NO TRUTH is any more plainly taught in the Bible than is the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Says the apostle, “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 ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM.
How the Lord will appear is just as plainly told in Acts 1:11: “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.” This could have meant only one thing to the disciples who had seen the Lord, and even handled him after his resurrection, namely, a visible, personal, bodily appearing; and if we receive their witness, it can mean nothing less than that to us, for this same thought stands out prominently in very many texts bearing upon the subject, not only in the New Testament but also in the Old.
Another truth just as plainly taught in the Scriptures as the second coming of our Lord, is that while no man knows the day or hour of the second advent, the people of God will not be overtaken as by a thief. Says the apostle, “Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:4. And again, in Matt. 24:32, 33, we find our Saviour himself giving this charge in view of certain signs which he had just foretold: “Now learn a parable of the fig tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin, ‘he’] is near, even at the doors.”
As might be expected in view of the facts already cited, and sustained by plain texts of Scripture, the Bible teaches that a warning message goes to the world just before the end, to prepare a people for the coming of the day of God. This is more than hinted at in verses 42–51 of the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, while it is plainly commanded in many other scriptures. Says the prophet Joel: “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” This scripture can no more fail of fulfilment than could the prophecy that foretold the entry of the Saviour into Jerusalem; and on that occasion he said of those who were sounding his praises, “If these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.” Luke 19:40. God had foretold that event, and his word could not fail. No more has it failed, nor can it fail, in regard to the proclamation of the second advent. The message of the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ is now going to the world. In every land and in every clime is heard the warning, “The day of the Lord cometh,” “it is nigh at hand.”
But, sad truth, while some are sounding this warning and some are receiving and obeying the truth, others are fulfilling the words of Peter: “There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming?” But none need to occupy this position, for the apostle adds, “For this they willingly are ignorant.” God has given us “line upon line, and precept upon precept.” No one needs to remain in such ignorance. The promise is, “The meek will he guide in judgment; and the meek will he teach his way.” It is the privilege of every soul to love “that blessed hope” (Titus 2:13) now, and in the near future to realize its consummation. C. P. B.
