But his attention was suddenly riveted on the major, who, pocket Bible in hand, was saying;
“Suffer me, friends, to change one word in my reading, that the truth may come home clearer to our hearts. ‘Ye men of London, ... This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven.’”
He paused for one instant, then went on: “The second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is, I believe, the central truth of real, true Christianity at this moment, and it should be carefully, diligently studied by every converted soul. It should be comprehended as far as Scripture reveals it, and so apprehended that we should live in daily, hourly expectancy of that return. Moody, the great evangelist, to whom the whole subject (as he tells us) was once most objectionable, upon studying the Word of God for himself, in this connection, was so profoundly impressed with the insistence with which the return of the Lord was emphasized, that he was compelled to believe in it, and to preach it, saying, ‘It is almost the most precious truth of all the Bible. Why, one verse in thirteen throughout the New Testament is said to allude to this wondrous subject in some form or another.’
“Many of you who are present this afternoon are not only conversant with this glorious matter, but are living in the glad expectancy of the return of your Lord. But there are sure to be some here to-day to whom the whole subject is foreign, and to you—even if there be only one such—I shall speak as plainly, frankly, simply, yearningly, as though we were tete-a-tete.”
CHAPTER XV.
THE ADDRESS.
“Now to begin. Even in the Church of God there are whole multitudes to whom the very title of this afternoon’s address is but jargon. They will not search the Word for it, they will barely tolerate its mention. Why? ‘Oh,’ say some, ‘hidden things are not to be searched into.’ Others there are who spiritualize every reference to the Lord’s second coming, and say, ‘Yes, of course, He has come again, He has come into my heart, or how else could I have become a child of God.’
“To these last, these dreamers, we would respectfully say, ‘A coming into the air for His people, to take them up, is a totally different thing to coming into the heart to indwell as Saviour and Keeper while we are travelling life’s pathway.’
“There is another section of the Christian Church who say, ‘We do not want to hear anything about it. Our minister don’t hold with it; it is not a doctrine of our church.’ Now, such an argument as this is blasphemous, since, if God has put it into His Word, it is blasphemy to ignore it, to refuse to believe it.