Matthew 24:27

Matthew 24:27. For as the lightning, etc. At this point we must accept a direct reference to the end of the world. The destruction of Jerusalem was sudden, but here the ulterior sense, which was never absent, becomes the prominent one.

From the east. A literal explanation of this phrase is forbidden by the nature of the case. The sense is Christ's coming will be sudden and all-pervading, unmistakable and fearful; visible too, we infer; glorious and purifying also, like the lightning. Only a Personal coming will fulfil this prediction.