36. The Second Advent of Christ
“I Will Come Again.”
The Second Advent of Christ
OF ALL THE NOTABLE events enacted on the stage of this world from creation onwards, the most remarkable and glorious is yet to come. Among the inspired prophetic descriptions of that momentous event are these vivid word pictures:
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him [Revelation 1:7].
They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory [Matthew 24:30].
This climactic event, for which all creation groans, has been the earnest expectation of succeeding generations of believers. The fact that Christ’s second advent is mentioned 318 times in the 210 chapters of the New Testament indicates the important place it fills in the temple of Christian truth.
Alexander Maclaren remarked that “the primitive church thought a great deal more about the coming of Christ than about death, and thought a great deal more about His coming than about heaven.” Out of a lifetime of scholarship, James Denney said, “We cannot call in question what stands so plainly in the pages of the New Testament, what filled so exclusively the minds of early Christians—the idea of a personal return of Christ at the end of the age. If we are to retain any relation to the New Testament at all, we must assert the personal return of Christ as Judge of all.”
It is a cause for regret, however, that this great truth, which should have been a unifying factor in the life of the church, has become the ground of wordy contention between some who embrace opposing views on matters of detail, while holding the same great fact as an article of faith. In this concluding study we shall concentrate on those certainties that are shared by most to whom the advent of our Lord is a cherished hope.
What It Is Not
Many who for various reasons are unwilling to believe that our Lord will return visibly and corporeally endeavor to explain the relevant Scriptures in one of the following ways, all of which to the author seem equally unsatisfactory in adequately interpreting these passages.
The Lord comes at death. But does He? Does not the Scripture teach rather that the believer departs to be with the Lord (Philippians 1:23)? To reveal the fallacy of this contention, the substitution of “death” for the Lord’s coming in certain passages is a sufficient proof, for example, “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). How does death fit into this picture?
The Lord came in the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. There is a sense in which that was a coming of Christ in which they; exchanged His presence for His omnipresence, but it was not the fulfillment of the many passages foretelling the second coming of Christ. This is borne out by the fact that many statements concerning His advent were made after Pentecost, for example Philippians 3:20–21. Moreover, our Lord affirmed that the coming of the Spirit was dependent on His departure, not on His advent (John 7:37–39).
The Lord came at the destruction of Jerusalem. It should be noted that in the gospel passage where the fall of Jerusalem is alluded to there is no indication that it is identical or synchronizes with the second advent (Matthew 24:2–3). It was after the destruction of Jerusalem that John recorded these words of Jesus: “Peter … saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man [John] do? Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? follow thou me” (John 21:21–22).
What It Is
The clearest statement of the nature of Christ’s advent was made by the angels immediately following His ascension. “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). Commenting on this passage, Alexander Maclaren said, “He will come in like manner as He has gone. We are not to water down such words 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.”
The return of the Lord will be personal. “I come quickly” (Revelation 22:7).
It will be a literal return, since it will be “in like manner” as He went (Acts 1:11). His ascension was no mere vision, but a factual event.
It will be visible. “Every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him” (Revelation 1:7).
It will be glorious, for He will come “in the glory of his Father” (Matthew 16:27), and in His own glory (2 Thessalonians 1:7–9), and in the glory of the angels (Matthew 25:31).
It will be a sudden appearing, like a lightning flash (Matthew 24:27).
It will be unexpected. Men will deny that He is coming, advancing as proof that “all things continue as they were from the beginning” (2 Peter 3:4). He will come “as a thief” (1 Thessalonians 5:2–3), and the advent of a thief is always unexpected. He said He would come “in such an hour as ye think not” (Matthew 24:44).
The Time of the Advent
While Scripture appears to teach that no millennium will intervene before our Lord returns to receive His redeemed ones to Himself, the actual time of that return is unrevealed. Indeed, any attempt at fixing its date is doomed to failure. It is a secret locked in the heart of the Father. Our Lord’s own words were: “But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only” (Matthew 24:36). And again: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7).
The Bible tells us sufficient to satisfy faith, although not always enough to gratify curiosity. The New Testament was not written to satisfy the inquisitive but to glorify the One who is coming, and to stimulate faith in Him. Although we may not know the exact day nor hour, the Lord indicated that we could know when His coming was at hand. The coincidence of certain signs would be its sure precursor.
There would be a doctrinal sign—widespread apostasy and departure from the faith (2 Thessalonians 2:3; 1 Timothy 4:1). Scoffers would ridicule the idea of His coming (2 Peter 3:3).
There would be political signs, days of peril nationally and socially (2 Timothy 3:1). “Upon the earth distress of nations” (Luke 21:25).
There would be a financial sign—the great amassing of wealth. “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days” (James 5:3).
There would be a Jewish sign. In the light of the astounding Six-Day War between Israel and the Arab world and the liberation of Jerusalem from external domination, our Lord’s prediction is most significant. “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). In the same discourse He referred to the budding of the fig tree—a symbol of the quickening into national life of Israel—and said, “When ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand” (Luke 21:31).
There would be an evangelistic sign. “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14). “The gospel must first be published among all nations” (Mark 13:10). The great missionary activity of our day has resulted in Christianity’s becoming for the first time a universal religion. There does not remain any major national group in which the church of Christ has not been established.
With the fulfillment of these signs so evidently before our eyes, we have abundant warrant for believing that “[He] is nigh, even at the doors” (Mark 13:29).
The Second Advent and Missions
It was rather shattering to discover that at a recent prophetic conference, among the large number of addresses delivered, not one dealt with this most important theme.
Scripture appears to teach that three things must take place before Christ returns.
The church must be ready. “The marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Revelation 19:7). This is not something God does, it is something for which He waits. There is no need to stress the urgency of a purging of the church.
The church must be complete. Christ cannot and will not come for an incomplete church. Not until the last soul is won to complete the Bride, the last stone laid to complete the spiritual temple, can He come. His Bride is to be completely representative of humanity, for people of every kindred, tongue, tribe, and nation compose it (Revelation 7:9–10).
The church must have finished its task. But how can we know when it is completed? We cannot know, and therefore we must bend every endeavor to give the gospel to every creature.
Our Attitude to the Advent
This doctrine is nothing if not practical in its application. “There is hardly any second advent text in the New Testament that does not in itself or in its context, insist upon the influence such a hope ought to have on our inner spiritual life or the mood of our soul.”
It is set forth as an incentive to holy living (1 John 2:28; 3:3, for example). It is bound up with every practical exhortation to Christian obligation, service, and attainment—for example, patience (James 5:7–8), holiness (Titus 2:11–13), watchfulness (Mark 13:34–37). Since that is so, it is unfortunate that so much emphasis has been given by exponents of this truth to its speculative side, and so little to its ethical implications.
We are exhorted to “love his appearing,” and live in the light of it (2 Timothy 4:8). We should look for His return and because of it be optimists amid the prevailing pessimism. Though we are in the midst of perilous times, more glorious days lie just ahead (2 Peter 3:12–13).
We are to wait and watch for His coming (Mark 13:35; 1 Corinthians 1:7)—not in idle sloth but in earnest endeavor. Since He may come at any moment, we must be watching every moment.
We are to “occupy” or “do business” till He comes. This truth will not turn us into mere visionaries but will stir us to more zealous service for our Master.
As a conclusion to this chapter and to this book, statements of representative Christians testifying to the transforming effect this truth has had on their life and service as collated by Delavan L. Pierson are given.
Effect of Belief in the Second Advent
Effect on soul-winning. George Muller, of sainted memory, testified that the effect it produced on Him was this, “From my inmost soul I was stirred up to feel compassion for perishing sinners and for the slumbering world lying around us in the wicked one. Ought I not to do what I can to win souls for the sleeping church? I determined to go from place to place to preach the gospel, and arouse the church to look and wait for the second advent of our Lord from heaven. For fifty-one years my heart had been true to these two points.”
Effect on hope. Wilbur Chapman, the famous evangelist, wrote: “The truth of our Lord’s premillennial return has worked out in my life in a very practical and helpful way. It has increased my desire to serve Him. It has given me an optimistic spirit concerning the advancement of the cause of Christ, and it has given me an ever-increasing joy in preaching.”
The effect on faith. Anderson-Berry, of Scotland, the son of a minister, who became an atheist, wrote that one night a friend asked him to go to a religious meeting where the return of the Lord was being discussed. What he heard led to his conversion. He says, “The Lord brought me to Himself and prepared me for His coming by revealing to me the truth about His coming.”
The effect on Bible study. Arthur T. Pierson, a well-known Bible scholar and missionary advocate, wrote, “When I found this truth I began to discover what I had not seen before, that it is the pivot of every epistle of the New Testament. Two-thirds of the Bible which had been sealed to me were opened by this key, and I was permitted to enter and walk through the marvellous chambers of mystery.”
The effect on life. J. Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, wrote, “I believe that the ignorance of native Christians generally of the fact that Christ is coming again is one reason for the selfishness and the worldliness to be found in some branches of the Church in China. Well do I remember the effect when God was pleased to open my own heart to this great truth that the Lord Jesus was coming again and might come at any time. Since He may come any day, it is well to be ready every day. I do not know of any truth that has been a greater blessing to me through life than this.”
The effect on service. A. J. Gordon, one of the brilliant spiritual Bible teachers and ministers of the past century, wrote, “If we believe that the renovation of the world is contingent upon the return of Christ, and that the time of His return will be determined, as far as the Church is concerned, by witnessing to the gospel of the Kingdom among all peoples, no expression of doubt as to the permanent value of missionary work among non-Christian peoples can deter us from any self-sacrifice which may hasten that consummation.”
The effect on thought. The Earl of Shaftesbury, one of Great Britain’s most famous Christian reformers, wrote, “I do not think that in the last forty years I have lived one conscious hour that was not influenced by the thought of the Lord’s return.”
The effect on preaching. O. F. Bartholow, pastor of a large church and leader of a noted men’s Bible-class, wrote, “I was trained in the post-millennium view, but when I began to study the Bible I came to believe in the pre-millennium view and to preach it. The result has been that a new spirit came into my preaching. It put new power and the spirit of service in the Church, and gave energy in every field of activity.”
The effect on missionary motive. Arthur T. Pierson, for many years editor of the Missionary Review of the World, also wrote, “From the first day when I saw the hope of our Lord’s return as imminent, new courage came into my soul, and new iron into my blood, and I have been labouring under the divinely inspired; expectation of the successful completion of Christ’s body, the Church, an expectation that is confirmed and established both by experience and observation.”