The age-herald., 1900-12-03
CONSOLATION OF
 SECOND ADVENT The Master Has Been Here to
 Offer Salvation WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE Eloquent Sermon by Rev. John c. Mur- ray-His Text: "Wherefore Com fort One Another With These Words."-I Thess. iv:f9.
WILL COME AGAIN TO JUDGE

tort one another with these words"
 This is the first Sunday in Advent" said MT. Murray "the season suggestive of the second coming of our Lord The Master has been here to offer salvation. This is a fact of history. He will come again to declare judgment. This is mat ter of prophecy that, in Gods good time, will become history. Of these two facts the church reminds us during this advent season, and eXhorts us to lay hold on salvation that we may not fear judgment.
 To-day is also the occasion of our regu- lar monthly midday communion. Com munion with God-communion with self communion with each other here-and communion with those who once were, but are now. in the body. no longer here.
 We witness our loved ones fall asleep, and enter upon the rest of that night whose mysterious darkness shall never know ut ter dispersion until banished by the glori- ous light of the shining sun of the eternal day. These dear ones, with all others who have gone before, are this morning where no thoughts or words of ours can affect their final destiny, either for veal or woe; yet memories of them encouraged, and re- factions upon the happiness of their pres ent condition, based upon the assurances ot Gods word concerning those who sleep in Him, indulged, can, and will add sweet fragrance to our lives, breathe calm peace into our hearts, and visit holy resignation upon our souls.
 And so, it is not only for the purpose of warning you, but also with the hope of bringing you comfort and consolation, that l ask you this morning, in the consldera- tion Uf~the word of God, to endeavor with me to obtain, through the lens of the ad- vent season, closer view of the Saviour; and also of those who having left us are nearer than we to Him, and whose mem- ory, by virtue of that very nearness, should, in drawing closer to them, also bring us nearer to each other and to Christ, who died and arose again for us all. For the accomplishment of my purpose and the realization of my hope no passage of scripture could be better used than that which concludes with the declaration of the text, Wherefore comfort one another with these words
 This exhortation at once suggests the thought that those to whom the words were | addressed were in need of comfort And further, that this need was general-that it was common need, experienced by all For, you will notice, it is not an exhorta- tion to some particular one to administer consolation to some special others but it is an exhortation to all that they each seek to comfort the other. An examination of the conditions and circumstances promting the writing of the words but serves to en- phasze this thought.
 "The Thessalonians to whom the words were written were among the first of St. Paurs converts to Christianity. To them one of the most comforting truths of the new religion they had embraced was that emphasizing the fact of Christ's second
 coming to receive them unto Himself and take with Him all those who believed in Him and continued faithful to Him. The nature of this second coming, however and the material condition of those to be benefited by it had not been explained to them in that fulness and with that clear ness that was necessary for proper com
 prehension and understanding of it. In fact of such nature was it that it could neither be clearly revealed to them nor fully understood by them all at once. Like all other truth new to man, it had to be not only perseveringly presented but also conscientiously considered and pondered before being properly and satisfactorily comprehended
 "The belief of the Thessalonians was that
 the second coming of the Lord was to be either in the immediate present or the near
 future, and that they to whom He came would be active in the discharge of the duties of life, and not inactive in the cold embrace of death. But He had not yet
 come, and some had already died since fbav he1oyad Him for hoe
 any awakening, any future, any reward? What assurance, indeed, had even those now surviving that they themselves should
 be among the living at the time of this
 second coming, now since that coming
 seemed so long deferred? And if not
 among the living at that time, then what to their advantage that they continue to hold fast the faith?. This was the condi- tion that bred disappointment in the hearts of believers, offered encouragemet to the skeptical, suggestions to those who were indifferent and weakened defense against the teachings of Jesus Christ. This con- dition it was that made it necessary for St. Pauline being unable to come to them l personally-to pen the letter containing, | among other exhortations and much req 1 soning, the words of the text.
 | "In this epistle to the Thessalonians we | have not only the first letter of the Apostle
 to them but the very first written by him
 to any of the numerous congregations he established. In 1t are contained many
 of the fundamental truths of the Gospel,
 tut the one to which reference Is made in
 the text, and the one to which we will con- | fine themselves at this hour, is the fact that | the religion of Jesus Christ has not only
 brought life and immortality to light, but
 it has also given the world a new concep-
 ton of death, in that it comforts the heart
 of the faithful with the unequivocal assur-
 ance that joy. and not sorrow, should ever
 be the experience of him who believes in
 Jesus and looks to Him to redeem His
 promises and gather together His own. An
 examination of the words, in the use of which, in obedience to the exhortation of