SR 23
September 23
Matthew 24:23-31. Christ describes his second coming.
What comfort it has been to believers during the last eighteen hundred years, to know that Jesus will return in a public manner! "As the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be." The inhabitants of all parts of the world will know in the twinkling of an eye that Jesus has returned, for they will see him coming in the clouds of heaven. Had it not been for this assurance, in what a state of agitation they would have been kept! They would have listened with eagerness to every report of his return, and would have thought it well at least to go and see whether it were true.
But now they feel an unshaken confidence, that whenever he appears they shall see him immediately. They know also that wherever they may be at the time, they will be gathered to him, even as the eagles are gathered from distant parts to feast upon their prey. Whether they be dead or living when he comes, they shall behold the first bright beams of his chariot. Whether they be lying in their graves, or in the depths of the sea, they shall be caught up to meet him in the air—whether engaged in their daily toil, or partaking of their nightly repose, they shall be changed, and translated to join the blessed company.
And did the Lord give his disciples any information concerning the time of his second coming? Yes—he said it should happen "immediately after the tribulation of those days." To what tribulation does he refer? This is a question that has perplexed many attentive readers of Holy Scripture. Some consider the tribulation that the Jews have endured during the last eighteen hundred years is here spoken of.
Are they not still in tribulation? Luke gives this account of our Lord's words—"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." The Turks are still in possession of Jerusalem; their mosque still pollutes the holy mount where once the temple stood; but when the tribulation of the Jews is over, when they are restored to their own land, and their own city, their King will return to take possession of his ancient throne. He was born King of the Jews, he died King of the Jews, and King of the Jews he will return; but not of the Jews only, but King of kings, and Lord of lords. How glorious is the description of his return in Rev. 19:11! "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon him was called Faithful and true, and in righteousness he does judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself."
Yet the glory of the second coming is not so wonderful as the humiliation of the first. It seems suitable to the Son of God to return in the clouds with a vast army of saints and angels; but it is amazing that he should have entered the world as a babe, have been laid in a manger, and nailed unto a cross. And why did he come in this lowly, in this ignominious manner? That when he came again to destroy the world, he might gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. All these scattered ones have believed in the crucified Jesus, and have been washed in his blood; therefore their garments are clean and white, and they are fit to enter into the presence of their Lord, and to dwell with him forever.