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| "Behold the fig tree." Luke 21:29. |
When the Saviour was about to be separated from His disciples, He comforted them in their sorrow with the assurance that He would come again: "Let not your heart be troubled. . . . In My Father's house are many mansions. . . . I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself." John 14:1-3. "The Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." "Then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory: and before Him shall be gathered all nations." Matthew 25:31, 32.
The angels who lingered upon Olivet after Christ's ascension repeated to the disciples the promise of His return: "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven." Acts 1:11. And the apostle Paul, speaking by the Spirit of Inspiration, testified: "The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God." 1 Thessalonians 4:16. Says the prophet of Patmos: "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him." Revelation 1:7.
Satan is not permitted to exactly counterfeit the manner of Christ's advent. The Saviour has warned His people against deception upon this point, and has clearly foretold the manner of His second coming. "There shall arise false christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, He is in the desert; go not forth; behold, He is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:24-27, 31. This coming there is no possibility of exactly counterfeiting. It will be universally and simultaneously known, and witnessed by the whole world.
The scriptures say of Jesus’ second coming: "Of that day and hour knoweth no man, no not the angels of heaven, but My Father only." Matthew 24:36.
The disciples had asked the question: "What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?" Jesus gave them signs, and said: "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:3, 33. One saying of the Saviour must not be made to destroy another. Though no man knoweth the exact day nor the exact hour of His coming, we are instructed and required to know when it is near. We are further taught that to disregard His warning, and refuse or neglect to know when His advent is near, will be as fatal for us as it was for those who lived in the days of Noah not to know when the flood was coming.
And the parable in the same chapter, contrasting the faithful and the unfaithful servant, and giving the doom of him who said in his heart, "My Lord delayeth His coming," shows in what light Christ will regard and reward those whom He finds watching, and teaching His coming, contrasted with those denying it. "Watch therefore," He says. "Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing." Matthew 24:42, 46. "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:3.
Paul speaks of a class to whom the Lord's appearing will come unawares. "The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape." But he adds, to those who have given heed to the Saviour's warning: "Ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness." 1 Thessalonians 5:2-5.
Christ has bidden His people watch for the signs of His second advent and rejoice as they behold the tokens of their coming King. "When these things begin to come to pass," He said, "then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh." He points His followers to the budding trees of spring, and says: "Behold the fig tree, and all the trees; when they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand." Luke 21:28-31.
But as the spirit of humility and devotion in the church has given place to pride and formalism, love for Christ and faith in His coming has grown cold. Absorbed in worldliness and pleasure seeking, the professed people of God are blinded to the Saviour's instructions concerning the signs of His appearing. The doctrine of the second advent has been neglected; the scriptures relating to it are obscured by misinterpretation, until it is, to a great extent, ignored and forgotten. Especially is this the case in the churches of America. The freedom and comfort enjoyed by all classes of society, the ambitious desire for wealth and luxury, begetting an absorbing devotion to money-making, the eager rush for popularity and power, which seem to be within the reach of all, lead men to center their interests and hopes on the things of this life, and to put far in the future that solemn day when the present order of things shall pass away.
When the Saviour pointed out to His followers the signs of His return, He foretold the state of backsliding that would exist just prior to His second advent. As in the days of Noah, there would be excesses -- corrupt appetites and intemperence, with the activity and stir of worldly business and pleasure seeking. Eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building, marrying, and giving in marriage would be conducted with forgetfulness of God and the future eternal life offered to the overcomer {Revelation 2:7}. For those living at this time, Christ's admonition is: "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting {gluttony; debauchery}, and drunkenness, and cares of this life {love of the world}, and so that day come upon you unawares." "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things {worldy pleasures and pursuits} that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man." Luke 21:34, 36.
The condition of the church at this time is pointed out in the Saviour's words in the Revelation: "Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." And to those who refuse to arouse from their careless security, the solemn warning is addressed: "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Revelation 3:1, 3.
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