p. 6 | If Christ Should Come To-day by F. M. W.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 11, 1909

If Christ Should Come To-day

By F. M. W.

If Christ should come to-day, would we be prepared to meet him? This is a question which every Seventh-day Adventist may well consider. It is a pertinent, timely question. It is a vital, practical question. For years we have been preaching that the Lord would soon return. We have been calling attention to signs and prophecies indicating his speedy advent. We have said that in view of that grand culminating event in the earth’s history, we should make a full and complete consecration to God.

Let us now consider: Is all this theory in our lives, or do we actually believe that Christ is soon coming, and that this preparation should be made?

There is no doubt but that the early believers in this movement had faith in this blessed truth. They showed it by their lives of devotion, by placing all upon the altar of God’s service. They gave no occasion to their fellows to doubt their honesty. Men called them enthusiasts and fanatics, but still believed in their sincerity. What impression are we giving to our fellows to-day? Are we living in the spirit and under the influence of the kingdom of heaven, into which soon we hope to enter as subjects; or are we living under the influence of the kingdoms of this world?

Mere mental assent to the truth and mere verbal profession of faith in the truth do not of themselves carry conviction of sincerity. When we wish to know if men believe in the cause they profess to represent, we watch for the practical effect which such faith has in their lives. By our lives, by what we do from day to day among men, we are revealing whether or not we believe that Christ is soon to appear.

If we are partaking of the pleasures of the world, and drinking in of its spirit, following its fashions in dress, attending balls, theaters, and worldly parties of pleasure, surely this sort of experience belies our profession of faith. If we are building fine mansions and furnishing them with costly adornment, this surely does not say to the world that we expect Christ to come in our day. And if we are engaged in the spirit of speculation, adding farm to farm, investing in this and that and the other business venture, and bending every energy and power toward the accumulation of a competence, how can we expect men to believe that away down in the very depths of our souls we are looking and longing for the return of the blessed Lord?

We are judged by these things. Explain them as we may, and seek to place upon our actions whatever interpretation we will that shall satisfy our own hearts and consciences, we must admit that our fellows judge us by our social relations, our family life, and our business activities. By these very things we are expressing most forcibly the sympathy we feel for a perishing world, the interest we have in foreign missions, the faith we possess in the speedy return of the Lord Jesus Christ to this earth.

If Christ should come to-day, would we be prepared to meet him? Would there be any regret to see our beautifully furnished homes, our flocks and herds, our bonds and notes, destroyed in the fire of the last great conflagration? And could we reasonably expect to be saved from sharing in their destruction while our hopes are centered in them?

We appeal to our brethren who are buried up in money making and speculation; to our sisters enthralled by the bondage of fashion and society; to our young men and women dizzy with the pleasures of the world; are you ready to meet the Lord? If he should come to-day, could you willingly lay aside your plans and pleasures and bid him welcome? Could you indeed welcome him at all under such circumstances? Could you look up and say, “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us”? We appeal to those who minister in word and doctrine; where is your influence cast? Has the spirit of worldliness and commercialism entered your hearts? While urging your brethren to consecration, have you placed your all upon the altar? Are you asking them to make sacrifices which you yourself would be unwilling to make?

We ask our readers to press these questions home to their own souls, as the writer will seek to do in his own experience. If an awakened conscience finds no pleasure in contemplating the Lord’s immediate return, is there not occasion for alarm? Would it not be well to consider the steps necessary to take in returning to the Father’s house? God speaks to our hearts to-day. He calls us to return, and asks that with tears of penitence and hearts of humility, we seek diligently for the old paths.

This will be necessary for us all if we meet our Saviour in peace. An acquaintance with Christ and with his character must precede eternal association with him in his kingdom. Otherwise we would be aliens and foreign elements, marring the peace of heaven.

Christ will come very soon, all too soon for those who in this little time of waiting and preparation do not haste to make their calling and their election sure. We have not one hour to lose. “To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.” The Spirit pleads with us to get ready. May we not resist, but yield ourselves to its divine influence. F. M. W.