p. 6 | THE RETURN OF OUR LORD by MALCOLM N. CAMPBELL

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · May 5, 1914

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 41, No. 17.

THE RETURN OF OUR LORD

By MALCOLM N. CAMPBELL

His Promises of Returning Are Definite and Conclusive—Who Will Be Ready to Meet Him?

What Takes Place at His Coming?

By MALCOLM N. CAMPBELL

SOME day, the present order of things will end. The trumpet of the Lord will sound; and as its tremendous notes roll over the earth, marvelous things will take place. The graves will open, and the imprisoned saints of God will come forth in immortal youth and glory. The living believers in Christ will be instantly changed, and every trace of imperfection will disappear. The wicked, terror-stricken, will appeal in vain for that mercy they have so long repelled and derided.

"BEHOLD, HE COMETH WITH CLOUDS; AND EVERY EYE SHALL SEE HIM." REV. I:7.

WILL APPEAR IN WONDROUS GLORY

In short, the world, with its vanities and sins, will end. Christ, the returning King, will appear in wondrous glory, surrounded by shining angels, and will take His rightful place as King of kings and Lord of lords.

For ages, the church of Christ has been looking forward to the time when her divine Lord would return. This hope was not based on superstition nor tradition, but on definite promises of the Saviour Himself, and of the inspired apostles and prophets.

SOME CLEAR, DEFINITE PROMISES

The following scriptures assure us that Christ will return, that His coming will be as personal as His ascension, that it will be a glad event for the righteous and a sad one for the unprepared:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:1-3.

"As the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matt. 24:27.

"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 1:11.

"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.

WILL A WARNING BE GIVEN?

The question is frequently raised, in connection with this subject, "Will God send any warning to the inhabitants of the earth to prepare them for the day when Christ shall return?" There is a text that is often quoted to show that no warning of any kind will be given before the day of God bursts upon the world. It reads: "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." 1 Thess. 5:1, 2. However, the fourth verse of this same chapter throws light on this point: "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Those who are walking in the light will not be taken by surprise by the coming of Christ; for at that time they will exclaim, "Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us." Isa. 25:9. They have been giving heed to the warning signals of the approach of the end, and have been waiting and watching for Him.

WHAT SHALL BE THE SIGN?

The Saviour, in response to the apostles' question, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" gave a series of signs by which, when they should come to pass, men might know that the world's history was about to close. He said there would be wars and rumors of wars, famines, great earthquakes, pestilences, persecutions, distress of nations, great moral depravity, terrible storms on land and sea, with signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars. Then He added, "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21:31. Thus we have divine assurance that signs shall be given and a warning sounded before Christ returns.

KNOW IT IS NEAR

While it is quite true that no man knows the day or the hour when Christ shall return, it is equally true that we may "know that it is near, even at the doors." Matt. 24:33. This is in accord with the Lord's dealings with mankind in the past.

Previous to the Flood, Noah, a preacher of righteousness, faithfully warned that wicked generation.

Before Nineveh was to be destroyed, Jonah was sent to proclaim its fate.

John the Baptist was sent as a forerunner to prepare the world for the coming Redeemer.

And in harmony with His usual method of procedure, God promises to give signs before the end of the age takes place: "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.

THE RIGHTEOUS RESURRECTED

What will the second coming of Christ mean to this earth and its inhabitants?

1. It will mean the resurrection of the righteous. "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. "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. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years." Rev. 20:6.

ONE THOUSAND YEARS BETWEEN

These texts make it plain that the righteous dead are raised before the wicked dead. We are told in Rev. 20:5 how long a time elapses between the two resurrections: "But the rest of the dead [the wicked dead] lived not again until the thousand years were finished." So the resurrection of the righteous marks the beginning of the millennium, or thousand years; and the resurrection of the lost marks its close.

THE LIVING WILL BE CHANGED

2. The living righteous will be changed to immortality at the coming of Christ. "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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Cor. 15:51-53.

TOGETHER THEY MEET THE LORD

3. The resurrected saints and the living righteous will then be caught up to meet their Lord, and go with Him to heaven to spend the millennium. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent ["precede," R. V.] them which are 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 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." 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3.

Jesus, at His ascension, went to heaven, and sat down on the right hand of the Father. It was there that the dying Stephen saw Him. Acts 7:55, 56. To Peter’s question, "Whither goest Thou?" He answered, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards." John 13:36. But He distinctly declared that the wicked Jews could not come there.

The promise that Peter should follow Him to heaven was made equally to all His faithful children. There are those who ridicule the idea that the children of God will ever leave this earth and enter heaven. The scriptures already quoted show beyond a peradventure that they will enter the sacred precincts of the heavenly courts. Other texts indicate that the time of their sojourn there will be a thousand years (Rev. 20:6), during which they will be associated with Christ in the work of judging the wicked. Rev. 20:4; 1 Cor. 6:2, 3; Ps. 149:5-9.