Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/321

 spiritual knowledge. Wheresoever the Lord is acknowledged, it is clear that some advantages must be enjoyed, and the purer that acknowledgment is, the greater will be the blessing. The coming of the Lord to mankind will be like sunshine upon the earth; men will not only be enlightened by His wisdom, but they will be warmed by His love, and be made fruitful in those things which make for their peace. Every one who will carefully reflect upon what is written concerning the second coming of the Lord, must see that it means the exercise of a Divine influence with a view to the conferring of some great advantage upon Christianity and the world.

But how is this Divine influence—this second coming of the Lord—to be recognised and displayed? We answer, that in the first place, it will be seen in those superior teachings of the Holy Word which it will be sure to unfold; and secondly, it will be displayed in all such improvements as will certainly take place in the religious perception and the moral and civil state of the world.

It is particularly to be observed that the Lord has always come to men through the instrumentality of His Word. In that Word He has had for them some wisdom which He desired to communicate for their acceptance and faith. He came to Moses and the prophets by His Word. This is plainly taught in all those passages in which they said that the Word of the Lord had come to them. We also know that His first advent was as "the Word made flesh." As it is evident that the Lord has always come for the purpose of communicating information respecting His Word, consequently concerning Himself, so it is equally certain that in every case He has made known some new intelligence upon those subjects. Thus, although the Lord has always come to men through the medium of some