The Falls City tribune., 1909-12-17

known the distressgul mystery Of a
broken heart2 perchanee as Walter
Scott said of his early heartbroken.
ness, your heart has been handsome.
" pieced again but you have not
forgotten the sad and henumbing ex.
perience OF life when your heart
seemed 10 die within YOU. The
Lord was at hand then. Happy.
thrice GU, II you proved it, God
is a very present help in time of
trouble Who has not, however sun
shiny their life, broken-hearted moods
and moments? Supremacy in those
tragic times. you may know the
Lord is at hand" Will you take this
ballhy thought with YOU into the
sorrows of the future. Young man
if tomorrow some awful temptation
should enthrall you; il the cruel
iron-hand should be upon your neck
before you know where you are; II
you should be "overtaken in a fault. :
Oh. remember to your immediate sal
walton thai the Lord is at hand "
Cry unto Him and He will deliver
thee,
Should some sudden sorrow swoop
down upon YOU like a bird of prey
and fix its relentless talons in your
quivering flesh, in that extremity of
agony remember that the Lord is
at hand" Cry unto Him. and He
will deliver thee either from thy
trouble or IN thy trouble. II some
overwhelming conviction of sin rush
upon thee. and you are ready TO per-
ish with the thought of your utter
w~orthlessness and ruin. the Lord is
at hand" Lay thy sins on Jesus.
Thy redeeming Lord will prove him.
self near to thine uplifting.
Except the Lord come, the last
great exigency viii erstwhile come
upon.u us all. We shall be face TO
face with what men call death. Then
be our consolation this, that the
Lord is at hand He Is never ear
err to His people than in the final
hour. Commit thy spirit to His are,
and we shall hear the sweet wan
song, Il will fear no evil, for Thou
art with me-
Praised be the ever accessible
Christ. He is most to Ills people
when they need him most. He is
a friend IN need: the sole friend in
llfe's EXTREMIST needs. Speak to
Him, then. for He hears" Such a
Lord is Lord indeed. He must be a
Divine Savior whose help is so con-
stant and universal.
~. Tho Lord is at Hand"
EschataIoeically.
Not only Is Christ ever imminent,
He is coming in the clouds of hea-
ven And His coming may be no re-
mote event. He is travelling earth
ward fast. Soon He will appear with,
and in Ills glory. The first time
He came he was clothed with humil-
ity; men ignored Him, and only the
watchful, expectant few recognized
Him; but this second coming win be
with power and great glory. Very
real to the early Christians was the
Lords return. He Himself declared
it in no equivocal terms. His proc
lamation of His Second Advent hast
ened his death. They hurried Him
to Calvary when they heard his sure
prophetic word concerning His glor-
ious return. What a place the Sec
ond Advent has in the New Tesla
ment, | fancy no other doctrine Is
so much alluded to in the whole book,
lit colors the Bible. This message
of our text is very characteristic of
apostolic teaching. The Lord is at
hand" is the apostles w~atchword.
"Maranatha," its Aramais equivalent
is a solemn word which throws its
shadow over Paul's letter to the
Corinthian Christians. What a truth
is this, the Lord is at hand If
He were at hand centuries ago, how
much more is He at hand now! The
Lord may at any time appear. He
may come today. In the silence and
gloom of midnight His trumpet may
sound and His awful glory blaze up
on us.
Do we love His appearing? Are
we looking for u Lord? Is it a
solemn joy, a strength in service, a
consolation in sorrow, a hope for the
sinful world that the Man of Sorrows
is now "at hand" for His Second,
and most Glorious Advent to this sim
crushed world?
Strange it is that this paramount
truth of Scripture is so neglected in
the average church of today, How
little is the proclamation heard, THE
I ,.l l.. - l,.l - a. lptnAt haIY.