
39. Who is it that blinds men to the gospel of Christ? “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” 2 Cor. 4:4.
NOTE.—“To my mind this precious doctrine—for such I must call it—of the return of the Lord to this earth is taught in the New Testament as clearly as any other doctrine in it; yet I was in the church for fifteen or sixteen years before I ever heard a sermon on it. There is hardly any church that does not make a great deal of baptism; but in all of Paul's epistles I believe baptism is spoken of only thirteen times, while he speaks about the return of our Lord fifty times; and yet the church has had very little to say about it. Now I can see a reason for this. The devil does not want us to see this truth; for nothing would wake up the church so much. The moment a man takes hold of the truth that Jesus Christ is coming back again to receive his followers to himself, this world loses its hold on him. Gas stocks, and water stocks, and stocks in banks and railroads are of very much less consequence to him then. His heart is free, and he looks for the blessed appearing of his Lord, who, at his coming, will take him into his blessed kingdom.”—The Second Coming of Christ, by D. L. Moody, pages 6, 7.
“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,” is the parting promise of Jesus to his disciples, communicated through the two men in white apparel, as a cloud received him out of their sight. When, after more than fifty years in glory, he breaks the silence and speaks once more, in the Revelation which he gave to his servant John, the post-ascension gospel which he sends opens with, “Behold, he cometh with clouds,” and closes with, “Surely I come quickly.” Considering the solemn emphasis thus laid upon this doctrine, and considering the great prominence given to it throughout the teaching of our Lord and of his apostles, how was it that for the first five years of my pastoral life it had absolutely no place in my preaching? Undoubtedly, the reason lay in the lack of early instruction. Of all the sermons heard from childhood on, I do not remember listening to a single one upon this subject.”—“How Christ Came to Church,” by A. J. Gordon, D. D., pages 44, 45.
40. What is predicted of the moral condition of the world in the last days? “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, . . . lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

Admonitions and Warnings

41. Has the exact time of Christ's coming been revealed? “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” Matt. 24:36.
42. In view of this fact, what does Christ tell us to do? “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Verse 42. NOTE.—“In the Scriptures, the constant note, the continually recurring exhortation, is to be prepared for the Lord's coming.”—Dean Alford. “The proper attitude of a Christian is to be always looking for his Lord's return.”—D. L. Moody.
43. What warning has Christ given that we might not be taken by surprise by this great event? “And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:34-36.
44. What Christian grace are we exhorted to exercise in our expectant longing for this event? “Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” James 5:7, 8.