Even so the
Lord comes in the night time of the close of the gospel age, just before
the dawn of the new day; and none discern his presence except those who
watch and who have the eye of faith.
[384]The Lord spoke in symbolic phrase, and speaking concerning the
manner of his appearing he said: "Behold, I have told you before.
Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go
not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not."
(Matthew 24:25,26) Here he is warning and safeguarding against the error
of believing that he will appear in the desert or that he will appear in
some secret chamber; as spiritists claim they have come in contact with
him. Then he says: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east; and
shineth even unto the west; so shall also the presence of the Son of man
be". (Matthew 24:27) The word lightning here is translated from the
Greek word _astrapee_ and means bright shining, or bright shiner. We
know that lightning does not come out of the east and shine even unto
the west, because flashes of lightning come from all directions, and
more often from the west than from the east. The bright shining or
bright shiner here really means the sun. The sun begins to shed forth
its light in the east before it is fully up; and when it comes over the
eastern horizon it shines everywhere from the east to the west.
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