[380]"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming [presence] of the Lord."--James 5:7. [381]"For the coming [presence] of the Lord draweth nigh."--James 5:8. [382]"Where is the promise of his coming [presence]?"--2 Peter 3:4. [383]When Jesus was taken up into heaven, the angels standing by the disciples said to them: "He shall come in like manner". The manner of his going or being taken away was quiet, without observation, except by a few. In a similar manner we should expect his return. Those watching for his coming necessarily would be the first to observe his presence. This is in exact harmony with the thought expressed by the apostle Paul when he wrote: "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night", (1 Thessalonians 5:2) The same thought the apostle Peter expressed: "The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night". (2 Peter 3:10) And of His coming Jesus said: "Behold, I come as a thief", "If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." (Revelation 16:15; 3:3; Matthew 24:43) A thief comes usually in the night time when all are asleep, and none see him except those who are watching or those who may be awakened by his presence. 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. Just so the presence of the Lord. He quietly appears and his presence begins to shed light in all parts of the earth.