Our Buoyant Hope by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 8, 1915

Our Buoyant Hope

By C. M. S.

To the Adventist there is one great hope, and around that all other hopes revolve. That hope is the hope of our Lord's return. In that hope we find consolation, and toward its consummation we look with hearts glowing with fervent expectancy. In the consummation of that hope lies the blessed fulfillment of every good promise our Lord has made his faithful children.

Out of his sorrow and chagrin Adam looked with tear-dimmed eyes to the day when the promised Seed should retrieve the inheritance that once was his, and repair the ruin wrought through the domination of the great rebel. It is in the loving providence of God that Adam does not see the fearful results that have followed his disobedience and the usurpation of his dominion by the fallen light bearer.

Some have declared that it does not matter whether we believe in the soon coming of our Lord or not. Such have given little heed to the admonitions of the Word of God. Our Saviour himself cautions and admonishes us in these words:—

“Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, and if in the third, and find them so, blessed are those servants. . . . Be ye also ready: for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Luke 12: 35-40.

It is very clear from this what is our Lord's estimate of the importance of believing in the doctrine of the second advent and looking for that event and being ready for it. He who anciently had his loins girded and his lamp burning, was ready for a journey and expecting to take it. That is the attitude which the Lord would have his children assume toward his return for his people—ready and waiting for their Lord. He makes it even more explicit. “Be ye yourselves,” said he, “like unto men looking for their lord.” It is not sufficient to believe the doctrine and be ready for the event. The Saviour wants us to look as if we believe it and are ready for it. He requires that our very attitude, as we mingle with others, shall testify to them that we are looking for his return, hoping for it, expecting it, and glad for the omens which indicate that it is soon to take place.

How can we demonstrate all this to the world?—By what we do not do, as well as by what we do; by the places we keep away from, as well as by the places we frequent; by the things in which we do not invest, as well as by the things in which we do invest; by the things we leave unsaid, as well as by the things we utter. But on the positive side, we testify in daily living, in words spoken in season, in our attitude toward every principle of the gospel, in the interest we take in the promulgation of the message at home and abroad, and in a strong, positive, consistent testimony wherever testimony can be given. To look as if we believe it—that is the duty of every Adventist.

The blessing of our Lord, by his own declaration, rests upon those who are looking for their Lord's return. There is no blessing pronounced upon those who are not interested in that doctrine. The Saviour further declares that he will “gird himself, and make them [those who have been watching for him] sit down to meat, and shall come and serve them.” There is no such distinction promised for those who say, “My Lord delayeth his coming,” and who seem to take comfort and consolation in that “delay.” To them his coming will be as the coming of the “thief in the night.” It will be sudden, and will take them unawares.

But in the text above quoted, we find more than a mere admonition, more than simple advice. We find a positive command: “Be ye also ready.” But it is a command accompanied by the reason for giving it: “for in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.” In the giving of that command and that reason for the command, our Saviour is not speaking to the unconverted world, or to men in general. He is speaking to his own avowed followers. We may have the time of his return very nicely figured out. We may say that he cannot come until after this has been done, or that has been done; or that when a certain work has been accomplished, we know he will come. But the Saviour's word remains true—“in an hour that ye think not the Son of man cometh.” This emphasizes the importance of living each day and hour as if in expectancy of that event. There is no scripture which gives us warrant for feeling that we can be easy and comfortable this week or this year, for the Saviour cannot come for some time yet. He who does that virtually says, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” And when he says that, the devil is on hand with myriad suggestions as to how to employ his time profitably and pleasurably while waiting for the

Lord. In that attitude is a fatal snare.

If we are earnestly looking for that blessed hope, and earnestly and faithfully seeking to be ready for that glorious event whenever it shall come, we have in that very thing one of the most certain safeguards of the soul.

More than that, it is a buoyant hope. It lifts us over difficulties that would otherwise be insurmountable. On the ship of that hope we sail through troubled seas, unharmed and unalarmed. On the other hand, that hope is such a sure anchor to the soul that he who has it cannot drift. By it we are anchored to that which is within the veil; and the length of the chain does not matter; for we cannot, with such an anchorage, drift beyond the haven of God's love and his immediate protection. It is indeed “the blessed hope.” C. M. S.