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A Speedy Coming

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 24, 1874

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 11.

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A Speedy Coming.

By John R. Macduff

“YET a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10: 37. “A LITTLE while,” and the unquiet dream of life will be over, and the “morning without clouds” shall dawn. A few more tossings on life’s tempestuous sea, and the peaceful haven shall be entered. A few more night-watches, and the Lord of love will be seen standing on the heavenly shore, as once he did on the shores of an earthly lake, with an eternal banquet of love prepared for his children.
Yes! “He cometh”! that is the church’s “blessed hope.” It is the voice and presence of her “Beloved” which will “turn the shadow of death into the morning.” The dead—the ransomed dead—shall hear his voice and come forth—those “asleep in Jesus” God is to “bring with him.” His final invitation is not, “Go, ye blessed, to some bright paradise of angels prepared elsewhere for you”—but, “Come, share my bliss; be partakers in my crown;” “enter into the joy of thy Lord!” Paul’s Heaven was described in two words—“with Christ.” John’s Heaven is made up of the two elements—of likeness to Jesus, and fellowship with Jesus. We shall be “like him,” “we shall see him as he is.” In his sublime apocalyptic visions, when “the door was opened in Heaven,” the first object which attracts his arrested gaze is “One who sat upon the throne;” around whom was a “rainbow, in sight like unto an emerald.” Rev. 4: 2, 3.
Our happiness will not be complete till we are ushered into the full vision and fruition of Jesus. We are nourished in this far-off land from “the King’s country;” but we shall not be satisfied until we see the King himself. Jacob received full wagon loads from Joseph, but he could not rest till he had seen him with his own eyes. When he did so, the aged man’s spirit “revived.” We receive manifold pledges of covenant mercy from the true Joseph in this “the house of our pilgrimage;” but we long to “behold his face in righteousness.” We shall only be “satisfied when we awake in his likeness.”
“Come! Lord Jesus, come quickly!” “He will not tarry!” Each sun as it sets is bringing us nearer the joyful consummation. Time is hastening with gigantic footsteps to the advent throne. The sackcloth attire of a now burdened creation will soon be exchanged for the full robe of light and beauty which is to deck a “Sabbath world.”
Happy day! when “the Bow,” in a nobler sense, “shall be seen in the cloud”—not the bow of promise, but He in whom all the promises blend and center. Behold, HE cometh with CLOUDS! Seek ever to be in an attitude of watchfulness. Like the mother of Sisera, let faith be straining its ear for the murmur of the chariot wheels, that when the cry shall be heard—“Behold, it is He!” we may be able joyfully to respond—“Lo, this is our God; we have waited for 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 will come forth and serve them.”—John R. Macduff.