SUNDAY READING.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 4168, 29 November 1884, Page 6 (Supplement)

SUNDAY READING.

SERMON f _T THE KEY. J. G,

PATEUSON

Mark 13 eh. 32 ver. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither tho Son, but the Father. The duty of watching is again and again inculcated "on the believer, especially with reference to the coming of Christ. Watch and pray for ye know not when tho time is. For the Son'of Man will come at such a day and such an hour as ye think not. Know thou if the good man of the house had known at what hour the thief would have come, he would have watched, therefore be ye also ready for at an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh, of that day and that hour knowetli no man. Watch therefore, for ye know not at what hour your Lord will come —at even, at midnight, at cock-crowing, or in the morning, lest He come suddenly, and find you unprepared. What I say unto you, I say unto all—watch. Tho idea is this. The master of the house is absent, the timo of his appearing is uncertain, it, is the duty of the servants to watch for his appearing, to have everything in the best possible state of preparedness for his coming, and there cannot be the slightest doubt ever since his departure, the Lord Jesus has enforced on his disciples the necessity of watching for his return, and the doing everything in view of that return. In the Scriptures that coming is always regarded as near and the idea is beautiful as well as true. Never does the meeting with an absent friend seem so near to us, as the moment when he has just said good bye. Love makes the tears of fai-ewells sparkle into welcomes. If we had the same idea of Christ's departure His return would be as near to us. In the scriptures this is the great event that towers abovo every otlic, the event that gives back Christ, gives back everything we have loved and lost, soothes all sorrows, removes all fears. His coining looks in upon the whole life of the church, 'just as some lofty mountain peak looks in upon every little valley and scattered home at its base, and belongs to all alike. Very different to different people will be the coming of the Lord. Jn the old country during the long weary dreary nights of winter, when tho wind was growling and whistling around the house and dashing the drifting snow around tho window panes, we children wonld listen eagerly for the wellknown footstep, and immediately wo heard it and heard the lifting of the latch of the door, we would run out and cry, " father is coming." Or let us suppose a case like this, you aro in sore sickness, you have sent for the doctor, you believe the doctor will give you immediate relief. You say to those looking out, cannot you sec him coming, are there no signs of his appearance ? You are delighted when he makes his appearance, you do not keep him waiting, you receive him at once. Thero are people longing for the coming of their Master, tho coming of their King, just as earnestly, just as anxiously as tiie children look for the coming.of the parents, as the patient looks for tho coming of the phypiciiin. Here is another case. Here is a man lying in the condemned cell, he has committed murder, and blood must atone for blood, the agony of impending dissolution weighs heavily upon him, oven now his gallows is building, his last night on earth has come, he cannot sleep, thinking of his tcrriblo end. Tho grey dawn of the morning struggles info his cell, but it brings no joy to him. He hears a step coming, sounding along the passage, it comes nearer and nearer, but ho knows that is the man coming to take him to tho executioner. There are some to whom the Lord will come with vengeance, men who have sinned away their day of graco, and for whom* there remain no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for judgment and fiery indignation. When thattime will be I do not know, we are not told when it will be. In the Scriptures there is nothing to indicate the exact moment wlu.n the Lord will come, but there are certain phenomena in connection with His second coming, it will bo well for us to study. Thorp arc certain sign 3 of tlio times which we arp to study and watch thorn carefully, You remember tho Saviour on carl!) reproved tho Pharisees bocaui.o they were able to read tho signs of the heavens. In the evening when the sky is red ye say itwill be fair weather, in the morning when the sky is red it will bo foul weather. Yo hypocrites ye [can discern the signs of the skies, &c. Thero aro certain signs of the times that we may examine, that the Lord urges us to examine, and there aro indications that tho coming of the Lord may bo nearer than some people imagine. For instance an American writer lias said 1 cannot see how the Lord can stay away much longer, tho church lins been making so little headway against paganism, riot, aud laseiviousness that there aro ten thousand times ten thousands hands held up to heaven, crying out how long O Lord, how long. As much grain in Great Britain and America wasted every year as would feed five million poople. Corruption in the vast majority of our city governments, corruption from the city hall j down bp the lowest foundation, Honorable I '

members selling their integrity and their uprightness and their manliness for money, apostles of scoundrelism plying their infernal game with assiduity, vice staggering in the open light of God's day blatent and blustering, society rotten to the core, putrid with the putridity of crime. Millions of men in I?urope armed to the teeth to spring at each other's throats, armed with weapons warranted to kill the greatest number of people in the shortest possible time. Verily evil men and traducers are waxing worse and worse, and there are abundant rumors of wars. There are a numbor of indications in the number of opportunities given for repentance. Did it over strike you before God comes in judgment, ho always comes first in Grace ? It was so before the flood. God did not send a flood of water on the earth before he first warned the people. He sent Noah to preach ono hundred and twenty years. Before any invasion came on the land of Israel God sent the prophets to warn the poople. Before the invasion by the Romans the Lord Jesus warned the people to flee from the wrath to come. In the present day there are rovivals all over the world. Revivals in Italy, revivals in Germany, revivals in Great Britain, revivals in Australia, revivals in New Zealand. If there wero not something terrible coming God would not so bend and importune. 'I he church is calling, sacred and secular press is calling, God and angels and men calling, m2ssa_es of salvation in the earth, telegrams flashing the good news from continent to continent and underneath tho sea, steamships carrying missionaries to ail quarters of tho world, there will soon be no place whore the Gospel of tlio Kingdom is not preached, and then the Master says the end will come. But of that day and that hour knoweth no man. The reason of this is very it is in order that we may always be watching and locking out for His Kingdom. let us suppose a case like this, some friend has come to sco you whom you love very much whom you wish to respect very nuieli, and supposing that friend sends a telegraphic message to you saying I will bo with you a month honce or two months hence as the case may bo. If you say that is the case, there will bo plenty of timo to prepare yet, lots of time to make ready. But supposing that friend were to send a message to you, like this, I cannot say definitely what day I may come, I may come any day, any time, what would you say ? If that is the caso then we must be ready, then we must have everything in the best possible state of preparedness for his coming, we must watch for it. That is the reason, one of the reasons, why the Lord has kept the timo of his coming indefinite so that we may watch, so that we may be over on the outlook for His coming.