MIF 15:5 (Sept-Oct 1983)
Why Worthwhile?
Reasons Why We Should Study Truth
Concerning The Second Coming Of Our Lord
1. It is a pre-eminent doctrine of the New Testament, referred to no less than three hundred times; which is an emphasis laid on no other single doctrine except it be that of our redemption through the sacrificial death of Christ.
2. It is used by the Holy Spirit as the incentive to practically every Christian virtue or grace named in the New Testament.
3. It is the key to the understanding of the whole Bible, especially the prophets and the psalms.
4. It illuminates as nothing else is able to do the dark and perilous times in which we are now living.
5. It feeds and satisfies as does no other doctrine the love of the regenerated heart for the Person of our Lord and Saviour, whom we desire to look upon, when we shall be like Him:
6. It is associated with the consummation of our salvation in the resurrection and glorifying of our bodies, and our entrance upon those rewards of grace which He hath promised to them that love Him.
7. It is not only the hope of the Church, but the only relief to the world from the dominance of sin, because it will establish the Kingdom of God on the earth, and bring in everlasting righteousness.
8. It is the time of Christ’s manifestation to all men, the overthrow of His enemies, and the final triumph of His holy cause.
Every one of these eight facts is capable of abundant substantiation in Holy Scripture, and they lay upon Christians everywhere an obligation to be intelligent in this truth, the seriousness of which cannot be estimated.
—James M. Gray