THE COMING OF THE LORD.
By C. P. B.
THERE is no doctrine any more plainly taught in the sacred Scriptures than is the doctrine of the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. The apostle Jude tells us that Enoch prophesied of the glorious advent of Christ, when he shall come "to execute judgment upon all." Jude 15. The patriarch Job, standing, as it were, upon the brink of the grave, exclaimed: "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." Job 19:25, 26. And to the same intent is the testimony of the psalmist: "Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about him." Ps. 50:3. This can refer only to the coming spoken of by Enoch and by Job, for it is at that time that the dead are raised, and that judgment is executed upon the ungodly. It is, however, in the New Testament that the light of divine truth shines most clearly upon this important doctrine. There is recorded the promise of the Saviour himself: "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself." John 14:3. Also the words of the angels to the sorrowing disciples: "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. These, together with many other texts in the Gospels and the Epistles, present the doctrine of the second literal appearing of our Lord in a way that cannot be misunderstood. Indeed, it is one of the few points upon which almost all denominations of Christians are agreed; there may be difference in opinion as to the manner of the Lord's coming, and as to the time of his coming, whether it will be pre-millennial or post-millennial, and as to the object of his coming, but there is practically no difference as to the fact of his coming; all receive literally the words of the apostle: "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. But the text just quoted not only asserts the fact of the second coming of Christ; it also asserts the object of that coming; the latter fact is not, however, so generally recognized as the former. In his first advent Christ came to die for his people, but not to afford them deliverance at once from the consequences of sin; he came, not to take them out of the world, but to teach them that while living in the world they were to be separate from the world. But when he comes again it will be to receive them unto himself, that where he is there they may be also. John 14:3. This is also stated by the apostle, who says: "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." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. It is not necessary to dwell upon this point; the texts cited show as plainly as can be shown that when the Lord comes the second time he comes that9his people may be with him; and this at least infers that they cannot be with him till he does come. That this is really true will appear from several considerations. It is evident that though the Lord is with his people at all times by his Spirit, the living cannot in this life be with him in the sense in which the term is used in 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. In order that they be with him bodily he must come and take them, as the Scripture says that he will do. But how is it with the dead? may they not be with Christ before his coming? Certainly not. Says the psalmist: "The dead praise not the Lord" (Ps. 115:17), and with this agree the words of Hezekiah, Isa. 38:18, 19. Surely if they were with him they could praise him; but, as before remarked, even the words of the Saviour, "I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also," clearly imply that his followers can be with him in no other way. Christ knew that those to whom he spoke would die; he gave not the least intimation, however, that they should be with him by that means; but he did promise to come again that they might be with him. How he will come was stated by the angels,—he will come in like manner as he went away, come literally, visibly, personally, "and every eye shall see him." Acts 1:11; Rev. 1:7. Notice too the agreement of Paul's words with those of our Saviour. Says the apostle: "The Lord himself shall descend;" "the dead in Christ shall rise;" "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." Speaking of this same time the prophet says: "He will swallow up death in victory. . . . And it shall be said in that day, 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." In view of these things surely every Christian heart can, with the beloved disciple upon the lonely isle of Patmos, respond heartily to the Lord's assurance of his coming, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." What the Scriptures teach in regard to the time of the Lord's coming must be reserved for another article. C. P. B.