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 PrintableVersion While the bridegroom tarriesFuture tenseWHILE THE BRIDEGROOM TARRIES Ten sermons preached in the wake of the terrible events of WWI to the congregation of Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church, Grand Rapids might not seem the obvious place to find inspiration for the future. In fact, this book makes a fascinating read. While it is true that Kuiper’s concerns about Christian Science and the Theosophical Society sound odd to our 21st-century ears, history has judged some of his predictions wrong and there are occasions when his distinctives may jar, these sermons still speak with prophetic power to a church that has largely lost its passion for the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ. Which pulpit in the UK could offer this kind of analysis of the signs of our times in the light of the recent financial meltdown of the West? He addresses topics like The Heedless World, Sleeping Christians, The Jewish Return to Palestine and Christian Optimism. The latter day seeds of apostasy and complacency that he identified in 1919 have blossomed through the 20th century to produce the kind of bitter fruit that mars much of the Western church in our day. Although these are not expository sermons as we might understand the term, Kuiper remains faithful to the text which allows the sermons to speak today. They make easy reading — historically interesting and personally challenging. Are we living in the light of the master’s return? When he returns, will he find faith on the earth? While the Bridegroom Tarries makes us look in on ourselves with unease, around us with a passion to see the lost saved, and upward with hope and longing for the return of the King. Richard Underwood, © Evangelicals Now - January 2011 |
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