Second Coming Of Christ # 10

Second Coming Of Christ # 10

To say that the second coming of Christ is a pernicious thing to preach is the same as saying it would be a calamity for God to rule. It will be the culmination of the redemption of this world, and to say that it would put an end to all progress is as foolish as to say that putting the roof on a house would ruin it and throw the carpenters out of work.

There is nothing more clearly declared in the Bible than that Christ will come and reign earth during the Millennium, when all will be restored that was lost by the fall. Then and only then will God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

The scribes and Pharisees thought that business was going to be endangered by Christ's first coming. The only business that will be hurt by the second coming of Christ will be the devil's business. At the time of His coming there will be no general resurrection or judgment.

At the close of the Millennium reign of Christ the devil will be loosed out of the pit for a season, and look for the first time upon a world without sin. He will tempt people. They will be as foolish now and yield to his lies and subtlety.

He will gather his host and come against the saints to battle. Fire will fall from heaven and consume them. Then takes place the resurrection of the wicked dead. Then the judgment of the Great White Throne, with Christ to judge.

There is this about it, however; we are living nearer to it than anybody ever lived before, and when it does come it is going to come in a moment - in the twinkling of an eye, and the only safe course for us to pursue is to be ready for the Bridegroom when He comes.

"Take ye heed, watch and pray, for ye know not when the time is, for the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left His house and gave authority to His servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye, therefore, for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight or at the cock crowing, in the morning; lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, watch" (Mark 13:33-36).

We are not told when Jesus will come, but we are told that His coming is sure, and we are charged to watch for it. How it would affect our lives and make hard things easy to bear if we would only do this and always be doing this. If we were continually looking for the coming of Jesus we would be as careful to keep our lives as clean as possible. The certainty of His coming would also be a constant source of comfort and inspiration to us, if we believed it to be near.

What an awful thing, then, to have the glorious privilege of living in this dispensation, with all that it means, and miss getting into the Body of Christ by refusing to become a Christian.

The preacher owes it to his people to look into these things, that he may show them their great privilege, and warn them of the awful things that may come upon them, if they miss their chance and have to go through the Great Tribulation. The preacher who has never qualified himself to preach a sermon on the sure and certain coming of his Master will have to answer for an awful breech of trust when he stands before Christ.

Certainly we can think of nothing so improbable as that He would complete His program for creation on schedule time, and yet would so tie His own hands by failure to anticipate and provide for all possible emergencies and contingencies that the train of His purpose for redemption would be so delayed or nearly wrecked that it would almost have to be abandoned.

Do not think it for a moment. God's purpose can no more be no more kept back a minute than the heavenly bodies can be delayed a minute. In redemption God is working by the clock as surely as in creation, and His chariot of salvation is not marked late by a single moment. Come, Lord Jesus!

~Billy Sunday~

(The End)