Sixth, we must distinguish between the coming of the Lord for His people, and His coming with them.

Zech. xiv. 5.—And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach into Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.

Col. iii. 4.—When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.

1 Thess. iii. 13.—To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

1 Thess. iv. 14.—For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.

Rev. xix. 14.—And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.

Or, between the coming of the Lord and the appearing of the Lord, the latter introducing the period so often mentioned in Scripture as “the day of our Lord." The coming of the Lord is that aspect of the second advent which relates to the resurrection and rapture of the saints, and since His ascension it has been the object of hope to every intelligent Christian; His appearing, followed by the day of the Lord, is that aspect of the second advent which relates to Israel and the unbelieving world. He comes for the saints, and, after a brief interval of culminating wickedness, He appears with them, when He inflicts judgment upon the nations, and associates the Church with Himself in administering His kingdom and in His reign over the earth.

Matt. xix. 28, 29.—And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve -thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath for saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Luke xxii. 29, 30.—And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my, kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

1 Cor. vi. 2, 3.—Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest Matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life.

11 Tim. ii. 12.—If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us.

Rev. v. 9, 10. – And they sung a new song saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.

And, for examples of the use by the Holy Ghost of the phrase, the day of the Lord, as always connected with judgment:

Isa. ii. 12.—For the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low.

Isa. xiii. 6-9—Howl ye; for the day of the Lord is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it.

Jer. xlvi. 10.—For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, a day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his adversaries: and the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and made drunk with their blood: for the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice in the north country by the river Euphrates.

Ezek. xxx. 2, 3.—Son of man, prophesy and say, Thus saith the Lord God; Howl ye, Woe worth the day! For the day is near, even the day of the Lord is near, a cloudy day; it shall be the time of the heathen.

Joel i. 15.—Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

Joel ii. 1, 11.—Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the LORD cometh, for it is nigh at hand. And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

Joel iii. 9-14.—Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up: Beat your ploughshares into swords, and your pruning hooks into spears: let the weak say, strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats over flow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

Amos v.18-20. Obad. 15.—For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head.

Zeph. i. 7–18. Zech. xiv. 1.—Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.

Mal. iv. 1 Thess. v. 2.—For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as thief in the right.

II Pet. iii. 10.—But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. In the last chapter of the Old Testament His appearing is described as the Sun of righteousness, to be seen by Israel and all the world; in the last chapter of the New Testament His coming is described as the Morning Star, to be seen only by the patient watchers:

Mal, iv. 2.—But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves in the stall.

Rev. xxii. 16.—I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.