Jesus Is Coming Again
Chapter 4
The Three Appearings.
The grandest fact in history is that Jesus Christ, the
Lord of Glory, has been in this world.
And the most important fact of the present is that He
is now in Heaven making intercession for us.
And the greatest prophesied event of the future is, that
He is coming again.
These three appearings are beautifully set forth in the
9th of Hebrews.
His appearing upon earth "to put away by the sacrifice of Himself." Verse 26.
His entering "into Heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us." Verse 24.
"And unto them that look for Him shall He appear
the second time, without sin unto salvation." Verse 28.
While He was here upon earth He said: "It is expedient for you that I go away." and He went away. He
said, "I go to prepare a place for you." But He Promised,
"If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,
and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye
may be also." John 14:2-3. He gave us this promise
as our hope and comfort while He is away.
He said: "In the world ye shall have tribulation"
(John 16:33), "ye shall weep and lament, and. ..be sorrowful but I will see you again, and your heart shall
rejoice." Verses 20, 22.
Nothing can be more comforting to the Church, the
bride of Christ, then this precious promise which our
absent Lord has left us, that He will come and receive us
unto Himself, and that we shall be with Him, to behold
His glory.
He has given us The Lord's Supper,
that we should take the bread and the cup in remembrance
of Him, and to show His death, till He come. We have
this simple and loving memorial for a continual sign of
this promise during all the earthly pilgrimage of the
Church, and through it we look forward from the cross
to His coming, when He will drink it anew with us, in
His Father's kingdom, at the marriage feast of the
Lamb.
It is a constant reminder of His promise, pointing our
eye of faith to His coming again. "He is faithful that
promised" and we are exhorted to have confidence and
patience, that we may "receive the promise," "for yet a
little while, and He that shall come, will come, and will
not tarry." Heb. 10 :35-37.
One has truly said that the coming of Christ is
The Very Pole Star of the Church,
and the apostle Paul calls it "That blessed hope."
Jesus and the apostles and the prophets have given
great prominence in the Scriptures to this inspiring
theme. THE EARLY FATHERS and the Christian
Church; for the first two centuries of our era, found in it
their chief source of hope and comfort. The belief that
Jesus was coming in glory to reign with His saints on the
earth, during the Millennium, was almost universal with
them.
But in the third century there arose a school of interpreters, headed by Origen, who so "spiritualized" the
Scriptures that they ceased to believe in any literal Millennium whatsoever. Their system of interpretation has been
severely condemned by Martin Luther, Dr. Adam Clarke
and other commentators.
When Constantine was converted and the Roman empire became, nominally, Christian, it appeared to many
that the Millennium had come, and that they had the kingdom on earth. The Church, hand in hand with the world,
plunged into the dark ages, until awakened by the great
reformers of the sixteenth century, who again began to
proclaim the comforting hope and blessed promise of the
coming of Christ; and since that time the subject so long
neglected has been studied and preached with increasing
interest. Indeed, in the last two centuries, it seems to
have risen (with the doctrine of salvation by simple faith
in a crucified Savior into somewhat the same prominence which it occupied in the early Church. God be
praised for it.
