News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1917-08-08

IHS83$M 4 A$I CnTlSLS DlOOu was
~ q M shed for the re-
mission of sin and
his body broken for us; we are also
by faith to look forward to his blessed
appearing. 1t is the latter fact that
is brought to our minds by the phrase
"till he come" By it, we are led to
understand that as our Lord once
came and was here upon this earth,
so he is to come a second time.
His own Word gives us the promise
of his return. Speaking to his dis
ciples about his coming departure he
said: "And if 1 go and prepare a place
for you, will come again, and receive
you unto myself; that where I am,
there We may be also" Ono. IA 81 By
this he meant his own personal return.
and not the coming of the Holy Spirit.
Whenever our Lord spoke about the
coming of the Holy Spirit, he always
referred to it in such way that there
could be no confusing of that event
with his own coming. And we know
that long after the advent of the Holy
split, UUlu Tic CNdilECIlSl vi lit
land of Patmos heard again from our
Lord the promise of his return. The
word of the Lord to him was "Surely.
I come quickly" and the heart of the
apostle responded "Amen. Even so
come Lord Jesus" (Rev. % :20).
Waiting for Jesus.
In the Church at Thessalonica we
read of Christians who turned to God
from idols to serve the living and true
God; and to wait for his son from
heaven" Il Thess. 1 :9-10) Evidently
from this, as well as from other Scrip
lures, it was not the Holy Spirit for
whom they waited, for he had come;
or for anyone else. 1t was for the
Lord Jesus Christ himself, and they
waited for him to come from heaven.
With this agrees the promise of the
two men in white spoken to the dis
ciples of our Lord at the time Of his
ascension: "Ye men of Galilee, why
stand We gazing up into heaven? This
same Jesus, which is taken up from
you into heaven, shall so come in like
manner as We have seen him go into
heaven" (Acts 1 :11) 1t is then from
that he is to come, and it is he him
self for whom we are to look, and not
for another.
Neither did our Lord mean the
death of the believer, when he spoke
of his coming again. At death, the
1nDorfc 70 hn with hn ord
1t was Paul, who having had word con-
corning his decease, said: "The time
of my departure is at hand" At the
coming of Christ the Lord himself re-
turns to the earth and the believers
shall be caught up to meet the Lord
IN the air. Then, after an interval of
time they shall come with the Lord
when he comes in all the glory of the
,ather and his holy angels. There are
-huS two parts to the second coming
If Christ; his coming for the believ-
RS and his coming with the believers.
first Thessalonians refers to the first
)art, while the Second Thessalonians
ellis of the second part of his coming.
What the Coming of Jesus Means.
One has only to read the word of
'ur Lord to Peter after his resurrec-
ion to know that by the coming of
yhrist is not meant the death of the
eliever. In response to Peters ques-
ion concerning John. "What shall this
nan do?' the risen Lord said, eff
7ill that he tarry till 1 come, what is
hat to thee?" 'Then," adds the evan
elist, went this saying abroad among
ne brethren that that disciple should
OF die: Yet Jesus said not unto him,
lie shall not die;' but, if 1 will
nat he tarry till 1 come, what is that
theeT" (Jno. 81 :21-23) Here you
ee is a clear distinction made between
cath and the coming of Christ.
In that once famous, but now almost
'rgotten book "The Life Of Jesus"
lie author, David Friedrich Strauss,
fers to the frequency with which
If Lord speaks of his second coming.
e uses this as an argument against
e credibility of the Gospel narrative,
cause he says a dead man cannot
me back to earth. This argument a
tie child who knows anything of the
nth can easily cOntrovert, for il is
It whether a dead man can come
ok to earth, but whether the Son
God, who rose from the dead, can
Ifll his oft-repeated promise: 81 am
ming"
Yes, he is coming back again and
e Lords Supper is a token of this
It. Already there are foregleams Of
1T day. The evening red is upon
: western horizon. "For yet little
Tile and he that shall come will
ne, and win net larry" (Heb. 10:
Are you ready?