T HE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S sho rt as it .might prove to b e), should have the com fort and joy w ith which he has always inspired “ th a t blessed hope.” The predicted “signs” of th e Second Coming, including th e two important- final ones Of th e “ falling away” and th e revelation of “ th e an tich rist,” have often in some m inor degree been seen looming up ever since the commence m ent of th is age;-—1 John 2:18,— and it continually seemed possible th a t they m ight suddenly ripen, and thu s fully develop in any one of th e watches, bu t when on such occasions p rem atu re a t tem pts have been made by enthusiastic men to announce th e Lord as coming a t th a t period,-—th en those who had more thorough knowledge of th e scrip tu res would see and say th a t many of th e signs were still lacking. The in complete signs, however, which have appeared in th e p ast on th is line have served as types, or illu stration s, and thu s as rem inders of th e final g reater fulfillments which these ‘la st days” have been so rapidly bringing into our view. These evil tim es show th a t the world has been delivered over to th e Revela tion judgm ents, notw ithstanding the breath ing spells being given. The evi dence th a t we are in th e fou rth and therefore in th e last watch is over whelm ing. The “ falling away” has long been visible to sp iritu al people. It will increase, an d ,’ as soon as “ the" an ti ch rist” is revealed to such,—according to 2 Thes. 2 :3 ,— “ th a t blessed hope” of th e Lord’s coming will then become a p resen t definite belief to “all those who love his appearing.”— A m e n a i G. C. G. HOME “Home ain ’t a place th a t gold can buy, Or get up in a m inute; Afore it’s home th e re ’s got to be A heap o’ living in it.”
974 was simply following the course indi cated for them by th e Lord him self when he strictly charged those who would be living in th e “ first w atch” to “w atch” for his coming during th a t very period, even although, as he said, he m ight ta rry u n til th e second, th ird , or fou rth of th e watches. He emphasized th e point by saying, “W h at I say unto you, I say unto all, W atch !” v Now if P aul, who knew th e Lord’s will, had for instance used th e expres sion “Until your d eath ” instead of such phrases as “Until th e appearing of our Lord,” or “Unto th e coming of our Lord,” (which are today th e “ stones of stum bling,” : etc., to those men, 1 Pet. 2 :8 ), he would by th a t have been not only ignoring th e above direct com mand of th e Lord, b u t he also would have given scrip tu ral au tho rity to both the early and th e la te r Christians to be always looking for th e ir death when they should be looking for th e coming of th e ir Lord! T h at would have been a w rong course for them , except in cases of short-term ed exceptions to th e gen eral rule, like those of Peter, Jno. 21: 18 and Paul, 2 Tim. 4:6, when th ere would not have been sufficient tim e nor opportunity for all th e “ signs” to come. The above mentioned charge given by th e Lord was designed to keep all Christians upon the watch tower during the tim e of his absence, but, the plainly in tim ated possibility of a long delay, which lie gave, would of course keep them from definitely believing th a t hq would be sure to re tu rn in any one of th e first th ree watches. F o r 4000 years the believers of the Lord’s prom ises had watfehed and hoped for his F irs t Coming, and th a t certainly was not too g reat an honor for him, nor was it made anything sho rt of a blessing to each of the watchers. Likewise th e Lord desired th a t all who would honor his charge by watching in sp irit and in tru th for his Second Com ing th rough th e gospel age, (long or
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