New Testament Reasons for Expecting Christ.
WE are fully convinced of the authority of the New Testament Scriptures, and rest with unshaken confidence on every word therein revealed. We understand by them that the Son of God was literally manifested in the flesh, and suffered death, to open a door of salvation to our fallen race. That while on earth he promised to come again to reward his followers and set up his everlasting kingdom. He also foretold events and signs which should immediately precede his second appearing, and left a command that when we should see these things come to pass, we should know that he was near even at the doors. At his ascension an angel told his disciples that in like manner he should come again. In his revelation to his beloved disciple, he said, seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand, and surely I come quickly; and the opening burthen of this prophecy is, "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." From prayerful examination of this book, we trace the prophetic history of our world from that time down to the present, and the next events are the anger of the nations, the coming of the Son of man, the judgment, and the succeeding glories of the eternal state. We know of no reason for delay, nor can we perceive anything in the prophetic map to hinder the speedy manifestation of the Son of God. We learn from our Saviour that the tares and wheat shall grow together until the end of the world, and that its moral condition shall be at that time like as it was in the days of Noah, and of Lot, that they shall be eating and drinking, and saying peace and safety, when sudden destruction shall come upon them. That he will come unexpectedly and as a thief to many who will be saying, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to eat and to drink with the drunken, and to smite and revile their fellow servants who expect him. We are also assured that in the last days men will so far forget the Lord as to scoffingly enquire, "Where is the promise of his coming?" That they shall be lovers of their own selves and pleasures more than lovers of God, and covetous and proud, and disobedient to parents, having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. That the last days shall be perilous times, for men shall be boasters and blasphemers, without natural affection, and despisers of those that are good. Who can for a moment consider this inspired sketch of the present time, and not be overwhelmed with the conviction that the hour has arrived? The signs which have been witnessed by the present generation, in the natural heavens and upon the earth, astonishingly verify the following words of our Saviour, "There shall be signs in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." When we consider the irresistible evidence before us, we wonder at the long-suffering of God, and are constrained soon to expect the voice, "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, for the harvest of the earth is fully ripe." Nothing else, we fear, will break the fatal enchantment that now enchains professing millions. Why is this indifference and contempt manifested to the doctrine of a returning Saviour by his professed followers? We appeal to the inspired text, which is fulfilling before our eyes, to the threatening heavens above, and the trembling earth beneath. Nature herself seems more loyal and intelligent than man, and is moved at his approach, and lifts up her voiceless hands to welcome the glory of a coming God. The Lord once said the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times, but my people know not the judgment of the Lord, they will not consider; therefore we would exclaim with his prophet, O, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for a lukewarm church and a sleeping world.