The Hope of the Church 119 the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness” (Gal. 5 :5 ) ; and to the Philippians, “Our citizenship is in heaven, whence also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). In the Epistle to the Hebrews the same at- titude is disclosed, for there we read: “Christ also, having been once offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second time, apart from sin, to them that wait for Him, unto salva- tion” (Heb. 9:28). It is evident that the early Christians not only looked back to a Saviour who had died for them, but for- ward to a Saviour who was to come. There were two poles in their conversion. Their faith was anchored in the past in the facts of the death and resurrection of the Lord, and also in the future in the assured hope of His return. It is manifest, therefore, that the second coming of the Saviour occupied a most important place in the Gospel which the apostles preached, and which these Christians received. 3. The whole life and work of the New Testament Church has the coming of the Lord in view. All the lines of her ac- tivity and experience lead to this event. The sanctification of the disciple is a preparation for the coming of the Lord. Paul writes to the Thessalonians: “The very God of peace sanctify you wholly, and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:23). John puts the same thing in his own tender way: “And now, little children, abide in Him, that, when He shall appear, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming” (1 John 2 :28). Christian service gets its encouragement in the same inspir- ing issue. Paul exhorts Timothy to fidelity, charging him to “keep the commandment, without spot, without reproach, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Tim. 6:14). And Peter writes to his fellow elders: “Feed the flock of God which is among you, and when the Chief Shepherd shall ap- pear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away” (1 Pet. 5:2, 4). The patience of the early Christians in suf-
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