THE BIBLE OUT OE DATE

Hoa Maori, Issue 21, 1 July 1891, Page 1

THE BIBLE OUT OE DATE

WHAT a startling statement! Surely 'WI/Wr’ that can never be true ! Is it not the boast of Christians, that every hook that is written grows old and out of date except the Bible? Does not it keep abreast of the times ; and does not Christ Himself say, 11 Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” Luke 21, 33. Also in 1 Peter 1, “ But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” Yes, those verses are blessedly true, and all the blessings that phristians get through God’s Word will last for ever, and the judgments recorded upon the rejectors of the gospel will he carried out, and that for eternity. Then what do you mean by the Bible being out of date ? What I mean is this. There will undoubtedly come a time in the history of this world when the Bible will be out of date. For more than eighteen hundred years pardon has been proclaimed to

rebellious man through the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. Before the Lord Jesus Christ left this earth, He promised to return, and take His own to be for ever with Himself ; and since He has ascended into Heaven, He has sent this message to His own. “He which testified! these things saith, Surely I come quickly ; Amen.Eev. 22, 20. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” He may come any moment For the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain, shall he caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”— 1 Thess. 4. 16, 17. When this happens—- ,■ and it might possibly, while you read this paper —then THE CHEAT OPEN-AIR MEETING will take place. Every blood-washed one I from Adam downwards will form part of that grand open-air gathering. From the graves of countless churchyardsfrom the battlefields of centuries— the depths of the ocean—from the catacombs of Home ; from the uttermost parts of the earth they will come; and the Christians—possessors not proffessorsliving on the earth at the time will also go to take their place in this great gathering in the air. Then will come true the scripture in Matt. 25, 10—“ They that were ready went in with him to the marraige : and the door was shut.” The Lord Jesus Christ will conduct the host of the redeemed with infinite ! satisfaction into His Father’s house,— into j heaven itself. Then the gospel invitations I of the Bible will be out of date for those who have heard the gospel and rejected it. Awfully solemn! Then will take place the fulfilment of Eev. 6, 16, 17, THE CHEAT PHAYER MEETING All the empty proffessors of Christianity will be there—all those who were satisfied with a fair exterior without the inside being right— who preferred a cloak of religion to '

Christ in the heart. Wake up, then, ye careless, godless, Christless proii'essurs, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” — 2 Tins. 3, 3. It is lime yet for salvation. Be in earnest. To-morrow might be too late. Look well to your foundations for eternity. What is the yearning cry that will then ascend into the very vault of heaven from the agonised hearts of these now-awakened processors? “ Lord, Lord, open to us.” What is the heart-withering, hope-crushing response to their earnest cry ? “I know you not,” and “ Depart from ( me, all ye workers of iniquity”—Luke 13, 27. Matt. 7,7, says— Ask and it shall be given you ; seek and ye shall find knock and it shall be opened to you.” NOW, that is blessedly true ; THEN, it is too late ; for they ask to be refused ; seek, not to find ; knock; to be denied admittance. Then that verse will be solemnly out of date, “ NOW is the accepted time ; behold 2>ow is the day of salvation ” — 2 Cor. 6, 2. Do not in madness put off the salvation of your never- ; dying soul, dear reader, till a death-bed or i some future day, but at once decide for j Christ without delay. I The infidel may scoff, and the proffessor ' doubt, that the Lord J esus Christ will come I from heaven in such a way soon, but, like \ the scoffers and doubters in Noah’s time, i they will be grievously undeceived some day I soonundeceived to their own eternal dam- ! nation. “ Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ : and thou shalt be saved” 16,31. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleauseth us from all sin”— l John 1, 7. “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely ” Eev. 22, 17. ' Will you form part of the great open-air meeting, or take part in the great pruyermeetiug ? A.J.P.