The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-05
"The Desire of All Nat,on..,

Selected for The Advertiser.
 "A little while, and will shake the heavens. and the earth. and the shake all nations; and the desire of of all nations shall come: and I shall fill the House with glory, saith the Lord of Hosts. '-Haggai ii. 6-7.
 "A little while"-400 years at least It was!-and it came to pass. fulfilled to the letter.
 When nation after nation through all the known world had been shaken and shattered, first by the breaking un then humiliated and crushed by the irresistible armies of ali-conquering Rome; when all the old idolatries had been stamped upon. If not stamped own form of misbelief, when the power of heather Rome had dispos- sessed Dayon and Baal and Ashtor~ eth. and the triumphant Romans had deittes that they scarcely worshipped | their own except as a form and with a sheer: when heathenism itself, in spite of its thousands of gods, had be- come utterly goddess ,and had found amid all their gorgeous temples. there was not one to plead for them. none | to keep, none to deliver--then, in that crisis of the fortunes of the 1 world. in that death-agony of misbe- lief. the desire of all nations came," in lowly pomp, to take possession.
 And the promise, T will fill this House with glory" was accomplished ried by an unknown poor woman into the sanctuary of the most despised nation upon earth and an old man, ta- king the infant into his arms. blessed test Thou Thy servant depart in peace. for mine eyes have seen Thy | salvation, a light to Tighten the Gen. tiles, and the glory of Thy people Israeli"
 That which hath been, shall be" and again He shall descend. but with power and great glory, and all the holy angels with Him. Once He came to save. but now shall return to judge once he was the Desire of all ma tions." Even though when He came 10 His own. Ills own received Him not" Nevertheless, of this there can be no doubt. that the world by woeful experience had even then learned it's | need of a Savior and Friend.
 What was it which made Him "ths Desire of all nations"? It was this, They wanted some hope, some refuge beyond the miserable world. Their present was dark, their future de. spairing, in pain there was not al deviation; In trial. no support; in sor- row. no comfort; in death. no hope. The pleasures of sin for a brief lurld life. No wonder that a Savior Who would say them from themselves, from sin. from death. was the desire l of all nations"
 humility, hated His purity. loathed His holiness and obedience to His Fa- ! ther's will They found no beauty in Hm who yet had been the desire of all nations" Then they crucitied Him.
 Meanwhile, time is speeding on Ages ago we were warned, "the night is far spent; the day is at hand. and if so then. much more now. And so we are brought once more face to face with that second coming of Him who surely will come and will not tarry. . To that we must look. and for the signs of the coming we must watch.
 As before the first advent. 1t was the will of Providence to prepare the way-"A little while. and I will shake the earth and the sea- and the dry land, saith the Lord of Hosts"-so be- fore the last, shall the most direful time of trouble which the poor sin tossed and distracted world will eve see. That last struggle will be sr fierce, so awful, between good and evil, betWee belief and unbelief, that were it not shortened. no flesh could be saved IL Is quite impossible to watch the signs of the times the s'n. the sorrow. the wickedness. the worldli. ness. the ungodliness abroad in tho world and not come to the conclusion that the end Is at hand, aye, at our very door.
 And if so, how shall we meet our Judge? And your own conscience Are you prepared for His coming? Does the thought fill you with joy or dismaY? Are you trying at least, to desire vour Lords return? Every eye shall see Him" Shall you meet Him with gladness. or with terror? Solemn questions these-but they must be answered some day. I pray you answer them now,
 l sThA ord ia at hauiA