Tract 4a
The Second Coming of Christ
- Supplement to Lesson 4
One of the most solemn and yet most
glorious truths revealed in the Bible is that of Christ's Second
Coming,-- to complete the great work of redemption. To God's
pilgrim people, so long left to sojourn in "'the region and
shadow of death," a precious, joy inspiring hope is given in
the promise of His appearing, who is "the resurrection and
the Life, to bring home again His banished." The doctrine of
the Second Advent is the very key-- note of the sacred
Scriptures. From the day when the first pair turned their
sorrowing steps from Eden, the children of faith have waited the
coming of the Promised One to break the destroyer's power amid
bring them again to the lost Paradise.
The angels who lingered upon Olivet after
Christ's ascension, repeated to the disciples the promise of His
return: "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. And the
apostle Paul, speaking by the Spirit of inspiration, testified:
"The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God."
1 Thessalonians 4:16. Says the prophet of Patmos: "Behold,
He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him."
Revelation 1:7.
From the dungeon the stake the scaffold,
where saints and martyrs witnessed for the truth, comes down the
centuries the utterance of their faith and hope. "Being
assured of Christ's personal resurrection, and consequently of
their own at His coming, for this case," says one of these
Christians, "they despised death, and were found to be above
it." They were willing to go down to the grave, that they
"might rise free."
Unveiling the Future
When the protection of human laws shall be
withdrawn from those who honor the law of God, there will be, in
different lands, a simultaneous movement for their destruction.
As the time appointed in the decree draws near, the people will
conspire to root out this hated remnant. It will be determined to
strike in one night a decisive blow, which shall utterly silence
the voice of dissent and reproof.
Time for Deliverance
The people of God--some in prison cells,
some hidden in solitary retreats in the forests and the
mountains--still plead for divine protection, while in every
quarter companies of armed men, urged on by evil angels, are
preparing for the work of death. It is now, in the hour of utmost
extremity, that the God of have a song, as in the night when a
holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth
. . to come into the mountain of Jehovah, to the Mighty One of
Israel. And the Lord shall cause His glorious voice to be heard,
and shall show the lighting down of His arm, with the indignation
of His anger, and with the flame of a devouring fire, with
scattering, and tempests, and hailstones." Isaiah 30:29-30.
With shouts of triumph, jeering, and
imprecation, throngs of evil men are about to rush upon their
prey, when lo, a dense blackness, deeper than the darkness of the
night, falls upon the earth. Then a rainbow, shining with the
glory from the throne of God, spans the heavens, and seems to
encircle each praying company. The angry multitudes are suddenly
stopped. Their mocking cries die away. The objects of their
murderous rage are forgotten. With fearful forebodings they gaze
upon the symbol of God's covenant, and long to be shielded from
its over powering brightness.
By the people of God a voice, clear and
melodious, is heard, saying, "Look up," and, lifting
their eyes to the heavens, they behold the bow of promise. The
black, angry clouds that covered the firmament are parted, and
like Stephen they look up steadfastly into Heaven, and see the
glory of God, and the Son of man seated upon His throne. In His
divine form they discern the marks of His humiliation: and from
His lips they hear the request, presented before His Father and
the holy angels, "I will that they also, whom thou hast
given Me, be with Me where l am." John 17:24. Again
a voice, musical and triumphant, is heard, saying, "They
come! they come! holy, harmless, and undefiled. They have kept
the word of Mv patience, they shall walk among the angels;"
and the pale, quivering lips of those who have held fast their
faith, utter a shout of victory.
The Voice of God Shall Sound
It is at midnight that God manifests His
power for the deliverance of His people. The sun appears. shining
in its strength. Signs and wonders follow in
quick succession. The wicked look with terror and amazement upon
the scene, while the righteous behold with solemn joy the tokens
of their deliverance. Every thing in nature seems turned out of
its course. The streams cease to flow. Dark, heavy clouds come
up, and clash against each other. In the midst of the angry
heavens is one clear space of indescribable glory, whence comes
the voice of God like the sound of many waters, saying, "It
is done." Revelation 16:17.
Shaking of Heaven and Earth
That voice shakes the heavens and the
earth. There is a mighty earthquake, "such as was not since
men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake and so
great." Revelation 16:18. The firmament appears to open and
shut. The glory from the throne of God seems flashing through.
The mountains shake like a reed in the wind, and ragged rocks are
scattered on every side. There is a roar as of a coming tempest.
The sea is lashed into fury. There is heard the shriek of the
hurricane, like the voice of demons upon a mission of
destruction. The whole earth heaves and swells
like the waves of the sea. Its surface is breaking up. Its very
foundations seem to be giving way. Mountain
chains are sinking. Inhabited islands disappear. The seaports
that have become like Sodom for wickedness, are swallowed up by
the angry waters. Babylon the Great has come in remembrance
before God, "To give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His wrath." Revelation 16:19, 21. Great
hailstones, every one "'about the weight of a talent,"
are doing their work of destruction. The proudest cities of the
earth are laid low. The lordly palaces upon which the world's
great men have lavished their wealth in order to glorify
themselves, are crumbling to ruin before their eyes. Prison walls
are rent asunder. and God's people. who have been held in bondage
for their faith, are set free.
The Special Resurrection
Graves are opened, and "many of them
that sleep in the dust of the earth awake", some to
everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting
contempt." Daniel 12:2. All who have died
in the faith of the third angel's message come forth from the
tomb glorified, to hear God's covenant of peace with those who
have kept His law. "They also which pierced Him"
Revelation 1:7, those that mocked and derided Christ's dying
agonies, and the most violent opposers of His truth and His
people, are raised to behold Him in His glory, and to see the
honor placed upon the loyal and obedient.
Thick clouds still cover the sky: yet the
sun now and then breaks through, appearing like the avenging eye
of God. Fierce lightnings leap from the heavens, enveloping the
earth in a sheet of flame. Above the terrific roar of
thunder. voices, mysterious and awful, declare the doom of the
wicked. The words spoken are not comprehended by all; but they
are distinctly understood by the false teachers. Those who a
little before were so reckless, so boastful and defiant, so
exultant in their cruelty to God's commandment--keeping people,
are now overwhelmed with consternation, and shuddering in fear.
Their wails are heard above the sound of the elements. Demons
acknowledge the divinity of Christ, and tremble before His power,
while men are supplicating for mercy, and groveling in object
terror.
The Day of the Lord
Said the prophets of old as they beheld in
holy vision the day of God: "Howl ye; for the day of the
Lord is at hand, it shall come as a destruction from the
Almighty." Isaiah 13:6. Enter into the rock, and hide thee
in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His
majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the
haughtiness of men shall be bowed down-and the Lord alone shall
be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be
upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that
is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." "In that
day a man shall cast the idols of his silver, and the idols of
his gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the
moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks; and
into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for
the glory of His majesty, when He ariseth to shake terribly the
earth." Isaiah 2:10-12, 20.21 (margin).
God's People Delivered
Through a rift in the clouds, there beams a
star whose brilliancy is increased fourfold in contrast with the
darkness. It speaks hope and joy to the faithful, but severity
and wrath to the transgressors of God's law. Those who hove
sacrificed all for Christ, and by faith in His enabling power
have stood true to the Ten Commandments, are now secure, hidden
as in the secret of the Lord's pavilion. They have been tested,
and before the world and the despisers of truth they have evinced
their fidelity to Him who died for them. A marvelous change has
come over those who have held fast their integrity in the very
face of death. They have been suddenly delivered from the dark
and terrible tyranny of men acting like demons. Their faces, so
lately pale, anxious, and haggard, are now aglow with wonder,
faith, and love. Their voices rise in triumphant song: "God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore will we not fear, though the earth he removed, and
though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though
the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains
shake with the swelling thereof." Psalm 46:1-3.
The Moral Standard
While these words of holy trust ascend to
God, the clouds sweep back, and the starry heavens are seen,
unspeakably glorious in contrast with the black and angry
firmament on either side. The glory of the celestial city streams
from the gates ajar. Then there appears against the sky a hand
holding two tables of stone folded together. Says the prophet,
"The heavens shall declare His righteous ness; for God is
judge Himself." Psalm 50:6. That holy law, God's
righteousness, that amid thunder and flame was proclaimed from
Sinai as the guide of life, is now revealed to men as the rule of
the judgement. The hand opens the tables, and there are seen the
precepts of the decalogue, traced as with a pen of fire. The
words are so plain that all can read them. Memory is aroused, the
darkness of superstition and heresy is swept from every mind, and
God's ten words, brief, comprehensive, and authoritative, are
presented to the view of all the inhabitants of the earth.
The Awakening
It is impossible to describe the horror and
despair of those who hove trampled upon God's holy requirements.
The Lord gave them His law; they might have compared their
characters with it, and learned their defects while there was yet
opportunity for repentance and reform; but in order to secure the
favor of the world; they set aside its precepts and taught others
to transgress. They have endeavored to compel God 's people to
profane His Sabbath. Now they are condemned by that law which
they hove despised. With awful distinctness they see that they
are without excuse. They chose whom they would serve and
worship. "Then shall ye return, and discern between
the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and
him that serveth Him not." Malachi 3:18.
The enemies of God's law, from the
ministers down to the least among them, have a new conception of
truth and duty. Too late they see that the Sabbath of the fourth
commandment is the seal of the living God. Too late they see the
true nature of their spurious Sabbath, and the sandy
foundation upon which they have been building. They find that
they have been fighting against God. Religious teachers have led
souls to perdition while professing to guide them to the gates of
Paradise. Not until the day of final accounts will it be known
how great is the responsibility of men in holy office, and how
terrible are the results of their unfaithfulness. Only in
eternity can we rightly estimate the loss of a single soul.
Fearful will be the doom of him to whom God shall say, Depart,
thou wicked servant.
The voice of God is heard from Heaven,
declaring the day and hour of Jesus. coming, and delivering the
everlasting covenant to His people. Like peals of loudest
thunder, His words roll through the earth. The Israel of God
stand listening, with their eyes fixed upward. Their countenances
are lighted up with His glory, and shine as did the face of Moses
when he came down from Sinai. The wicked cannot look upon them.
And when the blessing is pronounced on those who have honored God
by keeping His Sabbath holy, there is a mighty shout of victory.
The Sign of the Son of Man
Soon there appears in the east a small
black cloud, about half the size of a man's hand. It is the cloud
which surrounds the Saviour, and which seems in the distance to
be shrouded in darkness. The people of God know this to be the
sign of the Son of man. In solemn silence they gaze upon it as it
draws nearer the earth, becoming lighter and more glorious, until
it is a great white cloud, its base a glory like consuming fire,
and above it the rainbow of the covenant. Jesus rides forth as a
mighty conqueror. Not now a "man of sorrows," to drink
the bitter cup of shame and woe, He comes, victor in Heaven and
earth, to judge the living and the dead. "Faithful and
True," "in righteousness He doth judge and make
war." And "the armies in Heaven follow Him."
Revelation 19:11,14. With anthems of celestial melody the holy
angels, a vast, unnumbered throng, attend Him on His way. The
firmament seems filled with radiant forms, "ten thousand
times ten on thousand, and thousands of thousands." No human
pen can portray the scene: no mortal mind is adequate to conceive
its splendor. "His glory covered the heavens, and the earth
was full of His praise. And His brightness was as the
light." Habakkuk 3:3-4. As the living cloud
comes still nearer, every eye beholds the Prince of life. No
crown of thorns now mars that sacred head, but a diadem of glory
rests on His holy brow. His countenance outshines the dazzling
brightness of the noonday sun. "And He hath on His vesture
and on His thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of
lords. "Revelation 19:16.
Before His presence, "all faces are
turned into paleness;" upon the rejecters of God's mercy
falls the terror of eternal despair. "The heart melteth, and
the knees smite together," "and the faces of them all
gather blackness." Jeremiah 30:6; Nahum 2:10. The righteous
cry with trembling, "Who shall be able to stand?" The
angels' song is hushed, and there is a period of awful silence.
Then the voice of Jesus is heard saying, "My grace is
sufficient for you." The faces of the righteous are lighted
up, and joy fills every heart. And the angels
strike a note higher, and sing again, as they draw still nearer
to the earth.
The King of kings descends upon the cloud,
wrapped in flaming fire. The heavens are rolled together as a
scroll, the earth trembles before Him, and every mountain and
island is moved out of its place. "Our God shall come, and
shall not keep silence; a fire shall devour before Him, and it
shall be very tempestuous round about Him. He shall call to the
heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His
people." Psalm50:3-4.
Hiding in the Rocks
"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 freeman, 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?" Revelation 6:15- 17.
The derisive jests have ceased. Lying lips
are hushed into silence. The clash of arms, the tumult of battle,
"with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood"
Isaiah 9:5, is stilled. Nought now is heard but the voice of
prayer and the sound of weeping and lamentation. The cry bursts
forth from lips so lately scoffing, "The great day of His
wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?" The wicked
pray to be buried beneath the rocks of the mountains, rather than
meet the face of Him whom they have despised and rejected.
The Familiar Voice
That voice which penetrates the ear of the
dead, they know. How often have its plaintive, tender tones
called them to repentance. How often has it been heard in the
touching entreaties of a friend, a brother, a Redeemer. To the
rejectors of His grace, no other could be so full of
condemnation, so burdened with denunciation, as that voice which
has so long pleaded, "Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways;
for why will ye die?" Ezekiel 33:11. Oh,
that it were to them the voice of a stranger! Says Jesus, "I
have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no
man regarded. But ye have set at naught all My counsel, and would
none of My reproof." Proverbs 1:24-25. That voice awakens
memories which they would fain blot out, --warnings despised,
invitations re fused, privileges slighted.
"Those also who pierced Him."
There are those who mocked Christ in His
humiliation. With thrilling power come their minds the Sufferer's
words, when, adjured by the high priest, He solemnly declared,
"Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right
hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Matthew
26:64. Now they behold Him in His glory, and they are yet to see
Him sitting on the right hand of power.
Those who derided His claim to be the Son
of God are speech now They behold the marks upon Christ with
terror.
Terror amid Rejoicing
In the lives of all who reject truth, there
are moments when conscience awakens, when memory represents the
torturing recollection of a life of hypocrisy, and the soul is
harassed with vain regrets. But what are these compared with the
remorse of that day when "fear cometh as desolation"
when "destruction cometh as a whirlwind."' Proverbs
1:27. Those who would have destroyed Christ and His faithful
people, now witness the glory which rests upon them. In the midst
of their terror they hear the voices of the saints in joyful
strains exclaiming, "Lo, this is our God!-- we have waited
for Him, and He will save us." Isaiah 25:9.
Gathering His Own
Amid the reeling of the earth, the flash of
lightning, and the roar of thunder, the voice of the Son of God
calls forth the sleeping saints. He looks upon the graves of the
righteous then raising His to heaven He
" cries, Awake awake, awake, ye that sleep in the dust, and
arise!" Throughout the length and breadth of the earth, the
dead shall hear that voice; and they that hear shall live. And
the whole earth shall ring with the tread of the exceeding great
army of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. From the
prison--house of death they come, clothed with immortal glory,
crying, "0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave, where is thy
victory?" 1 Corinthians 15:55. And the living righteous and
the risen saints unite their voices in a long, glad shout of
victory.
God's People Immortalized
All come forth from their graves the same
in stature as when they entered the tomb. Adam. who stands among
the risen throng. is of lofty height and majestic form, in
stature but little below the Son of God. He presents a marked
contrast to the people of later generations: in this one respect
is shown the great degeneracy of the race. But all arise with the
freshness and vigor of eternal youth. In the beginning, man was
created in the likeness of God, not only in character, but in
form and feature. Sin defaced and almost obliterated the divine
image; but Christ came to restore that which had been lost. He
will change our vile bodies, and fashion them like unto His
glorious body. The mortal, corruptible form: devoid of
comeliness, once polluted with sin, becomes perfect, beautiful,
and immortal. All blemishes and deformities are left in the
grave. Restored to the tree of life in the long-lost Eden the
redeemed will "grow up" Malachi 4:2 to the full stature
of the race in its primeval glory. The last lingering traces of
the curse of sin will be removed, and Christ's faithful ones will
appear "in the beauty of the Lord our God;" in mind and
soul and body reflecting the perfect image of their Lord.
The living righteous are changed "in a
moment in the twinkling of an eye." 1 Corinthians
15:52. At the voice of God they were glorified; now they are made
immortal, and with the risen saints are caught up to meet their
Lord in the air. Angels "gather together the elect from the
four winds, from one end of heaven to the other." Matthew
25:31. Little children are borne by holy angels to their mothers'
arms. Friends long separated by death are united, nevermore to
part, and with songs of gladness ascend together to the city of
God.
Opening the Gates
Before the ransomed throng is the holy
city. Jesus opens wide the pearly gates. and the nations that
have kept the truth enter in. There they behold the Paradise of
God, the home of Adam in his innocency. Then that voice, richer
than any music that ever fell on mortal ear, is heard, saying,
"Your conflict is ended." "Come, ye blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world."
Now is fulfilled the Saviour's prayer for
His disciples, "I will that they also whom Thou hast given
Me be with Me where I am." John 17:24. "Faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy"
Revelation 1:5-6, Christ presents to the Father the purchase of
His blood. declaring, "'Here am I, and the children whom
Thou hast given Me." (Hebrews 2:13.) "Those that Thou
gavest Me I have kept." John 17:12. Oh, the wonders of
redeeming love! the rapture of that hour when the infinite
Father, looking upon the ransomed, shall behold His image, sins
discord banished, its blight removed, and the human once more in
harmony with the divine!
With unutterable love, Jesus welcomes His
faithful ones to the "joy of their Lord." (Matthew 25.2
1.) The Saviour's joy is in seeing, in the kingdom of glory, the
souls that have been saved by His agony and humiliation. And the
redeemed will be sharers in this joy, as they behold, among the
blessed, those who have been won to Christ through their prayers,
their labors, and loving sacrifice. As they gather
about the great white throne, gladness unspeakable will fill
their hearts, when they behold those whom they have won for
Christ, and see that one has gained others, and these still
others, all brought into the haven of rest, there to lay their
crowns at Jesus' feet, and praise Him through the endless cycles
of eternity.
The Heirs of God
The heirs of God have come from garrets,
from hovels, from dungeons, from scaffolds, from mountains, from
deserts, from the caves of the earth, from the caverns of the
sea. On earth they were "destitute, afflicted, tormented.
Millions went down to the grave. loaded with infamy, because they
s1eadfastly refused to yield to the deceptive claims of Satan. By
human tribunals they were adjudged the vilest of criminals. But
now "God is judge Himself." Psalm 50:6. Now the
decisions of earth are reversed. "The rebuke
of His people shall He take away." Isaiah 25:8. "They
shall call them, the holy people, The redeemed of the Lord."
Isaiah 62:12. He bath appointed "to give unto them beauty
for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for
the spirit of heaviness." Isaiah 61:3. They are no longer
feeble, afflicted, scattered, and oppressed Henceforth they are
to be ever with the Lord. They stand before the throne clad in
richer robes than the most honored of the earth have ever worn.
They are crowned with diadems more glorious than were ever placed
upon the brow of earthly monarchs. The days of pain and weeping
are forever ended. The King of glory has wiped the tears from all
faces; every cause of grief has been removed. Amid the waving of
palm- branches they pour forth a song of praise, clear, sweet,
and harmonious; every voice takes up the strain, until the anthem
swells through the vaults of Heaven,
Through all Eternity
In this life we can only begin to
understand the wonderful theme of redemption. With our finite
comprehension we may consider most earnestly the shame and the
glory, the life and the death, the justice and the mercy, that
meet in the cross; yet with the utmost stretch of our mental
powers we fail to grasp its full significance. The length and the
breadth, the depth and the height of redeeming love are but dimly
comprehended. The plan of redemption will not be fully
understood, even when the ransomed see as they are seen and know
as they are known; but through the eternal ages, new truth will
continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind.
The cross of Christ will be the science and
the song of the redeemed through all eternity. In Christ
glorified they will behold Christ crucified. Never will it be
forgotten that He whose power created and upheld the unnumbered
worlds through the vast realms of space, the Beloved of God, the
Majesty of Heaven, He whom cherub and shining seraph delighted to
adore,-- humbled Himself to uplift fallen man; that He bore the
guilt and shame of sin, and the hiding of His Father's face, till
the woes of a lost world broke His heart, and crushed out His
life on Calvary's cross. That the Maker of all worlds, the
Arbiter of all destinies, should lay aside His glory, and
humiliate Himself from love to man will ever excite the wonder
and adoration of the universe. As the nations of the saved look
upon their Redeemer, and behold the eternal glory of the Father
shining in His countenance; as they behold His throne, which is
from everlasting to everlasting, and know that His kingdom is to
have no end, they break forth in rapturous song, "Worthy,
worthy is the Lamb that was slain, and hath redeemed us to God by
His own most precious blood!"
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