Testimonies for the Church Vol 1 - Lansing SDA Church

42 Testimonies for the Church Volume 1[42]into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go intoheaven.”“And,” said my father, warming with his subject, “the inspired Paulwrote a letter to encourage his brethren in Thessalonica, saying: ‘Andto you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall berevealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire takingvengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospelof our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlastingdestruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory ofHis power; when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, andto be admired in all them that believe ... in that day.’ ‘For the LordHimself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice ofthe Archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christshall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught uptogether with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and soshall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another withthese words.’“This is high authority for our faith. Jesus and His apostles dwellupon the event of the second advent with joy and triumph; and the holyangels proclaim that Christ, who ascended to heaven, shall come again.This is our offense, believing the word of Jesus and His disciples. Thisis a very old doctrine, and bears no taint of heresy.”The minister did not attempt to refer to a single text that wouldprove us in error, but excused himself on the plea of a want of time. Headvised us to quietly withdraw from the church and avoid the publicityof a trial. We were aware that others of our brethren were meeting withsimilar treatment for a like cause, and we did not wish it understoodthat we were ashamed to acknowledge our faith, or were unable tosustain it by Scripture; so my parents insisted that they should beacquainted with the reasons for this request.The only answer to this was an evasive declaration that we hadwalked contrary to the rules of the church, and the best course wouldbe to voluntarily withdraw from it to save a trial. We answered that wepreferred a regular trial, and demanded to know what sin was chargedto us, as we were conscious of no wrong in looking for and loving theappearing of the Saviour.Not long after, we were notified to be present at a meeting to beheld in the vestry of the church. There were but few present. The