The Coming of a Literal Christ.
A FEW more direct and unmistakable evidences of the coming of the Lord himself will be noticed. 4. "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. This accords precisely with the words of Jesus himself, "If I go away, I will come again." Says Paul, he shall "appear the second time." He came once to bear sin; he will come again, but without sin. Then his priesthood will be ended. Henceforth sinners must bear their own sins. That day will be a day of glory to the righteous, and of terror to the wicked. 5. "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." Col. 3:4. 6. "And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." 1 Peter 5:4. These two texts are exact parallels. A comment on one would be a comment on both. But they need no comment; no one can mistake their language. 7. "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 is not possible that they who spiritualize the second coming of Christ, can successfully use this scripture. It does not refer to the death of the saints; for every eye does not see him in such an event; much less do they who pierced him see him at such a time, in any sense. We have shown, and shall further show, that the resurrection is contingent upon his coming, and nothing less than a resurrection can fulfill the scriptures which we have quoted and shall quote. 8. "And 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. In this text, as in the last one previously quoted, the tribes, or kindreds, of the earth, wail at his appearing. But the saints will rejoice; for, "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. 9. "It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled [to recompense] 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." 2 Thess. 1:6-8. Here is shown why it is that the tribes of the earth mourn at the coming of Christ. It is the day of the overthrow of the ungodly nations, yes, of all the unrighteous of every tribe and nation. But it is the day of restoration, of redemption, of deliverance and rest, to the people of God. In regard to the wailing of the kindreds of the earth, compare Rev. 6:15-17. 10. "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. In Col. 3:4, we learned that we shall appear with him in glory when he appears. In 1 Peter 5:4, we find that the crown of glory will be given when he appears. In the text here quoted, Jesus says his reward is with him when he comes, to give every man according as his work shall be. He is bold indeed, who will deny such plain declarations, so evident in their intention. 11. Paul gave his charge to Timothy before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, "who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom." After giving him his charge to the ministry, he speaks of his own labors and his expectations: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing." 2 Tim. 4:1-8. In regard to the time of receiving the reward, the crown of life or righteousness, these words exactly coincide with those of all the texts quoted. On no subject in all the Scriptures is the evidence more clear, full, and harmonious than on the second coming of the Lord himself, this same Jesus, literally to the eyes of all classes and nations, and that the reward is to be given at that day. 12. But plain and clear as is the evidence, we are forewarned that it will be denied and derided; that it will be a subject of ridicule and scoffing. "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." 2 Peter 3:3, 4. We are living in the very days of which the prophet spoke. In no other age was the doctrine of the second advent the subject of scoffing, a doctrine denied. In all past ages it was the hope of the church, because they rested upon the precious promises which we have recited. For this hope, see the following scripture. 13. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Titus 2:13. Literally, "the appearing of the glory of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ." And this exactly agrees with the words of our Saviour: "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." Matt. 16:27. We have not exhausted this testimony; but, as far as convincing any people of the truth stated is concerned, why pursue it any further? And we return to the idea of the prophecies of the two advents. Will any reader please compare the prophecies of the first advent with those of the second advent, only a part of which we have quoted, and say if we are not right, that there was far less infidelity on the part of the Jew in denying the facts of the first advent, than there is on the part of the professed Christian in denying the second advent? Every literal fact of the first advent confirms the doctrine of the literal second advent. The Jew had less, far less, explaining away to do to evade the truth of the first advent, than Christians have to evade the truth of the second advent. They may reply: "We believe all those scriptures, but we find it possible to give another meaning to them." True; and so could the Jew put another meaning to the scriptures which spoke of his first advent. Often, when conversing with Hebrews concerning the advent of the Messiah, and his mission, as fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth, have we heard the exact parallel of the popular arguments against the literality of the second advent. It is not difficult for them to find other meanings to the prophecies of the first advent, but are they true meanings? It is not permitted to inquire how many possible meanings we can put upon the sacred word, but, What is the actual meaning? It is not difficult to invent other than the actual meaning, but all such will lead us astray. And so we return to the question of the Saviour which we quoted at the beginning, "How readest thou?" There are other lines of argument which are conclusive in themselves; taken in connection with the positive declarations which we have quoted, they make the evidence irresistible. We refer especially to the arguments drawn from the doctrines of the Judgment and the resurrection, which will next be noticed.