What Is Involved in the Coming of Christ
By G. W. Rine
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.