p. 203 | Surely I Come Quickly by A. F. Sala

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 10, 1872

“Surely I Come Quickly.”

By A. F. Sala

Having enlisted under the banner of king Jesus about a year ago, I have been earnestly striving to become worthy of being called a soldier of Emanuel’s army. There is one duty he has put upon all of us who have taken upon ourselves his name and profession, and thereby notified him that we are ready for duty, and are waiting to be assigned to some post of honor. Now let us see what position he has given us to hold until he comes to relieve us.

Listen to the last words of Jesus as written by his servant John: “Surely I come quickly.” These words are full of meaning. Now turn to the 24th of Matthew, and read the command our Lord and Master gives, not only to his disciples that were then with him, but also unto them that should come into his service in the last days of time: “Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.” Can we realize that these are the words of our Saviour? Surely, if we accept the teachings of the Bible as the written inspiration of God, we must realize it.

Then our duty is made plain. We are first commanded to watch. For what? For the coming of our Lord. Shall we do it by spending our time in gazing into the heavens? No! surely not. It has a wider meaning than that. Had the good man of the house known in what watch the thief would come, he would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Then we are to watch, setting our house in order. How shall we do this? We are to be the temples of God; but must first be cleansed and purified. We must become pure and spotless in his sight, and free from every contaminating influence of the world, so that we may be able to stand in the consecrated position he has assigned us. Therefore let us diligently watch, taking upon ourselves the whole armor of God, having for our breast-plate faith and love, for a helmet the hope of salvation, for the sword, the Spirit of God, which is his word, and having done all, to stand. May we stand, therefore, having our loins girt about with truth, praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto “with all perseverance.”

How many of us are thus watching, prepared to hail our Lord and Master with joy and gladness when he makes his appearance in the clouds of heaven?

A. F. SALA.

Santa Rosa, Cal.