THE IMPORTANCE OF CHRIST'S COMING.
There is no one event of any more importance to mankind than the second coming of Christ. No subject is given more prominence in the New Testament. By those who claim to have calculated it, it is said to be referred to directly or indirectly on an average of every twenty-fifth verse throughout the New Testament, and yet how seldom is it preached upon at the present time in the great popular churches. Surely it ought not so to be when the Lord has given it such prominence in his inspired word. It was the comforting thought which he gave his disciples, who were sad at the prospect of his leaving, that he would "come again" and receive them unto himself, that they might be with him. John 14: 1-3. This also was one of the burdens of his wonderful prayer for all his people—that they might be with him where he was. John 17:24. When he ascended and the sorrowing disciples stood gazing up into the ethereal blue at the fast-vanishing cloud of glory, the messengers of God cheered them with these words: "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. This was also the comfort offered by the apostle Paul to the Thessalonian brethren. He would not have them to be ignorant of those who were dead, who were asleep in Christ. They need not sorrow without hope:— "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; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words." 1 Thess. 4:16-18. Our Saviour also instructs the church who live when his coming is near that they may rejoice; for their redemption is drawing nigh. Luke 21:28. The foregoing scriptures reveal something of the importance of the second coming of Christ in the great scheme of redemption. What matters his death alone unless there be a resurrection? True, he purchased us by his death—by his precious blood; but what would that avail were it not for the resurrection? We would have a dead Christ, and the preaching of the gospel would be vain, and faith therein would be vain. 1 Cor. 15:12-17. But this resurrection is dependent upon Christ's coming. By his voice at his coming (parousia) the dead are raised. 1 Thess. 4:15, 16; 1 Cor. 15:51-55. Until that time, death holds the sleeping saints in its strong embrace; and were it not for that coming, they would utterly perish forever. Verse 18. It is through the resurrection that the people of God of all past ages live. Jesus promised that he would raise them up at the last day and give them everlasting life. John 6:40, 54. His coming is, therefore, life and not death to his people; and inasmuch as he makes that resurrection depend upon his second coming, that coming is necessary in order that the people of God may live eternally with him. The time of reward is, therefore, not at death, or between death and the resurrection, but at the resurrection when Christ comes (Matt. 16:27), which coming has already been preceded by an investigative judgment to determine who are worthy of life and immortality. Rev. 22:11, 12; Luke 20:35. The righteous living are changed, made like Christ, and the dead are raised immortal. Phil. 3:21; 1 Cor. 15:51-53; 1 John 3:1-3. At the second coming of Christ his foes will be destroyed. That brightness and presence which prove joy and life to his people, will be despair and destruction to those who have rejected him. Their cry will be to hide them from the face of Him who sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb. Rev. 6:15-17. Says the apostle:— "And to you who are troubled [by the wicked] rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence [face] of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe . . . in that day." 2 Thess. 1:7-10. And in another place, in speaking of the wicked who survive the seven last plagues, it is said, "And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth." Rev. 19:21. At the second advent, the kingdom of Christ will be set up, and he will begin his eternal reign. He sends back this promise to his people: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." Rev. 3:21. Jesus now reigns on his Father's throne a kingly priest. Heb. 8:1; Zech. 6:12, 13. He will there reign till his people are redeemed from sin, and the judgment of God has condemned forever those who have rejected the great salvation. He then comes to execute judgment and begin his eternal reign. This is shown by the words of the apostle Paul: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word." 2 Tim. 4:1, 2. The judgment, the appearing, and the kingdom are associated together. Christ is now in a far "country" (Luke 19:10); but when he receives his kingdom (Dan. 7:13, 14), and returns, it will be to enter upon his reign. In the words of Christ himself, "When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Matt. 25:31. With his risen and immortalized saints he will ascend to the New Jerusalem, the capital city, the abode of Paradise once lost, and there begin his reign of judgment of one thousand years. Rev. 20:4-6. Then will Jerusalem, which is above, "the mother of us all" (Gal. 4:26), which has been desolate and mourning for her children (Isaiah 54), be comforted as they come home from every land, led by their Redeemer and King. At the end of the millennium the holy city will descend, the earth will be renewed, and Christ and his people will reign forever and ever. See Zech. 14:1-11; Rev. 20:7-15; 2 Peter 3:12, 13; Rev. 21:1-7; Dan. 7:27. It was to Christ's second coming to reward his people and take his kingdom that the dying, penitent thief looked forward. His request was not, Lord, remember me when thou goest to heaven, to thy Father's house; but it was, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Luke 23:42. This will be at his second coming, as we have shown, when he will reward every man. Matt. 25:31; 16:27; Rev. 22:11, 12. Will the faith of the thief be rewarded? Can the Man Jesus, dying at his side, forsaken by men, over whom the very heavens seem black with wrath,—can this Man fulfill this request? It was wonderful faith on the part of the malefactor to believe when all had forsaken. It was a wonderful answer which Jesus gave, solemnly asseverated before the scoffing multitude. Looking upon the dying criminal, doubtless with a look of infinite pity and encouragement which thrilled his entire being and made his last moments the most joyous of his life, the dying Jesus answers: "Verily I say unto thee to-day"—I who am dying as thou art, I, seemingly so weak, but the heir of infinite power—I say unto thee to-day, when to all outward appearance I can do nothing, to-day, when even my own nation have rejected me and crucified me, when one of my own disciples betrayed me for a few pieces of silver, when another disciple denied me, when all forsook me and fled—to-day, when Heaven seems against me, and I am perishing as thou—even to-day, in this the hour of the powers of darkness, I declare "shalt thou be with me in Paradise," in the city of God, the capital of my kingdom. Truly that coming of the Redeemer of the world is the blessed hope. In it and around it all the interests of the redeemed center and revolve. Let no follower of Christ be ashamed to herald to the world, "Christ is coming, coming to reign." "The Lord is coming, let this be
The herald note of jubilee." The nearness of his coming will be considered in our next.