Christ's Second Coming---A Part of the Gospel Plan
By A. R. Ogden
OUR Lord's coming has long been the hope of the righteous, a theme of hope and cheer to the people of God in all ages. Of the surety of the event, patriarchs, prophets, and apostles have all alike written and spoken in no uncertain terms. The culmination of the gospel centers in this event as the climax of God's work on earth for a sinful world. It is not a new doctrine, for "Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints." Thus we see that it comes to us a doctrine from the earliest times of earth's history. In the working out of the plan of human redemption, as revealed through Jesus Christ, God provided that when the fullness of time should come, Christ, His only-begotten Son, should leave the courts of glory, lay aside His divinity, take upon Himself humanity, and live a life among men, in due time giving His own life for the sins of the world. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16. He died! The sacrifice has been made. Salvation is open and free, so that "whosoever will" may "take the water of life freely." Shortly after His death, burial, and resurrection, which events are held dear in the heart and mind of every Christian by the sacred ordinances of the baptismal rite and the communion service, He ascended on high, leaving His disciples to finish His work on earth. Before His departure from this world, He gave to the apostles, and through them to us, the assuring promise, "I will come again." John 14:3. It is therefore clear that in the great plan of God, Christ will come again. Heb. 9:28. Through and by virtue of the first advent of Christ, we get redemption from sin through faith in His shed blood. But another and in many ways a more important event is the second coming of Christ. By His first coming it is possible for the inhabitants of earth to prepare for His second coming. When He comes the second time, all who are not prepared to meet Him will be eternally lost. How important, then, that all prepare; for prepared or unprepared, we will individually meet Him. In this brief paper, I think it not necessary to enter into a prolonged argument proving the surety of the event. Just as surely as He was on earth once, so surely will He "come again." On the occasion of His ascension, the positive assurance was given, "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. A personal coming, "this same Jesus," "in like manner"! He will therefore come not in secret nor in some mysterious manner, but will return just the same as He left. He left in a cloud. He will come with clouds. Rev. 1:7. It will be a visible coming. "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." Matt. 24:27. "And My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Rev. 22:12. The same truth is taught in many texts of Scripture. We herewith give a few references without quoting the text: Matt. 25:31-46; Mark 8:38; Matt. 13:38-43; Isa. 25:9; etc. The subject of Christ's coming can not be too highly regarded, and is one worthy our most careful and unprejudiced consideration. The promise is "unto them that look for Him." Heb. 9:28. With Paul, we may expect our final reward at that time, with "all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4:8. It is therefore right and important that we "look for" and "love" His appearing. Since it is a fact that Christ will come again sometime, there is a possibility that He might come in this our day. But would an event of that importance come upon the world unannounced? God has not so dealt with earth's inhabitants in the past. The antediluvians were warned for one hundred and twenty years that a flood was coming. Noah, a special messenger, faithfully proclaimed the message, and by so doing condemned the world. Heb. 11:7. It was a message of life and death — life to those who accepted, and death to those who rejected7it. The first advent of our Saviour was heralded by a chosen messenger, John Baptist by name. Would it be reasonable to believe that the event of all events of earth's history would come upon the world suddenly and unexpectedly, without any note of warning? I believe not. The Scriptures plainly teach that even tho we may not know the day or the hour of the event, we are to know when it is near, even at the door. Matt. 24:29, 37. "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light." 1 Thess. 5:4, 5. It is evident, therefore, that the Lord desires His people to know something about the proximity of that event. Christ assures us that "there shall be signs." Luke 21:25. The question of the disciples (Matt. 24:3), "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" seemed to elicit a very full and definite answer from the Saviour. He did not pass the question as one of little importance. He gave definite and specific as well as general signs that would show when that event would be near, "even at the door." Among the definite, specific signs, He said that the sun and moon should be darkened and the stars would fall from heaven. Verse 29. This darkening would not be an eclipse, for there have been many eclipses. It would necessarily be an unnatural darkening; and such a darkening of the sun and moon occurred May 19, 1780. The stars fell November 13, 1833. Hence these definite signs have been fulfilled. We are stating a fact but mildly when we say that every sign and prophecy of the Bible evidencing the soon coming of Christ has already been fulfilled or is to-day in the process of fulfillment. Signs in the social, the political, the religious, the sidereal, and the physical world all unite in proclaiming that we have come to the "last days" of earth's history, and that Christ's second coming is an event not far distant. The above facts being true, we would naturally expect to see some movement in the world definitely announcing the event; for before the Lord comes, "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Prophecy shows (Dan. 8:14) that we have been living in the judgment hour period since 1844, for at that time terminated the last and longest period of time prophecy in all the Bible. No definite prophetic date reaches farther down the stream of time than the close of the 2,300 prophetic days, which terminated, as before stated, in 1844. Therefore the clock of time has struck the hour for the definite, world-wide message of Christ's soon coming. See Rev. 14:6-16. It is a fact well known to all who are keeping abreast the conditions of the world, that during the last century, and especially the last half of the last century, unparalleled progress has been made in foreign mission activity. The Bible has been translated into hundreds of the languages and dialects of the world, until to-day the Book may be read by practically all of earth's inhabitants, in their own vernacular. This is truly remarkable when we consider that only about one hundred years ago the first Bible society was organized for a general publication and distribution of the word of God. Remarkable have been the providences of God in opening the doors of all the world for the proclamation of the gospel. The definite message announcing the soon coming of Jesus is to-day by hundreds and thousands of voices being heralded in all lands. Soon — how soon, none can tell — the work will be finished in the earth, probation will close, and Jesus come. The supreme question to every individual is, Am I prepared for that event? The message of heaven to all earth's inhabitants is going. The call of heaven to each soul is, "Prepare to meet thy God."