The Second Advent by James White

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 24, 1872

The Second Advent.

By James White

The Manner and Object of the Event Considered.

BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.

TEXT: “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.

JESUS was soon to leave his disciples and ascend to the Father. And in his words of instruction and consolation he was preparing their minds for that event which would prove a great grief to them. His presence constituted their joy. His absence would be their sorrow. “Can the children of the bridechamber mourn, as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast.” Matt. 9:15. The real friends of our Lord will ever desire his tangible presence. Worldly professors, whose affections are placed upon the things of this life, will enjoy his absence quite as well. And while a worldly church may treat with indifference, or reject, or even scoff at, the Bible doctrine of the soon return of the Lord, those who truly love their divine Lord will receive the word relative to his coming with all gladness.

Our Lord was tenderly introducing to his disciples the subject of his ascent to Heaven. “Little children, yet a little while I am with you.” John 13:33. “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” Verse 36. This statement caused distress and consternation in the minds of the disciples, and led Peter to say to his Lord, “Why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.” Verse 37. Then follow the comforting words of the text, assuring the sorrowing disciples that their Lord would come again, and receive them to himself. With such a faith and hope, the waiting church of Jesus Christ may well sing:—

“How bright the vision! Oh! how long Shall this glad hour delay? Fly swifter round, ye wheels of time, And bring the welcome day.”

And while the church waits in joyous expectation of speedy deliverance, her Lord saith, “Surely I come quickly,” to which the church responds, “Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22:20. The certainty of the second advent of Christ, and the manner and object of his coming, are points of thrilling interest to all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.

He will appear the second time. Paul speaks directly upon this point: “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. Again he says, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13. Another apostle testifies to this point thus: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” 1 John 3:2.

The second advent of Christ will be personal and visible. This proposition is sustained by a large amount of testimony from the highest authority.

1. The Son of God himself, when addressing his disciples upon the subject of his second advent, pointed forward to the generation that should witness the signs of that event in the sun, moon, and stars, and said, “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” Matt. 24:30. See also Mark 13:26; 14:62; Luke 21:27; John 14:3.

2. Holy angels, at his ascension, made a most definite and decisive declaration relative to his personal and visible second advent. When Jesus was taken up from his disciples, they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went from them. And as a cloud was receiving him from their sight, two shining seraphs from the throne of Heaven appeared, and addressed them in these comforting words: “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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. The doctrine of the personal and visible appearing of our divine Lord here rests upon the veracity of the two holy ones in white apparel, who testified that the same Jesus would return again in like manner as he ascended to Heaven. And in agreement with the words of assurance from the angels are these of the Revelation: “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him.” Rev. 1:7.

3. Paul, the great apostle, testifies to the personal and visible second advent of Christ in language not to be misunderstood. He says: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God.” 1 Thess. 4:16. See also Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:2.

When the Lord shall appear the second time, sinners then living will be destroyed by fire, and the earth will be desolated. “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe in that day.” 2 Thess. 1:7–10. “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.” Chap. 2:8. See also Matt. 13:26–30; 37–43; 3:12; Luke 17:26–30.

The prophet describes the day of the destruction of the wicked, and the desolation of the earth, in these fearful words: “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. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible.” Isa. 13:9–11.

Again the prophet declares the terrors of that day, when the wicked shall be destroyed, and the earth shall be desolated: “Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof. . . . The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth and fadeth away, the world languisheth and fadeth away, the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate; therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Isa. 24:1–6. See also chapter 6:8–11; 24:1–15; 28:21, 22; Jer. 4:20, 27; 25:32–38; Zeph. 1:2, 3, 7–18; 3:6–8.

The words, “few men left,” in verse 6, do not mean that a few will be left on the earth; for the prophet declares that “the land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled.” Verse 3. God will destroy all who inhabit the earth at the time of the second advent, excepting the few living righteous who will be changed to immortality without tasting death.

At the second coming of Christ, the last trump will sound, the voice of the Archangel will be heard, the righteous dead will be raised, and the living righteous will be changed to immortality. It is then that victory over death and the grave is triumphantly shouted by all who receive the gift of eternal life at the last trump. “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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” 1 Cor. 15:51–55.

Again the apostle sets forth the hope and joy of the true church of Jesus Christ in all ages, while passing through persecutions and great tribulation, and while her members have been falling under the power of death and the grave, in these consoling words: “But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. [Note. God brought Jesus from the dead, and will also bring from the dead, with Jesus, all who sleep in him.] 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 [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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:13–18.

When this visible union of the Redeemer and the redeemed shall take place, then the church will be no more separated from her adorable Lord, but, with all the endowments of immortality, will ever be with him. The apostle states that the redeemed will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. They will not immediately return to the earth. The Lord will lead them up to the eternal city of the saved, to reign with him during the seventh millennium, in which time the earth will remain desolate.

Jesus had plainly told his disciples that he would leave them. “Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus answered him, Whither I go, thou canst not follow me now; but thou shalt follow me afterwards.” John 13:36. Jesus was soon to go up to the Father. The disciples could not follow their Lord then; but afterward, at the time of his second advent and the resurrection of the just, they should follow him up to Heaven, as he should return to his Father.

The disciples were pained to learn that their Lord would leave them. And he would comfort their troubled hearts by saying to them, “In my Father’s house are many mansions.” “I go to prepare a place for you.” “I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2, 3.

It is true that the earth made new, Rev. 21:5, when the holy city shall come down from Heaven upon it, verse 2, will be the final inheritance of the righteous. But Peter, with faith and hope inspired anew by the resurrection of Christ, points to Heaven as the place where the inheritance is reserved, and says: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Pet. 1:3–5. In this case the apostle refers only to the holy city, the metropolis of the inheritance complete. The redeemed will remain in the city above, and reign with their Lord in judgment, Rev. 20:4, during the seventh millennium.

The doctrine of the second appearing of Christ has been held by the church ever since her Lord ascended to the Father to prepare mansions for her reception. It is the event that consummates her hopes, terminates the period of her toil and sorrows, and introduces her eternal repose. What sublime scenes will then open before the waiting children of God! The blazing heavens will reveal the Son of God in his glory, surrounded by all the holy angels. The trumpet will sound, and the just will come forth from the grave, immortal. And all—Redeemer and redeemed, attended by the heavenly host—will move upward to the mansions prepared for them in the Father’s house.

To those who really love their absent Lord, the theme of his soon return to bestow immortality upon the dead and living righteous, is fraught with unspeakable blessedness. This event, with all its grand results, has always been the hope of the church. Paul could look over eighteen long centuries, and speak of it thus: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” Titus 2:13. And Peter exhorts: “Looking for and hasting unto

the coming of the day of God.” 2 Pet. 3:12. And Paul again, after speaking of the descent of the Lord from Heaven, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, and their ascent with the living righteous to meet the Lord in the air, says: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess. 4:18.

The second coming of Christ is a subject of great importance to the church. This is evident from the amount of testimony relative to it, in connection with the resurrection of the just, and the Judgment, found both in the Old and New Testaments. Popular orthodoxy may cast the doctrine aside as not essential to the Christian faith; yet it may be traced through the Sacred Scriptures, as made prominent by prophets, Jesus, and apostles. The Bible dwells upon essentials. It does not deal in non-essentials. When the Lord in his word gave his people a rule of faith and practice, he was careful to leave the non-essentials all out. Hence, “all Scripture,” says Paul, “given by inspiration of God, is profitable.” And let all the people say, Amen.

But the doctrine of the second appearing of Christ, made so very prominent in the Scriptures, is lost sight of by those who receive theories not found in the Scriptures. Thus the fulfillment of all the threatenings of God’s word, relative to the swift approaching day of wrath, and the revelation of the Son of God in flaming fire, to destroy the inhabitants of the earth, as they were once destroyed by water, are put far into the distant future, if not completely lost sight of, by the unscriptural doctrine of the world’s conversion and the temporal millennium.

The second personal appearing of Jesus Christ is most absurdly applied to several different things. Some teach that death is the second coming of Christ. This is not only a violation of plain Scripture declarations, but of the laws of language. There can be but a single second advent of Christ, while this misty sentiment has as many appearings of Jesus as there are deaths. The early disciples did not receive the idea that death was the second coming of Christ. “Peter,” seeing the beloved John, “saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me.” Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die; yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?” John 21:21–23.

So far were the disciples from holding that death was the second coming of Christ, that when they understood their Lord to intimate that John might remain until his return, they at once concluded that he would not die; and from them went this saying abroad. No; instead of receiving the idea that the second advent of Christ, in any sense whatever, took place at death, they regarded it as an event that would forever put an end to the power of death over the righteous.

And what foggy theology is this, that makes death the second appearing of Christ! He is coming as the Life-giver, and the believer’s best friend. Death is the life-taker, and man’s last enemy. 1 Cor. 15:26. Christ is coming to give life to the just, and to destroy him that hath the power of death, that is, the devil. Heb. 2:14. Mark this: The devil has the power of death, and, in the providence of God, is permitted to send the barbed arrow even to the heart of the just, lay him low in death, and lock him in the tomb. But the Life-giver, having passed under the dominion of death, and having been gloriously raised from the embrace of the grave, triumphantly says, “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades] and of death.” Rev. 1:18. The devil holds the power of death. Christ holds the keys of death and the grave, and at his second appearing he will unlock the tombs of the just, break the power of death, their last enemy, and lead them forth to immortal and eternal scenes of glory. Astonishing, that modern theologians should assert that death is the second coming of Christ!

Again, conversion is said to be the second coming of Christ. Then there are as many second comings of Christ as there are conversions. There can be but one second appearing of Jesus Christ. And, again, the manifestations of the Holy Spirit are said to be the second advent of Christ. Hence, men talk of the spiritual coming of Christ, and his spiritual reign for one thousand years. But here, also, they are involved in the difficulty of a plurality of second comings of Christ; for in this case they would have Christ appear at each gracious manifestation of the Holy Spirit. There can be but a single second advent of Christ.

But more than this, those who hold the doctrine of the spiritual coming and reign of Christ have things badly confused. May the Lord help them to see the difference between the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and the personal presence of Christ at his second appearing, while we appeal to the Scriptures. “I will pray the Father,” says Jesus, “and he shall give you another Comforter.” John 14:16. This language implies more than one comforter. When Christ was with his people, he was their comforter. In his absence, the Father was to send another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth. During the absence of the Son, the Holy Spirit was to be his representative, and the comforter of his sorrowing people. The facts in the case are distinctly stated in the following impressive words: “But now I go my way to Him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? But because I have said these things unto you, sorrow hath filled your heart. Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” John 16:5–8.

And again, the Shakers see the second appearing of Christ in the person of Ann Lee. And the Mormons see the fulfillment of the prophecies relative to the coming and kingdom of Christ in the gathering of “the latter-day saints.” And the spiritualists generally agree in saying, Lo, here is the second advent of Christ in the manifestations of spiritualism.

In the prophetic discourse of Matt. 24 and 25, covering the entire Christian age, our Lord, after speaking of the tribulation of the church under papal persecutions, says of our time: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” Matt. 24:23, 24. The word then in this passage points to a specific period of time when “Lo, here is Christ, and lo, he is there,” would be heard. Our Lord here describes the spiritual deceptions of the present age. False christs arose not far from the first advent, to deceive the Jews in regard to that event (Matt. 24:5); likewise false christs and false prophets have arisen at this day to deceive the people on the subject of the second advent.

The Time of the End, a work of no small ability and importance, properly calls the doctrine of the temporal millennium a modern novelty. From the popular error of a temporal millennium and spiritual reign of Christ, have grown the mystical applications of the plainest declarations of Scripture relative to the second appearing of the Life-giver, to death, to conversion, to the manifestations of the Holy Spirit, to Shakerism, to Mormonism, and to spiritualism.

How forcible are the words of our Lord when applied to the subject before us: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.” Matt. 24:23. No one need fail to see who the men are who are crying, “Lo, here is Christ, and, Lo, he is there!” The Lord continues in verses 25 and 26: “Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.” Our Lord is here dwelling upon what he has just before told them. His subject is still the teachings of those who cry, “Lo, here is Christ!” “Lo, he is there!” If the Mormons say, “Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth.” Or, if you hear proclaimed from the popular pulpits of our time, “Behold, he is in the secret chambers,” Christ’s second coming is spiritual, at death, or at conversion, “believe it not.”

And why not receive such mystical teachings? The reason is given in the next verse: “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” We are very happy that our Lord has not only pointed out false prophets, and has warned us against their mystical teachings, but he has in contrast set before us the manner of his second coming in the plainest terms. The vivid lightning, flashing out of the distant east, and shining even to the west, lights up the whole heavens. This, probably, is the most appropriate figure that our Lord could employ to illustrate the flaming glory that will attend his second advent, when he shall come attended by all the holy angels. The presence of only one holy angel at the new sepulcher where Christ lay in death caused the Roman guard to shake and become as dead men. The light and glory of a single angel completely overpowered those strong sentinels. The Son of man is coming in his own kingly glory, and in the glory of his Father, attended by all the holy angels.

All the holy angels are coming with the Lord. Not one will be left in Heaven. The number of angels round about the throne, as the body-guard of the Son of God, are “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands.” See Rev. 5:11. And Paul speaks of the heavenly messengers as “an innumerable company of angels.” Heb. 12:22. What grandeur! What dazzling brightness! when the King of kings shall come down the lighted vault of heaven, attended by all the flaming seraphs of the heavenly world! Then the whole heavens will blaze with glory, and the whole earth will tremble before him.