www.bymonline.org | May 2020 | page 13
Behold, Christ Comes!
Joseph A. Seiss
“Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye
shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and
all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.
Even so, Amen” (Rev 1:7)
“He comes.” Here is the great fact plainly
stated. Christ has not gone to heaven to stay there.
He has gone for His Church's benefit; and for His
Church's benefit He will return again, not in spirit
only, not in the mere removal of men by death, but
in His own proper person, as “the Son of man.”
Few believe this, and still fewer lay it to heart.
Many sneer at the very idea, and laugh down the
people who are so simple as to believe it.
But it is nevertheless the immutable truth of
God, predicted by all His prophets, promised by
Christ Himself, confirmed by the testimony of
angels, proclaimed by all the Apostles, believed by
all the early Christians, acknowledged in all the
Church creeds, sung of in all the church hymn
books, prayed about in all the church liturgies, and
entering so essentially into the very substance of
Christianity, that without it there is no Christianity
except a few maimed and mutilated relics too
powerless to be worth the trouble or expense of
preservation.
That religion which does not look for a
returning Saviour, or locate its highest hopes and
triumphs in the judgment scenes for which the Son
of man must reappear, is not the religion of the
Bible, and is without authority to promise salvation
to its devotees. And those addresses to the
churches which have no “Behold He comes”
pervading or underlying them, have not been
indicted by “the Seven Spirits of God,” nor sent by
Him whose Revelation is the crown of the inspired
Canon.
Murmur at it, dispute it, despise it, mock at it,
put it aside, hate it, and hide from it, as men may, it
is a great fundamental article of the Gospel, that
that same blessed Lord, who ascended from Mount
Olivet, and is now at the right hand of God the
Father Almighty, shall come from thence to judge
the quick and the dead, and to stand again on that
very summit from which He went up. This is true,
as Christ Himself is true, and “he that hath an ear
to hear, let him hear.” Amen.
With Majesty And Glory
“He comes with the clouds.” Here is the great
characteristic in the manner of His coming. “With
the clouds,” that is, in majesty and glorywith the
pomp and splendor of Him “who makes the clouds
His chariot: who walks upon the wings of the wind”
(Psa. 104:3).
“And every eye shall see Him.” Here is the
publicity of the sublime event. There never has
been and never will be that human being who shall
not see Him. To every one that has lived, and to
every one who shall live, He will show Himself, and
compel every eye to meet His eye. The dead shall be
brought to life again, and shall see Him, and the