The McDowell times. [volume] (Keystone, W. Va.) 1904-1941, 1940-12-27

The Lord il comingl
One Of the chief reasons for the
worldliness in our churches today,
the indifference toward soul win
ming. and the neglect of personal ho-
illness, is that preachers and people
alike have neglected the truth of
the second coming Of Christ He is
coming again-are you ready? Am
I? These are serious and urgent
questions.
I. The Lord Il Coming-Be Wait
ing wv. S5. 36).
Lights burning and loins girt
ready to serve Him, such should be
our daily attitude toward His COM
ing. Believers are to be looking
for" Him (Titus 2:l3). They love
his appearing" III Tim. 4:8). Their
hope is not In this world, but they
are Cooking forward earnestly de-
string" II Pet. SSH, IL, r. W. the
outworking Of Gods plan and pur-
pose.
II. The Lord Is Coming-Be Ready
wv. 3740).
He may come at midnight, or in
the morning; we do not know the
day or hour ". 40, CT. Matt. 24:36),
but it will be when the world does
not expect II wv. 80, 4O). "Be We
ready" Is the command to every
Christian, ever watchful for the
coming Of our Lord.
The full meaning of verse 81 we
will not know until we come to that
glorious day. but It clearly indicates
a great blessing and reward for
those who are ready when He
comes.
III. The Lord Is Coming-Be Busy
wv. 41-44).
Peters question is not directly
answered, but by inference he is
told that he may be one of those
to whom this blessing will come by
being about the Masters business.
Critics of the teaching of the hope
OF the Lords return sometimes say
that looking for Him "cuts the nerve
OF missionary endeavor"; that is,
makes men impractical and vision
airy. not willing to work for God.
To prove how untrue that Is one
need only investigate who It is that
furnishes most Of the men and
means to evangelize the world. He
will find that Il is the evangelical
believers in the Lords return.
Looking for Christ means occupy
ing until He comes duke 9:13), do
ing the Lords work here and now
". 42), while awaiting His coming.
Jesus compares teachers to
house stewards (Matt. 24:45, 46;
Acts 20:28; Cor. Al; Pet. 4:l0).
A stewards business Is to give to
each one in the household his por-
ton of meat in due season John
2l:15-17; Pet. So; Jer. 3:15). The
faithful and wise steward is the one
who actually does this. There are
many foolish and unfaithful stew
ards who feed themselves, not the
household (cf. Eek. 34:2, 81; or
they feed only portion of the
household; or they give something
else than food philosophy or sociol-
ogy, instead Of the pure Word of
God; CT. I Pet. az; 4:I0, 11); or
they do not give the food lin due
season. The steward who is faith
full and wise Is also blessed. Having
proved his fitness to rule, he is re-
warded with larger rule. At the
bottom of the unfaithful stewards
neglect Of duty lies his view that
Christ's coming is far off" BRAD
bury).
Nv. The Lord Is Coming-Be Holy
wv. 45-48).
The belief that the Lord will delay
His coming leads TO all manner of
unbelief, betrayal of trust, and of
sin. In the case of the servant in
verse As, there was first oppression
of those under him, and then glut-
tony and drunkenness. The picture
is revolving, but it was really pro-
phetic Of what has taken place even
within the ranks OF protesting Chris
tians in the church itself.
Neglect of the truth of Gods
Word, scofIing at the promise of
Christ's coming (rcad carefully II
Pet. $3.50 leads to that perversion
of Christianity which is evident in
much of the life of the church to-
day, and which causes thinking peo-
pie to turn away in disgust. Let
US stress the fact that this may be
religion" but it is not real Chris
tianity.
There is d solemn word here for
preachers, teachers and Christian
workers. a time of judgment is
coming, and we are to answer to the
Lord for the faithful use Of our privi-
leges and opportunities. 1t is a mat
ter to which we need to give care.
full attention. If God has given us
great opportunities, our measure of
responsibility will be great. Every
chance you and have to present the
gospel, influence the life of our ac-
quaintances for God, turn the inter.
est of our community OF neighbor.
hood toward righteousness, these
are Gods gifts of opportunity to us.
We shall answer one day to Him
for the manner in which we use
them.