I.　"For just as the lightning comes forth from the east and shines to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be"—Matt. 24:27:

A.　The second coming of Christ has two aspects: the secret aspect, related to His watchful believers, and the open aspect, related to the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles.

B.　The lightning signifies the open aspect, which will take place after the great tribulation, and the thief's coming signifies the secret aspect, which will occur before the great tribulation—vv. 29-30, 43.

C.　The Lord's coming like a flash of lightning striking the earth will be a sign of the end of the Lord's parousia and implies that the Lord is like electricity— v. 3; Luke 17:24.

II.　"Wherever the corpse is, there will the vultures be gathered together"— Matt. 24:28:

A.　The vultures refer to Christ and His overcomers, who will come as a swift, flying army to war against Antichrist and his armies and destroy them at Armageddon—Exo. 19:4; Deut. 32:11; 28:49; Isa. 40:31; Hosea 8:1.

B.　At His appearing Christ and His overcomers will appear swiftly from the air like vultures.

III.　"At that time the kingdom of the heavens will be likened to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom"—Matt. 25:1:

A.　We are the virgins going, and Christ is the Bridegroom coming—cf. 9:15.

B.　In the Bible we have a universal couple—the Bridegroom and the bride; in His coming back Christ will be the Bridegroom coming for His bride.

C.　The reign of God, the kingdom, is related to the marriage of Christ, and the marriage of Christ is the issue of the completion of God's eternal economy— Rev. 19:7:

1.　God's economy in the New Testament is to obtain for Christ a bride, the church, through His redemption and divine life—John 3:29.

2.　By the continual working of the Holy Spirit throughout the centuries, this goal will be reached at the end of this age; then the bride, the overcoming believers, will be ready, and the Lord will come.

IV.　"From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven"—Matt. 26:64:

A.　The Lord was the Son of Man on the earth before His crucifixion, He has been the Son of Man in the heavens since His resurrection (Acts 7:56), and He will be the Son of Man at His coming back on the clouds.

B.　To accomplish God's purpose and to establish the kingdom of the heavens, the Lord had to be a man; without man, God's purpose could not be carried out on earth, nor could the kingdom of the heavens be constituted on earth—Matt. 4:4.

V.　"To him I will give the morning star"—Rev. 2:28:

A.　In His coming back Christ will be the morning star secretly as a reward to His overcomers who watch for His coming; to all others He will appear openly as the sun—22:16; Mal. 4:2:

1.　In the kingdom the Lord will appear publicly to His people as the sun.

2.　Before the great tribulation He will appear privately to His overcomers as the morning star.

B.　"Thou also art the Morning Star / To us as a reward; / While still 'tis dark it shines with light / To those who love the Lord. / Lord, help us e'er to love Thy light / And see things from afar; / And look for Thee in watch and prayer / As for the Morning Star" (Hymns, #200).

VI.　"If therefore you will not watch, I will come as a thief, and you shall by no means know at what hour I will come upon you"—Rev. 3:3:

A.　A thief comes to steal precious things at an unknown time.

B.　The Lord Jesus will come secretly, as a thief, to those who love Him and will take them away as His treasures—Matt. 24:43.

C.　Because Christ will come to "steal" valuable things, we should seek to be precious, worthy of being "stolen" by Him in His secret coming.

D.　A normal Christian is one who is qualified to be stolen by the Lord.

E.　For the Lord's coming as a thief we need watchfulness and readiness—vv. 42, 44.

VII.　"I come quickly; hold fast what you have that no one take your crown"— Rev. 3:11:

A.　The Lord brings the church in His recovery into the sensation of His coming, because she loves Him.

B.　All the churches in the Lord's recovery should love the Lord under the inspiration of His coming back.

C.　The Lord's coming back should be precious to us while we are testifying of Him in His recovery.

VIII.　"Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me to render to each one as his work is"—22:12:

A.　"I come quickly" is the Lord's repeated warning that we may consider His reward at His coming back—vv. 7, 20.

B.　This reward (lit., wages) will be rendered to each one of the believers at the judgment seat of Christ—2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 4:5; Rom. 14:10; Matt. 16:27.

IX.　"Yes, I come quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!"—Rev. 22:20:

A.　Once again, the Lord warns us that He is coming quickly—vv. 7, 12.

B.　The entire Bible concludes with the desire for the Lord's coming expressed as a prayer: "Come, Lord Jesus!"