Signs and Wonders God Wrought in the Ministry for Forty Years/Chapter 36
CHAPTER XXXVI
SERMON—THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
A Few Years Ago
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not precede them which are asleep.
“For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
“Then-we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” (I. Thess. 4.15, 16 and 17.)
“The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven with his mighty Angels.”
“In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” (II. Thess. 1.7-9.})
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.” (Rev. 20.5.)
“And then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.” (Matt. 24.30.)
“But when ye shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet, standing where it ought not, (let him that readeth understand).” (Mark. 13.14.);
“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20.6.)
The subject of the Resurrection is grand and glorious to contemplate; it should be taught and explained in all our churches; it is the hope of the church; it was the theme of prophets’ and apostles’ preaching. The Resurrection and Atonement are the key-notes of the New Testament.
We believe we are living in the last days, that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.
A prophetic conference met in New York, November, 1878— there were one hundred and forty bishops and ministers from the different states and across the waters—to compare the prophecies referring to the coming of Christ. They concluded that Daniel’s “seventy weeks” had about expired.
Daniel spoke of many things that the angel revealed to him that should take place before the coming of Christ that have already come to pass.
He spoke of the loss of life and property by fire and floods. Whole towns have been swept away, thousands and thousands of families have been left homeless and without a penny by these destroying elements. The last year was called the black year; over two hundred thousand were swept into eternity by accidents and pestilence. Over one hundred thousand were swallowed up in a terrible earthquake.
“So likewise ye when ye shall see all these things know that it is nigh, even at the doors.” (Matt. 24.33.)
As Jesus sat upon the Mount of Olives, the Disciples came unto Him privately, saying: “Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?”
And Jesus answered and said unto them: “Take heed that no man deceiveth you, for many shall come in My name saying I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” (Matt. 24.3-4.)
It is said there are thirty-two persons in the world today claiming to be the Christ and each of these have a large following. Perhaps the most notable of them all is a Persian, Abdul Baha, whose home is in the Valley of Akka, and who is the founder of the Bahaian Movement, a false system of religion which has spread over the United States during the past few years, and which has caused many of our best educated and cultured men and women to worship at his shrine.
Some of our wealthiest people in New York and Boston have made especial trips to Persia for the sole purpose of obtaining an interview with this false Christ and they have brought back to the United States, teachers and followers of this cult and have furnished the means for promulgating the creed until the Bahaian, Movement has swept across our country, and today is to be, found in all of the larger cities, and has a following of 12,000,000 people.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass.” (Matt. 24.6.)
From the time of our own Civil War, which drenched our land in blood, almost every country has been plunged into the horrors of war. The great conflict between China and Japan in 1895 was followed by the Spanish-American war in 1898. Scarcely had the war-clouds between us and Spain rolled away, when the world was reading the details of another bloody strife, this time between Great Britain and the Boers, and for three years: South Africa was deluged in awful carnage.
Just two years later occurred the Russo-Japanese War, which was the bloodiest of all recent conflicts. (Preached years since.)
When we realize that within the past twelve years, eight of the great nations of the earth have been engaged in the awful holocaust of war, and that each conflict has increased in intensity and loss of life, one is made to ask with deepest solemnity: WHAT WILL THE END BE? (Think of conditions now, 1916.)
The powers of the world today are outwardly at peace, but more than once the rumblings of war have been heard on the Eastern continent, and might have broken forth, but for the fact that strong internal forces of revolution are at work in Russia, Turkey and China... Communism, Nihilism and Socialism are threatening the foundations of the strongest thrones, and not a crowned head today is safe from the assassin’s bullet.
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: And there shall be famines and pestilences. And earthquakes in divers places. All these are the beginning of Sorrows.” (Matt: 24.7-8.)
EARTHQUAKES
“There shall be earthquakes in divers places.” (Matt. 24.7.)
Now, as we come to the subject of Earthquakes we find that during the past twenty-five years practically every country has been visited one or more times by a great convulsion of nature, and they have been increasing at an alarming rate. I mention these only that have been disastrous to life and property.
In 1899 six villages were destroyed and seven others damaged by an earthquake in Russia, in which one thousand people lost their lives. In the same year, in Asia Minor, over sixteen hundred deaths occurred from the same cause, while many others were injured.
Most of us can recall the earthquake in South Carolina, in which three-fourths of the city of Charleston was destroyed, and about one hundred people perished. This same seismic disturbance travelled across the Atlantic, and visited France and Italy, two thousand people perishing in the latter country.
Let me give you the awful destruction of life and property through earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, for just one year, 1892:
In Turkestan, there were ten thousand deaths, and fifteen thousand houses destroyed; and at another time during the same year, there were nearly seven hundred deaths, and one thousand injured. On the Island of St. Vincent two thousand people perished through a volcanic eruption. We all remember quite vividly the eruption of Mount Pelee, which resulted in the destruction of Martinique, where two thousand people were swept into eternity, and large numbers injured. And all this in one year! What an awful record!
In the first three years of the present century, there were forty-eight earthquakes. Allowing the same number for each successive three years, should the world stand, we would have the amazing record of sixteen hundred earthquakes for this century.
“The chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation. The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall jostle against one another in the broadways; they shall seem like torches, and they shall run like lightning.” (Nahum 2.3-4.)
(Automobiles.) We have had them now for almost fifteen years, and we become so familiar with these big, awkward chariots with their immense lights, constantly passing to and fro in our streets, jostling one against another and running like lightning, that we have forgotten that they are only another fulfillment
of God’s prophesy for the last days. The Prevalence of Travel and Knowledge
“Shut up the words and seal the book even until the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12.4.)
Today, when an event of any note occurs, it is flashed around the world in thirty minutes, so we can readily see the wonderful strides knowledge has made within the past few years, thus fulfilling Daniel’s prophetic vision.
The first steam locomotive ever seen in the old Garden of Eden is today puffing noisely back and forth, hauling material to construct a mighty dam, which shall create a new channel for the river Euphrates, and thereby irrigate Mesopotamia, the land originally given to Abraham, and which is today being resettled through the Zionistic Society.
And Knowledge Shall Be Increased
When we stop to consider that we have gone from ox carts to flying machines in one generation, and that we have gone from no means of communication except letter and stage coach, to the immense public press, the telephone and telegraph with their ceaseless streams of news and information, and which cover the earth with their ever-increasing circulation, like falling leaves from some mighty tree of knowledge, we can readily see the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy.
Air Ships
The air ships of today that are to be seen flying about the country in different nations are another sign of the last days. The prophet Isaiah looked down through the centuries and saw the air ships of these last days, and was made to inquire, “Who are these that fly as a cloud and as the doves to their windows?” (Isa. 60.8.)
The angel told Daniel to seal up these prophecies until the time of the end, in the day of his preparation. The signs of the coming of Christ, spoken of by Daniel, Nahum and others, have been sealed through all ages, until the last fifty years.
Today the cars run over and under the river. “The gates of the rivers shall be opened.” “The chariots shall rage in the streets and shall jostle one against another in the broad ways.” (Nahum 2.4) The Lord says: “When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near. Verily I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.”
These chariots or coaches should run in the day of his preparation. (See Nahum 2.3.5.) These things are to take place in the end of the harvest, the time we are now living in, when the last call is being given, the summons just before the Gentile age closes. These cars were not to run over all the land, but they were to reach Jerusalem, and the Jews were to see these signs of his preparation, in Palestine, to enable them to know the end of the dispensation and the coming of Christ was near. The cars are now running from Joppa to Jerusalem. The electric cars are also said to be running there, and sewerage and all modern improvements are now seen. Every car or train that passes there is speaking to them, and to us, in tones of thunder, as a warning voice from God saying, the harvest will soon be passed and the summer ended. The preparation days are closing. Christ is coming; go ye out to meet him.
Jesus cursed the fig tree and the Jewish nation in Palestine. The rain and dews were taken away from the land; it became a barren waste and has been for two thousand years. The Lord told them when they, the Jews, or anyone, would see the fig tree again bearing, and the latter rains and dews in Palestine, they would know the coming of the Son of man was near, even at your door.
Dear readers these signs are seen today by all who visit the Holy Land. For several years God has been sending the rains and dews, the fig trees are bearing, and many other kinds of fruit.
The flowers are blooming. The Jews are going back by the thousands. This is one of the strongest signs. Oh! praise the Lord that we are living in the close of this last generation and are permitted to give the Household of Faith their portion in this His due season. At this same time he promised to pour out his Spirit and give us the rains of spiritual power; that Christ, the chief reaper, would be with us in a cloud of glory and the Holy Ghost power to reap the harvest and gather in the wheat. Thank God we will have the pleasure of being one of the reapers.
He says to us, “Watch and pray always that you may escape all these things that are coming on the earth and stand before the Son of man.”
The angels that are now holding back the powers of darkness will soon be commanded to let loose the four winds of God’s wrath. This awful time of trouble will last some years. We think about three and one-half years. Then Christ will come back with his bride to begin the millenium reign of one thousand years, when the Jews will accept Christ.
“The residue of men might seek after the Lord.” (Acts 15-17.) The judgments will last one thousand years. One day with the Lord is as a thousand years. The six days are about passed, or six thousand years. The last or seventh is now about coming in. The saints will sit with Christ to judge the nations and angels all through this judgment day. “Know you not that the saints will judge thé world.” The Lord is preparing his little flock now for this work. Reader will you be among that number?
Jesus, in speaking of the signs of the last days, 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 21.29-31.)
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24.14.)
Our missionaries tell us the gospel has been sent into all the habitable parts of the earth; so today the power of the holy people is scattered over the earth. In every nation and kindred, tribe and tongue, there are those who are witnesses that Jesus has power on earth to forgive sins. So today the knowledge of the Lord covers the whole earth—a theoretical knowledge at least.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. The Mighty Conqueror is marching on from one victory to another. Today he sways his sceptre from the rivers to the ends of the earth. Today he is reigning in the hearts of his people all over our land.
Dear brother in the Lord, cheer up; the end, and your redemption draweth near, much nearer than when we first believed. Some, even ministers, pray for the time to hasten when the whole world will be converted. That is contrary to the teachings of the word of God. Jesus says the people shall wax worse and worse and do more wickedly. As, in the days of Noah, they ate, they drank, they married and went on in their wickedness, till the very day that the floods came and swept them all away; as, in the days of Lot, they bought and sold, builded and mocked at God’s messengers, and although God sent angels to warn them, only eight were saved from the storm of fire and brimstone; so it shall be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Jesus says that time will not come except there will be a falling away in the churches. False teachers will rise up, having the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. There are hundreds of such teachers today. They are blind leaders of the blind. They are going down to hell together. This is a visible sign of the coming of Christ.
Since the late war our churches have been decreasing in spiritual power and growing rich in fine houses, swelling the membership, but making little effort to get the people converted; taking in members without conversion—dead weights.
Jesus will send his angels to gather the wheat from the tares; God help us, dear friends, to be among the wheat.
“The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall not give her light and the stars of heaven shall fall.” These signs have been remarkably fulfilled. Thousands are living who saw the grand display of celestial fireworks, when the heavens and earth were covered with fire-balls; people thought the Day of Judgment had come; a wonderful excitement prevailed; men, women and children were crying for mercy; some took their own lives, others became insane.
Many remember, when the sun was darkened, it began to grow dark at ten, and at twelve it was so dark the lanterns were lighted, the fowls went to roost, the frogs began to peep, the cattle came lowing into the barnyards, the moon was full, yet it was so dark one could not discern white paper from black velvet, and it lasted fourteen hours. “Verily, I say unto you, this generation shall not pass till all these things be fulfilled.” This generation that has seen all these things shall live to see Christ coming; every prophecy is being fulfilled except those that shall take place at his coming.
Also in a spiritual sense; the sun of righteousness has gone down, or out of, most of all the churches.
The moonlight is very pale; black, spiritual darkness is settling down all over the land; it is so thick that it can be felt. The old serpent is dragging down many bright lights, or stars.
Many bright lights are going out in awful darkness. We see those that seemed to be the best established, that we thought would suffer almost anything for Christ’s honor and glory, compromising with those that have no power, only a form, from such the Lord said, turn away. Many others go off in fanaticism, accepting delusions, that they might be damned. There never was such a time.
Fanatical teachers are swarming like bees in the large cities, and going about to every place deceiving and being deceived, and if it were possible they would deceive the very elect.
The perilous times are here. They will not endure the faith of the glorious gospel of our Christ.
Neither will they tolerate it much longer, they try to crush it out in every way.
The Lord said to work while it is day, for the night would come when no man could work. “Having done all, stand.” (Eph. 6.13.)
We are going through that time now, the spiritual famine is on us, but the Lord said he would sustain us in that time, and care for those that trust him.
We see the Laodicean church is being spewed out of His mouth. His spirit is withdrawn from them, the next call will be to judgment.
The most of the salt of the professors of religion has lost its saving qualities.
It is only a little flock that is holding the angels in check, and the world from awful rack and ruin. The servants of God will all soon be sealed, then the Lord will take the Bride, the lights of the world out. She is as fair as the morn, as bright as the sun, and as terrible as an army with banners.
Christ is a perfect Saviour; he came to restore all that was lost in Adam’s fall. When Adam fell he lost his holy nature; sickness and death came to the body. If Christ could not restore soul and body, he would not be a perfect Saviour. The believer’s soul is made perfect in this life, pure and white; the body will be subject to disease, until the coming of Christ.
At the crucifixion of Christ, “The graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the Holy City, and appeared unto many.” (Matt. 27.52, 53.)
Paul says, “He shall change the body of our humiliation that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body.” The last enemy that Christ will conquer is death; the time is coming when they that are in their graves shall hear his voice and shall come forth; “They that have done good, unto the Resurrection of Life; and they that have done evil, unto the Resurrection of Damnation,” in the image of the Devil, their father.
Elijah went to heaven in a golden chariot, soul and body. Enoch went up in a whirlwind. Christ took the same body to heaven that was nailed to the Cross, and was laid in the grave.
Paul speaks of being perfect in one sense, and not in another; he is already perfect in heart; but “If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead,” when he would be perfect, soul and body united. When they are clothed upon with immortality, then the saints will shout victory over Death, Hell and the Grave.
“Behold, I come quickly.” He expects to hear a hearty response from everyone who is true to him, “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” God’s true children are ready, watching morning, noon, and night, for the coming of the Bridegroom, in the hour of death, or in the clouds; they have their lamps trimmed and burning; they are making every effort to gather in their friends and neighbors, before the storm of God’s wrath shall burst in awful fury on a lost and ruined world.
When the herald shall shout, “BEHOLD, THE BRIDE-GROOM COMETH; GO YE OUT TO MEET HIM.” Oh! what a sight will burst on our raptured vision as we see the King of Heaven coming! The Bridegroom, in his royal robes, with all the glory of the heavenly world, and his golden chariot; with all the shining angels to escort the Bride, the Lamb’s wife to the Golden City, the New Jerusalem, with the spirits of the saints coming back for their bodies. Oh, grave, give us our bodies! The Mighty Conqueror unlocks the Grave, and, with a shout that penetrates the Caverns of the Sainted Dead, the graves fly open, the sleeping saints come forth from dusty beds, set free from all the effects of sin. Old age, gray hairs, withered limbs, deformities, death, disease, are all the effects of sin. Jesus came to save us from the curse of sin, to restore all that was lost by the fall.
Jesus died in the prime of life, in the strength and vigor of manhood. We shall be like him; these vile bodies shall be changed and made like unto the glorious Son of God, not that we shall be unclothed, but clothed upon with immortality.
Oh, what a happy meeting that will be! Whole families and friends will rise up from the old church-yards and clasp each other in a long embrace, which will last forever, mothers and children shall meet, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and neighbors, pastors and flocks.
Those who are alive will be changed in a moment, set free from the effect of sin, and be clothed with the glory of heaven. Then a mighty shout of victory will go up from the millions of saints: “Oh death, where is thy sting? Oh grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God for victory over death, hell and the grave.
Oh, the rapture, as we shall march through the streets of pure gold! We shall raise our voices, which shall sound like rushing waters, like mighty thunders, in singing glory to the Lamb, who has bought us and washed us in his own precious blood. With harps and palms in our hands and crowns on our heads—Jesus will place the shining crowns with his own hands upon our heads—then we shall march through the streets of the city, with all the music of the hosts of heaven saying, “Alleluia, for the Lord God Omnipotent Reigneth.” Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to him for the marriage of the Lamb is come and his wife hath made herself ready.
Jesus will lead us to the Great White Throne and say, “Here, Father, am I, and the children thou hast given me.” We will prostrate ourselves before the Throne and cast our crowns at his feet saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of hosts.” “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing.”
We shall all sit down to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Oh! what a company; apostles, martyrs, fathers, mothers, children, friends and neighbors, brothers and sisters in the Lord, ministers and converts. Oh; what a reunion, what a gathering that will be, as we look along the table at the bright and shining faces! Then to behold the dear Saviour smiling on his children} Dear friends, will you be there?