THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST.
By Elder F. M. Wilcox
CHRIST is coming the second time. There is no discord nor dissonance in the prophetic notes which declare this glorious truth. His coming will be the day of deliverance to his waiting people, the ushering in of their jubilee over Satan, sin, and death, the glad and grand fruition of their longing desires and eager expectations. But interesting queries cluster round this most important theme. Christ will come, but how? Will he come literally, or will his reign be that of his Spirit in the hearts of his people? Will his coming be visible, or will he come quietly and unobserved? Who and how many will witness his advent? These are a few of the queries that awakened interest presents to the mind of the earnest inquirer after truth. Does the Bible reveal a solution to these important problems? We may be assured that it does. No good thing will God withhold from his people, and no ray of light that will assist in the search for his treasure will fail to emanate from the Life and Light of the world. CHRIST WILL COME PERSONALLY AND LITERALLY.
This is clearly set forth in the sacred word. It was the comfort administered to the sorrowing disciples, as Christ informed them that he must soon be separated from them: "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 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 14:1-3. The time came when Christ, as he had said, departed from them. While they beheld, "a cloud received him out of their sight." Where now were their hopes? To whom now should they go for counsel? They were alone to face a cold and scoffing world. But as they gaze into the heavens, which have received their loved Master, two angels appear to their astonished gaze. No new message do these shining ones proclaim, but with words of comfort and consolation they reiterate the words of the Lord, words no doubt forgotten for the moment by the disciples, or if remembered but slightly understood at best: "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. "This same Jesus," how the words must have thrilled their hearts and lightened their spirits. It was not to be another, but the same—the same blessed Lord with whom they had traversed the hills and vales of old Judea, the same Teacher who had uttered such glorious truths and performed such mighty works around Galilee's blue waters. He was coming again. With cheered and gladdened hearts the lonely followers of261the ascended Lord turned from the heavenly vision and wended their way down the descent of Olivet, back to the city, where, not single-handed but in the strength and power and Spirit of the crucified and risen One, they could successfully cope with the powers of evil. Upon the literality of Christ's return does the great apostle to the Gentiles bear this emphatic testimony: "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." 1 Thess. 4:16. Christ himself was to return. No logic produced by Jew or Greek could unsettle this hope in the mind of the early disciples; nor need it be unsettled in our minds by all the doubt and skepticism of this age will we but accept the promise in the full assurance of faith as did they. But how will Christ return? Christ tells us that he will come with power and great glory. Matt. 24:30. The angels declared the same thing: "This same Jesus . . . shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. Christ went into heaven in a cloud—"a cloud received him out of their sight"—therefore when he returns it must be with clouds, for he "shall so come in like manner" as he went away, "and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory." Mark 13:26. It is not our province at this time to discuss the nature of these clouds or what they may represent. It is believed by some that the clouds here referred to represent the holy angelic host that form the escort and body guard of our Saviour to this earth, appearing in the distance a glorious, resplendent cloud, and we do not see that this view in any way conflicts with the Scripture account, or with the literality of the interpretation. Christ shall come in all "the glory of his Father." Matt. 16:27. No such mighty display of heavenly power, grandeur, and glory will come unheralded and unobserved. All the world will witness the triumph of Him whom they once despised, the glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords. HIS COMING WILL BE VISIBLE TO ALL MEN.
All the tribes of the earth shall witness his advent, and mourn that he has found them in their sins. Matt. 24:30. "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. Even so, Amen." Rev. 1:7. Not, then, as a silent meteor shall he descend the sky, nor as a thief in the night shall he come to take the goods of another; but in the full blaze of his Father's glory, attended by heaven's myriad host of shining angels, will he come to receive a kingdom which is his by right, and a people who are the purchase of his own precious blood. Happy in that day will be the man whose God is the Lord. Blessed are all they whose trust is in him. Reader, is Jesus your Saviour to-day? Does he dwell in your heart by faith? and is he indeed precious to your soul? May you have that experience in him here that will entitle you to citizenship in his glorious kingdom hereafter. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." "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."