1929 Christs Promised Return

7/29/2019 1929 Christs Promised Return

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CONTENTS

The PromiseThis Same JesusWe shall be Like Him -Comfort One Another -How He Comes -A Falling Away First -The 1260Days -The "Sign" not fully UnderstoodComing, Arrival, Presence -Texts Containing "Parousia' -The Thousand Years -A Kingdom that will Succeed -Dealing with the Enemies -The True Light -Enlightening Every Man

Wholly set up and printed in Australia by The Specialty PressPty. Ltd.. and Regietered b the Poatmsster-General for tranemia.eion throng{ the post as a book.


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W HEN OUR LORD, shortly before He wentaway, said to His disciples-"I go to pre-pare a place for you. And if I go and pre-pare a place for you, I will come again, and receiveyou unto myself; that where I am, there ye may bealso," He gave them a most wonderfill promise.(John 14: 1-3.) It was an encouragement greatlyneeded at the time; when their hearts were troubledby the happenings all around them, and it gave com-fort in the stormy days to follow. For the messagewas not exclusively to those disciples who heard it,but to all His disciples, learners or pupils, down to+ha present day. Jesus the Christ, the Anointed ofi , was their Master, upon whom they depended,and His absence would be to them an overwhelmingloss. "Smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall bescattered." (Zechariah 13: 7 ; Matthew 26: 31.)But the prophecy contained also this assurance-"Iwill turn mine hand upon the little ones.""If I go." The word "if" is sometimes used inthe sense of doubt or contingency. But it also hasthe meaning "inasmuch as" something concerningwhich there is no doubt or question. As our Lord'sdeath on the cross was part of the heavenly Father'rprearranged plan for human salvation, and Jesushad told the disciples beforehand "how that he mustgo unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of theelders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed,and be raised again the third day" (Matthew 16:21), there was no uncertainty about the fact that Hemust "go." Further He said-"I came forth fromthe Father, and am come into the world: again, Ileave the world, and go to the Father."--John16: 28.

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6 CIXRIST'S PROMISED RETURNI Will Come Again

Equally certain of fulfilment was the promise, "Iwill come again." Did the Lord mean by this thatHa would see them again after His resurrection? Weread how He appeared first to one and then to an-other, and to as many as five hundred brethren atonce. (Matthew 28 : 9, 10, 16, 17; Luke 24: 15 ;John 20: 11, 1420; 21: 4 ; 1 Corinthians 15 : 4-8.)But these appearances were brief, and were given inproof of His resurrection; demonstrating that Hewas the same Jesus, their Lord and Master, risenagain. He had "not yet ascended" to the Father(John 20: 7), to whom He had told them He wasgoing, and these manifestations enabled Him togive explanations of events, instructions what to doin His absence, and reminders of the promises, aswell as evidence to convince them that HE had risenfrom the dead. (Luke 24 : 1349; axatthem 28 : 18-20.) These objects having been accomplished, Lukerecords that Jesus "led them out as fur as to Beth-any, and he lifted up his hands, and blessed them.And it came-to pass, while he blessed them, he wasparted from them, and carried up into heaven."-Luke 24: 50, 51; John 20 : 17-29; 21: 1-22.Reviewing the events of the days between ourLord's resurrection and His ascension, Lulie saysthat He "through the Holy Spirit had given com-mandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:to whom also he shewed himself alive after his pas-sion by many infallible proofs, being seen of themforty days, and speaking of the things pertainingto-the kingdom of God." He "commanded them thatthey should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait forthe promise of the Father," which promise was thatthey should receive the Holy Spirit "not many dayshence." (Acts 1: 2-5.) The disciple;^ took advant-age of the opportunity and. asked, "Lord, wilt thouat this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"But to this the Lord gave no direct answer. Theyapparently failed to realize that these appearances of


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ONE STEP AT A TIME 7our Lord were not the fnlfilment of His promise, "Iwill come again." There was much more for themto learn, but the Lord could not remain longer toinstruct them. He had made other arrangements forimparting information, of whioh H e had told thempreviously, as recorded in John 16: 7-

cWevertbelessI tell you the truth; It ie expedient for youthat I g;o away: for i f I go not away, the Comforter will notcome unto you; but if I depart, I wil l send him unto you."They were to be his witnessesybut f h t must befully qualified and equipped. "And, behold, I sendthe promise of my Father upon you: but tarry yein the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued withpower from on high. "-Luke 24: 49.One step at a time the disaiples were to take;just then they were to "tarry."I t is sometimes thought that Acts 1:7 teaches thatthe disciples were never to know about "times andseasons." But if verses 7 and 8 are read togetheri t will be seen that the very opposite is the case.Par+tisularly is this apparent when we rememberthat the word "power" in verse 8means "strength."

Th-Qpeek bas two words which are appropriatelyreadered "power. "One of these means "authority, "and the other means "strength." In English we usethe word "power" with both these meanings, ac-cording to the idea we wish to convey. A civilianhas no power-that is, no authority-to give amilitary order. But a besieging army may havepower-that is, strength-to demolish the defencesand take a city. 80 we read-

"And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the timesor the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power[his own authority3."But ye shall receive power [that is, strength], after thatChe Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be witnessesunto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judrea, and in Samaria,and anto the uttermost part of the earth."'-Acts 1: 7, 8.

The Lord in Ris wisdom did not a t the momentmake known to the disciples the "times and sea-sons," but after they -received the Eoly Spirit they


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S CHBIST'S PROMISED RETURNwere given'ability to understand the significance ofHis going away to the Father for a long time, whilethey as His witnesses received strength to carry onin His absence. True, He had given them parablesto this effect (Matthew 25 : 14-30), but in none didHe state the duration of His absence. Always theywere told to keep awake and watchful, and have oilin their vessels, "for ye know neither the day northe hour wherein the Son of man cometh. "-Mat-thew 25 : 13; Luke 12: 35-40.

Same JesaeThen, while they beheld, He was taken np, anda cloud received Him out of their sight. And whilethey looked stedfastly toward heaven, two angelsappeared, and said-"Ye men of Galilee, why standye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which ietaken up from you into heaven, shall so come in likemanner as ye have seen him go into heaven."-Acts1:9-11.Thus the heavenly angels added their testimonythat the Jesus whom the disciples loved and owned

as Lord would come again. Joy filled the hearts ofthe little band of believers, and gave them patienceto wait for the promised Holy Spirit. Under thegoudance of the Spirit they carried out their com-mission as witnesses, and it is to them we owe theNew Testament with all it tells us of their Masterand ours.One of the chief of their teachings is that Jesustheir Master was no ordinary man. They said thisbecause He had told them that God was His Father,that He was God's only begotten Son, that He waswith thd Father before the world was. He was in aform of God, and was God's Logos, "Word," orAgent in the creation of all things. (John 1: 1-3;3: 16; 5: 17-23, 36, 37; 6:46; 9: 35; 10: 36; 17: 5.)Coming to earth meant rr great humiliation to Him."For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,


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THIS SAME JESUS 9that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he be-came poor, that ye through his poverty might berich." (2 Corinthians 8 :9.) He took upon Him theform of a servant, and was made in the likeness ofmen, but not a sinful likeness. As a perfect man Hewas in the fleshly likeness of those who were sin-ners of a condemned race. (Romans 8: 3.) Un-like the sinful race, however, He was perfectand absolutely sinless; He "knew no sin"; Hewas "withont sin"; He did always those thingswhich pleased the Father; He was "holy, harm-less, undefiled, separate from sinners."-Philip-pians 2: 6-8; Hebrews 4: 15; 7 : 26 ; 2 Corin-thians 5: 21; ohn 8 : 29.The "same Jesus" who is to come again is notonly the Jesus whom the disciples knew on earth,but also the same Jesus who had been in heaven, andwas then known as Michael the archangel. (Jude9 ; Daniel 10: 13, 21.) That gl~rious state with theFather He gave up to become a perfect man, andthus the "ransom" or corresponding price for Adamand his race; "that he by the grace of God shouldtaste death for every man." (Matthew 20 : 28; 1Timothy 2: 5, 6 ; IIebrews 2: 9.) But this position onearth was never in t e~dedo be His permanent es-tate. "No man," He said, "hath ascended up toheaven, but he that came down from heaven, eventhe Son of man." (John 3 : 13.) Man's estate wasthe earth, which had been designed for his perma-nent residence, man being of the earth, earthy, andfitted to be the ruler over the whole dominion. (1Corinthians 15: 47; Genesis 2 : 7.) But while ourLord graciously came down to earth for the bene-volent purpose of dying to redeem a fallen race, itwas not the Father's purpose, nor was it the Son'sdesire, to be forever thus absent from heaven, HisFather's dwelling. He prayed (John 17: 4, 5)-"I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished thework which thou gavest me to do. And now, 0 Father, glorifythou me with thine own self with the glory whioh I hadwith thee before the world was."


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10 CEIRIST'S PBOYISED BETURNWhen the~eforewe consider the angels' words,"this same Jesus," me must think not only of Himas He was wliile on earth. We must think also ofEim as He had been with the Father in Heaven. Thesame personality underwent the change from heavento earth, and that same personai-;:y was exalted fromthe earth to heaven, as the apostle Peter states-"by the resurrection of Jesus Christ FROM thedead, TO an inheritance incorruptible, and unde-

filed, and that fadeth not away." (1 Peter 1:3, 4.)That is to say, the glorious heavenly inheritance towhich Christ was raised by the Father will nevercease to be His. He is nom "the brightness of theFather's glory, and the express image of His per-son," or, the "exact impress of his substance."(Hebrews 1: 3.)* God "hath highly exalted him,and given him a name which is above every name."(Philippians 2: 9.) This name or position of author-ity and power given to Him is "on the right handof God; angels and authorities and powers beingmsde subject unto him." (1Peter 3: 22.) Anotherstatepent of our Lord's present position at theFather's right hand-right hand being a symbol offavor and honor-is Hebrews 10: 12, 13-"But thisman, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, & - d m on the right hand of God;'Worn hemeforth expecting till his enemies be made hisfootstool!--Compare Psalm 110: 1.

We Shall Be Like HimA eurious belief held without Scripture sanctionby many who sincerely desire to know the Lord is tosuppose that He is still flesh, as He was on earth,

-4. that He honored human flesh by taking it toheaven,and glorifying it. This wrong irssumption is+SeeRevised Version, Emphatic Diaglptt, and Various Ren-dering.s and Reedings shown in tha Variorum Bible. TheVariorum Bible we highly esteem as an aid on amount of itsand the renderings of numerous commentators. Price list willbe sent on application.


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WE SHALL'RE LIKE HfJI 11due partly to a failure to realize all that is implied -by the apostle John when he wrote-

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yetappear what we shall be: btit we know that, when he shallr ypear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him ae he is."-1 John 3: 2.

The apostle John was an eye witness of the re-surrection, in that Jesus showed Himself to the dis-ciples on a number of occasions, John being present.John had seen Jesus crucifiecl, Iie had perhaps as-sisted in taking down the body, and in conveying itto Joseph's tomb. On the first day of the week hewas one of the first to visit the sepnlchre, h d i n g itempty, and he was a t the assembly in the upper roomthe same day when Jesus appeared in their midst,the doors being shut. "Then were the disciples glad,when they saw the Lord." (John 20: 20.) Soonafter, Jesus showed himself to John and SimonPeter and others on the shores of the sea of Galilee,and John 21: 14 says this was the third time He hadshown himself.yet it was this same apostle John who wrote inhis epistle that "it doth not yet appear what weshall be," though he goes on to say "me shall belike him." Now, is it not clear from these state-ments that John and the other disciples did not seethe glorious person of Jesns as IIe is now in heaven?Is it not clear that what they saw was a body simi-

lar to if not the selfsame body that had been cruci-fied, and which Be showed them as evidence, becameas human beings they could not look on the gloriouslikeness of God, of whom Jesns at His resurrectionwas the "express image "?John shows plainly that he and the ~ t h e r is-oiples who saw Jesns after His resurrection did notBee Him as He 49; for he says that it is only whenwe are made like Him that we shall see Him as Heis. If the body shown the disciples was Jesus as He

i s , then it did appear what we shall be. But if (aswe believe) Jesus concealed His glorious Spirit Self


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12 CHRLST'B PBOMISEDfrom the disciples' eyes, which would have beenblinded by the glory of the sight, as Saul's were onthe way t o Damascus, then truly "it doth not ye#appear what we shall be."

And Receive Yon unto MyselfGreat and wonderful events were predicted t otake place when the Lord would come again. Butin His parting words He gave the disciples both in-

formation and comfort in that which concerned themmost, and that was that when He came again Hewould receive' them unto himself; "that where I am,there. ye may be also." The disciples mere deeplyinterested in the Lord's mission and in the settingup of His kingdom, in which they e-pected to haveprominent positions. But deeper than that were thelove they had for their Master and their desire tocontinue with Him always. Our Lord expressedthis longing on His own behalf in EIis prayer-"Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given mr,be with me where I am; that they may behold my g l o ~ ,which thou hast given me: for thou lovdsf: me before thefoundation of the wor ld ."John 17: 24.

k Hope RevivedTo bem "the Lord was the hope of the disciples,and this hope was upset by the events of His lastdays in the flesh. But the hope was revived whenthe Blaster was raised from the dead, as the apostlePeter says-"Blessed be' the God and Father of ourLord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundantmercy hath begotten ua again unto a lively [or, liv-ing] hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ fromthe dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, andundefled, and that fadeth not away." The re-surrection of Jesus to this grand inheritance inheaven was a wonderful' event, and its effectsare far reaching; for "if Christ be not raised,your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins."(1 Corinthians 15: 17.) Forgivenem of sinsand the resurrection of the dead depended upon


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COMFORTINQ WORDSChrist's 'death and resurrection. Yet the lively or ,living hope to which Peter refers in this instance isthe hope of being with Him. They cherished thepromise: "that where I am, there ye may be also,"and the manner of its fulfilment was now madeclear. The wonderful inheritance to which ChristJesus had been raised is "resewed 6n hemen foryou." The hope revived in the minds of the dis-ciples was a living hope, a hope of life, not lifeagain on earth, but life in heaven with Him.This blessed hope of living with Christ in heavenie not for all people, but for those whom the apostleparticularly mentiom-viz., "reserved in heaven foryou, who are kept b y the power of God thrcughjaifh unto lralvation ready to be revealed in the lasttime." (1 Peter 1: 2-5.) Further, on their greatlove for the Master and thin wonderful hope, theapoatle says-" . . . at the appe,aring of JesusChrist: whom not having seen ye love; in whom,though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoicewith joy unspeakable and full of glory."--1 Peter1: 8.

Comfort One Another with These WordsHavjng the promise that the Lord would comeagain and receive them to himself, it was onlynatural that the early disciples should desire Himto come soon. But as time passed they reflected on

other promises, such as the one in Matthew 28: 19,20, to go and teach all nations, making disciples ofthem; "and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto theend of the world [literally, age] ;" that is, the ageor period of time during which this preaching min-istry should be carried on. By His Spirit the Lordcontinued with the Church, and through the apostlesgave further enlightenment concerning the period ofHis absence. And as one after another of the saintsfell asleep, leaving some behind still labouring andstill looking for His return to receive them, theapostle Paul iwtrrlcted them that there would be


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some who would of necessity "sleep in Jesus," be-cause the time was not then ripe to be received bythe Lord; that some would "sleep in Jesus," whileothers would be "slit-e and remain unto the comingof the Lord." (1 Thessalonians. 4 : 13-17.) The factthat faithful believers "fell asleep," while a cause ofsorrow in losing their company, should not causesorrow such as came on others which have no hope.The hope of the resurrection and of being receivedby the Lord into heaven was in no wise interferedwith by the length of time intervening between Hisdeparture and Bis return. "Wherefore comfort oneanother with these words1'-"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, thatwe which are alive and remain unto the cornin6 [Greek,pwousla, presence; see also Revised Version mnrgrnal read-ing] of the Lord shall not prevent [i.e. precede] them whichare asleep."For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with ashout, with the voice of the archangel, and with tbe trump ofGod: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:"Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught uptogether with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in theair: and so shall we ever be with the Lord."-1 Thessalonians4: 15-17.Comfort indeed is in these words-"so shall weever be with the Lord"; so shall me realize thegreat hope that has sustained the Church of truebelievers all through the age; so shall we enter into the duties and privileges of "joint-heirs," ''kingsand priests," and other rewards mentioned in Scrip-ture.-Romans 8 : 17 ; 2 Timothy 2 : 11, 12; Revela-tion 1: 6 ; 20: 6."

As a Thief in the NightAlongside what the apostle here states about "ashout," "the voice,'' and "the trump" we must

place his statement-"For yourselves know per-fectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief*Por further explanation on the "voice," the "shout," andthe "trump," please see the book "Christ's Prophecy on Olivet,"mentioned in Book List. . '


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M A T H I E F 15in tlie ~Gght." (1 Thessalonians 5: 2.) The term ,"day of the Lord" is evidently used with similarmeaning to the phrase "the coming [literally, pre-sence] of the Lord" in 4 : 15. Taking the two state-ments together, i t follows that the Lord's "pre-sence" will begin in a quiet and unostentatious man-ner. The "presence" would begin quietly, but therewould be later a manifestation of that "presence"in events plainly visible in the social: ordsr of earth-"For when they shall say, Peace and safety, thensudden destruction cometh."-1 Thessalonians 5: 3.To the watching servants of the Lord there comesa great blessing when they realize that the Lord'scoming to which they look forward is not a momentor second of time, but a considerable period of time,as indicated in the word "presence," and as shownalso by the numerous works which mill be accom-plished by Hi% during the ~ e r i o d f His presence."As a thief," the day of the Lord arrives, but notas a thief does it plunder, and not as a thief doesit run hastily away under cover of darkness. Thoughit come's as it were in the night, it is ne~orthelessa DAY of wonderful resource and activity.

A Falling Away FirstSo eager were the Thessalonian brethren for theeonsummation of their hope that some of them mis-understood Paul's words in his first epistle, necessi-

tating his writing them again when the news of theirmisinterpretation of his fist letter reached him.They nnderstood correctly enough that the Lordcould be present and yet invisible, even as He waspresent with the disciples during the forty days pre-ceding His ascension and yet was, except for briefperiods, invisible. His presence could not be dis-oerned by them unless and nntil He made that pre-sence known by some special appearance, word, oraction.--John 20: 15, 16; Luke 24: 30, 31, 35, 39.The apostle did not rebuke the Thessalonians forany misunderstanding on that point. He simply re-


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minded them that the time for the Lord's "presence"was some distance in the future from their day,because a great evil system would first arise andgain great prominence. The Lord's "presence "would be the cause of the destruction of thia"man of sin." Hence, before expecting the Lord's6 6presence," they should watch events and observea great "falling away," which would make possiblethe rise of such a "man of sin" right in the Chris-tian church.2 Thessalonians 2 : 1-8.The apostle, according to verse 5, had told themof this-"Remember ye not, that, when I was yetwith you, I told you these things?" And they knewwhat hindered the full development of the mysteryalready working. Connecting verses 1 and 8 to-gether, we see that the apostle used the word " presence" in both places; and with the "presence" heassociated two distinct things.In verse 1he associates "the presence of our LordJesus Christ" with "our gathering to get he^ untohim." Since the saints were not being gathered toChrist in glory at that time, it was evident that the6 6presence" had not begun.In verse 8 Paul associates the "presence" with theconsumption and eventual destruction of "the manof siny'-that Wicked one' who would succeed inexalting himself in the temple or worship of God inthe place of God himself. Until "that Wicked" was"revealed" there was no reason to think of Christas "present." Nor did Paul state for how long atime after the revealing or open manifestation ofthat "man of sin" the destruction by the brightnessof the Lord's presence would be deferred.History shows the "man of sin" of 2 Thessalon-ians 2 to be identical with "the abomination of de-solation spoken of by Daniel the prophet," whichour Lord predicted His disciples at some time should"see" standing in the holy place. This abominationthe Revelator calls "Babylon the great, the motherof harlots and abominations of the earth"; which in


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turn is easily recognisable as the Papacy, since it asmistress of nations sat on the seven-headed and ten-horned "beast" of Revelation 17. (Daniel 7: 8, 20-25;9 : 27 ;12:11;Matt. 24 :15;Revelation 17: 1-6,18.) And when the Lord's people in the course ofthe Gospel age saw this iniquitous system arise andoperate, they had these Scriptures not only to assisttheir identification of the "man of sin," but also toassure them that the' "presence" was still in thefuture from their day.The 1260 Days

And here comes in another marvellous thing. Notonly do the Scriptures make plain that the rise anddevelopment to despotic power of the Papacy wasa "sign" that the Lord was still absent. The proofof the Lord's absence was that the saints were"given into his hand" (Daniel 7:25) ; onsequentlyduring that time the saints were not gathered to-gether unto Christ in glory. The Scriptures also,by limiting the time of Papal supremacy to a defi-nite number of years, show the saints when to lookfor (and expeet to see) signs that the Son of mania "present." For while we read in Daniel 7: 5 thatthe saints were given into the hands of the "littlehorn" for 1260 years (time, times, and the dividingof time; that is, 1260 days, to be interpreted at therate of a day for a year), we read also that then "thejudgment shall sit," and the consumption of the'Papacy begin.The 1260 years ended in the years 1789-1799,having had their beginning in 529-539 A.D. Thoseof God's people who attentively studied Daniel'sprophecy, our Lord's reference to "the abomina-tion of desolation spoken of by Daniel," and Paul'sstatement "whom the Lord shall consume with thespirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the briiht-ness of his coming" (Revised Version margin, themcawiiestath of His presence), were given in thiscombination of three prophecies a remarkable


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18 CH&PBT'B PrnMIsm RETURN"sign" by. which to discern approximately when the"presence" would begin. The reformers of the GreatReformation, following Luther's fearless protest inthe year 1517, publicly exposed the Papacy as the"Babylon7' of Revelation 17 and 18, who sat a queenand was no widow, and ruled over the kings of theearth. They could see "the mas of sin," the namegiven by Paul to the same iniquitous system, stand-ing in the holy place, that is, in the Christian church,the nominal place for the worship of God, and re-ceiving the homage due to God.

The reformers emphasized the call, "Come out ofher, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,and that ye receive not of her plagues." (Revela-tion 18: 4.) Creeds formulated by the reformersof that century were outspoken in denunciation ofthe Papacy as Babylon, as the a%omiaation of desola-tion, and as "the man of sin."In their dedicatory address to King JTalnes thetranslators of the Authorized Version wrote (A.D.1611)-" . . . that the. zeal of Your Najesty to-ward the house of God doth not slack or go back-ward, but is more and more kindled, manifesting it-self abroad in the farthest parts of Christerdomby writing in defence of the Truth, (which hathgive= suah a blow unto that man of sin, as mil1 notbe healed)." The' Westminster Confession (A.D.1646-1647), Chapter XXV.,aid-"There is no otherhead of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ; norcan the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof,but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son ofperdition, that exalteth himself in the Churchagainst Christ and all that is called Bod." Manymore such passages could be quoted from the creedsaad controversies of that time, showing that the"man of sin" was revealed in all his unseriptnral-ness at the height of his power; the' "man of sin"being not any Pope personally, bat the Papal systemas such.

But great as these movements of protest were, they


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THE PROPHECY SPEAKSwere not the sign of the "presence"; for they ante-dated by more than two hundred years the endof the 1260 year period of Papal tyranny over thesaints. Indeed, it was while the Reformation was inpregress that the Papacy by the Inquisition exhib-ited its greatest power to persecute the saints. Themessage came of patience a little longer; the timemas not yet come to avenge the' blood of the martyrs.-Revelation 6 : 9-11.

At the end of the 18th and the beginning of the19th century a series of heavy blows fell upon thePapacy, co-incident with the end of the 1260 years.A suitable inquiry on the part of God's childrenliving at the time would have been-Is the "judg-ment" spoken of by Daniel now sitting! Has thetime arrived when "the books" would be opened!Can we now use the words of Daniel 7: 11as oa-ZoQkers,and say-"Ibeheld then because of the voice of the p a t words whishthe horn epake: I beheld even till the beast wae slain, and hiebody destroyed, and given to the burning flame.''As concerning the rest of the bemts, they had their domin-ion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a seasonand time."One of the extraordinary things about prophecyis that it is there in the Word of God for His peopleto study and ponder over, and if they do so it"speaks" to them from time to time concerning theevents of their day. For instanee, the scriptureaabout "Babylon" and "the man of sin" were there

for God's people to study all through the age sincePaul and John wrote, and they could be wondered atand inquired about, but not understood until thatgreat system actually arose in the mannek describedand did the things foretold of it. Then the pro-phecy spoke to the devoted reader, giving informa-tion and guidance for his own life and time.Similarly, as the 1260 years of Papal dominationdrew te a close: God's people of those days whowere searching the Scriptures could approximate

e md eyq& But .i$ was after the close of the: . 1 . - ' .1.


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20 CHRIST 'S PROMISED RETURN1260 years, as they progressed toward the end of the1290 days, that the significance of the French Revo- -lution, t h ~ ,ampaigns of Napoleon, the opening ofprisons and public exposure of the Inquisition's dun-geons and instruments of torture, the taking of thePope prisoner, the proclamation of freedom to serfsand to priest-ridden peoples, that Cod's childrencould realize that prophecy had been fulfilling beforethe ir eyes. And if they were persistent in observingthe signs of the times, and at t he same time persistedin their study of Cod's Word, then they beheldsomething more that served as a "sign" by whichto locate themselves in relation to the propheticevents. This lemon of persistent continuous lookingis clearly taught in Daniel 7 :11above quoted-"I beheld then because of the voice of the great words whieh

the horn spake:I beheld even till the beast war slain, and[I beheld even till] his body was destroyed, and[I beheld even till i t was] given to the burning flame."One can imagine no better way than this of givingdirections for understanding events following the end

of the 1260 days and their progressive developmentover a period of time. At the finish Babylon is castan a millstone into the sea, to sink never to riseagain. (Revelation 18: 21.) But this symbol of themillstone and the closing act should not becloud inour minds the truth concerning the gradual processof consumption shown in Daniel 7.The great swelling words still being spoken by thePapacy may deceive some, but the trge state ofaffairs can and should be known to those who be-

hold through Daniel's eyes. For them the greatwords, the resounding voice, serve but to identifythe system and to proclaim the fact that it is beingconsumed. Some of the Papacy's greatest claimshave been made during the past hundred years,while the consumption has been in progress. Thedoetrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin


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&REAT PAPAL CLAIM8Mary was made a dogma, and belief in it made com-pnlsory, in 1854. The infallibility of the' Pope when *speaking ex cuthedra was made a compulsory dogmaat the Countil held at Rome in 1870. The Pope'sclaim of the right to rule the world as the vice-gerent of Christ is now being proclaimed even moreloudly than in the past, though with less abilitythan ever to exercise it. With great eclat Euchar-istic Congresses are now being held from time totime in Protestant countries, and the claim to createChrist by transubstantiation of bread in obedienceto the spoken words of a priest is being trumpetedfrom one end of the earth to the other. How theGod of heave& regards these great claims is indi-eated by His prophets-

Daniel 7: 26-"He rhrll speak great words rgainrt tho rnortHig,"Revelation 13: &"a mouth #perking great thingr andb2arphemie0.'~Revelation 13: &''he opened his mouth in blasphemy'againrt Cod, to blaspheme hir name, and his tabernaelq andthem that dwell in heaven."Why the "Sign" was not Fully Undemtood

We have said that the three prophecies-Daniel7:11,25,26 ;12:7 , l l ; Matthew 24 :15, and 2 Thes-aalonians 2: 1-8, studied together, provided forthe saints who aaw the Papacy at its height ofpower an approximate idea of when the Lord'ssecond "presence" would begin; namely, at the endof the' 1260 years. Moreover, those sincere studentsof prophecy living during the period of the Frenchrevolution (1789-93) and onward to about the year1830, particularly those living about 1860 and ableto review the events of the previous 60 years, andmore especially those living when the Pope was de-prived of temporal power in 1870, who were able tolook back over the events of the previous 80,years,and note the series of disasters which befel thePapacy, might appropriately have inquired-Is the"judgment" of Daniel 7 now aitting? Is the


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22 CHRIST'S PROMISED RETURN"beast" being "consumed" 8 Is the "man of sin,""that Wicked," of whom Paul wrote, now being *"consumed" by the Spirit of the Lord's mouth9Will he soon be destroyed by the "brightness" ofthe Lord's "presence" 9

Several reasons are apparent why these querieswere not asked-&st, Bibles were comparatively rare and expen-sive.Second, education was not so widespread as itis to-day, and many Christians could not read, con-sequently could not study the Bible for themselves.Third, Prayer books and creeds were recited bythe people, and by many accepted as though in-spired. What the creeds did not teach it mas un-

necessary to trouble about.Fourth, Those creeds which made reference toJohn 14: 1-3 and Christ's return invariably spokeof i t as something in the more or less distant future.In the early days of the creeds this might havebeen true, b-ut the people kept on repeating themyear in, year out, still with the idea that it was along way off.

FWh, the' Authorized Version, published by cum-mand of King James in the year 1611, while re-markably good as a rule, failed to give in Englishthe exact meaning of the Greek word parousia,which means "presence." In most of its occur-rences the translators rendered it "coming," which,as we shall see presently, has an entirely differentmeaning.Sixth, When the subject was considered at all, theteaching was that Jesus would appear in a fleshlyform in the sky, taking His saints bodily to heaven,and striking terror to the hearts of all other iahab-itants of the earth. This belief discouraged and inmost cases prevented consideration of events ofthe times as possible indicationa of His presence,though invisible.


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Merence between (foming and PresenceThe diffe~ence n meaning between these two

words, "coming" and "presence," should be wellunderstood by all who "love His appearing.""Coming" means to be on the way."Arrival" means reaching the destination."Presence" means the time spent at the destina-tion after arrival, after the coming is completed.This may be illustrated by the following diagram.CX PThe lihe CA represents the time (whatever thelength of i t ) occupied by the descent of the Lordfrom heaven to earth. This is, properly speaking,

His "coming." This line's terminal point A markathe moment of His arrival, and is also the startingpoint of the line AP, which represents the time' ofHis par& (presence), the duration of which isfrom His arrival until "the end [of the Kingdomage], when he shall have delivered up the kingdomto God, even the Father."-1 Corinthians 15: 24.Now, what the Church was told to look for wasnotthe time CA, when the Lord Jesus would be on theway. The angel sent to Daniel was only ten days onthe. way from heaven. Our Lord could no doubtdescend from heaven to earth in even a shorter time.The important thing to the Church is illustrated by

the line A P ;namely, His preseqzce, and the thingsto be accomplished by Him during His presence.Let it then be understood that those texts of Scrip-ture which speak of "the coming of our Lord JesusChrist" are more concerned with His presence andthe work He will do while present than they arewith His being on the way; in fact, the being on theway is not referred to. Before' the 1260 years endedHe was absent. Since the 1250 years ended He hasbeen present, dealing with the "man of sin" andother institutions, and 81~0 erforming that otherwork mentioned by our Lord in Matthew 24q31.


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24 CHRIST'S P ~ M I S E DRETURNFor the convenience of readers we give a list ofthe texts containing the word parousia, and believe ,all will be greatly edified by reading them, particu-

larly when it is noticed that the sign by which Hispresence might be recognized was exactly what thefirst disciples wanted to khow. (Matthew 24: 3.)And observe how they linked His presence with "theend of the age" (not "world," as in AuthorizedVersion)-"end " not being necessarily the lastpoint of the age, but a period of time comprising theend, and permitting the increase of knowledge andrunning to and fro of which Daniel speaks in con-nection with "the time of the end" (Daniel 12: 4),also including the work of harvest spoken of byour Lord in His paraftle. (Matthew 13: 39.) Formore on "the time of the end" please see "Danielthe Prophet in the Latter Days," chapter 12. Forexplanation of "the harvest is the end of the age"see "The Parables of our Lord," page 32.

Text.8Containing the Greek Word Parousia"And a8 he sat upon the mount of Olives, the discipleseame unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these

things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming [parousia;Revised Version margin, presence], and of the end of theworld [literally, age] ?-Matthew 24: 3."For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shiietheven unto the west; so shall also the coming [parousia, pre-sence] of the Son of man bs"-Matthew 24: 27."But aa the days of Noe were, so shall also the comingIpamusia, presence] of the Son of man be."-Matthew 24: 37."And knew not until the flood came, and took them allaway; so shall a100 the coming [parousia, presence] of theSon of man be."'-Matthew 24: 36."But every man in hie own order: Christ the first fruits;afterward they th at are Christ's a t his coming [parouria, pre-sence]."-1 Corinthians 15: 23."I am glad of the coming [parousia, presence] of Stephanaaand Fortunatus and Achaicus: for that which was lacking onyour part they have supplied."-1 Corinthians 16: 17.''Nevertheleas God, that comforteth those that are cast down,comforted us by the coming [parousia, presence] of Titus."-2Corinthiam 7: 6."And not by his coming [paracsia, presence] only, but bythe consolation wherewith he mas comforted in you, when he


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told us your -earnest desire, your mourning, your ferventmind toward me; no that I rejoiced the more."-2 Corin-thiane 7: 7."That your rejoicing may be more abundant in Jesus Christfor me by my coming [parowm, presence] to you again."-Philippiana 1: 26. Here the Revised Version has "presence"in the text instead of in the margin rs in other places."For what is our hope, or joy, or orown of rejoicing? b enot even ye in the presence [different word-emprosthm,meaning "in front of"] of our Lord Jesus Christ a t his coming[paroueia, presence] ?-1 Thessalonians 2 : 19."To the end he may stabliih your hearts unblameable inholiness before God, even our Father, a t the coming [parousia,preeence] of our Lord Jems Christ with all his saints."--1Theadoniana 3: 13."For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, thatwe which are alive and remain unto the coming Iparousia,presence] of the Lord shall not prevent [precede] them whichare asleep."-1 Theaaalonians 4: 16."And tho very God of peace sancti$ you wholly; and Ipray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preservedblameless unto the coming [parozrsia, presence] of our LordJesus Chriet."-1 Thessalonians 5: 23."Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming [parousia,presence] of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering to-gether unto him.-2 Thessalonians 2: 1."And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord

shall consume with the s~ i r i tf his mouth. and shall destrovwith the brightness [kt. 'manifestationi'] of his comin i[ v I u T ~ ~ ~ ,resence]."-2 Thessalonians 2: 8.-"Even 6im, who& coming [parousia, presence] is after thoworking of Satan with all power and signs and lying won-der&--2 Thessalonians 2: 9.''Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming [ p a r d ,presence] of the Lord. Behold, the huebadman waiteth for

the precioua fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it,until he receive the early and latter rain. 'James 6: 7."Be ye also patient: stablish your hearts: for the coming[parousia, presence] of the Lord draweth nigh.''-Tames 6: 8."For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, whenwe made known unto you the power and coming [ p a r o d ,presence] of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnessesof his majesty."-2 Peter 1: 16."And saying, Where ia the promise of his coming [parousia,presence] f for since the fathers fell asleep, all t h i n p continueas they were from the beginniig of the creation.'--2 Peter3: 4.'Zooking for and hasting unto the coming [parousia, pre-sence] of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire


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26 CHBIST'S PI~OB~IBED~~TEENshall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt wikh ferventheat 9"-2 Peter 3: 12."And now, Iittle children, abide in him; that, when he shallappear, we may have confidenoe, and not be nahamed before hima t his coming [parousicc,presence.].-1 John 2: 28.

In all but one of the above places the Revised Ver-sion has "Gr. presence"' ip the reference c o l ~rfootnotes, an acknowledgment that "presence " isthe mcaning of the Greek word garowia; Philip-piam 1: 26, the last part, being rendered "throughmy presence with you again"-another acknow-ledgment, by placing "presence" in the test, thatpar~uS iameans "presence. "In the following two instances both the Buthorizedand the Revised Versions' correctly use "presence"to translate the Greek word parous&-

2 Corinthians 10: 10-"Tor his letters, say they, are weightyand powerful; but his bodily presencc is weak, ar.d his speecheontemptile."Philippians 2: 12-'Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have al-ways obeyed, not as in my pressace only, but now mnch morein my absence, work out your own salvation with fear andtrembling."In both these instances Paul's "presence" amongthe believers is contrasted with his "absence," andparozcsia is correctly rendered "presence. ' When

Pardwas "absent" his letters were powerful, somesaid; but when he favored them with his "presence"they despised him. His "presence" among the Cor-inthians was not a being on the way, nor nlerely antrrival, but a prolonged stay; a year and six months.-Acts 18: 1-11.Prom this it should easily be seen that in the cwe,f our Lord the contrast is also between His "ab-sence," a long period during the Gospel age, andHis "presence9'-a long period beginning when the"absent" period ended. The Lord's presence' todeal with the Papacy at the end of the 1260 years isas real as was the preseme of Pan1 at Corinth. ButPaul's presence was visible to the Corinthians, whileour Lord's presence is invisible to men, being knownonly by the signs, and recognized only by those who


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DSTS OF NOE, PRESENCE OF CHRISTare matching and who take the time to search intothe question of the p a r m b . Paul dealt persuasivelywith the Corinthians; but our Lord Jesus, in dealingwith "the man of sin," uses superhuman power andauthority, and mill continue so to do until this andall the other purposes of His "prexnce" shall havebeen accomplished.

The King of Kings a;nd the Thousand YearnWhen our Lord comforted His disciples by thepromise that He would come again and receive themto himself, the time and circumstances mere unsuit-able for an extended statement of other purposes con-nected with His return. To deal with the "man ofsin" and to avenge His saints were purposes of which

they learned later, but thew by no means exhaustthe works to be done during His presence.That the fact of our Lord's presence (parousia),following the completion of His coming and thenent of His arrival, was for a while to be un-known to (both careless Christians and unbelievingworldlings is est;tblished by our Lord's own words-"And being asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom ofGod coineth, he answered them and said, The k i d o r u of Godconzeth not with observation [A.V. margin, "not with out-ward shew"] : neither shall they say, Lo, here! or, l'here!for lo! the kingdom of God is in the mids t of you."-Luke17: 20, 21, R.V. margin."But as the days of Noe were, so shall also tlie coming[pkrm'a, presence] of the Son of man be. For as in thedays that were before the flood they were eating and drink-ing, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day thatNoe entered into the ark, and KNEW NOT until the floodcame, and took them ail away; so shall also the coming[parousia, presence] of the Son of man be."-Matthew 24:37-39.That we are N O W in the parousia (presence) of

the Son of Inan referred to in these quotations is,we believe, demonstrated by the evidence alreadypresented in the foregoing pages about the expirationof the time, times, and half a time and the subsequent(and consequent) conduct and experiences of the


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Papacy. And how true it is now in Christendom asit was in Judea 1900 years ago-"There stmdeth one 'among you, whom ye know not !"--John 1 26. (Forfurther comment on these passages, please see"Christ s Prophecy on Olivet," pages 89, 91.)But there comei a time when the fact of His pre-sence and authority is to be revealed by the settingup of His kingdom on the earth. He comes to reigntriumphantly and gloriously over all the earth, aastated in Daniel 2: &"In the days of these k i q ~ahall the Cod of heaven set up a kingdom, whichshall never be destroyed: . . t shall break in pieoeaand consume all these kingdoms, and it shall rtaladforever."-Compare Psalm 110:2, 3;45 : 3-5.Now a kingdom to stand forever must be very dif-ferent from any the earth has known in the pa&,axcept possibly that one which God set up in Eden,but which was soon rendered incapable of standingforever because sin had intruded and God the right-ful Sovereign was maligned and for a time at leadstrejected by the perfect pair whom He had aet indominion over it.

Since then men have tried many forms cjf govern-ment of their own from an absolute despotism to thelevelest kind of democracy, sometimes called a re-publicgome seeking more, some less, the happinessand well-being of their subjects, but all marred bythe aame old sin and losing their subjects constantlythrough the ravages of death. Sin and Death havenever been properly "tackled" by any government,ancient or modern, with the single exception of thekingdom set up by God himself in the nation of Israel.There Sin was grappled with by a vigorous Law, anddeath was for a time held off in some cases by thepractice of righteousness and under the favor of aGFod having the power to extend life (as was donein King Hezekiah's case, for example) ; t even thosemeahmrea were ineffective, so far a s giving everkcstinglife was oonccrmed.


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GWI$T'U KINQWIL6BBdLA Kingdom thatWill Succeed

The kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ wi l l succeedin enduring for ever because it is equipped with allpower in heaven and on earth, and because by Hisdeath and resurrection He abolished death andbrought life and immortality to light through thoeoapel.Life and immortality are made possible throughthe gospel because the gospel is "good news" con-cerning God's way of dealing with sin. Some thinkGod's way of dealing with sin is peculiar. Theythink that to make His o m Son an offering for sinwaa most cruel; many refuse to believe that Godwould do euch a thing. But to our mind menahonld be thankful that God mas able to devise andChrist was able to carry out a method w5ich mouldaccomplish what men with aU their boastfulness wereunable to do in from four to six thousand years oftheir own kind of government. The ignorance, thelaziness, the filth in which some of the nations ofthe earth live, or have lived, is almost incredible.Evan the most civilized, the most cultured, have theirsabstratnm of almost unbelievable sin, disease, ignor-ance, and filth. Thank God, He and His beloved Soaknow how to deal with it. Let gratitude fill ourhearts! And He can deal with the sins of the "re-spectable" also-the pride, conceit, and deceit every-where entrenched in mind and practised in life.

Many devout Christians who love Christ's appear-i3g fail to realize that His kingdom is a real kingdomand that it will succeed where all others have failed.Bemuse sin and death have continued so long manyhave settled down to the thought that Sin and Satanare having the best of it, and that God and Christwill never do anything more than they have done inthe past 1800 years. What needs to be understoodis that this age h a been devoted to the taking outof a people--the training of a people of faith andzealom of good works to be joint-heirs with Christin His Kingdom. (Aota 15: 14; Romane 8: 17.) And


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CHTIIST'S PROMISED RETURNwhen alI of these a r e chosen, and H e comes to re- .ceive them to himself, t ha t where H e i s there theymay be' also, th e t ime wi l l be r ipe f o r a n open mani-festation of H i s presence i n th e establishment of azitorld zoicle kingdom of righteousness.

The Thousand YearsGod has set a p a r t the long period of a thousandyears as the durat ion of t h a t kingdom in its discip-l inary a n d enlightening aspect. N a n y :vho loveChrist 's appearing forget tha t H e bought the wholer ace of mankind, a n d t h a t a s the i r Lo rd a n d OwnerH e ha s a responsibil i ty t owa rd them. "Fo r to thisend Christ both died, a n d rose, and revived, t h a t hemight be Lord both of th e dead and living." (Romans

14: 9.) H e has the keys of hell and of death, and a sthe Lord of th e dead has power to call them forth,a n d will do so. (Revelation 1 18; John 5 : 28, 29.)Yhe %hole creation, though unwittingly, is wait ing fo rtha t deliverance. They do not know exactly whatthey want , but God knows what tliey need, arid th ethousand years reign mill supply and satisfy tha tneed.And incidentally, without knowing it, they are"wai t ing f o r th e manifestat ion of th e sons of God."(Romans 8 : 19.) Now people do no t "mait for" a nevil thing. A n evil th ing is feared, a n 3 wished along way on". Oh, if Christians who acknowledgeChrist as thei r K ing now, and who long fo r H is ap-pearing and manifestation, could only grasp whatthi3 means: t h a t the groaning creation travailing i npa in together is wa i t b g for the?w---unconsciously waif-ing f o r the Church of the Gospel age to be completeditad received by th e Lord to himself, irz order t ha tthe grea t work of delivering the whole creation fromthe bondage of corluption may be proceeded wiilt.I n other words, the Gospel age completes God'sdealings wi th th e Church, bu t i t does not complete Riodealingsmith th e remainder of th e race fo r vhom C h ~ i s tdied, and who fo r th e most p a r t have gone down into


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PRESENCE A TTHUS-UITD YEASS 31death absolutely unenlightened concerning the only"name under heaven given among men, whereby wemxst be saved." (Acts 4: 12.) Let those who longfer Christ's appearing a d ingdom realize that jointcheirship in the kingdom means something practical-not alone the joy and riatisfaction of those so fortu-nate as to sit down with Christ in His throne (Reve-lation 3: 21), but something practical in the govero-rnent which the Throne s t a ~ d sor.

Even the weakest and worst governments of thepast have tried to accomplish sometlzi?tg.Some tyrantshave seen to the welfare of their subjects if only forthe returns fair treatment will bring to themselves.Some war lords have raided other peoples, but theyhave distributed wealth thus gained among their ownsubjects. Every one of the Four. Universal empiresdescribed in Daniel 2 :3143 was a devouring "beast "(Daniel 7), and yet the history of those empires showsthat t h q had millions af subjects who managed to liveaad wbre passed on to their successors with thewealth and other assets of tlie countries concerned.But whem Christians come to think of Christ's ap-pea&ggJ. n& only do they ignore the fact that His"presmee" is t o last a Biousand years, but theyimagine that this King of kings is going to destroy-@iisqmn subjects and desolate the whole of the earthHe ,*es to reign over-leaving himself with what?baying himself with nothing! except His joint-heirs,wtu, -atso will be left with nothing to reign over, al-tbn& +&ey are given the title of "kings."OtErbr C&.l:istians who love His appearing admitthat. Christ; is to reign for a thousand years on theearth, but allow Him only a portion of His subjects;namely, those so fortunate as to be living in thatWB-totdly passing by the myriads of the deadwho we His equally with the later born.Only w%en we see Chist's presence as a blessingto all the f d e ' s of &heearth living and dead; canwe comprehend the length and breadth and height


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82 OHBJBT'EJP ~ M I S E D T J R Nand depth of the love of God in Christ Jesus our ,Lord.

Dealing with the EnemiesOur Lord's "presence," which deals effectively withthe "man of sin" to its utter destruction, has powerand authority to deal with other opponents. Satan,"the god of this world," the evil spirit being whohas all along set himself against God, is to be dealtwith at the beginning of the thousand years. He isto be bound that he may deceive the nations no momtill the thousand years are finished. (Revelation 20 :1-3.) This alone should lead Bible readers to see thathuman beings will benefit by the presence of Christ.For where would be the necessity of binding Satan, ifthe Lord had not loving purposes toward mankind,to he put in operation while Satan is thus held inaheck?But Satan is not the only enemy. Death and theGrave are to be destroyed, the Lord said throughthe prophet. How will this be done? I t will be doneby raising the dead, thus emptying hell (sheol, hades,or the grave), to which the Lord has the "key," andthe emptied "hell" will be cast as a worthless huskinto the Gehenm "fire," symbol of utter destruction,the Second Death. Death as an enemy attackingeverymember of the race in order to bring them downto "hell," f ie grave, will be silnilarly disposed of.We read, "The last enemy that shall be destroyedis death" (i.e., the Adamic death). (1 Corinthians15: 26.) "0 death, where is thy sting? 0 grave,where is thy victcry 9" (1 Corinthians 15: 55;Hosea 13: 14.) Those who accept Christ will passfrom death unto life; while those who on full eu-lightenment reject Him and His terms of ~alvationwill be cast into the Second Death. Thus Death andHell will be effectually disposed of.The Enemy Sin

-' But there i u still another enemy of our race to bepdealt with during the thonsand yeam of the Lord's


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BLESSINGS FOR MANKIND"presencev' with His saints-the enemy who in thefirat place brought death on to the scene. .That enemyis Sin. Sin is not a person, but a condition. Never-theless, the Scriptures speak of i: as a Taskmasteror Tyrant having all men under bondage. In Romans6, Righteousness and Sin are contrasted, and we aretold: "his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whetherof sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteous-nm."Men of themselves cannot get free from bondapeto the Tadmaster Sin. The death of Christ as a sac-rifice on their behalf was the first requirement, andthe next requirement was and is and will be repent-ance and faith on the part of those for whom He died.Christians now cannot get rid of all the imperfection8of their fallen nature, but they can get rid of Sin as aTaskmaster by accepting Christ as their Master andrendering obedience to Him.This beneficent arrangement by which the humbleand penitent of this age are freed from the tyrannyof Sin by faith in Christ Jesus is called the NewCovenant. Under it God can forgive our iniquities,and remember our sins no more, accepting us as Hisram-adopted sons by Christ Jesus. (Hebrews 8: 6,12; 10: 10, 17-22; Romans 8: 15, 16; Galatians8:26; :6, 7.) And the question may well be asked :If the Lord so graciously deals with us now duringthe period of His "absence," reconciling us to God,and delivering us from the power of Sin and of Death,what may we not scripturally look for in gracious-nem toward mankind generally during the period ofHir "presence" ?

The True LightThe first thing the nations will need after theKingdom is established and Christ is in control ofaffairs wil l be enlightenment. The same is true of&we who will be raked from death during the King-


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34 CHRIST'S PROMISED ~ B Ndom age.* Hundreds of millions of persons of allraces, co!ors, and nationalities have gone down intodeath without so much as having heard of the Sav-iour's love f o r them. Does that sad fact prove thatthey will never hear of i t ?

I f we look baek on our own Christian experience,do we not find that we too were once in the iblackestof ignorance? Even if born of Christian parents andwith a g o d inheritance of moral stability, were wenot in the dark uotil our parents or others spoke thefirst word to us about the love of Jesus? Undoubt-edly so; and this experience of ours is the universalexperience, for the apostle says-"For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shallbe saved."How then shaU they call on him in whom they have notbelieved? and how shall they believe in him of whom theyhave not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?"-Romans 10: 13, 14.

These are self-evident trdhs, but they required tobe told. And the necessity for repeating the apostle'swords is as great to-day, when millions of Christiansof all creeds and denominations, who have heard andhad the opportunity to believe, refuse the same boonto fellow members of our race who in the providenceof God were permitted to die without having had thatopportunity. 1s Cod partial? Did Christ die forone more than for another? Are those unenlighteneddead to remain foYe.i.crin the dark? Nay, verily!The light did not go tn them while they were aliveon the earth, and there is no light in the grave; butthey a r e g o i ng t o be called out of the grave, andBROOGHT TO THE LIGHT .Where? when? me hear the eager inquiry. Why,they will be brought to the light where the light isshining, m d the Kingdom age is the time.

And how may Ke and they be sure it is the truelight, and not some counterfeit? The fact that Christ*For explanation of Rerelation 20: 5 please see "BibleTalks for Heart and IIind," page 127. This book will besupplied at the price stated in Book List, or free on loan.

8 8- .


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ENLIGHTENING EVERT MAN 35himself is reigning and in full control will be oneguarantee that the light then shining mill be the truelight. But there is a test which me may apply evennow. That test is stated for us in John 1: 9-"Taa~was THE TRUE LIC;HT, WHICH LIGIITETH EVERYMAN THAT C O ~ HNTO THE WOBLD."

There have been other lights (so-called). The Con-fucian "light" has shone upon hundreds of million8in the course of some centuries ; he Buddhist "light"also, and the Nohammedan "light," and the philo-sophical "light" ; housands of lesser "lights" havetmidded here and there over the centuries. But themost far-reaching and long-enduring of these "lighta"fails absolutely when put to the test of "lighteth e-seryman," even if these were true lights, which they mostcertainly are not.But, one may say, Neither has Christianity lightedor enl'ightened every man; it fails by the same test.In reply to this we mould say: the test is not yetfinished. It was not God's purpose to enlighten everyman in this age. Consequently the enlightenment of"every man that cometh into the world" (who hasno&been enlightened in this life) must be a work ofthe future. Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Mo-hammedanism are live religions to-day, and the futureis before them. Can they use the future to enlightenevery-man? No, they cannot; for the simple reasonthat there will be no room f a r them in the kingdom ofGod. The true light shines in the face of J e w Christ,not in the face of Confucins, or Buddha, or Lao-tse,or Xohammed.In the past myriads have died, as we have said,in .absolute ignorance of even the name of Jesus. Butthere have been millions who have heard His name,get have not believed. The reason why they have notbelieved is because "the god of this world hath blindedthe minds of them which believe not, LEST the lightof the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image ofGod, should shine unto them." (2 Corinthians 2 :4.) But it is easy to see that when Satan, who is the


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one referred to as "the god [mighty one] of thiaworld," s bound, "that he should deceive the nationsno more," no more have the opportunity t o "blindthe minds," which opportunity he has made mahabundant use of in the past-it is easy to see that then,the chief obstruction being removed, the light shin-ing in the face of Jesus Christ win penetrate thornformerly blinded and darkened minds.Tha& God, that that True Light, Jesus Christ,which by the favor of God has shined now into ourhearts, will not c m e to shine when His second "Pre-sence" is made openly manifest by the setting up ofHis Kingdom in power and authority over the earth.Rather, He will shine out more brightly, more exten-sively, more prosperously than ever before. The holyeity, new Jerusalem, symbolic of the New Covenant,will have no need of sun or moon (representative ofthe "lights" in the present and past ecclesiastical"heavens" such as the Confucian, Papal, and othersystems of religion), because "the glory of God didlighten it, and THE LaMB IS THE LIGHT theyeof."Often that wonderful picture of the Kingdom agework of the New Covenant and its blessings containedin ehapter 21 of Revelation is applied by Chtianato a material city and physical light. More expressiveof God's purpose in His beloved Son is the interpro-tation here given of enlightenment of mind and heartmade possible by the binding of Satan and the ful lrevealing of the Lord Jewo as King of kings andLord of lords, and as Mediator between God and men,a position He holds now and will hold aa long as theNew Covenant terms of mercy and forgiveneaa arerequired. Let us, enlightened in this age, and nowenjoying the be~efits f the New Covenant, and whohope to reign with Him, do all we can to tell otheraof the wonders of the TRUE LIGHT.-E. C. and B B. HENNINOES.


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The New Covenant Advocate gd;;& ~ ~ n t h l y 'aper for theExpoutron of B~ble Truth.. E- 0. mNNINGEB, Editor.Yarly Bubseription Price (including poatage)In Awtralia and New Zealand . . .. 4/-In other Uountries . .. k;-; $1.26By the dozen of m y irsua-S/6 in ~ u s & k s t ; S'j- (76 cents) else--hem. Bee to the interested who are not able to pay,

Book ListBible T a r for Reart and =d.-The Book of aomfort showingthe loving purpose of Ood toward our race, the blessings o i the NewOove-t, with the special rivileges of the "High Qalling." Explams

the three s'worlds*' mentgned by the Apostle Peter also what ismeant by the romised "new heavens" and "new &rth." Showswhat Ood has teen doing, and why, in past ages and dispensations;that the Kingdom of Heaven 1s a t hand, how it will be mntrpduced,and wait the conditions will be under the new order follomng the"time of trouble." Oloth b o y d , gilt lettering. S/- (76 cents).Postage extra in Australia 2d.. elsewhere 46. (8 cents). Specialprice to "Advocate" reahers 2/- (60 dents); postage extra ssabove. Pa er covers 2/- (60 'cents). Special price to "Advocate"readers lfi (SO c a b ) , ostage extra as above, or 8/- ($2.00) for6 to or;% address postpaizThe PsraYea of Our Lord.-Forty large Parables and s largenumber of Similitudes are explained or our Lord's own explanationscalled attention to. His wonderfui words of life come to us withrenewed power. 010th bound, gilt lettering 3/6 (85 cents). Postageextra in Australia, 2d.; elsewhere. 44. (8' cents). Special price to"Advocate" readers, 2/S (56 cents); post?ge extra as above Pa ercovers, 2/6 (60 cents); special price to Advocate" readek, ?/6(96 cants)' postage extra as above.Daniel the Prophet in the Latter Days.-An explanation of thewhole of Daniel's wonderful Visions.-The Great Image and itsOverthrow.-The Four Beasts.-Fight Between Ram and hat .-The "Little Horn."--0leansing the Sanctnary.-The seventy"Weeke.*'-Xessiah's Glory.-The 1260 1290 1386 and 2800"Days.*'-Exposure of the papacy.--Oo&Iemne$ out bf his OwnM o u t h i d r e a t Mass of Historical Information covering more than2.600 years and proving Daniel to be s prophet for these LatterDrip-shodring which of Daniel's Prophecies have been fulfilled,wkch are now being fulfilled and which are yet to be fulfflled.Authorities are cited for Histohcal Statements and the Informationis made conveniently available by means of an' Index. 010th bounddlt embossed 5/6 $1.36); postage extra in Australia, Sd. else:where 6d. (12 centsf. Paper covers 4/- ($1) ; oats e extra asabove.' Specla1 rice to "Advocate" r e ( ade r4 lo th %om%4/- ($1) ;pa er covers ST- (75 cents); postage extra in each case as above.he aharb a d I t s Ceremonies.-Part 1.-The a h ~ r c h nd itsOrganisation. Part 8.-"The Doctrine of Baptisms." Part 8.-The Lord's ??ppsr. Various dimcult passages such as "Baptiaedfor the Dea are explained. 010th bqund, 1/6 (35 cepts) ; papercovers 1/- 26 cents). Postage extra in Australia. ld., elsewhere.S d (8' cents . Per dozen: 010th 12/- ($3); paper, 8/- ($2), post-paid. tohrist's Prophecy on 0Uvet.-An exposition of Matthew 24 andRelated Passages concerning 0Mst.s Becond Coming. Cloth bound.116 (56 cents) ; paper covers 1/- (26 cents). Postage exha inAuse l i a , ld.: elsewhere, 2d..'(4 cents). Per dozen: Cloth. 12/-r 8/- ($2). postpaid." i k r K + + Punishment.-A Scriptural examination of thesophy of punishment for sin. Every Bible occurrence of 8b"QZ:a d e s . Qehenna. Lake of fire, and related terms also "The RichItan and.Lasams" fully e lained. Qloth bound: 1/- (25 cents),Paper covers, 6 6 (12 c e n t 3 postpaid.


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The CMsMan's Comforter.-The Holy Spirit; Various Manifesta-tions; the Gift of the Spirit; as Comforter and Chide; as Convicterof Sin, of Righteousnrkss, and of Judgment: as Demonstrator ofSonship.-The- Sin agalnst the Holy Spirit.-Father, Son and HolySpirit.+loth bound, 1/- (25 cents); paper covers, 6d. t12 cents),postpaid.The Dead-Where are They?-The Scriptural Evidence on thisQuestion, Comfort for All who Mourn. Cloth bound, 1/- (25cents): oauer covers. 6d. (12 c a t s ) , postpaid.. - -The New ~r$.-what is it! Why is i t Expected1 How is it tobe brought about? Whom will i t Benefit? . Cloth bound, 1/- (25cents) ; paper covers, 61% (12 cents), postpaid.What Say the Scriptures about the Ransom, Sin Offerinn u t s , Mediator, Scap?goat?-An expl-tion in handy f~r?:;these most vital ouestlons. Cloth bound, 1/- (26 cents); paperemirs, 66. (12 c&ts), postpaid.The Divine Healer.-An Expos.ition of .Scripture. Teaching onMiraculous HeaIings showing their place in the Dlvine PurpO?~.Cloth bound, 1/- (26 cents) ; paper covers, 6d. (12 cents), postpaid.Do the Dead Communicate?-Spiritualism Scripturally and Scicn-tiflcally Exposed. Cloth bound, 1/- (25 cents); paper covers, 6d.(12 cents), postpaid.Modernism, fandamentalism, BETI) the Bible.-Showing the dif-ferences between the ffrst two and between them and the Bible.Cloth bound, 1/- (25 cents); covers, 6d. (12 cents). postpaid.The Inspiratton .of the Bib+-Demonstratin and upholding theauthority of the Bible as the inspired Word o f God. Cloth bound.1/- (25 cents); paper covers, 6d. (12 cents), postpaid.Q U g T I T I B S FOB DISTRpUTI0N.-The foregoing nine bookson specla1 sublects are nupphed b the dozen, assorted to yourliking and postpaid Cloth bound, 8 J ($2); paper covers, 4/- ($1).Christ's Promised Retarn.-A concise, plain review of the Scrip-ture teaching. Cloth bound, 10d.


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1929 Christs Promised Return