Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/231

 a natural but a Divine Humanity. The work was finished for the doing of which the natural humanity was provided; and provision was then made for a new or more spiritual intercourse with men, through the assumption of a Humanity that is Divine; and, therefore, He cannot reappear in the world of men without a re-incarnation, or in some other way reassuming a natural humanity, about which nothing is written in the Word; consequeutly, any future manifestations which He may make will not be to the natural eyes, but to the spiritual experience of mankind. Hence it appears to us that the promise of His coming ought to be understood as a coming to the spirits, and not to the bodies, of mankind; a coming to the perceptions of their minds, rather than to the sight of their eyes; and thus as a coming into the mental world by some enlightened teachings of His Word, and not as a corporeal appearing upon the clouds of the sky.

But what were the views entertained by the Apostles upon this subject? To answer this question correctly, we must not forget that the truths of Christianity which they finally adopted were gradually communicated to them. It was here a little, and there a little, and as they were capable of accepting them. The justice of this remark is clearly evident. The Lord laid down the principle of it when He said unto them, "I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now;" and it is important to notice with what frequency they were at fault in rightly comprehending the teachings of their Divine Master. We are aware that this is delicate ground on which to step; but the opinions of men, not the facts of the case, have made it so. No one can carefully read what is written in the Word on this subject, without being satisfied with the truth of this