The Coming of Our King

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Dec 24, 1912

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 39, No. 50.

The Coming of Our King

(A Review of Our Six Months' Series)

THE world loves loyal men — men that will stand for what they believe to be right. They love the patriot that is true to his king and his country; whether they believe in Christianity or not, they admire the Christian who is loyal to his religion, to his God, his Saviour, his King.

Jesus Christ is that King.

He left heaven with all its glory once, and came to this world, was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and died in order that He might save men. In His Divine-human nature He has been the High Priest of humanity since that time, pleading the merits of the offering that He made for mankind.

He is coming again, coming as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, coming not a friendless Stranger cradled in the manger of a rude inn, coming not to travel, foot-worn and weary, the hills and dales of Judea, or any other part of earth, coming not again in lowly human form to be rejected of men, coming not again to die upon the cross. He is coming as King, coming in all the glory of the Father, the outshining of His own character, accompanied by the holy angels of God.

In the light of that glory, everything identified with sin will shrivel and perish; but in that same light all those who have received Jesus Christ and His life within, will be changed from mortality to immortality.

It is a question of transcendent importance. He has the right to come to His own. He purchased it, He created it, and when sold under sin, He purchased it with His own precious blood. It belongs to Him. He is only waiting now to gather out all those who will receive Him, that they may be saved at His coming. That coming we believe to be soon. We believe that there are precursors of His coming, omens of His coming, indications when the King is near. Some of these we present briefly, merely calling attention to them in this article, a summary of what the SIGNS OF THE TIMES is teaching every six months.

Those who love Him should know something about His coming. The Most High has said in His Word, "The Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. And in the New Testament we are assured that "We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts." 2 Peter 1:19. And the apostle Paul assures the believers who are living when the Master comes, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

Evidences in Prophecy

One of the great, central objects in the beautiful French capital, Paris, is the Arch of Triumph, a work of masonry two hundred feet high, commemorating great victories of Napoleon. Leading up to this Arch of Triumph are twelve streets. Between the arch and these streets there is an open space of ground. Imagine to yourself, on some great, historic gala day in France, that it was said that there would be twelve companies of soldiers, which would march down those twelve streets to take part in the coronation of a king. The program of events published does not give the precise time when this coronation shall take place, but the people are told that when these companies of soldiers reach the open space, the beginning of the end has come; they may look then for the near coronation of the king. If they are told, besides that, that when these companies reached that open space certain maneuvers or exercises would take place on all sides of that great monument, they might then know the coronation was very near. Some of these maneuvers or exercises would precede others, but when all were taking place together, they might know that the coronation was at hand, and the future monarch of France would very soon appear.

God has given us just such evidences as these. There will come a time when the great hour of Christ's triumph will draw near, and the coming King will appear in the clouds of heaven. And in order that we may know that this is near, God has given us twelve great prophetic highways down which historic events have been traveling for hundreds of years, and all these historic events have reached the open ground, to Christ's coming, or, in other words, have brought us down to the time of the end. Let us name some of these. We have not time to consider them at all in detail. We plead with our readers to place study upon them.

1. The Alphabet of Symbolic Prophecy

First we have the alphabet of symbolic prophecy in Daniel 2, in which the kingdom of man is represented by the Lord, in a dream, to one of earth's greatest monarchs, as a changeable, deteriorating thing, falling away in value, and at last crumbling and broken in strength. The symbol of a great image is used, the image of a man, representing the kingdom of man. It consists of four metallic parts, beginning with the head,—gold and silver and brass and iron, representing, respectively, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, the great dominant dynasties of earth from Nebuchadnezzar's day onward. The prophet sees clay entering among the iron,—crumbling, brittle clay. He is told that this represents a kingdom partly strong and partly broken—a kingdom that is divided—inasmuch as iron and clay will not cleave together; and that this imperial Roman Empire, broken by the democracy of clay, will continue that way till the end. THEN, in the DAYS of its DIVIDED CONDITION, the Most High shall set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. Nor will that kingdom give way to other successors, as did the preceding empires, but it, with its subjects, shall stand forever. The life of the kingdom is eternal, the life of its subjects is eternal also.

2. The Beast Kingdom

In Daniel 7 we have the kingdoms of earth represented by great and cruel beasts, the same four world-dominant empires. Their antagonistic character to God and His truth is thus symbolized. Babylon is represented by the lion, Medo-Persia by the bear, Grecia by the leopard, and Rome by a great nondescript beast, combining all the characteristics of the others, and supplementing that with ten horns, representing the ten divisions into which Western Rome was to be divided and is divided to the present day, but in which division are found the great, dominant powers of earth—England, France, Germany, etc. There was seen in addition to this a little horn waxing exceeding great, so much so as to control and dominate the other horns—a little horn that had eyes like the eyes of a man, the eyes of man in the horn of a beast showing remarkable shrewdness and wisdom. It represents a cruel power that should "speak great words against the Most High," and "wear out the saints of the Most High," and think to "change the times and the law" of God; and that it should be just such a power as this to the end. And we believe that all this has been met in the great system of church and state apostasy in Christendom, the center of which is the Papacy. But succeeding to all this, "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." Verse 27.

3. False Systems and the True Priest

A very remarkable prophecy is found in Daniel 8 and 9. Babylon has passed away. Medo-Persia, the next great world power, is on the stage of action, when Daniel is given another vision, excluding Babylon and presenting before us Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome, the latter under the symbol of a little horn which waxed exceeding great. We are told how this little-horn power would wage war against God's truth. Not less than fifteen to twenty different specifications are named in the prophecy concerning the power which would prove antagonistic to the gospel, and these have been met also in the great apostasy. This prophecy also predicted the very year of our Lord's first coming, the year of His crucifixion, and the turning to the Gentiles. It also presents the priesthood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and when that priesthood would culminate in the last work of the Saviour, the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, or the judgment. We are thus brought down by the 2,300 days to the time of the end—1844—these days beginning with the seventh year of Artaxerxes. Ezra 7:7.

4. The Coming of Michael

Chapters 10 and 11 are the conclusion of the book of Daniel. They give in fuller explanation the vision of Daniel 8, and carry us down by a parallel prophecy to the time of the passing of all earthly rule, the standing up of all earthly kings, the time when Michael the great Prince shall stand up to reign forever. The name "Michael" is applied to the Archangel, the chief of all angels, and the chief of all the angels is our Lord Jesus Christ, and "Michael" means "like God." It is simply the messenger name of our Lord. His standing up to reign is the second coming of our Lord.

5-7. Three Series of Sevens

In the book of the Apocalypse are found three series of sevens: (a) The prophecy of the Seven Churches which discloses the internal state of God's church from the first advent to the second coming of Christ. (b) The Seven Seals, a revelation of the giving of His gospel, the unfolding among the nations, and various events which will occur in connection therewith. It brings us down to the closing work, the sealing of God's servants in their foreheads, which properly studied will be seen to be the last great Sabbath reform which shall take place in the world. (c) The Seven Trumpets—war trumpets—disclosing various events among all the nations of the earth, closing the sixth trumpet with the fall of the great Mohammedan power, and the giving of God's everlasting gospel, the closing of the mystery of God.

8-10. The Great Dragon and His Work

Following this series of three we have another series of three set forth in Revelation 12, in Revelation 13, in Revelation 17. In the first of these chapters Satan is represented as a great Red Dragon having seven heads and ten horns, not that this is the appearance of his satanic majesty, it is simply a symbol showing how he is working in the things of the world. He is not permitted to use his mighty power and strength in and of himself alone, by physical power, upon the nations of the earth. He can only influence the powers of earth to do this. And he is thus shown in this chapter, that all may know that the great instigator of all persecution is the devil. It is not of Christ, it is of the evil one. We are shown in this chapter the great and mighty controversy which has been waged all through the centuries,—the enmity against our Lord Jesus Christ, His triumph over all the power of Satan and sin, and Satan's warring against His truth clear down to the remnant, or the last phase of the church of which it is said, they "keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." In the 13th chapter we have the beast power, the same seven heads. Satan is in the background. These seven heads represent seven different forms of government, unions of church and state. The symbol of the wild beast of prophecy means, not a church separate from the state, not a state separate from religion, but a power in which civil government and religion are united, and which always means persecution. But the 14th and 15th chapters of the Revelation tell us the triumph of God's people over all beast powers.

In Revelation 17 we are shown the same seven heads at a later period in earth's history, even the very last period. They are heads upon a scarlet-colored beast, and we are here shown also the agency which Satan himself uses to stir up the kings of the earth to the work which they have done and will still do. That agency is the great apostasy, represented by a lewd woman. This apostasy is borne by the nations of the earth. They are made drunk with the wine of her fornication, her debased union with civil power. The outcome of it all will be warring against the Lamb and those who are with Him.

We are also shown in connection with this prophecy great Babylon,—the figure of personified apostasy in the last days, carrying us back to the first great Babylon that made all nations drink of the wine of her fornication, the perverter of God's truth, the upholder of self-salvation all through the ages. But the prophecy ends with great Babylon cast like a millstone into the depths of the sea of judgment, and Christ and those who are with Him conquering and entering upon their eternal inheritance. The last of the book of the Revelation is but the drawing out of the climax of all these wonderful promises,—the new heavens and the new earth, the home of God's children forever. And this closes with God's wonderful invitation, "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. . . . And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."

We have two other prophetic highways, one a brief one with but little detail, found in 2 Thessalonians 2, simply a bare outline of the great apostasy culminating in the man of sin, who shall exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped.

The other is a thrice given line of prophecy of our blessed Lord Himself, recorded in Matthew 24, in Mark 13, and in Luke 21, in which various events are given, culminating in the giving of the everlasting gospel to the world, and the second coming of our Lord. In all these great lines of prophecy, there are but the final events which may occur at almost any time.

Coming within the little open ground between the beginning of the time of the end, so clearly pointed out in Daniel 8, and our Lord's coming, are various special signs named by our Lord; for in the discourse which Jesus gave in Matthew 24, He used this illustration, "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: so likewise ye, when ye shall see ALL these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." In this thrice given prophecy, and in other prophecies of the Word inspired by Him and which He must have taken into consideration, there are given not less than twenty special signs which will immediately precede the second coming of our King.

They are the maneuvers or exercises which show that the coronation is near.

Among these may be found: 1. INCREASE OF KNOWLEDGE, foretold in Dan. 12:4, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." How true it is in this generation!

2. The INCREASE OF RICHES predicted by James in his fifth chapter, and in the second chapter of Habakkuk, in which a few men shall control the wealth of the world and make themselves demigods, and demand that men shall serve them, counting them as the fishes of the sea. But when that time comes we are told, "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh."

3. We have the INCREASE OF CRIME as another sign: "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." We need only to read such a prophecy as Isaiah 59 — a prophecy preceding the second coming of our Lord — to learn the picture which God's Word draws of this very day in which we live.

4. We have the earth waxed old as a garment, spoken of in Hebrews 1, manifested in increasing storm and tempest and earthquake. It is ready to change its garments and to be renewed by the fiat of Almighty power.

5. We have the false doctrines of MORMONISM and SPIRITISM foretold by our Lord in Matthew 24, "If any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there," we are not to go forth. "If they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert [as has Mormonism]; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers [as Spiritism]; believe it not."

Why? Because that is not the manner of Christ's coming. As the lightning shineth from one part of heaven to the other, so will Christ come; "and every eye shall see Him."

6. We have SIGNS IN THE SUN AND MOON AND STARS predicted, not only in the discourse of our Lord already mentioned, but in the sixth chapter of Revelation as well, and also in other prophecies. True, the sun has been darkened before, and star showers, or meteoric showers, have occurred, but these are to come just at the very time and place mentioned in the prophecy, heralds that the day of redemption draweth nigh. And thus they came, in 1780, 1799, and 1833.

7. There will be also LAST-DAY SCOFFERS, men "walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His coming?" and each one that utters it is himself a sign that the Lord's coming is near; for of this very class we are told, "KNOWING this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers." 2 Peter 3:3.

NEARING THE TERMINAL. THE TRAIN OF HISTORY, ALWAYS ON TIME, WILL SOON COMPLETE ITS LONG JOURNEY

8. There will be a GREAT SPIRITUAL DECLENSION in the times preceding our Lord's coming. Instead of the world being converted, the church will be perverted. We are positively told that this will occur in the last days, "This KNOW also, that in the last days PERILIOUS TIMES SHALL COME," and the apostle Paul, in showing why, mentions eighteen different sins which will be especially manifest among those that have the "form of godliness," but deny "the power thereof." 2 Tim. 3:1-5. Note, also, that the very sins that were especially manifest in the days of the apostle Paul in pagan Rome, as recorded in Romans 1, are the very sins that will be seen among those who profess to be the Lord Jesus Christ's in the last days. And therefore the times are perilous, for "if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted?" Jesus Himself refers to this when He declares that "Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure UNTO THE END, the same shall be saved." Matt. 24:12.

9. GREAT WAR PREPARATIONS will precede Christ's coming, and these right in the very face of the fact that men are doing all in their power to secure peace among the nations. The war prophecy is given by Joel, the third chapter, verses 9-12, by Jeremiah in the twenty-fifth chapter, by Revelation in the sixteenth chapter. We are assured by these prophecies that the spirit of war will sweep over all the earth, and tho men do not desire war, yet shall they certainly drink of the cup of war; and the slain will be at that day from one end of the earth to the other. But the great center and climax of all this world conflict will occur in the Holy Land. It is called the great war of Armageddon, fought for the mastery of earth's kingdoms, the rulership of the world, in the historic Plain of Esdraelon; but in all these there will be utter defeat for the armies of earth and glorious triumph for the King of Kings. And when these wars begin, and there shall be "wars and rumors of wars," our Lord tells us that these are the beginning of travail, they are the birth-pangs which precede the second coming of our Lord.

10. Going forward to the world in connection with these war preparations will be the "PEACE AND SAFETY" CRY foretold as being advocated by "many peoples" in Isaiah 2, by "many nations" in Micah 4; and yet the apostle Paul declares, "WHEN they shall say, Peace and safety; THEN sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape." It will be THEN that great Babylon, who has assumed to be mistress of all the nations, regardless of God's Word and the Lord Jesus Christ, will say in her heart, "I SIT A QUEEN, AND AM NO WIDOW, AND SHALL SEE NO SORROW. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." Rev. 18:7, 8.

We may not bring against these evidences what is often said,—that this sign occurred in other ages, and this in another age, and this in another, and why should we be alarmed when we see such things now? But our Lord emphasizes this thought, that it is not when we see this line of prophecy near its fulfilment, or that line of prophecy near its fulfilment. It is not, When we shall see this one sign, or that one sign; it is, When we shall see ALL THESE signs. "Even so ye also, WHEN ye shall see ALL these things, KNOW that HE is NIGH, even AT THE DOORS. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all these things be accomplished. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away."

We may not know the day nor the hour, we do not know it. No one in the light of God's Word can set the time when the King shall come. But just as truly as we would know that the coronation of the French king is near when all the military companies had met in the open ground, and all the maneuvers and exercises were taking place — that he would then soon appear — so we may know that WHEN ALL THESE THINGS occur, HE IS NIGH, even at the doors.

Still there are two other signs which we wish to mention, and one is the opening of the gates of all the world to the everlasting gospel in this generation.

Secondly, the giving of that gospel to all the world. Jesus said, And when "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations;" "then shall the end come." Thank God, that gospel is going, going to all the earth, going with mighty power, even tho carried by a small people. The blessed gospel which precedes and which carries with it the message of the soon-coming kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and which points out just what men must do in order to prepare for that kingdom, is going to all the world.

That great message of preparation is also set forth in Rev. 14: 6-14. Its reception develops a people which keep "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

We plead with you, reader, to study these tremendous evidences which God has given. Let us not be among those scoffers who are willingly ignorant concerning these things, but among those who shall gladly receive the Word, and therefore gladly welcome the King at His coming.