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Prophecies to be Literally Fulfilled at the Second

Coming.

That He shall come Himself,—

That He shall shout,

That the dead will hear His voice,

1 Thes. 4:16,

1 Thes. 4:16.

John 5:28.

That the raised and changed believers will be caught

up to meet Him in the air,

That He will receive them unto Himself,

1 Thes. 4:17.

John 14:3.

That He will minister unto His watching servants,

That He will come to the earth again,

Lu. 12:37.

Acts 1:11.

To the same Mount Olivet from which He as-
cended,-

In flaming fire,

Zech. 14:4.

2 Thes. 1:8.

In the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory,-
Mat. 24:30; 1 Pet. 1:7; 4:13.

Job 19:25.

And stand upon the earth,— That His saints (the Church) shall come with Him,Deut. 33:2; 1 Thes. 3:13; Jude 14.

Rev. 1:7. 2 Thes. 2:8.

That every eye shall see Him,—
That He shall destroy Antichrist,-
That He shall sit in His throne,-Mat. 25:31; Rev. 5:13.
That all nations will be gathered before Him, and

He will judge them,—

That He shall have the throne of David,

Mat. 25:32.

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That all kings and nations shall serve Him,

Psa. 72:11; Isa. 49:6-7; Rev. 15:4.

That the kingdoms of this world shall become His

kingdom,

Zech. 9:10; Rev. 11:15.

Gen. 49:10.

Isa. 45:23.

That the people shall gather unto Him,

That every knee shall bow to Him,

That they shall come and worship the King,—

That He shall build up Zion,—

Zech. 14:16; Psa. 86:9.

Psa. 102:16.

That His throne shall be in Jerusalem,

Jer. 3:17; Isa. 33:20-21.

That the Apostles shall sit upon twelve thrones, judg

ing the twelve tribes of Israel,—

Mat. 19:28; Lu. 22:28-30.

Isa. 9:7.

That He shall rule all nations,- Psa. 2:8-9; Rev. 2:27.
That He shall rule with judgment and justice,-
That the Temple in Jerusalem will be rebuilt

(Ezek. chapters 40-48), and the glory of the
Lord will come into it,-
Ezek. 43:2-5; 44:4.

That the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,—
That the wilderness shall be a fruitful field,-
That the desert will blossom as the rose,—
And His rest shall be glorious,-
And many more we might mention.

Isa. 40:5. Isa. 32:15.

Isa. 35:1-2.

Isa. 11:10.

Surely, there is no symbolism in these plain prophecies, which gives us any authority to "spiritualize" them. Rather let us expect that He will as literally fulfill these as He did the others at His first coming.

CHAPTER III.

His Coming Does Not Mean Death.

His first coming did not mean death to the Jews, and they did not so understand it; neither does His second coming mean death to Christians, nor should they so understand it.

Jesus makes a clear distinction between death and His coming in John 21.1 He tells Peter how he should die, and then, by contrast, He speaks of John, saying: "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" That is, that John might not die, but live till Jesus should come again. The disciples so understood it, and reported that he should not die.

Death is an enemy,2 and at Christ's coming we are raised from the dead, and shout victory over death and the grave. "O Death, where is thy sting? O Hades, where is thy victory ?"3

(1) John 21:18. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.

19. This spake he, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this he saith unto him, Follow me.

20. Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper, and said, Lord, which is he that betrayeth thee?

21. Peter seeing him saith to Jesus, Lord, and what shall this man do?

22. Jesus saith unto him, If I will that he tarry till I come,

what is that to thee? Follow thou me.

23. Then went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, He shall not die; but, If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?

(2) 1 Cor. 15:26. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

(3) 1 Cor. 15:23. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

54. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.

55. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

If we are faithful unto death (that is, though faithfulness cost us our lives) He has promised us a crown but we do not receive it until He comes.5

Nothing is promised us at death, except to be at rest in Paradise. But we are promised all things in the resurrection, when Jesus comes.8

Therefore we find Paul yearning for this resurrection." He did not want to be unclothed by death but clothed upon by the resurrection.10

(4) Rev. 2:10. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

(5) 2 Tim. 4:8. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

1 Pet. 5:4. And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

(6) 2 Thes. 1:7. And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels.

Rev. 14:13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, s'aith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

(7) Luke 16:22. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried.

Luke 23:43. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

(8) Luke 14:14. And thou shalt be blessed; for they can

not recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

Luke 20:35. But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage:

36. Neither can they die any more for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection.

Rom. 8:32. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

(9) Phil. 3:11. If by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead.

(10) 2 Cor. 5:4. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.

1 Cor. 15:51. Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed,

52. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

54: So when this corruptible

Let any one insert "death" in the passages which speak of Christ's coming and he will see that it will not apply. For instance:

"For 'death' shall come in the glory of His Father." Mat. 16:27.

"When 'death' shall sit in the throne of His glory." Mat. 19:28.

"Hereafter shall ye see 'death' sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven." Mat. 26:64. "Behold he (death) cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him." Rev. 1:7.

"For our conversation is in heaven, from whence, also, we look for 'death.'" Phil. 3:20.

If the reader thinks that these are exceptional passages, we beg of you to try it in other Scripture referring to His coming. The only possible similarity consists in analogyviz.: in the fact that we do not know the time when we shall die. But thanks be to God, we may not die at all, for "We shall not all sleep." 1 Cor. 15:51.

There will be one generation, at least, who will realize that the coming of our Lord is not death.

And if it is not admissible to say "for 'death,' himself, shall descend from heaven with a shout" (1 Thes. 4:16), neither is it admissible to say, "Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour 'death' doth come." Mat. 24:42.

For, by such wresting of Scripture, we jostle this prominent truth, of our Lord's advent, into the back-ground, and substitute therefor the 'grim monster,' death.

Death Is Not Practically the Coming of the Lord.

It is assuming too much, to say that death is practically, to the believer, the coming of the Lord. For we do not know it, and the Scriptures do not assert it. On the contrary, the events which occur, as the Scriptures teach us, when the Lord comes, do not occur at the death of a Christian. The dead are not then raised, nor are the living be

shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be

brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory

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