Page:The Last Judgement and Second Coming of the Lord Illustrated.djvu/336

 ence of any real and permanent advantages, the Church, more or less directly through the Word, must have been the source of them. The Word is the medium through which we receive all our blessings—not only those of a moral and spiritual kind, but such as are of an intellectual and scientific nature; the reason is because the Word keeps the mind in connection with the light of heaven, and that kingdom is the primary source of all man's mental illumination and practical benevolence.

Now if the second coming of the Lord is an event which is to affect the Church, by removing obstacles which hindered the light of heaven from being enjoyed, and the communication to it of some superior information concerning the Word, it seems plain that those advantages will cause themselves to be felt in every direction, and that they will descend into and excercise a favourable influence upon the common concerns of our daily life. It cannot be supposed that the influence of those advantages will stop at some particular point, and refuse to distribute its benefits beyond it. Whatever is susceptible of amelioration must feel something of that influence. Hence it may be fairly inferred that all our progress, even in matters belonging to our material civilization, is collateral evidence that the Lord has come again to His Church.

That this is the case seems also apparent from the circumstances by which the Church has been distinguished during the last century, and which are still in operation to bring about the acceptance of superior light. To this end, efforts are being made in every direction, and it is quite evident that men now think and speak of spiritual things with more intelligence and freedom than in any previous age. Liberty is felt, and new materials for spiritual thought upon religious subjects, are provided in a thousand directions