St. Tammany farmer., 1903-04-18

ElCudS SPleuuOis OuC IL thC AoA W Cum
ing in the chariot of the clouds and
heralded by the ''voice of the arch
angel and the trump of Cod" shall
then come, it will be the midnight OF
Satan's greatest triumphs over men.
The birds may have caroled their last
good might to the mighty king of the
day as gorgeously robed in scarlet
and gold he withdraws into his palace
behind the western hills, but if the
hand on the dial of Gods eternal pur-
poses has moved to the hour set by
God for the return of Christ, the
Christ will come winging upon the full
ness of Gods time to earth, and His
advent will find the world wrapt in the
midnight OF it's own thoughts and
plans and purposes.
''At midnight there was a cry made:
Behold, the bridegroom cometh.'
ME CANNOT know the day on the
with the Heavenly shout and mark the
flight of the triumphant church from
the earth to meet it's Lord in the up
per air. We may not discover the Won
derful secret by searching ever so
long and diligently in Gods Word, for
it is not there, but is locked in the in
nermost recesses Of the heart of God.
We may not even dare to guess the
hour, for when God says no mani know
eth the day nor the HOUR, neither the
angels, and not even the Son, but the
Father only, it places the question alb
solutely outside the pale of human
reason or the right to deal with it in
an effort to fathom it's mystery. 1t is
worse than folly to attempt to figure
out problem that the mighty angels
of Heaven are not able to solve, and
of which even the Son on the throne
is kept in ignorance, and which He has
no desire to know, as He abides in the
will of the Father. 1t is enough to
know that God knows, and that in the
fullness of His time the joy and hope
of the Christian heart will be realized.
1T is enough to know that this same
Jesus is coming again, and that when
He comes the dead in Christ Jesus will
rise from their graves. and with the
living saints will be caught up into the
air to meet their Lord. 1t is enough
for US to know this and to comfort
one another with these Words But
let us heed Christ's warning word:
"WATCH," and in faithful service be
patient unto His coming. For, James
goes on to say, "behold, the husband
man waiteth for the precious fruit of
the earth, and hath long patience rit,
until he receive the early and the lat
ter rain. Be ye also patient; sfablish
your hearts; for the coming of the
Lord draweth mig b."
u Ut although we may not know
2 the day nor the hour, God in His
Word has set certain sign posts which
will indicate to the believing heart
that the day is approaching. But, Paul
declares, ''that day shall not come, ex-
cept there come falling away first.
and that man of sin be revealed, the
SON of perdition; who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshiped; SO that he,
as God, sitteth in the temple of God.
shelving himself that he is Cod The
disciples desired to know. the sign of
the coming of the Lord, and Jesus in
the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew
outlined to them some of the condi-
tions which would prevail in the world
previous to His second coming, and
closing with the declara tion that this
Gospel of the Kingdom shall be
preached in all the world for witness
unto all nations; and then shall the
end come"
And these words of Jesus open up
to us two certainties in connection
with the second coming of Christ
which help us to more clearly under
stand the significance of the mid
night hour as marking the advent of
the Bridegroom, in the parable be-
fore us. First, the unbelief of the
world will be full, and second, the
church, the body of Christ, will be
complete. The preaching of the Cos
pei of Jesus Christ always does one
of two things: 1t either brings SAL
vation to the soul, Or it hardens the
soul to the point of at last finally
rejecting the Christ. s.,r,- =
E1HE same sun which melts the
~ wax so that it may be nodded
into new form bakes the clay into
the hardness of adamant. The mira
cles which were wrought by the hand
of Moses in the land of Egypt soft
ened the hearts of the Hebrew chill
dren so that they recognized Gods
claim upon them and were willing to
be led out of their bondage, while at
the same time they hardened the
heart of Pharaoh to the point of
final and absolute rejection of Gods
claims upon him, SO that, notwith-
standing every home in Egypt
was house of death and the land
shook under the awful judgment of
God, he dared to rush out with his
great army to fight against God, and
Gods people. 1t was the hour of
midnight which marked the close of
Phara obs probation and sounded the
terrible note of Gods judgment. It
was the midnight hour which re-
vealed the power of the blood of the
paschal lamb to the watching and
expectant Hebrew children and
brought the light and joy of Gods
presence as He delivered them from
their bondage. The point of Egypt's
final rejection of GODS appeal and
the point of the Hebrews full obedi-
ence to the will of God touched at
the midnight hour. The midnight
hour of the coming of the Bride
groom. will be the point where the