The second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ is not a coming to His temple as a refining fire, a purging of His floor. Rather, Revelation 1:7 is the triumphant advent of the King of kings as He descends to take over the rule of the nations of the earth. We will be caught up at that time in order to share His glory with Him. It will be our hour of greatest rejoicing, not a fiery cleansing and purifying of God's people.

As we understand the Scriptures:

The coming of the Lord described by the prophet Malachi did not take place while Christ ministered on the earth for three years.

The coming of the Lord described by Malachi will not occur after the Lord returns in the clouds of glory.

The coming of the Lord described by Malachi is not the return of Christ in the same manner in which He ascended from the Mount of Olives into Heaven.

Therefore, the "day of his coming" proclaimed by Malachi must take place after the resurrection of Christ and before He returns to earth the second time.

We believe that the coming of Malachi is the same coming that Christ announced in the fourteenth chapter of the Gospel of John, and that this coming includes the fiery purification of the saint and also the entrance of the Father and the Son into him in eternal union.

As we have stated previously, Deuteronomy 16:16 mentions the three great gatherings of the Hebrew males: Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.

Unleavened Bread typifies basic salvation.

Pentecost typifies the Spirit-filled Christian life.

Tabernacles speaks of the permanent residence of the Father and the Son in us through the Holy Spirit.

Tabernacles includes three subfeasts: Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the feast of Tabernacles itself.

Trumpets typifies the coming of the King in the Spirit, the resurrection of our spiritual nature, and the resulting judgment and spiritual warfare. The true Christian life is a daily battle against sin, as the Holy Spirit leads. Also, Trumpets announces the forming of the army of the Lord.

The Day of Atonement foreshadows all the workings and graces of God which cause us to be reconciled to God in every aspect of our total personality. These workings and graces include the blood of Christ, the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit, and the fiery trials and testings through which the Holy Spirit guides us.

We are not completely reconciled to God in a moment, except in a legal sense through the blood of the cross. The actual reconciliation to God of our entire personality takes place every day of our Christian pilgrimage.

The feast of Tabernacles itself, the third subfeast of the great annual gathering of Tabernacles, announces the coming of the Father and the Son through the Holy Spirit to make Their eternal abode with us.

To be continued.