p. 8 | CHRIST IS COMING

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Sep 23, 1897

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 37.

CHRIST IS COMING.

May We Know When He Is Near?

1. CHRIST will come the second time. Proof: "And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time." Heb. 9:28.

2. He will come as he went away. Proof: "While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. . . . 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 1:9-11.

3. His coming will not be a silent, symbolical, representative coming, but personal, visible, and with great grandeur and glory, to both hearing and sight. Proof: "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 Thess. 4:16. "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. "And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21:27.

4. There will be signs which will herald his coming. Proof: "And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory." Luke 21:25-27.

5. These signs are as surely heralds of his coming as the budding or leafing of trees is the herald of summer. Proof: "And he spake to them a parable: Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21:29-31.

6. But while no one knows the day or hour of his coming, it is the duty of the generation which sees these signs in the light of this prophecy to know that he is near, even at the doors, and that that generation will not pass till he comes. Proof: "So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that he is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." Matt. 24:33-35.

7. There will be two classes at his coming, one upon whom he will come as a thief, another class that will be in the light and watching. Proof: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them; and they shall not escape. 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. 5:1-5. See also 2 Peter 1:19.

Reader, in which class will you be found?