Because if he should not come the second time, his first coming would have been in vain. Said he,
"And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:3)
He comes to take to himself the purchase of his own blood. He has gone to prepare a place for those who become his friends indeed, and when he has the place prepared for them, he will come and take them to it. His coming will be the grand consummation of the plan of salvation. In vain would be all his sufferings for men; in vain would be the faith which men have placed in him, if he should not return to complete that which he has begun.
Christ's words imply that if he should not come, his disciples could not be with him. Notice: He said he would come to receive them to himself, that (in order that) where he was there they might be also. The object of his coming is to take his people to himself.
Now it is evident that Christ does not do things that are unnecessary, but it would be unnecessary for him to come for his people, if they could be with him without his coming.
Not only so, but it would be the height of folly for him to come for his disciples if they went to be with him when they died, hundreds of years ago. So the fact that Christ will come for his people, is evidence that they cannot be with him until he comes.
Since Christ's followers cannot be with him until he comes, then they all will receive their reward at the same time. To this the apostle bears witness, when, speaking of the faithfulness of past ages, he says:
"These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." (Hebrews 11:39-40)
And again the apostle Paul says:
"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 prevent [go before] 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." (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)
"So," that is by the resurrection of the dead and the translation of the living, at the coming of Christ, will the Saviour's promise be fulfilled, to take his people to himself, to be with him.
But the taking of his people to himself involves something else. The earth is the kingdom which God prepared for his people "from the foundation of the world" (Compare Matthew 25:34 and Genesis 1:26; Psalm 8:6).
To the meek it is promised that they shall inherit the earth.
"Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5)
"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)
But this cannot be done while the wicked remain upon it; for
"There is no peace, says the Lord, unto the wicked." (Isaiah 48:22)
They are continually troubling, not only themselves, but others (Job 3:17; 2 Timothy 3:12-13); and
"...are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt." (Isaiah 57:20)
Therefore before the righteous can delight themselves in "the abundance of peace," the wicked must be removed from the earth. And so when, in prophetic vision, John saw the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, he heard the elders around the throne in Heaven say:
"We give you thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which are, and was, and are to come; because you have taken to you your great power, and have reigned. And the nations were angry, and your wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great; and should destroy them which corrupt the earth." (Revelation 11:17-18; margin)
Christ himself said that when he should come, it would be to "reward every man according to his works" (Matthew 16:27). So, then, his coming means the salvation of the righteous, and the destruction of the wicked.
A few words as to the manner in which the final redemption of the righteous will be effected, may be in place. The apostle Paul tells us that it will be by the resurrection of the dead, and the translation of the living. To the Corinthian church he wrote:
"Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Corinthians 15:51-54)
Thus the righteous enter into their eternal reward; but not immediately do they dwell on the earth. The earth must still be fitted for their dwelling-place, by the destruction of those who have corrupted it.
When Christ appears in the clouds of heaven, in power and great glory, the righteous, because they are righteous, are strengthened to behold his glory; but the wicked cannot en dure it. Says Isaiah:
"He shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." (Isaiah 11:4)
And the apostle Paul, speaking of "the man of sin,"--"that Wicked,"--says that he is the one
"...whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." (2 Thessalonians 2:8)
This, however, is not the final destruction of the wicked, and the cleansing of the earth, for the millions who have died in sin lie all this time in their graves, unconscious of the wonderful events that are taking place on the earth. Not at that time do they receive the recompense for their evil deeds.
Neither do the wicked who are alive at the time of Christ's appearing, and who are slain by the brightness of his coming, receive their punishment at that time. They simply drop dead, unable to endure the dazzling glory of Christ's presence.
"And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; they shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; they shall be dung upon the ground." (Jeremiah 25:33)
The condition of the earth at that time is thus described by the prophets:
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled; suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light (compare Genesis 1:2). I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. For thus has the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end." (Jeremiah 4:20,22-27)
"Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon you, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare; for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited." (Isaiah 24:17-22)
The earth will then be in its original chaotic state; in the condition described as "the deep," "the abyss," or the "bottomless pit." Upon this dark, dreary, desolate place, Satan will be left for a thousand years. Says the prophet:
"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season." (Revelation 20:1-3)
Unable to practice any of his hellish deceptions upon men, because there are no living men upon the earth, he is most effectually bound. No human convict in solitary confinement in the dark cell was ever more surely deprived of liberty.
During that thousand years the righteous will be in Heaven, engaged with Christ, in passing judgment upon fallen angels and wicked men (see Revelation 20:4; 1 Corinthians 6:1-3).
This period of one thousand years comprises the "many days," at the end of which the wicked are to "be visited." At the end of that time Satan shall be loosed from his prison, because the wicked will then be raised (Revelation 20:5), and he will have opportunity to practice for a little season the deceptive arts which are his very life.
The holy city, the New Jerusalem, will have descended from God out of Heaven, and Satan will gather the hosts of the wicked around it, making them believe that they can capture it for their own (Revelation 20:8-9). And then fire shall come down from God out of Heaven, and shall devour Satan and all his hosts. That fire shall burn as an oven, and the proud and all that do wickedly shall be stubble; and the fire shall burn them up, and shall leave neither root nor branch (Malachi 4:1).
The same fire that causes "the perdition of ungodly men," will also melt the earth, and purify it from the curse, so that from it shall come forth a renewed earth, fitted for the abode of righteousness (2 Peter 3:7,9,12,13). The righteous, safe in the city of God, and thus enabled to "dwell with everlasting burnings" (Isaiah 33:14-15), shall "meditate terror" (Isaiah 33:18) which shall not come nigh them; for only with their eyes shall they behold and see the reward of the wicked (Psalm 91:8).
Then when the wicked shall have been consumed "like stubble fully dry" (Nahum 1:10), and the fires cease for lack of fuel upon which to feed, the righteous shall go forth to inherit the land forever.
"And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations." (Isaiah 61:4)
"...they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them." (Amos 9:14)
"But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace." (Psalm 37:11)
"Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." (Isaiah 32:16-18)
"For the Lord shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein; thanksgiving, and the voice of melody." (Isaiah 51:3)
"...This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 54:17)