p. 68 | THOUGHTS ON THE ADVENT

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 15, 1861

THOUGHTS ON THE ADVENT.

(Continued)

BEFORE introducing further testimony upon the nature of the coming of Christ (having seen that that coming is clearly taught by the Scriptures) we must say a word by way of refutation of a common error which has a tendency to destroy the force of those scriptures which bear so startling a testimony on this point, and so to set the heart of man at rest. The coming of Christ is claimed by some to be not a particular and definite event to take place at a particular time, and to mark a solemn and decisive crisis in the history of the human race, but to be an event which takes place at a variety of times and in a variety of ways. By far too many are ready to console themselves with the belief that this is not an event to burst upon the outward world with a splendor tenfold that of the noon-day sun, to startle mankind from their dreams of peace and safety, to reveal to them that the insulted Lamb's great day of wrath is come, and to excite too late for them the sad inquiry, "Who shall be able to stand?" For with them that coming is some sudden manifestation of judgment, some silent exhibition of divine power, or the cutting short of some earthly career by death. He comes to them in the secret chamber, or has erected his ensign in the far distant desert.

But these theories come to be attested not by divine, but only by human, authority; we must therefore be permitted to override them all, and anchor our faith upon the law and the testimony. Whatever is not according to this, is darkness and not light. Divines may therefore tell us, when some sudden calamity has put an end to the life of a fellow-being, that "we are hereby taught that in such an hour as we think not the Son of man cometh;" they may tell us, when a dying man expires in the silent chamber, that to him the Son of man has come; but is death the coming of Christ? What saith the Scriptures? When Jesus once intimated that one of his disciples might remain till his coming, the saying immediately went abroad that that disciple should not die. John xxi, 23. The coming of Christ at death! Is it? Then read 1 Thess. iv, 15–17. "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

Into this testimony put death for the coming of the Lord, which can be legitimately done, if they are synonymous expressions: "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain until we die, shall not prevent them which are asleep; for death shall take place, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, shall die together with them, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." What insane confusion is this! Can any rational man for a moment entertain a view which transforms the word of God into such jargon? The sober reader will pardon us for thus treating the subject. Our only apology is the intense absurdity of the view we would hereby refute. No: death is not the coming of Christ. Death is an evil, the penalty of sin, an enemy. 1 Cor. xv, 26. How would such scripture as this sound? "For the wages of sin is the coming of the Lord; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Rom. vi, 23. Again, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is the coming of the Lord!" 1 Cor. xv, 26. The coming of the Lord is held out to the christian as his blessed hope, and an event which he should earnestly desire, and for the coming of which he should fervently pray. Titus ii, 13; Matt. vi, 9, 10; Rev. xxii, 20.

And Spiritualism, that vilest and most brazen-faced development of Satanic delusion, may teach by its peepings and mutterings that he is in the secret chamber, that he has come in the manifestation of spirits; and that every good man is himself Christ; but what saith the Scriptures? "Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold he is in the secret chamber, believe it not." Matt. xxiv, 26. Considering the natural proneness of the human heart to unbelief, it would be reasonable to suppose that men would be ready not to believe what the Bible expressly tells them they should not believe. But true to the perversity of fallen human nature, and willingly influenced by him who is the father and promulgator of all lies, mankind are only too ready to disbelieve just that which the Bible tells them they should believe, and to believe that which it expressly tells them they should not believe. Accordingly multitudes, notwithstanding this plain warning, are now seeking Christ in the secret chambers. But thank God for the assurance we have that there are a few in the land who will take heed to the words of the Saviour, and, though men may ever so vehemently assure them that Christ has come in the secret chambers, will keep themselves from the snare by stoutly and persistently believing it not.

And Mormons may raise the cry that the kingdom of Christ has started in the distant desert. What saith the scripture to us on this point? "Go not forth." Matt. xxiv, 26.

And why shall we not accept the doctrine of a spiritual and invisible coming of Christ? Why shall we not believe that he is in the secret chamber, or go forth to meet him in the desert? The Son of God himself has told us why, and deceivers and deceived would do well to listen: "For as the lightning cometh out of the east and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Yes, as visible and apparent to all eyes as is the vivid lightning that gleams from the east to the west, so visible and apparent will be the coming of the Son of man; and as instantly and assuredly as we are apprised of the one, so shall we be of the other.

But that we may not appear to shun any of the testimony of Scripture we refer to Rev. ii, 5, 16, and willingly concede that in these two passages, and they are the only ones of the kind that we know of, Christ is said to come in a mystical or figurative sense. But these are particular messages to two particular churches; and he comes to them only in the character in which he stands revealed to them; viz., to the church of Ephesus as he that holdeth the seven stars and walketh in the midst of the seven candlesticks; and to the church of Perganos, as he that hath the sharp sword with two edges. There is surely no danger of confounding these with that coming which is to be in the clouds of heaven, and visible to every eye [Rev. i, 7], when all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of him [Matt. xxiv, 30], when kings and the great men of earth shall call to the rocks and mountains to hide them from his presence [Rev. vi, 15, 16], when the Man of Sin shall be consumed with the spirit of his mouth [2 Thess. ii, 8], and when all those who know not God and obey not the gospel shall be punished with everlasting destruction from his presence and the glory of his power. 2 Thess. i, 8.

With these testimonies before us how can we err on this momentous question? Just such a coming as this is before the world; and for just such a coming as this, they and we do well to prepare.

(To be continued.)