Till He Come

It is the aim of this little book to set forth the truth of Cxod concerning the second com ino; of His Son. No doul)t there are a thousand who to-chxy accept the truth, and are ‘’looking for that blessed hope” where there was one twenty-five years ago. But there are thousands more who probably have never heard it mentioned. It has dropped out of the preaching and teaching of most men as completely as if it had no place in the inspired Scriptures.

It may be that the Holy Spirit will own the testimony here borne to awaken some of God’s dealchildren to the study of a subject of vast practical importance. At all events, if they will read these few pages, they can see an outline of the faith held by those who heed the Master’s command, “What I say unto you, I say unto all, AVatch;” and they can also see “a reason of the hope” that shines more .brightly and beautifully, as we move on throuorhincreasi no; darkness and tempest and temptation “to meet the Lord in the air.”

St. Louis, June, 1891.

Our risen Lord had appeared on many occasions to His disciples, ‘’ to whom He presented Himself living after his suffering, by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” This naturally led them to ask of Him, “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the Kindom to LsraeL!; And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath placed in Llis own authority.” As Jews, familiar with their prophets, they expected the cessation of Gentile dominion, and the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel; and the Lord gave them no hint that their expectation was vain, but only that it was not for them to know the times or seasons, which, in the office work of re;lemption undertaken l)y the persons of the Godhead, specially fell under the authority of the Father.

Then followed the promise of the gift and power of the IIolv Ghost, and the great commission, ‘’Ye shall be witnesses unto me, hotli in Jerusalem, and in all Jndea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 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 yon into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen IHm go into heaven. Then returned they unto elerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey.” Luke adds in his Gospel, ‘’They worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem wdth great joy.” Lu., xxiv:52.

We are not told who these two men were, but it is worthy of notice that the same inspired writer mentions the appearing of two men in white at two other momentous periods in the earthly history of our Lord. On the mount of transfiguration, “as He prayed, the fashion of His countenance was altered, and His raiment was white and glistening. And, behold, there talked with Him two men, which were Moses and Elias; who appeared in glory, and spake of IHs exodus which He should accomplish at Jerusalem.” Lu., ix:29- 31. On the morning of the resurrection, when the women went to the sepulchre to anoint the body of their crucified Lriend, “they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, beliold. two men stood by them in shilling garments: and as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, “A¥hy seek ye the living One among the dead?” Ln., xxiv:2-5.

It is not an improbal)le conjectnre, therefore, that the same t-wo men in white or histrons clothing who spake of His exodus at Jernsalem, and who heralded His exodus from the tomb, were also sent to proclaim Ilis second coming. Nor is it improbable that the same two men in white are the two witnesses who shall appear during the dreadful raign of the Antichrist; “and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days, clothed in sackcloth.” Rev. xi:3. But whoever the messengers niay have been, whether Moses and Elias, or angels in human form, the message itself was of sufHcient importance to summon them from heaven, and it forms one of the three great announcements — the death, the resurrection, and the return of the Lord to the earth. Nor is it possible to mistake its meaning. This same Jesus wdio bore the marks of the nails in His hands and of the spear wound in His side; this same Jesus who said to IHs disciples, “• Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have;” this same Jesus who ate and talked with them; this same Jesus who ascended from their midst bodily, and personally and visibly, “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.”

Bengel has well said, “Between His ascension and His coming in glory, no event intervenes equal in importance to each of these two events. Therelore these two are joined together, and it accords with the majesty of Christ that during the whole period between His ascension and His advent He should without intermission be expected.” Rev. A. Maclaren, D. D., of Manchester, England, one of the ablest and most accomplished among living expositors, truly remarks, “He will ’ so come in like manner as ‘He has crone. We are not to water down such words as these with anything short of a return precisely corresponding in its method to the departure; and as the departure was visible, corporeal, literal, personal and local, so, too, will be His return from heaven to earth. And He will come as He went, a visible manhood, only thronged, amidst the clouds of heaven, with powder and great gh)ry. This is the aim that He sets before IHm in His departure; He goes in order that He may come back again.”

Hence we are not surprised to find that the prediction and promise of the two men in white

became a prominent theme in the preaching of the apostles. Thus a few days after the ascension, Peter said to the people, “Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that the times of refresliinor shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world beoan.” Acts, iii:19-2i. The heaven, then, must give back Jesus at the times of the restitution of all things, and this has been the subject of divine revelation through the prophets since the world began. It is wild exegesis which imagines that the heaven must receive Him until the end of the times of the restitution of all things. If a friend writes to another that he will stay where he is until Spring, it would be foolish to fancy that lie means until the end of Spring. But the exegesis proves too much, for if Christ will not come until the end of the times of the restitution of all things, he will not come at all, since the times of the restitution of all things include the final judgment, and the new heavens and new earth. It is obvious to every unprejudiced reader that Christ comes from heaven to inauD-urate and introduce these times.

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