The second test relates to the whole sweep of God’s purposes of redemption and the part that Christ’s Second Coming plays in them. A right understanding at this point will determine the general plan of activities of the Church of Christ and of the individual Christian in this present day of Grace. How essential then to know God’s thought on this subject, and how idle to suggest that this truth is not of practical bearing on present service. Both the spirit of service and the scope of service are involved, and these two tests show how intensely practical and necessary is the right view of his coming. The first test has already been considered, and it is seen that the Victorious Life truth is vitally linked with the hope of his coming. The second test of our belief regarding his coming is even more fundamental, and again it will be seen to be closely tied up with the heart secret of the Victorious Life, and with the truth of regeneration as well. It is a common thing to speak of the doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming as of greater or less relative importance than certain other doctrines; thus, it is pointed out that the Second Coming is mentioned more often in the New Testament than any other doctrine except that of the atonement. It leads to confusion thus to speak of the teachings of the Word as though they could be divided. While it is convenient to study the doctrines separately we miss a great truth if we fail to remember that all these teachings brought to us by the Word of God are connected one with the other and together form a complete unity. The Second Coming Necessary to the Atonement The doctrine of Christ’s Second Coming is not a teaching apart from the atonement, but is _necessary to the atonement_. That is, God’s plan of redemption for us cannot be completed apart from the coming of Christ and the events connected with that coming. His coming therefore is essential to salvation. Not that the understanding of the doctrine is essential to individual salvation. A sinner needs to know very little Scripture in order to be saved; when the Spirit has convicted him of sin a single sentence of Glad Tidings will suffice. But it requires the whole redemptive purposes of God to make that salvation possible. And those redemptive purposes include the appearing a second time of the God-man, our Lord Jesus Christ. The importance of our Lord’s Second Coming, then, is exactly parallel with the importance of his first coming and of his present ministry for the believer. The Word of God presents salvation in a threefold aspect. There is the past, the present, and the future of salvation. “We were saved; we are being saved; we shall be saved.” The Three “Appearings”