[444]These are they who, having the harps of God, are singing the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb, harmonizing the great truths of the Old and New Testaments, the Mosaic law and the gospel of Christ Jesus, singing: "Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest."—Revelation 15:2-4.

WHY THE LORD COMES

[445]There are three primary purposes or reasons why the Lord appears the second time. These are: (1) To bind Satan and destroy his kingdom and all the false systems inaugurated by his agencies; (2) to receive unto himself his bride, the church, which includes the work of the harvest of gathering them unto him; and (3) to set up his kingdom, for which he taught his followers to pray.

[446]The purpose of our Lord's second coming has been much misunderstood and misrepresented. Some have said that he is coming to burn up the earth. The Scriptures answer this charge: "The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's; but the earth hath he given to the children of men". (Psalm 115:16) How then can we harmonize this statement of the Scriptures with St. Peter's words?—"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.... The heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat."—2 Peter 3:10,12.

[447]It is manifest that the Apostle is here using symbolic language. He states that the Lord comes as a thief, illustrating how quietly and unobservedly his second coming or appearing takes place, as we have already noted. Then we must conclude that the other main elements here mentioned are symbolic. The heavens taken symbolically mean the invisible power of control, consisting of Satan and his unseen agencies, as well as his visible agencies in the earth. The earth symbolically represents organized society under Satan's dominion. The elements here meant are the various selfish elements of the earth, composed of ecclesiasticism, political parties, lodge systems, etc., that go to make up the various elements of human society; and we can see that these are all discordant and warring amongst themselves. They shall all be dissolved and shall melt with fervent heat; that is to say, during the heated time of trouble.

[448]But the Apostle states in the thirteenth verse of this chapter: "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness"; meaning thereby that we look for a new invisible power of control, Messiah's kingdom, and a new earth, society organized along new lines, to take the place of the old. The words here have no reference to the mundane sphere or globe upon which the human race resides.

[449]The symbolic fire is now burning fiercely in the troublesome time that we see amongst the peoples and nations of the earth; and it will continue to burn until all the false systems of Satan's empire are completely destroyed. This is a further evidence of the Lord's presence at this time, as well as one of the purposes for which he comes.

[450]In speaking of the proof of his presence, Jesus further stated that at that time there would be "upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea [restless humanity] and the waves [various organized parts of it] roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth; for the powers of heaven shall he shaken. And then shall they see [discern] the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory;" that is to say, they will discern the Lord's presence through the clouds, symbolic of great trouble, and glory, the manifestation of his justice and power. (Luke 21:25-27) No one will attempt to gainsay the fact that just now, in the year 1921, all the nations are in distress and the people in all branches of business—socially, politically and otherwise—are in perplexity and know not what to do. And men of earth who are engaged in business affairs are so fearful that their hearts are failing them, not knowing which way to turn nor what to do.

[451]On one hand we observe the employers who own the factories and the mills and who employ the laboring element to do the work, striving to curtail their expenses, reducing wages, discharging men, resulting in millions being out of employment with no means of earning a livelihood for themselves or families. On the other hand is the laboring class of men, who have received their employment at the hands of the wealthier, who are distressed in mind. And because of the injustices heaped upon them they are becoming more restless each day and are threatening to take complete possession and control of the factories and mills and mines and operate these themselves. The political class, striving always to do the will of the financial powers, are perplexed and frightened as to what they shall do, yet constantly acting in a vain attempt to help their allies in the great beastly order; while the apostate clergy, which goes to make up the third element of the beastly order, is trying to induce the order-loving people to unite themselves with church systems and thereby support the employing class.

[452]These various elements, selfishly exercising what power they have, are going from bad to worse, leading on to a great disaster for the unrighteous systems of earth. Jesus points this out as the final and conclusive evidence of his presence and of the end of the world, saying: "Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." (Matthew 24:21,22) The prophet Daniel corroborates the words of the Master to the effect that in this time of trouble the great Messiah will manifest himself and put into operation his kingdom. He says: "And at that time shall Michael [God's representative, the Messiah] stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book".—Daniel 12:1.