LOOKING FOR CHRIST AND LOVING HIS APPEARING.
By Elder R. F. Cottrell
THE apostle Paul assures us that to those who look for Christ he will appear the second time without sin unto salvation, and that a crown of righteousness will be given in that day to all those who love his appearing. Heb. 9:28; 2 Tim. 4:8. And yet multitudes who profess to love Christ are not willing to hear the evidence contained in the Bible of the nearness of the coming of Him whom they profess to love. Is it possible that those who really love Christ can feel an aversion to his soon coming? Will the wife who loves her absent husband be averse to hearing the evidence that he is soon to return, sooner than she had hoped? Will she say to her children who come to her with the glad news that father is soon coming home, that she don't believe it, and that she don't want to hear anything about it? Would this evince a sincere love for her husband? Yet there are thousands upon thousands of those who profess to love Christ, who have a decided aversion—in plain English, hatred—to the preaching of the evidences found in the Bible of his soon coming. This being the case now, in case his coming should be deferred to some future generation, is it not probable, yes, certain, that this hatred to the doctrine will continue, so that when he does come he will find the mass of those who profess to love him still hating the doctrine of his soon coming? And if he is to come at all, the doctrine will be true at some time, if it is not now. Who knows that it is not true now? Professed Christians are not willing to hear the evidences on this point, and the prospect is that they never will be willing. They say, “He will not come in our day.” And so it will be; so that if he does not come till his professed people are willing, he never will come at all. But the prayer of123the true believer and lover of Christ is, “Thy kingdom come.” “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” Speaking of his second coming in glory to reward every one according to his works, Jesus asked the significant question, implying the most emphatic negative, “When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith upon the earth?” This shows that faith in that coming will be rare. By reading the discourses of devout ministers of a few generations in the past, we see that they had much more to say of the Judgment and of the coming of Christ than we hear in the preaching of to-day. Consequently, viewed aright, this want of a lively faith in the coming of that day does really constitute a sign that the day is at hand. Christian, arouse thee! Can you not see the increasing disposition of the professed church to close her eyes and ears to the increasing evidences of the nearness of the coming of Christ, an unwillingness to look for him, and a dread of the doctrine,—which implies hatred of, rather than a love for, his appearing? Shall our blessed Lord find you in this position at his coming? Look at the signs of our times—the fulfillment of the prophecies describing the last days. Seek a greater love for Christ, and cultivate, by frequent self-examination, a love for his appearing. In what other way can you be of that happy number who love his appearing? When you are really a lover of his appearing, you will love to hear the evidences of his soon coming proclaimed; for these evidences abound in the word of God.