CHRIST'S ADVENT AT THE DOOR.
The Love of Christ's Appearing.
SURELY, if our affections are placed on the Saviour,—if he is to us the chief among ten thousand and altogether lovely,—if we have none in heaven but him, or on earth that we desire in comparison with him; we shall desire his return,—we shall long to "see him as he is,"—shall pray, "Thy kingdom come,"—"Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly,"—"Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?" Let us suppose, for instance, a woman, whose husband is a long way absent from her, perhaps in the East Indies. She is possibly very diligent in the management of his affairs, and conducts herself with perfect outward propriety, but always breaks out into a passion whenever any one speaks to her of her husband's return: 'O, no,' she says, 'he cannot be coming yet; I expect to be much better off before he comes; I expect his estate, under my management, to be much more extensive; if he were to come now, he would disarrange all my plans; besides, what is the use of thinking about his coming? I may die first, and that will be exactly the same as his coming to me.' Let her asseverations of love and affection be what they may you cannot believe otherwise than that her heart is alienated from her Lord, and probably fixed on another. Now let us suppose another woman in the same situation: see her constantly reading his letters, and especially those parts of them which describe the time and the circumstances attendant upon his return; hear her talking of it to her children, and teaching them to look forward to it as the consummation of her and their fondest wishes. Mark the silent scorn with which she treats a judicious friend who would try to persuade her that there is no use in looking out for his return, for that he had never mentioned the month, far less the day, or the hour, when it was to take place: though she may make no noisy protestations of love; though she may speak but little about him, except to her children and to those whose hearts are tuned in unison with her own, we cannot for a moment entertain a doubt of the real state of her affections. Let us apply this figure to ourselves: and of this I am certain,—and I wish I could make the warning ring through every corner of our professing land,—that a dislike to hear of the coming of the Lord is a more decided proof of the affections of the religious world at large, and of every single member of it, being alienated from Christ, and, therefore, in an unholy, unsanctified, and unconverted state, than all the noisy protestations at Annual Meetings, all the Bibles and Tracts circulated, and missionaries sent out, are proofs of the reverse."