“Some great events have taken place since Adam crossed the threshold of his Eden home for the last time. That was a momentous hour when, because of the wickedness of man, the Lord opened the windows of heaven and with the besom of destruction swept man and his vileness from the earth.”
CHRIST TEACHING HIS DISCIPLES CONCERNING THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM AND THE SIGNS OF HIS COMING
That was a great event when, from the blazing top of Mt. Sinai, amid darkness and thick clouds, the flash and lightning and the roll of thunder, the Lord in majesty and power spoke his law to quailing humanity, and handed down to Israel its precepts, traced on stone by the finger of God.
That was a great hour when Elijah, at whose word the rain had been chained, stood before the four hundred prophets of Baal, and sent out that challenge to settle the question as to who was the true God—Baal, or the God whom Elijah worshiped. That was a tense hour when, the false prophets having failed, Elijah, who had in a sense locked up the treasures of nature, having prepared the altar, looked up into heaven “at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, . . . and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again.” 1 Kings 18: 36, 37. The flame descended like a lightning flash, illuminating the mountain top and devouring the sacrifice and the altar stones.
That was a great event when the disciples of Christ were all with one accord in one place on the day of Pentecost, waiting for the fulfilment of the promise. “And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.” Acts 2: 2-4.
The Greatest of All Events
But the greatest of all events will be at that awful and sublime hour when the Saviour returns the second time in all his glory, calls forth the righteous dead, changes the righteous living from mortality to immortality, destroys the wicked, and with the redeemed ascends to the city of God. Before this solemn event, whose glory no pen can describe, all other events pale like the stars before the noonday sun. Inspired writers have spoken of it as follows:—
“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.
“The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall4reward every man according to his works.” Matt. 16: 27.
“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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4: 16-18.
Many questions in the social, political, and religious worlds are absorbing the attention of men, but no question that could occupy the human mind is of so great importance as that raised by the disciples as Jesus sat on the Mount of Olives. “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matt. 24: 3. The coming of Christ transcends all other events, for it is wrapped up in the eternal destiny of the human race, and the conclusion of the history of the world.
A Blessed Hope
When Jesus told his disciples that he was soon to leave them, they were filled with sorrow. To comfort them he said: “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.
All who believe these wonderful words of the Master must believe in his second advent. The promise of his second coming is as explicit as the promise of the first advent. And no more beautiful and encouraging theme could be contemplated. Truly the return of the Saviour will rejoice the heart of every true Christian. He who hung on Calvary’s cross for our redemption, and who longs to have his people with him in the heavenly mansions, will return in glory and power. What a glorious hope to every believing, trusting child of God!
The Hope of God’s People in All Ages
The return of Christ has been the hope of God’s covenant-keeping people in all ages since sin divorced this planet from the continent of heaven. Through all the perplexity, affliction, sorrow, and trouble to which flesh is heir, the trusting children of God, during the six millenniums of the reign of sin, have looked by faith beyond the veil which dims their vision, and have rejoiced in the hope of the fulfilment of the promise that the One who died on Calvary and came forth as a mighty victor over the tomb and ascended to heaven with a retinue of holy angels, will come the second time.
Enoch
Enoch walked with God; but as he saw the human family falling into the tomb, he was troubled concerning their future. To him the Lord revealed the return of the Saviour in glory and the resurrection of the dead. “Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied by these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints.” Jude 14.
Job
Job in his affliction exclaimed, “O that my words were now written! O that they were printed in a book! that they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.” Job 19: 23-26. Though forsaken and suffering affliction, and apparently soon to pass down into the dusty prison house, the grave, yet Job knew that he had a living Redeemer, who at the last day would come again. At that day he expected to come forth from the grave clothed in immortality, to behold the One who had redeemed him.
David
David, the sweet singer of Israel, exclaimed, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his people. Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” Ps. 50: 3-5. This was not Christ’s first advent, for fire and tempest did not attend him then.
Isaiah
Isaiah, the seer, bids us comfort the hearts of the feeble with a cheering message. He says: “Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you.” Isa. 35: 3, 4. To every worn, struggling soul, the blessed hope is indeed a comfort.
Then blind eyes will be opened to look upon the surpassing beauty of the new earth; deaf ears will be unstopped to listen to the song of the angelic choir; the lame will walk amid the waving flowers of the heavenly land; the tongue of the dumb will be unloosed to pour forth the praise to him who has redeemed them from the hand of death.
Paul
Paul, that mighty hero of the cross, in the decline of life, his locks gray, his form bent by trials, persecution, and vicissitudes of life, wrote from a Roman dungeon, where he was awaiting his execution, these triumphant words: “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.
A Crown in Waiting
A crown laid up for him, awaiting that day when Jesus will return! Glorious crown! “Triumphant day! Then, too, a crown awaits all those who “love his appearing.” The writer was in London when George V was crowned. He saw the king and queen, and many of the mighty men of the empire, and witnessed the gorgeous display of national power and greatness. Here in the world’s metropolis were gathered the largest number of people ever congregated in one city. Then he thought of all the kings and queens, of all the ages in this world’s history, their subjects and their kingdoms, and of the dynasties of the past. Where are they? Time has blotted them out. Over their tombs pass the hurried footsteps of millions. And all these millions will soon be in that land of silence from which no monarch or subject ever returns. From beyond the veil separating between the living and the dead, none return to tell us what is there.
As the writer thought of all this, he rejoiced in the hope of the second coming of the King of kings, for he had the assurance in his heart that he was a citizen of the everlasting kingdom which will be established when the Saviour comes, and that a crown is waiting for him “over there.”
