That the second coming of our Lord Jesus occupies a prominent and important position in the teaching of the apostles and prophets, as well as of Jesus himself, is a fact that can scarcely fail to have been noticed by every Bible student. Yet, from various causes, very many of those who profess to love Him, and whom we have reason to believe do, are not much interested in it. A few endeavor to figure it away by applying it to the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; others to the destruction of Jerusalem, and etc.; all apparently forgetting the fact, that in the last book of the Bible, written more than sixty years after Pentecost, and twenty-six years after Jerusalem’s destruction, He that was dead and is alive speaks of the event as yet future, saying: “Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me.” And the inspired John replies: “Even so come Lord Jesus.”

Quite a number endeavor to satisfy themselves with the thought that it is a spiritual coming – that when any are converted, that forms a part of the coming of Christ, and that so He continues coming until all the world is converted – then, say they, He will have fully come.

They evidently overlook the fact that the world will not be converted when He comes; that the Bible, our only guide on the subject, declares that, “In the last times perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.” That “evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived;” and that Jesus gave special warning to His little flock, saying: “Take heed to yourselves lest that day come upon you unawares, for as a snare shall it come upon all them” (those not taking heed) “that dwell upon the face of the whole earth, and they shall not escape.”

Again, we may rest assured that when Jesus said, “All the tribes of the earth shall mourn and wail because of Him when they see Him coming;” He did not refer to the conversion of sinners –

Do the tribes mourn and wail because of the conversion of a sinner?

And if it refers, as almost all admit, to Christ’s personal presence on the earth, it teaches that ALL on earth will not love His appearing, as they certainly would do if all were converted.

Likewise, as he stated, “If I go away, I will come again,” cannot refer to a spiritual coming again, because, spiritually, He never went away, as He said, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world,” [age.] Therefore, Jesus taught His second PERSONAL coming.

The word Millennium signifies one thousand, and is the term used by Christian people generally in speaking of a time future, when “the knowledge of the Lord shall fill the whole earth as the waters do the sea, and none need to say unto his neighbor, “Know thou the Lord?” “ALL shall know Him, and etc.”

The time when there shall be no more curses; “when the wilderness shall blossom as the rose,” and “streams break forth in the deserts,” when “the tabernacle of God will be with men and He shall dwell with them,” when Satan shall be restrained and righteousness shall control. “Then nation shall not lift up sword against nation,” “nor learn war anymore,” but “they shall beat their swords into plow shears, and their spears into pruning hooks.”

These prophetic pictures and statements are expected to have fulfillment some time by nearly all Christians, and they call it the millennial age because it is said (Rev 20:2-6) to be for a thousand years that Satan is bound and Christ reigns.

This far nearly all of the Church are agreed. They are millennialists, but there are post–millennialists and pre–millennialists; post signifies after, pre, before; so, the former believe Christ will come after the millennium and the latter that He comes before it.

As these are the only views which contain sufficient truth to make them worthy of our consideration, we shall devote more time to them. All who believe in the second personal coming of Christ, should be interested in knowing what the general teaching of the Bible is on the subject. It is necessary, however, that we come to the consideration with a child-like mind, desirous of knowing how God has arranged the matter, and anxious to have the teachings of His word, and ready to lay aside our ideas and, as God’s children, take His plan. Thus, let us inquire

Why does Christ Come?

We shall continue with this thought in our next post.