336
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
July 1930
d S c i t à k What is the Second Coming of Christ? B y P. W . P hilpott {Pastor o f the Church o f the Open Door, Los Angeles, California )
'5 b &TLL evangelical Christians believe that Christ is JW|i coming again. They hold different views, how- Jgj fa ever, as to the manner of His appearing. ¿nSSwL Tens of thousands of Christians every Sun- « ■ y jP “ day recite the Apostles’ Creed in which they af firm their belief in Jesus Christ who “was bom of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day He rose from the dead; ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty.” Without a pause they go on to say, “ From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.” They profess to accept the com
self; that where I am, there ye may be also.” Both of these, and other similar passages, refer directly to Christ’s second coming at the end of the Church age and,not to the death of a believer. When a Christian dies, he “ falls asleep.” When Jesus Christ comes again, all the sleeping saints shall awake. Death puts the believer’s body in the grave; the coming of Christ will bring that body forth from the grave. Death separates us from one another; the coming of Christ will reunite us. Death fills our eyes with tears; His coming will wipe all tears away. “ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice o f the
ing again of Christ without per haps giving much consideration to the implications of such a great subject. On the day of His ascension Jesus led the disciples out to the Mount of Olives. While in the attitude of blessing them, He was suddenly “ taken up, and a cloud received him out o f 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 o f 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 1:9-11). In a visible, personal presence our Lord went away, and the two witnesses assure us that He "shall so come in like manner.” The whole New Testament rings
archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead m 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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. 4:16-18). Again, the apostle Paul, in
Thou Art Coming! Thou art coming, 0 my Saviour, Thou art coming! 0 my King, Every tongue Thy name confessing, Well may we rejoice and sing; Thou art coming! rays o f glory, Through the veil Thy death has rent, Gladden now our pilgrim pathway, Glory from Thy presence sent. Thou art coming, not a shadow, On that sunrise grand and clear; Thou art coming! Jesus Saviour, Nothing else seems worth a thought, Oh, how marvelous the glory, And the bliss Thy pain hath bought. —Frances Ridley Havergal. Not a mist and not a tear, Not a sin and not a sorrow,
his first Epistle to the Corinth ians (15:51), s p e a k i n g of Christ’s return, tells us that there will be at that time many living believers who will never expe rience the sting of death, but who will be changed in a moment, in “ the twinkling o f an eye.” If, then, there is to be a company of believers who, like Enoch and Elijah, will never die, how can death and Christ’s coming mean the same thing? The absurdity of thè claim that these are sy nonymous terms is at once appar ent when one endeavors to read the word “ death” into the assurances of the second appearing of Christ. Richard Baxter’s testimony on this subject is illum inating. “ For my own part,” he declares, “ I must confess to you that death, as death, appeareth to me as an enemy and my nature doth abhor and fear it. But the thoughts o f the coming of the Lord are most sweet and joyful to me; so that if I were but sure that I should live to see it and that the trumpet should sound and the dead should arise and the Lord appear before the period o f my age, it would be the joy fullest tidings to me in the world. Oh, that I might see His kingdom come !” Some of the greatest promises of the New Testament given to the child of God, will not be fulfilled at death, but at the second appearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. For instance, the resurrection of believers, with their translation into the presence of our Lord from which they shall go out no more forever, is not mentioned in connection with death. These events will take place only when Christ appears.
with this glorious announcement. In language clear and positive, He is pledged to a definite, visible return to this earth. To give to these words any other than a literal interpretation is to handle the Word of God deceitfully. The logic of such a conclusion is recognized by one of the leading modernists and greatest scholars on that side of the question, who states that if one is a fundamentalist, that is, if one believes the Bible to be the inspired revela tion of God, he must of necessity be a premillenarian; for the Scriptures clearly teach that Jesus Christ is coming back again in personal, bodily form. W hat T he C oming , of C hrist D oes N ot M ean 1. It does not mean death. Frequently at funerals of believers, Matthew24:42 is quoted: “ Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Then, in the way in which this Scripture is applied, the impression is given that Christ’s promise to come again is fulfilled at death. Or, it may be that the text is John 14:2, 3: “ 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 my
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs