THE PROMISE OF HIS COMING.
“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 1:11. These words were spoken to the disciples of Christ as they were intently gazing after Him while He ascended to heaven from Mount Olivet. Verse 9 says that “while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” Note that He is to come in like manner; therefore He will come in a cloud, for “the Scripture can not be broken.” The same disciples had been likewise informed by the Saviour Himself just before His crucifixion. After giving them certain signs that should precede His second advent, He added: “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. It is at this time that “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.” Verse 31. On this latter point the Apostle Paul gives us further detail: “For this we say unto you by the Word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent [or precede] 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.” I Thess. 4:15–17. Christ went up in “a cloud,” He will come again “in the clouds,” and then He will gather His saints—dead and alive—who will ascend to meet Him “in the clouds.” This is the first resurrection. In the Revelation John was shown that “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years,” and that “the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” See chapter 20. This desolation of the earth is to be the binding of Satan. There will be no one for him to deceive—nothing that he can do in his special line. These scripture representations of Christ’s coming in the clouds are supplemented by others of like import. On the very night of His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, He said to His disciples: “Let not your heart be troubled; . . . 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. To “come again” signifies but one coming for the purpose here specified. And this thought is emphasized in the epistle to the Hebrews. “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for Him [that believe His Word concerning that event] shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28. The glory and prominence of Christ’s second coming is specially mentioned by the seer of Patmos: “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. It will not be possible for any one to be deceived in regard to the manner of His coming, if they will heed the testimony of the Scriptures; for “the Scripture can not be broken.” It is worth while to note the manner in which Christ will be received by the two classes into which the world will be divided. As noted before, one class will be looking for Him; they will also love His appearing (2 Tim. 4:8); they will exclaim, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us.” Isa. 25:9. The other class will “wail because of Him.” Why is this? It was not so at His first advent. It is because that at His first advent He came with salvation for all men (Titus 2:11). He came with sin; that is, bearing the sin of the world. He came sowing the good seed of the Word, offering salvation free to all who would accept it. The second advent is “without sin,” and the purpose is to reap the harvest of the previous sowing. When He appears in the clouds of heaven, all classes will understand the situation. Those who have rejected the overtures of mercy will realize their terrible mistake. They will not be able to stand before the glory of Him whose loving sacrifice they have spurned. They will know that it is now too late, and they will “wail because of Him.” But all who believe the Gospel now have their lives “hid with Christ in God,” and “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” Then will those who love His appearing, receive their “crown of righteousness.” 2 Tim. 4:6–8; Matt. 25:31–34.