THE SECOND ADVENT, by James White

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 27, 1855

THE SECOND ADVENT,

By James White

Its Manner and Objects Considered.

THAT Christ will appear the second time, the Scriptures plainly declare. "And to them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." Heb. ix, 28; Acts i, 9-11; John xiv, 1-3; Titus ii, 13; 1 John iii, 2; Rev. i, 7; xxii, 20. And that his coming will be personal and visible is sustained by equally plain declarations of Scripture.

1. His coming personal. "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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 i, 9-11. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven," &c. 1 Thess. iv, 16; John xiv, 3; Titus ii, 13; 1 John iii, 2.

2. His coming visible. "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." Rev. i, 7. "And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matt. xxiv, 30; 2 Thess. i, 7.

That Christ will come the second time personally and visibly, Bible students agree, from the fact that the plain declarations of Christ and the apostles are allowed to settle the question. In regard to the objects of his coming, and the events connected with his coming, there is not that perfect agreement, and, we think, the reason is because the plain declarations of Christ and the apostles are not always allowed to settle these points.

In an important sense is the New Testament an expositor of the Old. Christ was an expounder of the Law and the Prophets; so were the apostles. It is ever safe to bring the prophecies of the Old Testament and compare them with the plain declarations of the New; but to overlook the testimony of Christ and the apostles, while forming our views of future events, is dangerous. Such may be left to follow the wildest fancies, and come to conclusions subversive of the gospel plan. But let the prophets of the Old Testament be compared with the expositions and declarations of the New, and a harmony will be seen throughout the divine whole.

OBJECTS OF THE SECOND ADVENT.

1. Christ will come to raise the righteous dead, and change the righteous living; and take them away from the earth, up to the "Father's house." "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. xv, 51, 52. This text only mentions the resurrection and change of the righteous. Another text is more definite in regard to the position of the righteous after the resurrection.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, and 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. iv, 16, 17. From this text we learn that the saints will be taken away from the earth, that they will be caught up to meet the Lord as he descends, and that they will ever be with their Lord. This text does not prove that the feet of our Lord will rest on the earth at his second advent. It may be thought that other texts do; but these we will consider hereafter.

We will now call attention to the testimony of the Son of God which shows the position of the saints immediately after their resurrection and change. Said Jesus to the Jews, "Yet a little while am I with you, and then I go unto HIM that sent me." John vii, 33. That this text refers to Christ's ascension to his Father, there can be no doubt. Said Christ to his disciples, "Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me; and, as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come, so now I say to you." John xiii, 33.

Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, whither goest thou? Jesus said unto him, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow me NOW; but thou shalt FOLLOW ME AFTERWARD." [Or, "afterward thou shalt follow me." Campbell.] Verse 36. Where was Christ going? Answer, to HIM that sent him—to heaven, where his Father was. Peter here has the promise of following Christ up to the Father, not at his ascension 1800 years since, but at a subsequent period. But when will Peter follow his Lord up to the Father? Let the testimony of Christ which follows answer this question.

Peter here declares that he would lay down his life for his Lord, to which Christ replied, "The cock shall not crow, till thou hast denied me thrice." Such a declaration would certainly trouble and agitate Peter's sensitive mind. It was then that our Lord addressed him as follows:

"Let not your heart be troubled, [agitated, Whiting,] 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." Chap. xiv, 1-3. Or, as Campbell translates verse 3, "And after I shall have gone and prepared a place for you, I WILL RETURN AND TAKE YOU WITH ME, that where I am, there ye also may be."

It is evident, then, that Peter will follow his Lord up to the Father at the period of the second advent and the resurrection of the just. But Peter will not be alone. "In my Father's house," says Christ, "are many mansions." In the New Jerusalem, (And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and

he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal;) there will be sufficient room for all the saints. When our Lord returns, and Peter awakes from his long slumbers, the saints of all ages will arise from the dead, and follow their Lord as he triumphantly leads the way upward to the Father's house.

Twenty-seven years after this promise is made to Peter, he introduces this same subject at the very commencement of his epistle "to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia," as follows: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, RESERVED IN HEAVEN for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time." 1 Pet. i, 3-5.

That the earth renewed will be the eternal inheritance of the saints from the time that "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the WHOLE heaven" shall be given to them at the close of the seventh millennium, there can be no doubt; but Peter speaks of an inheritance "reserved IN HEAVEN," which is evidently the "Father's house," (whose mansions Christ is preparing,) the New Jerusalem, which the saints will inherit during the seventh millennium.

From this place the saints swell the "new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we [are reigning on the earth] No] shall reign on the earth." Rev. v, 9, 10. They are redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; they are kings and priests unto God; yet they are looking forward to the time when they shall reign on the earth.

Those who, in referring to this view of the subject, sneeringly speak of a "sky kingdom," had better submit to God's plan, and be satisfied with the inheritance of which Peter speaks, during the millennium, "reserved in heaven for those who are kept by the power of God."

2. At Christ's second coming the living sinners will be destroyed. The seven last plagues will cut off a large portion of the wicked before the Lord comes; but at his coming those that remain alive will be destroyed. We will refer the reader to the testimony of prophets, Christ and the apostle Paul on this subject.

(1.) The prophets. "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it." Isa. xiii, 9; Ps. ii, 8, 9; civ, 35; Prov. ii, 22; Isa. xxiv, 1-3; Zeph. i, 3.

(2.) The testimony of Christ. This is more definite. "Let both grow together until the harvest, and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. . . . As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity." Matt. xiii, 30, 40, 41. "Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire." Matt. iii, 12. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. EVEN THUS SHALL IT BE IN THE DAY WHEN THE SON OF MAN IS REVEALED." Luke xvii, 26-30.

(3.) The testimony of the Apostle, which is very definite, settles the question. "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him . . . The mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 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. ii, 1, 7, 8.

"That Wicked," which is called in verse 3 the "Man of Sin," has been properly applied to the Papacy, yet we think it will embrace all who are found transgressors of the law of God at the appearing of Christ. "Sin is the transgression of the law," hence, the "Man of Sin" embraces all law-breakers. Then all transgressors of God's law will be destroyed with the brightness of Christ's coming.

The presence of one angel, that came down to roll away the stone from the sepulchre at the resurrection of Christ, caused the keepers to shake, and become as dead men. "His countenance was like the light." His glory overpowered them. What then will be the result upon living sinners when the "Son of man shall come in the glory of the Father, [Matt. xvi, 27,] and all the holy angels with him?" Chap. xxv, 31. In the language of scripture we answer, "Whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness [bright shining, Macknight,] of his coming." Sinners will wither and perish before the burning glory of that holy throng.

But it may be said that the "Man of Sin" embraces only Papacy, and that Papists only will be destroyed at the second advent, while heathen nations that know not God will have the blessings of the gospel in the age to come. Let Paul speak again.

"And to you who are troubled 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, [the heathen,] and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: [all transgressors, however high their profession:] who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power; [when?] when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." 2 Thess. i, 7-12.

This testimony is to the point, and settles the question. When Papists, heathen, and all transgressors in Christian lands shall be destroyed, there can be none left.

J. W.

(To be Continued.)