Jesus, the Messiah, is coming again. This the blessed Bible abundantly affirms. He is coming as a flaming fire; He is also coming as a Saviour, a King, a mighty Conqueror. Many will die when they see Him, because of the overpowering, resplendent glory. "All kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him." But, blessed be God, others will greet Him with gladness and be changed from glory to glory. How will Christ come to you?
There are different comings of Christ, and over this many become confused. Understanding nothing of His threefold office of prophet, priest, and king, they are easily misled by erroneous the somewhat plausible theories. It is said that there is a "secret rapture" for the saints, and then a public coming later; that the "secret rapture" is the coming as a thief; but in the later appearing all will see Him.
Three Comings.
There are three different events in the close of Christ's work, referred to in our English versions as "coming." These all come in close connection and are vitally associated together. They are included in the expression, "the day when the Son of man is revealed." In fact, "the coming of the Son of man" sometimes includes all the various events connected with His second appearance.
"The Bridegroom Came."
The first of these comings is expressed in the above scripture; but the text (Matt. 25:10), nor the parable in which it is found, does not tell us the time of this coming, but it reveals this, that it is when the marriage of the Lamb is about to be consummated, or when the Bridegroom comes to take His bride.
The bride is the New Jerusalem. The angel said to John, "Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife." Rev. 21:9. And the next verse reveals as clearly as words can who the bride is: "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God." Paul says in Gal. 4:26, "But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all." And Isa. 9:6 declares that Christ is "the everlasting Father." We are of God, begotten through Him. Jerusalem is our mother, and is therefore the Lamb's wife.
“As a Thief.”
But this New Jerusalem is also the capital of the Abrahamic inheritance, or the kingdom of the Seed, Christ. It is that city for which Abraham looked, "whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11:10), the capital of that "better country" (verse 16). Isaiah tells us: "Thou [Jerusalem] shall no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate; but thou shalt be called
Hephzibah [My delight is in her], and thy land Beulah [married]; for the Lord delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee; and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." Isa. 62:4, 5. Jerusalem which is above is now said to be barren; the children have not yet come home, and she is represented as mourning for them. See Isa. 54:1; Gal. 4:26, 27. But of the waiting city, representing the entire glorious kingdom, it is said: "Thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of Hosts is His name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall He be called." The Bridegroom is Christ, and the bride is His everlasting kingdom, of which the New Jerusalem is the representative or the capital city, the palace of the King, the home of His redeemed people, the church of the living God.
When Does Christ Take This Kingdom?
He was not a King while here; He prevented those from making Him King who so desired. He went away from earth "to receive for Himself a kingdom, and to return." Luke 19:11, 12. He now reigns a kingly Priest on His Father's throne. Rev. 3:21; Heb. 8:1; 5:10; 7:1, 2. He sits on the Father's right hand till His foes are subdued by the Father. Ps. 110:1.
In the end of Christ's priestly work, at the end of the gathering out of subjects for His kingdom, when man's probationary period is2ending, Christ goes in before His Father. This is the coming to receive the kingdom. So the prophet states:—
“I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him.” Verses 13, 14.
This coming, therefore, is not a coming to this earth, but a coming to the Ancient of Days in heaven, where He sits as judge in the last closing work, in the most holy place of the heavenly temple. Christ not only finishes His work as priest in the most holy place, but He then receives His kingdom. This was the coming or going in of the Bridegroom. This occurred in 1844. His people by faith follow Him in this work.
Coming to Reckon.
The second of these comings of Christ is after this judgment is over, and He comes to reckon with His servants, or decides forever the cases of all living. Matt. 25:19. At the time this judgment work closes, the following decree goes forth previous to the glorious appearing to this earth:—
“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly.” Rev. 22:11, 12.
This coming to reckon ushers in a time of momentous importance. When that decree goes forth, the day of salvation ends and the day of Jehovah's fierce anger begins. Zeph. 2:1-3. This is evident from the decree itself. That day will be of greater moment to those then living than any other ever known. It will not be ushered in by the sound of a trumpet or shout of Archangel. Christ will simply lay off His priestly robes, and put on the garments of vengeance. Isa. 59:17, 18; Rev. 15:5-8. This does not mean an arbitrary cutting off of God's mercy toward the wicked; it is the sad announcement of the God of love that men have decided their own cases by wilfully closing their ears to His appeals, and their hearts to His love. They have so identified themselves with the sin that with the sin they must be destroyed. The approach of this time will not be indicated any more than was the approach of the angel of Jehovah, who slew the firstborn of Egypt; in the language of Scripture, that day “will come as a thief in the night.” 2 Peter 3:10. The following passages, and similar, refer to the same time:—
“For ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched. . . . Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Matt. 24:42-44. “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh [hēkō, is come] shall find so doing.” Verse 46. “After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.” Matt. 25:19. “Ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning.” Mark 13:35. Luke 12:40. “Will come [hēkō, will have come] in a day when he looketh not for Him.” Luke 12:46. “The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.” “Are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.” 1 Thess. 5:2, 4. “If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come [hēkō, will have come] on thee as a thief.” Rev. 3:3.
The fitness of speaking of this event as a coming will be seen if we will consider the change in relation between Christ and mankind. Previous to this time He appears in the presence of God for them as priest, pleading His blood in their behalf; but when that day is reached, men will have rejected His mercy, and He is no longer priest, but appears as judge, to execute sentence. But this coming is not to this earth, but a coming forth from the heavenly sanctuary, where He has till this time stayed the vials of wrath from the world, to execute judgment upon the guilty. Rev. 11:15-19; 15:5-8; Dan. 12:1. Those who have accepted Christ, will not be overtaken as a thief. Like the Israelites in Egypt, the sprinkled blood of the Lamb of God will keep far from them every plague. Psalm 91.
His Strange Work.
This coming to execute judgment, or the beginning of the day of the Lord, when Christ closes His work as high priest, is thus alluded to by the prophet:—
“For the Lord shall rise up as in Mount Perazim, He shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that He may do His work, His strange work; and bring to pass His act, His strange act. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong; for I have heard from the Lord God of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.” Isa. 28:21, 22.
By referring to Josh. 10:10, 11 it will be seen how final wrath fell upon the enemies of God. Great hailstones were cast upon them, such as will be under the last plague when all the wicked perish. Rev. 16:21; Job 38:22, 23. This will be indeed God's strange work and strange act. Heretofore wrath has been restrained; but when that event takes place, and Christ comes forth from the heavenly sanctuary, and wrath is released upon the wicked, it will be doing His strange work. Sin must of necessity be destroyed, and men have so identified themselves with sin that they must perish with it. God's mercy is manifest in their destruction. The garment of the righteousness of God and the shield and buckler of truth alone will save man then. That day will come as a thief, but it will not overtake the faithful as a thief. He who watches not will have his house spoiled by the thief, but he who watches will not be taken unawares. Even so it will be when the day of the Lord comes, and Christ comes forth from His work as priest. Will His coming be as a thief to you?
His “Glorious Appearing.”
The third coming is the glorious forthshining of Christ's presence as King of kings and Lord of lords. If His sprinkled blood is upon us, if we are sealed with the seal of the living God, we shall shout glad welcome to our “King in His beauty,” and be changed to immortality, to reign forever with Him in the kingdom of eternal peace and joy. X.
