[This article was read before the Ministerial Alliance of Butler. We greatly regret that it cannot all be published in one issue. It should be read with an open. Bible. — Original Editor.]

THE doctrine of our Lord's second coming is important. To the believer cognizant of the atonement, it is the most important doctrine in the Bible. Though this truth has been distorted, maligned and neglected through all the centuries of Christianity, yet it remains the true hope of God's word for His children.

Method of Interpretation,

In studying this doctrine how shall we interpret the many passages of scripture referring to it? Does the Bible give us a consistent and reliable principle of interpretation for itself? It does!

In Isaiah 9:6 we read, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." Six hundred years later this prophecy was fulfilled to the letter. Jesus Christ was the child born, the son given. But this prediction goes further. It also says of this son that "the government shall be upon his shoulder" and that "of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David."' Now the governmental phrase, throne of David," is as historically definite as, "the house of Hapsburg." If the first part of the passage was literally fulfilled then the latter part must of necessity be fulfilled in like manner. If Jesus Christ was the child born and the son given at one time in fulfillment of prophecy, then must he be the ruler on the throne of David at yet another time in fulfillment of prophecy. The historicity of the context and the narrative cohesion of the passage admit of no other interpretation.

Again, in Jeremiah 23 11-5 we read, "Woe be unto the pastors (shepherds) that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people, ye have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not visited them; behold I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord." We know that in Jeremiah's time this was the actual condition. False prophets, renegade priests and wicked princes were fast leading Judah onto the rocks of national destruction. And in a few years God did visit upon them all their doings in the terrors of seige and exile. But the above passage goes on to say, "and I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries whither I have driven them. . . . Behold the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise unto David a righteous branch and he shall reign as king and deal wisely and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land" (R. V.). Here we find history and prophecy in a single passage, both set forth in a narrative style. If the former was actually accomplished the only admissible interpretation is that the latter will be as actually accomplished.

Again, in Isaiah 61:1-2, we read, "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek, he hath sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." In Luke 4:16-21 we are told that Jesus read the above words to the people at Nazareth with the remark, "This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears/' It was a prediction of his first advent and was literally fulfilled. But turning back to Isaiah again we find that the next clause which Jesus did not read, is a prediction of "the day of vengeance of our God;" that awful day when, coming to the earth in wrath, Christ shall "tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" (Rev. 19:15). If the eternal Christ himself is authority for the literal fulfillment of the first part of Isaiah's prediction, then the unbroken sequence of the narrative demands that the latter part will be fulfilled in the same way. One more example. This time from the New Testament. In Luke i:30-33 we read, "And the angel said unto her. Fear not Mary for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shalt call his name Jesus and he shall be great and shall be called son of the Highest." Every syllable uttered here by the angel was literally fulfilled and has become blessed history. But this is not all of the angel's prediction to Mary. Hear the rest, "And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end." Here again we see that the sequence of narration and the literal historicity of the preceding context demands a literal interpretation for that portion of the passage which is still predictive. The throne of David is the historic ruling seat of King David in Jerusalem, long since demolished but to be reestablished for the occupancy of Jesus Christ when he shall come to this earth the second time. The spiritualizing method of interpretation will not work. The "throne of David" is not Christendom; the "house of Jacob" is not the church and the Lord's rule thereon is not the influence of his gospel among men today. If this interpretation were true, consistency would force us to say that Christ was not really born of the virgin Mary but we would have to agree with that modern revamping of Gnosticism which says, "The virgin mother conceived this idea of God and gave to her ideal the name Jesus — Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-conscious communion with God" (Christian Science and Health, pp. 334-335)

It is to be admitted that there is parable and symbol in the Bible. But when such is the nature of any given passage the context will indicate it plainly. For example, Isaiah 5:1-6 speaks about God planting a vineyard. The symbolism is indicated in the 7th verse, which says, "For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the men of Judah his pleasant plant."

We now have out of the Bible itself the answer to our first question: The Bible is to be interpreted literally unless the context shows it to be figurative. Any other theory of interpretation discredits the reliability of the Bible and is an affront to God.

Importance of the Lord's Return,

It may now be proper to ask, Is the doctrine of the second coming of Christ an important one? Let us see. Beginning with Genesis we find that the first prediction made by God after man's fall was about the coming of Christ, the seed, to bruise Satan's head. Christ did not do it when he first came to the earth and there is nothing in Scripture or in "this present evil age" (Gal. 1:4) to show that Satan has since been bruised. Satan is to be crushed when Christ comes back (Rev. 20:1f). God's promises to Abraham involve the Lord's return. There are interesting intimations of it in the lives of Joseph, David and others. The Psalms are largely predictive and full of references to the second coming. Solomon's beautiful lyric sings of the meaning of the Messiah's return to his chosen people. The major and minor prophets are all bound up with this doctrine. It is their chief theme. In the four gospels Jesus is continually pointing in statement or parable to his return. Acts opens with the doctrine and frequently mentions it. All of Paul's letters expound it. The general epistles are full of it and Revelation is all of it. Every twentieth verse in the New Testament is on this subject. It occurs more frequently in the New Testament than any other doctrine except salvation by grace. We may freely say then that the second coming of Christ is important because of its great frequency in the Bible.

But it is also important because of its effect on the believer's life. Titus 2:11-13 says, "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ." Notice that a sober, righteous, godly man is looking for the blessed hope of his Savior's appearing. Again we read in I Thessalonians 3:12,13, "And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another and toward all men even as we do toward you to the end he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." Here we see the great doctrine of Christian love linked with that of the Lord's coming. Again in 2 Timothy 4:1-2 (R. V.):"I charge thee in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus who shall judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word." The climacteric element in Paul's solemn charge to Timothy is "his appearing," In I Thessalonians 4:13-17 Paul describes the Lord's coming to take the believers of this dispensation unto himself and in the i8th verse he says, "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." The Savior's coming is the sweetest comfort for the saints. In I John 3:2,3 are these words, "Beloved, now are we the sons of God and it doth not yet appear what we shall be but we know that "when he shall appear we shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purified himself even as he is pure." Here we see the hope of the Lord's return as a powerful, spiritual, antiseptic. And finally Paul testifies in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 that the great incentive in his active life which counted so much for the gospel was the anticipating love of "his appearing." Now if the effect of this doctrine is to cause a believer to deny ungodliness, to make him sober, to establish him in Christian love, to incite him to great activity in gospel work, to comfort him in deep sorrow and to make him a pure man it is indeed an important doctrine.

Another point. The Lord's coming is important because it is the hub subject of all predictive prophecy which is the key to the Word of God. John 16:13 says, "When he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all the truth. . .  and he will show you things to come." Jesus certainly would not have given special mention to "things to come" only, if among "all the truth" the "things to come" were not the most important to believers. In this connection Peter says, "And we have the word of prophecy made more sure (because part of it has been literally fulfilled), whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a lamp shining in a dark place" (2 Peter 1:19 R. V.). A subject of such prominent mention and commanding worth as these two scriptures indicate cannot be otherwise than important.

So, we say, the doctrine of the second coming of Christ is of first importance because of its frequent mention in the scriptures, because of its blessed effect on the believer's life and because it commands an important position in scripture.

The Nature of the Lord's Return.

Our next question is, What is the nature of Christ's coming? Theology has a variety of answers. We can only deal with them briefly. One is, that the prophecy of Christ's return was fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 70 A. D. Matthew 24 shows this theory to be false. In this passage Jesus tells how his visible coming is to be either immediately preceded (vs. 29) or accompanied by (1) a world-wide preaching of the coming kingdom, (2) by the great tribulation, (3) by unusual astronomical display and (4) by the regathering of the elect. Now these four things did not occur as Christ described them when Titus took Jerusalem. Therefore that event was not the Lord's coming. Some say that the individual's conversion is the second coming of Christ to the believer. The contention is untrue, since it has none of the marks that will indicate his return. In like manner death is not the Lord's return for the same reason. Applying this last theory to Revelation 1:7 reduces it to an absurdity, "Behold death cometh with clouds and every eye shall see death and they also which pierced death."

But turning to the Bible we find no uncertainty about the nature of the Lord's return. Isaiah 33 117 says, "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty." Isaiah 40:3, "The glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." Ezekiel 37:24-25, "And David my servant shall be king over them. . .  and they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt. . .  and my servant David shall be their prince forever." Zechariah 14:3-4, "Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations as when he fought in the day of battle, and his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives which is before Jerusalem on the east." Matthew 24:30, "And they shall see the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." And Acts 1:11 sums these all up by saying, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall so come again in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Did he ascend before the gaze of men? Isaiah says he shall come with the eyes of men upon him. Did he go up with the clouds of heaven? Matthew says he cometh with clouds. Did he leave this earth from Olive's summit? Zechariah says that when he comes his feet shall stand on the mount of Olives. Did he depart the rejected King of the Jews? Ezekiel says that when he returns he shall be king of united Israel and Judah. In the light of such clear statment of God's word from passages whose context admits of no symbolism but only of straightforward narration of fact we are certainly justified in believing that Christ's second coming is to be a literal revisiting of this earth by the Jesus of Nazareth who is now at the right hand of God.

The Time of the Lord's Return.

Another question about this subject. When is Christ coming? The Bible gives us a threefold answer.

First: We cannot know the day nor the hour. We cannot measure forward on our present calendar and put down a peg to indicate the time of Christ's return. Listen, "Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come" (Matt 24:42). And again,' "Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh" (Matt. 25:13). Hence all date setting for Christ's return by the isms and ites of the past or present are entirely unscriptural and sinful.

Second: But we do know that He is coming soon Therefore, we should be watchful. Though the date is denied us yet the imminency of his coming is plainly implied in the last two references and is the reason why Jesus says in both, "Watch." But the soon coming of the Lord is declared in many other passages. For instance, James 5:8, "Be ye also patient, stablish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." Heb. 10:37, "For yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry" Revelation 22:20 — the last word from God to man— "He that testifieth these things sayeth, Surely I come quickly," Matthew 24:44, "Therefore be ye also ready for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." A well-known Scotch minister was addressing a ministers' meeting in Scotland. He took occasion to ask each one of them, "Do you think Christ will come tomorrow?" Some were doubtful and some hesitated, but each one answered substantially, "I think not." Then he quoted in reply, "In such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh."

Third: With relation to the millennium, will Christ's return be pre-millennial or postmillennial? What a bloody angle of controversy this point has been! Though the expression, "thousand years" occurs but six times in the Bible and all of these in Revelation 20, yet the millennium under other designations is referred to scores of times. What is it? A synthetic study of Scripture on the question w^ill yield substantially this definition. The millenium is the last period of the history of man on this earth, in its present condition, one thousand years in length, and characterized by absolute peace, justice, harmony and righteousness in all social, governmental and international relations and by widespread human happiness and longevity. Now the question, will Christ come before or after the millennium is really this question, Will the millennium be brought in by man or Christ? For if Christ's coming is postmillennial then this blessed era will be the result of human achievement. If Christ's coming is pre-millennial then it is exclusively the result of God's work and not of man's efforts. With this statement of the case the sheer logic of history and common sense ought to show at once that Christ's coming will be pre-millinnial. Unless man can substantiate his steady moral and social evolution he can never hope to establish the millennium, and if he does not, then Christ must come and do it. There is no third alternative. But mankind has never in all its history established the millennium of the Bible. After nineteen centuries of Christianity two-thirds of the human race is still in heathen darkness (figures show it) and only a minority of the remainder are yielding their lives to Jesus Christ. And at the dawn of this boasted twentieth century the leading denominations of Great Britain and America are either lamenting their decrease in numbers or reporting but meagre gains, while the biggest problem of their missionary boards is debt. Before these facts and conditions evolution, the paraded pet of scholarship, goes down with humiliating crash.

But that there may be no guess work on this point, let us turn to God's infallible word. Paul calls it, "This present evil age" (Gal 1:4 R. V.), and further says, "the days are evil" (Eph. 5:16). He tells Timothy plainly, "that in the last days perilous times shall come." Also that, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived" (2 Tim. 3:1,13), and Jesus says in Matthew 24:37-39, that when he comes the days will have been like those preceding Noah's time, when "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." More proof could be adduced but this is sufficient. Humanity is not evolving and human efforts will not bring in the millennium.

It ought to be said here that the foregoing view is not pessimism. H my body is diseased, it is no pessimism to recognize the fact and seek a cure. The Bible certainly shows that man is badly infected with the disease of sin and has no power of self-cure. Shall we shut our eyes to the fact and exhort one another to be optimistic? Such optimism is the rankest folly. It blinds us to the disease and prevents our seeking a cure. This is indeed a puncture to the common pride of man but God forbid that pride should harden our hearts against the truth that the Lord's pre-millennial return is to be the healing potion for humanity's ills and the "bringing in of the kingdom" reign of peace and righteousness through the personal presence of the "Prince of Peace." This hope is the truest optimism.

Now for the affirmative Scripture proof that Christ's second coming will be premillennial. In Matthew 24, beginning at verse 5, Jesus describes the evil condition of war, wickedness and tribulation in the days before he comes and then he says, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days. . .  shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. . .  and they shall see the Son of Man coming" (vs. 29,30). If Christ's coming were postmillennial it would be at the end of days of peace and righteousness. But this passage shows that his coming is to be at the end of days of war and wickedness. Hence by Christ's own testimony his coming is to be pre-millennial.

Again we read in Revelation 20:4, concerning the saints martyred during the days of tribulation, that "they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." This Statement is reiterated in the sixth verse. If the Holy Spirit is careful to affirm twice in succession that Christ will reign on this earth a thousand years then his coming must perforce be at the beginning of the millennium.

So then, in answer to the question. When will Christ come? we say from the Scriptures; the date is unknown, the event is imminent and will be at the beginning of the millennium.

Effect On the Race.

Another question: What will be the effect of Christ coming on the world? In I Corinthians 10:32 we find the Holy Spirit's grand divisions of humanity: "Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles nor to be the church of God." Let us seek the answer with reference to these three groups. We cannot give this point the full treatment it merits, but will only indicate the more prominent scriptures on it.

In Isaiah 11:11 we read, "And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people which shall be left, from Assyria and from Egypt and from Pathros and from Cush and from Elam and from Shinar and from Hamath and from the islands of the sea." This passage clearly shows that the return of the handful of exiles under Ezra and Nehemiah was not the fulfillment of the predicted national return of the Jews to Palestine. That event is yet to occur. Read carefully Ezekiel 37:21-25, "And say unto them (the exiled Jews), thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen (better, "nations") whither they be gone and will gather them on every side and bring them into their own land, and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel and one king shall be king to them all and they shall no more be two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all, neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols nor with their detestable things nor with any of their transgressions, but I will save them out of all their dwelling places wherein they have sinned and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people and I will be their God. And David my servant shall be king over them and they all shall have one shepherd; they shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children and their children's children forever; and my servant David shall be their prince forever." The charity and definiteness of this passage are unmistakable, (1) The Jews are some day to be gathered from among the nations (the return under Ezra was from one nation only). (2) They shall be a united kingdom. (3) They shall worship God only. (4) Jesus Christ will be their king. ("David my servant," is the prophetic David. The historic David was the son of Jesse; the prophetic David is the son of God). (5) They shall dwell in the land of Jacob and their fathers. (Note the geographical precision of verse 25a).

It is objected by postmillennialists that the land of Palestine could not support the number of Jews today on account of its present sterile condition. But this condition is an abnormal one and due to the sins of the nation. "Thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been withholden and there hath been no latter rain" (Jer. 3:2, 3). The dense repopulation of Palestine is to be made possible by God, who brought about its present poverty. "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God: "I do not this for your sakes", O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen (nations) whither ye went. For I will take you from among the heathen (nations) and gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and ye shall be my people and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses and I will call for the corn and will increase it and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen (nations)." (Ezek. 36:22, 24, 28-30). In the face of such clear scripture the objections of the wisdom of this world vanish like the mist before the rising sun.

Joel also speaks of the meaning to Israel of the presence of Christ. "So shall ye know that I am the Lord your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no stranger pass through her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day that the mountains shall drop down new wine and the hills shall flow with milk and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters and a fountain shall come forth out of the house of the Lord and shall water the valley of Shittem. . .  Judah shall dwell forever and Jerusalem from generation to generation. For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion" (3:17-21). We are here told that the Lord's personal presence is the cause of such blessing to Israel. How significant then must be the coming of Christ to the Jews!

One more reference, this time from Paul: "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits (an admonition too largely ignored today by the brethren) that blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, 'There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and this is my covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins.' As concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the election they are beloved for the father's sake" (Rom. 11:25-28). Thus the message of the Holy Spirit, through Paul, is in harmony with the testimony of the Old Testament prophets.

In the foregoing and scores of similiar passages we learn that Christ's return will mean to the Jews their renationalization in Palestine of Syria, an extensive conversion from their present rejection of the Messiah, their deliverance from the terrific Gentile persecution of the coming tribulation and the final confirming to them of the Abrahamic covenants yet unfulfilled. In other words, it will be the establishment of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth.

Contrary to the foregoing, which is plainly the scriptural conception of the Kingdom, it has become customary for many Christians to think of the Kingdom of Heaven as being the godly influence of the gospel in the hearts and lives of men. They believe that the Kingdom — thus spiritualized and eviscerated — is to be "established" or "brought in" by an ever increasing number of converts to the gospel. They believe that when, finally, a large majority of humanity is so converted then will the Kingdom be set up, the millennium established. They believe that the church is charged with the responsibility of "bringing in" the Kingdom. They believe that if Christ ever comes at all, that His coming will be postmillennial, after the Kingdom is established, at the end of time and the beginning of eternity. All of which views are the product of an unscriptural theology. In proof of this, let us note carefully Isaiah 9:7, "Of the increase of his (Christ's) government, and peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform this," God says the government is Christ's, man says it is the church's. God says it is His (Christ's kingdom), man says the kingdom is to be of the church. God says that the kingdom is to be established in justice and judgment, church history shows too much injustice and perverted judgment for the church under any name to establish the kingdom. God says the Lord will perform this, man says the church will do it — God says I will do this, man says I will do this. Which claim is true; God's or man's? If man's is true, then God is a liar! One more passage on this question: Acts i:6-8, "When they therefore were come together they asked of him, saying, Lord will thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And He said unto them. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you and ye shall be witnesses unto me. . .  unto the uttermost part of the earth." Here we see that the apostles believed that the kingdom was to be restored to Israel (not the church), that Christ was to do it, and that they hoped He would do it then. Now note that Jesus corrects their idea in only the last particular, namely, that of time. The kingdom was not to be established then. Further, Jesus says plainly that this matter is in the Father's own power. Now if the establishment of the kingdom is in God's hands then most assuredly it is not the function of the church. In the next verse Jesus specifically names the business of the church — witnessing. "Ye shall be witnesses unto me." It is ours to witness, it is Christ's to bring in the kingdom. May we all be willing in true humility and obedience to do our part in gospel witnessing. May we in simple faith believe God's Word that Christ is coming again to bless Israel and to restore the Kingdom to them. Let us believe it because the Bible says so, whether it suits human wisdom and pride or not.

Now concerning the nations, the Scripture on this point will be found to be closely identified with that on the point just discussed. In the prophetic second Psalm we read: "Why do the nations tumultuously assemble and the peoples meditate a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Jehovah and against His anointed saying, Let us break their bonds asunder and cast away their cords from us" (1-3 R. V.). Joel is writing to this same point when he says, "For, behold, in those days and in that time when I shall bring back the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem; I will gather all nations and will bring them down in the valley of Jehoshaphat and I will execute judgment upon them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations" (3:1, 2). The human leader in this future international confederacy will be a man of unusual power and energy. He is called the 'northerner' in Joel 2:20. ("army" is not in the original). In Daniel 9:26,27, he is called the 'prince that shall come' and the 'one that maketh desolate.' Christ, referring to Daniel's prophecy, calls him 'the abomination of desolation' in Matthew 24:15. Paul calls him 'the lawless one' in 2 Thessalonians 2:8. John calls him 'the anti-Christ' in I John 4:3, and 'the beast out of the sea' in Revelation 13:1, and 'the beast' in chapter 14-20. Associated with anti-Christ is 'the beast out of the earth' (Rev. 13:11) or 'the false prophet' as he is called further in the Revelation. These two are the beings whom Satan will invest with his own superhuman power to deceive the nations and lead them in the great rebellion against God and in the tribulational persecution of the Jewish remnant (Rev. 13:1-8, 11-15). This will culminate in the battle of Armageddon, which will be brought to a sudden end by Christ's coming. In Daniel 2:36-45 the stone cut out of the mountain without hands is Christ in His second coming to smite the Gentile nations which are represented by the image of various metals.

From these and many like Scriptures we know that there is to be a confederacy among the nations for the purpose of opposing God's plans and God's people. Christ's coming will mean to the nations a great pouring out of God's wrath upon them, the slaughter of a Gentile army gathered, like Haman of old, to exterminate the Jews, and Christ sitting in judgment upon the nations to determine how they have received the gospel of His coming. This event is the meaning of Christ's parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25. The sheep are those of the nations who shall, during the tribulation, believe the message of the coming Messiah and treat kindly its Jewish bearers — "my brethren." The goats are those who shall disbelieve and mistreat the messengers. All this and more will be the significance of Christ's second coming to the nations.

And what is the bearing of the Lord's return on the church — the believers of this day of grace? Philippians 3:20, 21, "For our citizenship is in heaven whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ who shall change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." 2 Thessalonians 4:16, 17, "For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord." These passages tell us of Christ's breaking the silence of heaven to call the church from this earth to be with Himself forever. Col. 3:4 gives us the connection between this event and Christ's return to the earth, viz: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory/' Now notice I Cor. 3:12-14, "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereon he shall receive a reward." Also I Cor. 6:2, 3, "Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" Surely the Lord's second coming will mean much to us. Our resurrection, our renewed, eternal bodies, our rewards from His hand, the crowns of sainthood, ruling with Him, judging with Him, victors with Him!

The bearing of Christ's coming on the Jew, the nations and the church of God is indeed important.

(To be continued.)