The Coming of the Lord by L. A. Phippeny

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 20, 1902

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 34.

The Coming of the Lord

By L. A. Phippeny

BY L. A. PHIPPENY

THE FORTHSHINING OF HIS PRESENCE.

And the people shall be troubled at midnight, and pass away; and the mighty shall be taken away without hand.” Job 34:20. This remarkable prophecy indicates the specific time of the Lord’s appearing. It is at midnight that the brightness far exceeding the noonday brilliancy of the sun bursts upon the world, and the Lord in terrible majesty comes for the deliverance of His people.

These words suggest the thought that twenty-four hours are occupied in the work of resurrecting and gathering together the glorified followers of Christ. At this time Christ does not actually descend upon the earth. He takes His position in the air, probably first over Palestine, the scene of His labors on earth, and remains stationary, surrounded by the hosts of the saints who are then resurrected and translated in that portion of the world, and who are caught up by the angels to their Lord. As the earth revolves, the hour of midnight with its awe-inspiring and unparalleled scenes is arrived at by every portion of the globe, and the angelic messengers speed hither and yon to the resting places of the saints, bearing them to the waiting glory as they come forth in response to the voice of the Son of God and the loud call of the trump of the archangel.

While this resurrection is the resurrection of the righteous, the Scriptures indicate that those who were particularly instrumental in persecuting Christ and His true followers will come forth from their graves at the summons of the King to witness the glory and triumph of Him whom they condemned. “Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see Him; and they also which pierced Him” (Rev. 1:7) is the record concerning this event. In response to the question of the high priest as to His divinity, Jesus said, “I am [the Christ]; and ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” Mark 14:62. To this apply in particular also the words of the angel to Daniel: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Dan. 12:2. This special resurrection, if we may call it such, is however only for the purpose referred to, and the specially resurrected ones will speedily meet the common fate of the ungodly who are living at the time of the second advent.

With what different emotions will this event be regarded by the righteous and by the wicked! A prophet of old, looking forward to that time, places these words on the lips of the righteous: “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. The wicked are filled with terror, and flee from the face of the One whom they have rejected, calling for the mountains and the rocks to fall upon them. This is the time so often mentioned by prophets, by priests, by people; the time long looked for. It is literally

The End of the World,

the end of the age. “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come,” are the words applied to the time by the prophet Joel. Listen to the inspired language of Zephaniah as he views the terrible scenes of the last day: “That day, is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the Lord; and their blood shall be poured out as dust. . . . Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord’s wrath; but the whole land shall be devoured by the fire of His jealousy; for He shall make even a speedy riddance of all them that dwell in the land.” Zeph. 1:14–18.

The foregoing picture does not harmonize well with the popular view of the second coming of Christ and the ushering in of the millenium. True, it is not a pleasant picture; but the Lord has deemed it wise to portray in vivid language the events that must soon take place. There is a voice in the land saying, “Peace, and safety;” and it is proper to direct men’s minds to the true situation as the Lord pictures it. “It is the day of the Lord’s vengeance, and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion,” are the inspired words of Isaiah. “Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.” Isa. 13:9; 34:8.

How clearly this language reveals the unprecedented overturning of nations and the destruction of earth-kingdoms, and of existing social conditions at the second coming of Christ! He does not come to bring peace to the troubled state of human affairs, but rather to decree an end to the long reign of sin by the only means left for that purpose. The wicked perish in the presence of righteousness. “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire yielding vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thess. 1:7, 8. The “man of sin,” and every one in whom is the spirit of self-exaltation and pride, “the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. This death meted out to the wicked is the first death. There will be also a “second death” (Rev. 20:14) for the unrighteous.

Of this time the following striking words are spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. . . . The earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host

of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth.” Isa. 24:17–21.

This is the end of the age, but not the time of the “full end” of the wicked. It is, however, the time when “the wicked cease from troubling,” and “the prisoners rest together.” It is the beginning of a long night to the wicked; the dawning of the bright day of eternity for the righteous. Speaking of sinners, the psalmist says, referring to the time under consideration: “Like sheep they are laid in the grave; death shall feed upon them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning.” Ps. 49:14. Thus perish the ungodly in the day of resurrection for the upright.

What then becomes of the translated and resurrected saints?—They have been “caught up together” off from the earth to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thess. 4:17. This is the happy moment to which the dying children of God have looked in all ages. This is the glad time of the harvest, the joyful moment when families and friends separated by the cruel hand of death meet again in a reunion that will know no end. With glorified bodies and with a thrilling sense of eternal life they now shout, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:55.

Said Jesus 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. The resurrection accomplished, every faithful soul rescued from the dungeons of death, the number of the kingdom completed, the Redeemer and the redeemed turn their faces toward “the land that is very far off” (Isa. 33:17), to the mansions prepared in the Father’s house, to the heaven of heavens, the home of the angels, the throne of the Eternal.

But will not the saints grieve for the lost ones of earth? for many families and dear friends will be separated forever at that day. I think there will be sorrow, but with it will be a vivid realization and recognition of God’s willingness to save all who would be saved. He has dealt justly by all, and in that day, and more and more as years and ages roll by, the terrible results of sin will be manifest; the great sacrifice will be appreciated as never before; the beauty and enduring principles of righteousness, and the love of God which passeth understanding will unfold with ever new glories, and time, which “heals all wounds,” will, as it becomes eternity, heal the cruel wounds caused by sin. Above all, God is just and good, and His Word of love now is: “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Ezek. 33:11. To-day is the day of salvation; to-morrow may be too late.

[The next article in the series is “The Millenium.”]