"And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" - 1 John 3:3.

".. for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready" - Rev 19:7.

The late Dr Frdk. Tatford, former director of the UK Atomic Energy Authority, was one of God's rare gentlemen. When I ministered in Manchester I arranged meetings for him and he for me. He was a fine Christian, whose allegiance was mainly to the Open Brethren, but whose message about the Return of Christ made him international and transdenominational. He was a prolific writer about the 2nd Coming of Christ, who lived by the above edict - "IT MAY BE TODAY!"

I have never met a more dedicated man. He wouldn't waste a minute to engage in idle chatter, yet was always courteous to the extent that if a lady entered the room he would immediately stand. He took early retirement from the British Atomic Energy Authority to give his total time to the things of the Kingdom. He had a mind like a computer and when he applied his message in the inevitable appeal to turn to Christ and to engage in righteous living you could cut the atmosphere with a knife. You had the sense that Christ might come at that very moment.

That's the way the New Testament presents the doctrine of the Return of Christ. It is never to titillate the fancy in speculative theories about the time or what constitutes the Mark of the Beast etc. The appeal is always to righteous living - "Be ye holy; for I am holy" - 1 Peter 1:16.

The word HOLY appears 611 times in the Bible. Holiness is the predom-inant attribute of God and is basic to His nature and character. The term "Holy Spirit" appears 96 times in the Scripture. While HE alone is able to inspire true faith (2 Cor 4:13) and to initiate God's real power (Acts 1:8) He is specifically called "the Spirit of holiness" in Rom 1:4.

Some time ago I heard John Jamieson, former Commissioner of Police for New Zealand, identify what is probably the source of the major problem in today's Church as being a replacement of the pursuit after holiness with a chase for happiness.
PLP

Appeared in CETF volume 4.1