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of 33 years,— so His second coming will cover a period of tim e from th e rap tu re of th e church until H is coming to judge th e world and set up His kingdom.
TURN, “A cloud received him out of th e ir sigh t” Acts 1:9. Jesus went in person,— visibly. He will come in p erson ,^v isib ly . (Acts 1 : 11 ) . “ T h is s am e Jesus, fr om you into li k e m a n n e r as ye have seen h ea v en .” This is a message for disciples, not for th e world. The world did not see Him go, bu t only His disciples. The world will not see Him when He comes to receive His disciples out of the world, bu t th e world will see Him when He comes w ith His disciples, in judg ment. (Matt. 16 :27 ).
h im g o int o The first event in His second coming will be th e resurrection and tran slation of believers. This will be th e in augura tion of a series of events which will culm inate in the establishment of th e new heavens and the new earth . The resurrection of sleeping saints is called “ the first resu rrection ” or th e “ resu r rection of th e first-born ones.” (Rev. 2 0 : 6 ) “ Bles se d a n d holy is h e wh ich hath in the fi rs t res ur re cti on; o n s uc h s e c o n d d ea th hath n o p o w e r , b u t sh a ll b e pr iests o f G o d a n d o f C a n d sh a ll re ig n w it h h im a th o u year s.” He comes to tak e th e church out of the world and spare them from w rath (1 Thess. 1:10) “ A n d to w a it fo r his S o n fr om h e w h o m h e rais ed fr om the d e a d , Jesu s, wh ich de li v er ed us fr o m the to c o m e . ” (2 Pet. 2:9) “ T h e L o r d knowet h ho w to del iv godly out o f tem pta tion , a n d to re the unj us t u n to th e d a y o f ju dg me b e p u n i s h e d . ” (2T h e s. 1 :7 ) “ A n d to you w h o ar e tr ou b le d , r e s u s, w he n the L o r d J es us sha ll b e re fr o m he aven w it h his m igh ty an ge
wh ich is t ake n u p h ea ve n , sh a ll so c o m e in
( The Lord will come as a th ief to re move His saints from the world,— si lently, quietly, while th e world is asleep. (1 Thess. 5 :2 ). “ F or yo urs el ve s know p er fe ct ly that the d ay of the L o r d , so co m et h a s a t h ie f in the nig ht. ” But th e church is not to he over tak en as a th ief (1 Thess. 5:4-6) “ B u t ye, b r e th r e n , ar e n ot in d ar k n es s, t ha t t ha t d ay s h o u ld ove rtake yo u a s a thie f. Y e ar e a ll the c h il d re n o f li g h t , a n d the c h i l d re n of the d a y ; w e a r e n ot of There is a difference of opinion among expositors as to whether all the saints will be caught up a t once, but it is wise to tak e no chances. If an exception is to be made, it is not made in favor of those who simply hold the doctrine of th e Lord’s retu rn , bu t in favor of those who live “ soberly, righteously and godly” in th is present world; those who “watch and pray.” Clement, one of th e earliest of th e F ath ers, says: “Let us therefore earnestly strive to be found in the number of those who w ait for Him in order th a t we may share in the prom ised gift. He hides the day th a t we may continually watch and never relax. No hour which we can promise ourselves th a t He may not come.” the n ig h t o r of d ar k n es s. T h er ef o re , l e t us n ot sleep It is im portant to note th is distinc tion. Confusion here leads to perplex ity. There is an interval of time be tween His coming fo r His saints, and coming w ith His saints, which is suf ficient to perform all th a t is essential in order th a t when He comes w ith His saints all prophetic events will have been fulfilled,— such as the retu rn of th e Jews to th e ir own land, th e es tablishm ent of th e ir national life, the temple worship, etc. His first coming comprised a period h u t l e t us watch a s d o o th ers ; a n d b e s o b e r . ”
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