What Christ's Coming Means
He Comes in Great Glory and Majesty.
1. What does the Master say in regard to the glory and majesty that shall attend Him when He comes the second time? "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then He shall reward every man according to his works." Matt. 16:27. "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. NOTE.—The texts above say that Christ will be clothed in His Father's glory, that He will come in His own glory, and that He will be attended by "all the holy angels." Then it will be literally true that all the majesty and glory of heaven will be poured out in this great event. 2. What description is given of the majesty and glory of the "Ancient of Days," or God the Father? "I beheld till thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like the pure wool; His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him: thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened." Dan. 7:9, 10. 3. How does the psalmist express himself in regard to the view he had of the coming of the Lord? "Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God hath shined. Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about Him." Ps. 50:2, 3. 4. What is said of the brightness of Christ when His unveiled glory was presented to the disciples in vision at the transfiguration? "Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and His face did shine as the sun, and His raiment was white as the light." Matt. 17:1, 2. NOTE.—It will be seen from these texts just given that the dazzling splendors of the sun, and the brightness of fire, and even the light itself are all used in conveying to our senses the glorious majesty of God and His Son Jesus Christ. And all this glory is to be manifested in its majestic splendors in the Lord's second coming. The Effect of the Glory of Angels as They Have Visibly Appeared to Men.
5. What was the appearance of the angel that was seen at the sepulcher at the resurrection of Christ? "And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as snow: and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and became as dead men." Matt. 28:2-4. 6. How does the prophet Daniel describe the appearance of the angel that visited him? "Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz: his body also was like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in color to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude." Dan. 10:5, 6. 7. What effect did this angel's presence have upon the men who were with Daniel? "And I Daniel alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw not the vision; but a great quaking fell upon them, so that they fled to hide themselves." Dan. 10:7. NOTE.—The foregoing texts give an idea of the wonderful glory that is centered in the person of a single angel. We are assured in Heb. 12:22 that there are "innumerable hosts of angels;" the revelator speaks of the hosts of angels that he saw in vision as "ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands." Ten thousand times ten thousand is a hundred million, or more than the present population of the United States. But this vast number is not adequate, for he immediately adds, "and thousands of thousands." The hundred million is only a part of the company of angels, there are thousands of thousands more. There are "innumerable hosts" of them. They are beyond man's numerical calculation. Then think of the splendor that will be manifested in the second coming of Christ when He shall come in the unapproachable glory of His Father, and this blended with His own glory, and the glory of all His holy angels. How absurd to speak of such a spectacle, as some are doing, as a thing that can take place in such an unobserved "spiritual" manner that no one will know that it has been done. 8. When the Master appears in the clouds of heaven, what will be the effect of His glorious appearing on the wicked? "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." Rev. 1:7. "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming." 2 Thess. 2:8. 9. What view did John have of the terrors into which the wicked are thrown by the great day of the Lord? "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. 6:14-17. The Effect of Christ's Coming on the Sleeping Righteous.
10. What does the apostle Paul assure us will be the happy portion of the righteous dead at the second coming of Christ? "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." 1 Thess. 4:16. 11. What other encouraging promise is given upon the same subject? "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." 1 Cor. 15:51, 52. What Christ's Coming Brings to the Living Righteous.
12. What takes place with those who are alive at the second coming of Christ? "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord, shall in nowise precede them that are fallen asleep. 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 that are alive, that are left, shall together with them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:15-17, A.R.V. 13. After giving the foregoing instruction, what admonition does the apostle give us? NOTE.—Carefully observe what the foregoing scriptures say, and thus see how plainly they tell that the resurrection of the righteous takes place at the second coming of Christ, and, furthermore, that the living righteous are made immortal at the same time, and that "together" are they caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and then evermore to be with their chosen Master. With such thrilling and joyous events centering in the second coming of Christ, why should we not all look forward with longing for the time to come? One of the closing verses of Revelation reads: "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20. And may every Christian earnestly join in the prayer.