THE HOUSEHOLDER'S RETURN.
By Max Hill
“Let not your heart be troubled;” we read in the Gospel by John, “ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” These are the Saviour’s own words. Here is the expression of the Desire of all the Ages. “Let not your heart be troubled” was the first message of mercy to fallen man. In the Garden of Eden the promise of a Saviour came to the guilty pair, promise of forgiveness if obedient to Him. To them the blood of their daily sacrifices was a type of the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Down through the patriarchal and Jewish ages, from righteous Abel to Malachi, to John the Baptist,—Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and his seed, David, Samuel, the prophets,—all believed in God, and believed in the promised One who should “save His people from their sins.” David sang of the Father’s house, in which he should dwell forever; Isaiah told of the New Jerusalem, where the “voice of weeping shall be no more heard,” where “they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. . . . And mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.” These all believed in the ultimate establishment of Christ’s kingdom on the earth, lived their lives of toil and ministry, died with the hope of eternal life their comfort and reward, rejoicing in the hope that they saw the land but dimly by the eye of faith. And here the Saviour tells His sorrowing disciples not to be troubled, for it is His desire to receive them unto Himself, to dwell with Him. Then not only has the hope of a Saviour been in the hearts of men, but He, the Desire of the Ages, has longed for the restitution as well. What more natural thing could be expected? Created pure and sinless, man fell from his exalted state, lost the face-to-face communion with the Creator and all the heavenly intelligence, forfeited all right to life and its blessings. At man’s creation the “morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy;” but how soon was their joy turned to mourning. Yet in the hopeless condition man was cheered with the promise of redemption. Who can imagine the shouts of praise and adoration that burst from that multitude of glorious creatures when the Son of God made known to them His plan to redeem man! Rebellious man must be of infinite value to Him who so loved the world. Will not He who did so much to redeem man finish the work? Will His love be satisfied till He has the faithful ones about Him, praising and reigning together? That this is the great object of His coming is clearly indicated by many Scriptures. Matt. 24:31 reads: “And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Again: “Then shall the King say, Come ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Matt. 25:34. The angels that stood by the disciples and believers who watched their Lord ascend into the heavens gave the comforting message: “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.” Paul writes to the Thessalonians: “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God.” And John writes: “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him.” So His message of love and comfort is recorded for us: “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” The prophets of old looked forward to that day; the angels, and the prophets of this dispensation bear the same message; and to those “upon whom the ends of the world are come” it is proclaimed with the same cheer and comfort as of old. To reward the faithful is not the only object of our Lord’s return. This earth is full of sin. Not only has man fallen from his high estate, but every living thing has suffered as well. The ground was cursed as a consequence of sin, and as a result has brought forth thorns and thistles; the earth has waxed old like a garment, torn and seamed with age and internal forces ever at war with each other. All this must be changed, for the earth is to be fitted for the abode of the righteous; every trace of sin must be destroyed, every scar that sin has made must be obliterated. Peter writes of the “day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,” “the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Not only the earth and the works that are therein, but the wicked will be cast into the unquenchable fire prepared for the devil and his angels. Sinful man must perish with that to which he has clung so tenaciously. The Lord cometh “to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Will we hear the words of welcome, or the sentence of doom? With each is the choice, and that choice must be made soon. No one has promise of life beyond to-day, and the day hastens in which no man will have the power to choose. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought we to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?5Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless. . . . Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:11-18.