Looking for the Lord by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Apr 15, 1915

Looking for the Lord

By C. M. S.

We are sometimes accused by members of other denominations of giving too much thought and attention to those doctrines that are peculiarly Seventh-day Adventist doctrines—the second coming of Christ, the perpetuity of God's law, and the binding obligation of the original Sabbath. We are told that these are really nonessentials; that the great things are the gospel and civic righteousness—as if there could be a gospel where there is no law but an abolished one; and as if civic righteousness were a master key to the treasure house of all God's blessings and promises.

We are told, further, that the Christian who gives attention to his civic and religious duties need give no thought to the idea of the return of the Lord. That is the popular position, though not always so plainly declared. Our ministers meet it in their tent and hall efforts; our Bible workers meet it when trying to interest the people in Bible studies; our canvassers meet it in seeking to interest prospective customers in books that emphasize this blessed doctrine.

It is a matter of no small wonder that a Christian could read his Bible and fail to note the stress laid upon the second coming of Christ by the various Bible writers. The last chapter of the Old Testament closes with the triumphal consummation of God's work in the earth, the punishment of the finally impenitent, and the rising of the Sun of Righteousness with healing in his wings. Likewise the burden of the last chapter of the New Testament is the coming of our Lord to render to each man according as his work has been.

The prophets, speaking as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, have filled the scrolls of their books with descriptions of that transcendent event; John the Baptist urges his hearers to repent in view of the coming of the kingdom and the terrors of the great day of God's wrath; and when He came upon earth who was to be the central figure in that glorious transaction, he lifted his listeners out of their sordid complacency by discourses that have to do with his second coming. His parables look toward that event. His discourses with his disciples show that he is holding before them that grand consummation of the gospel undertaking. He declared it before the multitudes; he admitted it before his judges; he encouraged his faithful followers to look for his return; and his angel spokesmen announced it with certainty and in language that cannot be misunderstood. The whole book of Revelation has that thought, as its center and circumference. The revelator looks through the various vicissitudes of the church's experience, and sees all culminating in the final struggle between the powers of darkness and the powers of light, and then our Lord's return. Says one writer:—

The second coming is mentioned from one end of the Bible to the other, in type and figure, in form and symbol, in open prophecy and allusive utterance, in exhortation and discourse. Examination will show that it is mentioned in connection with every fundamental doctrine; with the resurrection from among the dead, the sonship of believers, and the distribution of rewards. It is bound up with every sublime promise; with the promise of likeness to Christ, satisfaction of soul, victory over death, victory over sin and Satan, and deliverance of the earth from the bondage of corruption. It is bound up with every practical exhortation. Does the apostle exhort us not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together? He does so in view of the coming of the Lord. He bids us break bread because we do show forth the Lord's death till he comes. We are exhorted to love God, to love one another, to patience, to a holy life, to watchfulness, to Christian activity, to moderation, to abiding in him, against judging one another, to steadfastness, to pastoral fidelity, to faithfulness in preaching, because He is coming. In fact, this coming is declared to be the central chord of all vital Christian life; and it is vibrated and touched again and again by exhortation and illustration as the exalted incentive and unfailing impulse. It is said to be spoken of in one way or another in at least every twenty verses of the New Testament, and is thus, above and beyond any other fact or doctrine of Scripture, preeminently predominant.

To admit that this is so—and we must admit it—and then claim that it is a matter of no consequence whether we give serious consideration to it or not, is to put ourselves above Christ himself and the Holy Spirit as a judge of what is and what is not essential in Christian life and conduct. What means the ordinance of the Lord's Supper if it points to a nonessential? Said Paul: “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he come.” 1 Cor. 11: 26. “This do in remembrance of me,” is rightly emphasized in every performance of that ordinance; but the other thought that through the ordinance itself the return of our Lord is proclaimed is quite lost sight of by the vast majority of those who take part in the ordinance.

When Paul exhorts Timothy to that course of life which will tend toward eternal life, he does so in view of the Lord's return. We read:—

“Fight the good fight of the faith, lay hold on life eternal. . . . I charge thee in the sight of God, who giveth life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession; that thou keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Tim. 6: 12-14.

Here the apostle associates two very important things: the keeping of the commandment and the coming of the Lord. The followers of Christ are to do the one until the other occurs. There is thus no place left for the abolition of God's law. Manifestly, the obligation which Paul lays before Timothy is not designed for Timothy alone; for Timothy is long since dead and did not witness the second coming of Christ. The obligation of keeping the law, and of doing it in view of the triumphant consummation of God's work as seen in the second coming of Christ, rests upon every child of God. The obligation rests upon us of living each day as we would live if we knew beyond a shadow of doubt that on the morrow Christ would come.

The chief danger that hangs over the whole Christian world is not the wars of nations, the famines and pestilences, the clashes between capital and labor; but it is that danger against which Peter warns us in his second epistle—the danger of doubting our Lord's return or looking upon it as something that need not concern us. Says Peter:—

“There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. . . . Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God. . . . Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. . . . Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness.” 2 Peter 3: 3-17.

What is the danger?—Attaching too little importance to the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, or learning, from the attitude of the careless and the doubters, to doubt it entirely. Let us neither fall into this error ourselves nor influence others to do so by an attitude of personal indifference to that important and imminent event. C. M. S.