PREPARING FOR THE SECOND ADVING

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 45, 22 February 1905, Page 10

PREPARING FOR THE SECOND ADVING

I (To the K-.Klor.i I Vir. —While with -oine of ; Mr Ewington's \ievvs expressed in a j re .em "Star," tin-m are >~.,... points I would like to remark on. The liiseipies were taught to watch and look forward to the return of Chriel, but were not told when i! would take pbce: but certain things described in t!i« Cihle. e~pncially in the New Testament (see Matt. xxiv.. Luke .\iii.. c.i-.i were to happen, after which the coming would l.iko pki.ee. 1 herewith give a f"W siirns of the .lpproach of the ti:ne m.-nt ione I in 1 he Testament, aid tli? rea-lcr may ] j.idge if i hey apply to the present time. I "Knowing: this first, t'u , ih°re shall j come in the last day.-- sc.ffcr.*, walking I after their own lust--. :irtd saying. j Where i- the promise of His coming? j for si nrP the fathers fell a.Meep all things continue as they were from the l>eginning of the creation."—ll. Peter, iii. 34. "Rut thou. O Dan:?'., shut up the words, and seal the hook, even to the time, of the end: many shpll run to and fro. and knowledge shall be increased."—Dan. xii. 4. -This know ! also that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of Their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemous, di'obedient to parents, untruthful, unholy.' , etc. etc. — Tim. iii. 1. 1. "Lei no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there ionic a fallin" away first and that man id sin be revealod. the son of perdition."— il. Tbes. ii. -1. The «tatc of society descried by >. f r Ewimri-on is that described in il. l*im. iii. r>. viz., -lluvins; t!ie form of jrodliness. bufc-denying the power tliereof." There nre many who :e.::e!i that the -wnrlii will he converted In Christ, and war und strife (-?.;-■■ before His pruning. This h entirely contrary to teaching, though in Man. xxiv. 14 it reads. "And this gospel of the kiiifrdo::] shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto :■.!! nations, and then shall "the end come."' rbrist. to lILs discin.-es. in Luke xxi. :}5. say- with regard' io His Corning. ''For a> a snare shall it eomo on all them that dwell on the faco of the earth. Watch ye Uherefore and pray always that ye may be accounted ■worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pus~. and to stand before' the Son of Man." Since the above letter, which I fiiilod to post in lime for Thursday's i.--Fiie. I notice a criticism of Mr E."s ]ptter by "M.P.P.." who seems 'a tulvoi-ate what he state* ! t<! he Nwedenborg's view. \i/.. ••That The so-called Second Advent i.- not a t-omin.c in person of ('hri-i.'" I consider the Sf-ccmd KpUtle of .lo!iti i. 7t!i verse. R.\'.. a bettor authority than fwedenborg. It reads: '"For sirany deceivers are pone forth int.) the world, even they that confess not that -Testis Christ cometh in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Anti-Christ." Again, when Christ was receivr-d r.p from His Apostles, two men in bright apparel appeared, saying: "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazin« up into henven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come f:i like manner as ye hare seen TTi-- , co into heaven." But why multiply instances? The Go=pcls ;\nd Epistles ara full of the subject. See Matt xxiv., Mark xiii.. Luke xii. and xvii. chapters (second half of chapters), also xxi. chap- \ tev. and dozens of other places. With I regard to the state of some churches j spoken of by Mr E. and "J.P.P.," read Rev. iii. 14 to end of chapter. Commentaries which I have read agree th&tj

this severe censure and advice to the Church of Laodieea is meant for these latter-day churches. There are at present hundreds, perhaps thousands, of different denominations and sects, ali holding more or less different views, therefore containing much error, though generally believing the Bible to "be the basis of their belief. It behoves us all to "search the Scriptures"' earnestly and see if our views arc really justified by the Word of God. or if they arc the fabrication of mistaken man. and perpetuated only by the same religious conservatism which compels many ministers to conform to a certain creed and the members of their congregations to accept them. Let us search the Scriptures and bo Icrl by the teaching of Christ, and look to Him. so that we may not fear "His glorious appearing." —I am. etc.. THE WATCHMAN.