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Unto Them That Look for Him

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Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 19, 1911

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 42.

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“Unto Them That Look for Him”

By CLAUDE E. ELDRIDGE

CLAUDE E. ELDRIDGE
“Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” “And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
As the first advent of the Messiah was the cherished hope of all the faithful children of God among Israel of old, so, since Jesus ascended to heaven and left the promise of his second coming, God’s people have looked to the fulfilment of that promise as the consummation of all their hopes. As the promise of the first advent of the Messiah met its fulfilment when “the people were in expectation, and all men mused in their hearts of John, whether he were the Christ, or not,” so the promise, “I will come again,” will be fulfilled when God’s people are looking for him.
No wonder, the apostle calls it “the blessed hope,” “for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven . . . and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” It means he is coming to take the faithful to the mansions in his Father’s house. It means that we exchange this world, with all its miseries, all its temptations, trials, and struggles, for the eternal glories of heaven, and the personal association with the blessed Saviour. “Unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” I rejoice to be among those who are “looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.”
Those unto whom Jesus shall appear the second time unto salvation—those who are truly looking for him—are those who are looking unto him daily for an experience of victory over sin,—not looking to their brethren or neighbors,—not looking to themselves and their own failures, but “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” It was in him that we began our Christian experience, and our faith will become sight and glorious realization—will be finished—when he shall appear the second time, unto our eternal salvation. He is “the author and finisher of our faith.” Are we looking unto him? or did we look, once, a long while ago, and perhaps again, once in a while? The scripture reads “looking,” denoting continued action. Let us “consider him.”
Parents, have you made the Scriptures the man of your counsel? Have you opened the Bible daily with your children, in family worship? Are its wonderful themes your meditation day and night?
Young man, young woman, are you able “to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear”? Or are there times that, when in company with those not of our faith, you feel shy about our peculiar beliefs, and desire to avoid the discussion of religion? If so, dear young people, you are in danger. You need to begin anew a daily study of the Bible; and even if in a home where family worship is the rule, you can not afford to neglect the private study and devotion that are so necessary to a well-established experience.
Brethren and sisters, are we not asleep to our true condition and need? Ought we not to renew our “first love” for this truth? How many of us are as diligent in the study of the Bible as in the days when the truth first came to us? How are we going to endure the trials and difficulties Satan is ever ready to cast in our path, unless we can always fall back on a “Thus saith the Lord”?
Boulder, Colo.