The Lord's Return — No. 3
By F. M. W.
“Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.” Heb. 10: 35-39. For what reason does Christ return to earth the second time? The answer is obvious, and has already been indicated in previous articles. He comes to take his children home. He came the first time, nineteen hundred years ago, as the great sacrificial offering for the sins of the human family. “He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin.” He became a partaker of flesh and blood; lived on this earth as a man; suffered death on the cross; came forth from the grave in glorious resurrection; ascended to the right hand of the Majesty on high, where he reigns a priest on his Father's throne, in order that he might redeem man from his fallen and lost condition. Nothing short of infinite love could have prompted this humiliation of the Majesty of heaven, and this sacrifice of the life of the Son of God. Christ now is seated on his throne of grace. To that throne we are invited to come boldly “that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Christ now is engaged in the work of gathering out from among the nations of earth those who love righteousness,—the men and women who will constitute the subjects of his everlasting kingdom. When this ministry of grace has been completed, he will lay aside his priestly robes, and will return to earth to establish his kingdom of glory. Says the apostle Paul:— “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; Preach the word.” 2 Tim. 4: 1, 2. The Lord himself bears similar testimony to the time when he will begin his sovereign reign:— “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.” Matt. 25: 31. At this time, according to the word of the Lord,— “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Dan. 7: 27. The righteous of all ages will constitute the subjects of this heavenly kingdom. These righteous ones will be made up of two classes:— 1. Those who during the long years have been asleep in the Lord Jesus. 2. The righteous living at the time of his second advent. “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.” What a scene is here brought to view! The power of the grave is broken. The Lord of life and glory loosens its relentless grasp. The ages of the past give up their countless dead. The sea restores that which it has swallowed up. Many have gone down as the result of wasting sickness and disease; they will be raised to the inheritance of eternal youth. Some have been despised and forsaken, and their memories held in contempt by earth's inhabitants; they come forth honored and glorified. The martyrs of earth, who have sealed their testimony with their blood, now reap the fruit of their righteous doing. Those who have stood in defense of truth now witness its triumph over error. Conditions are now reversed,—death in this world, life in the world to come; pain here, pleasure there; poverty the lot of earth, eternal riches the reward of heaven; sorrow and sickness and distress on this earth, fulness of joy and pleasures forevermore in Eden restored. From the grave the saints come forth crying, “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” The earth itself shall share in this glorious restoration. Cursed as the result of man's transgression, bearing thorns and thistles, it groans now under the burden of sin. The apostle says, “The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now,” waiting for the redemption which comes through Christ Jesus. The effects of the curse shall be removed. The desert shall be made to blossom as the rose. The earth shall be adorned with the glory of Lebanon, with the beauty of its Eden state. Isaiah 35. Thus purified, it will constitute the territory over which Christ shall rule, and “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” The dwelling-place of sin will be sought in vain. The purifying fires of God, which restore the earth to its vernal beauty, shall purge away the sin and dross and forever destroy Satan and all his evil host. Then from one end of God's universe to the other will go up a shout of thanksgiving and rejoicing that the harmony of heaven has again been restored; that in the heart of every intelligence Christ is once more enthroned as Lord of lords and King of kings:— “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.” Rev. 5: 13.419 These, dear reader, are the great events which wait upon the coming of the Lord,—events which will all take place in that period known as “the day of the Lord.” This is the glorious heritage which Christ is coming to bestow upon his children. Is it worth the effort of a few short years of service here? There is no comparison. By our lives we are demonstrating to the universe our acceptance of the heavenly call. In the few short years we live here we are demonstrating to heaven and the unfallen worlds the manner in which we should use eternity if that were bestowed upon us. “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man,” the things which God is preparing for his people. We can grasp them by faith now, but sometime, if we permit the operation of the work of grace in our hearts, we shall see them as they are. How cheap will heaven then appear, so far as the price we have paid in effort and toil. How light will then be counted the afflictions which now seem so severe! how short the days and years which now drag on so wearily! We need to view this life not from the standpoint of time, but from the standpoint of eternity. Viewed thus, its experiences sink into insignificance before the glories of the eternal state.