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CHAPTER IX

String 8:  Our Lord’s Return

Suppose your dearest friend and benefactor is away on a long journey and you expect him to return, because when he went away he promised to come again; suppose that since that time you have been looking, hoping and praying for his return, and that you were informed he had arrived.  Such news would fill your very soul with joy and you could not keep from singing.

[348]A friend is one who loves you all the time; one who even without your knowing it makes a great sacrifice in order that you might be the recipient of some real good.  The greatest friend that you have had, or any one else has had, is the Lord Jesus, because he left all of his riches and glory, became a man, and laid down his life in ignominious death in order that all men might have one fair and full opportunity for the blessings of life everlasting.—­John 15:13.

[349]The facts show that nineteen hundred years ago, Jesus went away on a long journey, even into heaven itself; that when he went away he promised his disciples that he would return and that, when returning, those who loved his appearing would receive many precious gifts.  If the facts show that this precious friend has returned and we begin to see that all the fond hopes of Christians are about to be realized and that even the world is soon to be blessed, what unspeakable joy this brings!  Those who have watched and waited for his coming necessarily break forth in singing the praises of the Lord.  In this chapter we hope to prove the fact of the Lord’s return, how he will return, when, and for what purpose, and that he has already come.

[350]For centuries Jews have been hoping, looking, and praying for the coming of a Messiah.  For nineteen hundred years Christians have been hoping, watching, and praying, and waiting for the coming of Christ Jesus the Lord.  Messiah and Christ mean the same.  The term means The Anointed One.  The whole world of mankind, groping in darkness, laden with grievous burdens, has been groaning and still groans in pain, waiting for some relief, but not knowing how it will come. (Romans 8:19,22) The world in fact is waiting for the Messiah, the Christ, and his kingdom of righteousness.  When the world comes to a knowledge of the fact that the Lord, the great deliverer and benefactor of man, has returned, every honest soul will be filled with joy and every grateful heart will respond in songs of gladness.

[351]To the Christian the Lord’s return is one of the most wonderfully precious strings upon the harp of God.  It yields music of unsurpassed sweetness.  Blessed are the eyes of those who see and ears of those who hear and learn that the Lord has come and is now present.

[352]The suffering and groaning of the whole creation daily increases, and this condition is putting the people in an attitude of mind to take heed to the evidence of the meaning of these present events.  The time has come for all to awaken and diligently inquire concerning the presence of the King of kings.