1877_Object and Manner Our Lord's Return (Cel i sposób powrotu naszego Pana).pdf

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OBJECT AND MANNER

OUR LOED'S RETURN,

PITTSBURG, FA.

. *' Take heed to yourselves least at any time your hearts be over*

charged tcith. ...the cares of this life ; and s» that day come upon

you unawares,'*—Luxe 21: 04..

ROCHESTER, K. Y.;

OFFXCS OF HERALD OF THE HORNING.

1877.

OUR LORD'S BETURN.

CHAPTER L

THE OBJECT OF THE SECOND ADVENT.

That our Lord intended us as His disciples to un-

derstand, that tor some purpose j in some manner, and

at some time, He would come again, is, we presume,

admitted and believed by all familiar with the scrip-.

tures. But the object of that coining is viewed from

widely different standpoints/ and seen in as various

colors as there are glasses ; each observer honestly

and sincerely desirous of seeing and understanding

the subject correctly; We shall not attempt in these

few pages to give all that can be presented upon this

subject, but simply offer a sketch of what we under-

stand the events and their order to be;—giving as

far as space will permit, the scriptural evidence fa*

voring it. la doing so, we shall endeavor to exer-

cise christian courtesy, when referring to the views

of brethren who differ with us,

The writer believes that in order to an understand-

ing of this subject, it is necessary for us to have some

clear conception of God's plan for the salvation of

the world of mankind. If we can obtain this, it will

unquestionably give us information very valuable, in

the consideration of our subject; for, In that plan f

OUR LOBl/S RETURST.

not only the first but also the second advent has an

important place* Here a vital question arises/viz.:

HAS GOD A PLAN?

Or, did He in an idle moment frame this world, and

bring us, His creatures, into existence simply to ex*

ercise His creative power ; entirely unmindful, or

uncaring, what should be the result to us of that ex-

istence i Many who love the Lord with all their

hearts speak of Him and His work as though tins

were the case. They think of the fall of Adam, by

which " Sin entered the world and death by [or, ns

a result of] sin," (Horn. 5: .12) as an emergency en*

tirely unexpected and unprovided for by the Creator.

Such naturally regard the salvation provided

through our Lorj Jesus Christ as an after-thought.

God, having been thwarted by an agent of His own

creation,—the Devil,~now sought to repair the mis-

chief by providing a way bv which a few of these

creatures could be saved. 1*hey regard the present

and past contest between good and evil, as a race be-

tween God and the Devil, in which, so far, the Dev-

il has been the most successful. They hope and

trust, however, that before the winding up of all

things, the numbers of the saved will be greater than

those of the lost: and so God, even without any plan,

come off conqueror.

But, christian friends, He who would rebuke a man

for building a tower without first counting the cost,

shall He build and people a world without counting

the cost ? Kay, verily ; God has, and always has hacJT,

apian—a purpose; and all His purposes shall be

OUR LORD'S KETUIUr.

accomplished. Ho works **aH things after the

counsel .of His will."..

Kot only is this true, but He has revealed His plan

to us in * 4 the Scriptures, whfcih are able to make us

wise," and given us His Holy Spirit to enlighten our

understanding, u that we might knoic the tilings that

are freely given unto us of God." (I Con 2 : 12.)

Which things, neither the wwkl not carnally mind-

ed christians can see (v. 14); they are revealed by

the spirit in answer to dilligent search, 4 * If thou

seekest after wisdom, and liffcest up thy voice for un-

derstanding, yea: if thou searehest for her as men

search for silver; then shall thea find the knowledge

of God." When He, the Spirit of Tiruth is come,

He shall guide you into all truth.

The Spirit does this as we have seen through the

Word—the lamp. But God's word, the Bible, is a

revelation not intended for oae decade or century,

simply ; but, to the conditions of His people, at all

times and in every age. It is continually unfolding

to us some new, fresh beauty, of which but a short

time before we had not even dimmed. It is because

of this continuous unfolding e£ troth, as it becomes

u meat in due season" to the hoosehoM of faith, that

under •another figure the same word is compared to

i ;

a lamp to our feet ;" for, "the path of the just

shines more and more until the perfect day." It

shone some away back in Enoch's dav t and has been

increasing ever since; not, tbs& light. yesterday is

darkness to-da}* ; but, there is raore light to-day, by

which we can still better appreciate that of yesterday.

Have we. as a church, all the light now ? Cer~

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