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EARNESTLY CONTENDING FOR THE FAITH:
CLARENCE LARKIN:
THE SECOND COMING CHRIST PART 3
(A PDF Copy Of The Complete Book Is Available Here)
(A WordPerfect Copy Of The Complete Book Is Available Here)
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THE LORD JESUS CHRIST IS GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH. THAT IS WHY HE IS GOD. |
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to die today that you would not go to hell? If you do not know, click here. |
The Scriptures speak of “Two Resurrections.” One of the “JUST” (the justified, or Righteous), the other of the “UNJUST” (the Unjustified, or Wicked). Acts 24:15. The character of these Resurrections is different, for one is unto “LIFE” (Eternal Life), the other is unto “DAMNATION” (Eternal Punishment). John 5:28-29. The “Time Space” between these Resurrections is 1000 years, and they are designated as the “First” and “Second” Resurrections. Rev. 20: 4-6. As a “day” with the Lord is as a “1000 years” (II Pet. 3: 8), and the Millennium is a 1000 years long, then the “FIRST” Resurrection (that of the Righteous) will take place on the Morning of the “Millennial Day,” and the “SECOND” Resurrection (that of the Wicked) as the Evening Shadows Fall. In this Pamphlet we are only interested in the resurrection of the Righteous.* [*For a fuller description of the Resurrections see the writer’s book on “The Spirit World.”]The Apostle Paul gives us an account of it in I Cor. 15: 35-49. In verses 50-55 he describes the transformation of the “Living Saints” as simultaneous with the resurrection of the Dead in Christ. (1) The Apostle tells us that this “vile body” is sown in “Corruption,” that is, in “foul rottenness” so offensive that we are compelled to box up the remains of our loved ones and bury them in the earth, but that it is to be raised in “INCORRUPTION.” (2) It is sown in “Dishonor,” caused by sin, but shall be raised in “GLORY.” That is it shall be fashioned like unto His-“GLORIOUS BODY.” Phil. 3:20-21. (3) It is sown in “Weakness.” How weak is the body ravaged by disease, but it shall be raised in “POWER.” Not only will God manifest His power in raising the dead, but those raised shall have physical powers far surpassing any that they have now. They shall have “X-Ray” power of sight, “Megaphone” power of speech, “Wireless” power of communication, “Telephonic” power of hearing, and “Aeronautic” power of flight through the ether, that shall enable them to traverse the highways and byways of the “Stellar Spaces,” and pass from Heaven to earth as a beam of light. (4) It is sown a “Natural Body,” it is raised a “SPIRITUAL Body.” By “Spiritual” body we are not to understand some sort of “Etherealized Ghost-like Structure” that has no substance. Every “Force” in the Universe must have a”Motor,” that is a machine adapted to its use. The motive force of the human body is the “Soul,” and of the “Resurrection Body” the “SPIRIT.” “The ‘First Adam’ was made a Living Soul’; the ‘Last Adam’ a QUICKENING SPIRIT’.” I Cor. 15:45. From this we see that our “Resurrection Body” is called a “SPIRITUAL” body because its “motive force” will be that of “SPIRIT,” not the Holy Spirit, but the “Spirit Power” that runs the Universe. Nevertheless, it will be a Material body, not a “Will o’ the Wisp,” but of “flesh” (spirit flesh) and “bones” such as Jesus’ Resurrection body had. Luke 24: 36-39. 0 happy day, when the undressed soul shall put on the fadeless beauty and undying glory of the “Resurrection Body.” That will be the Easter of all Easters, when the voice of the Archangel shall summon the sainted dead to rise, and corruption shall put on incorruption, and we shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the Air. I Thess. 4: 13-18.
One of the objections to the Doctrine of the “Second Coming of Christ” is the claim that He may come back at any time. Post-millennialists tell us that the writers of the New Testament looked for Him to come back in their day, and as He did not do so, is proof that they were mistaken, and that Paul in his later writings modified his statements as to the imminency of Christ’s return. It is a fact that while Jesus said: “Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. . . . Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 24:42-44), He did not in these passages teach that He would return during the lifetime of those who listened to Him. In fact, in His Parables He intimated that His return would be delayed, as in the Parable of The Talents, where it is said: “After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh.” Matt. 25:19. What Jesus wanted to teach was the sudden and unexpected character of His return. As to the Apostles, while they exhorted their followers to be ready, for the “night is far spent, the day is at hand,” and the “coming of the Lord draweth nigh,” their language simply implied “imminency,” but not necessarily “IMMEDIATENESS.” And the use of the word “WE” in I Cor. 15:51, “WE” shall not all sleep, but WE shall all be changed,” is not a declaration that the Lord would return in Paul’s day and some would not die but be translated, for the Apostle is talking about the Rapture and he means by “We” a certain class of persons, the saints that shall be alive when that event occurs, whether in his day or at some later time. It was clearly known to our Lord that certain events must come to pass before His Return, but to have disclosed that fact would have nullified the command to “Watch,” therefore He in “mystery form,” as in the seven parables of Matt. 13, hid the fact that His Return would be delayed. It would take time for the “Sowing of the Seed,” the growth of the “Wheat” and “Tares,” the growth of the “Mustard Tree,” and the “Leavening of the Meal.” So rapid was the spread of the Gospel in the first century that the followers of Christ were warranted in looking for the speedy Return of the Lord, but it was true then, as in every century since, that we do not know what the extent of the “Harvest” is to be, and when it will be ripe, so the Lord can return. Matt. 13:30. Uncertainty then as to the “time” of the Lord’s return is necessary to promote the “watchful” spirit. If the early Church had known that the Lord’s Return would have been delayed for 20 centuries, the incentive to watchfulness would have been wanting. By “Imminency” we mean “may happen at any time.” For illustration, you hurry to the railroad station to catch a train. You find the train has not arrived, though it is past the hour. Though it is late it is on the way, and it would not be safe for you to leave the station, for it may arrive any minute, but as a matter of fact, it does not come for half an hour. Now if you had known that it would not arrive for half an hour you would have used the time in some other way than “waiting” and “watching.” So we see that “Imminency” does not necessarily imply “IMMEDIATENESS,” but does demand “Watchfulness.” It is the firm conviction of the writer that there has been unnecessary delay in the Return of the Lord, caused by the failure of the Church to obey the “Divine Commission” to evangelize the world (Matt. 28:19, 20), and it is past the time when He should have returned. Of course, this was foreseen by God, and His foreknowledge has held back the development of the forces of evil, etc., until the “Fulness of the Gentiles” should be gathered in, and the “Harvest” is ripe for the gathering. Rev. 14:14-20. At no time in the history of the Christian Church have the conditions necessary to the Lord’s Return been so completely fulfilled as at the present time; therefore, His Coming is IMMINENT, and will not probably be long delayed. Let us be ready and watching. While the writer, as stated, is disposed to believe that the Return of the Lord is “past due,” and while he is no “time setter,” yet there is a “theory” that may throw some light on the
that it might be well to examine. It is called
and is based on the “Seven Days” of the “Creative Week,” and the declaration of scripture (II Pet. 3:8), “That one day is with the Lord as a THOUSAND YEARS, and a thousand years as ONE DAY.” The Millennium in the Old Testament is described as a “Sabbath Keeping” period of rest, and is referred to as such in Heb. 4:4-11, where it is associated with the “Seventh Day” of the “Creative Week.” Now we know that the length of the Millennium is 1000 YEARS (Rev. 20:1-9), and if it corresponds with the “Seventh Day” of the “Creative Week,” why should not the remaining six days be of the same length? If so, and those days correspond with the past of human history, then from the date of the “Creative Week” up to the beginning of the Millennium should be 6000 years of human history. In confirmation of this we have the fact that a careful study of the genealogical tables and history of the Old Testament seem to show that from Adam to Christ was about 4000 years, or four days of a thousand years each, corresponding to the first four days of the “Creative Week,” and from Christ down to the present time we have over 1900 years, or nearly 2 days of 1000 years each, thus making nearly 6 days of 1000 years each of human history, and as Christ is to come back before the Millennium, and all signs point to His speedy return, then the “theory” that the “Seven Days” of the “Creative Week” are typical of Seven “One Thousand Year Periods” is not unwarranted in Scripture. If our inference is correct, then it follows that the Return of the Lord will take place before the close of this present century. How much before is uncertain. If the Millennium is to be ushered in in A.D. 2000, then the “Rapture” must take place at least 7 years before that. See Chart No. 5, on “The Seven Thousand Years of Human History.” But right here we must sound a note of caution. There is too much confusion in Biblical Chronology to fix any dates with certainty. Doubtless God has ordered it so, so as to keep us in doubt as to the exact date of the Lord’s Return. It may have been 4075 years, instead of 4004 (as generally given), from Adam to Christ. In that case we are living in the year 5993 from the creation of Adam, or on the eve of the Rapture. Again we must not forget that God uses in “Prophetical Chronology” the Calendar Year of 360 days to a year, while we use the Julian or Astronomical Year of 365% days, and it would be necessary for us to find out what kind of year is used and reduce it to the Calendar year. Thus we might find that we are nearer the end of the six thousandth year than we are aware, and that the Return of the Lord is IMMINENT. However, while we may look upon the above theory as suggestive and in a way confirmatory of the near coming of the Lord, it is not conclusive, and we are not warranted in fixing any date based upon it. And further, we must not forget that the “Rapture” may take place some time before the “Tribulation Period” begins and Antichrist is revealed. So if we could fix the exact date when this century will close, and count back 7 years, the Rapture might occur 5, 10 or even 25 years before that, so as to give time for the rebuilding of Babylon and other events that are to occur before the Tribulation Period can begin, otherwise the Rapture would not be a surprise. It is not for the Christian to look for “Times” and “Seasons” and “Signs.” To do so will put him in the class of those who say: “My Lord delayeth His Coming” (Luke 12:42-48). and he will become preoccupied with other things and neglect to be watchful. Let us live as if we expected the Return of our Lord at any moment.
The Apostolic Church was Pre-Millennial, and for over 200 years no other view was entertained. The writings of the “Church Fathers” abound in evidence of that fact. But about A. D. 250, Origen, one of the Church Fathers, conceived the idea that the words of Scripture were but the “husk” in which was hid the “kernel” of Scripture truth. At once he began to “Allegorize” and “Spiritualize” the Scriptures, and thus founded that school of “Allegorizing” and “Spiritualizing” interpreters of Scripture, from which the Church and the Bible have suffered so much. The result was that the Church largely ceased to look for the Lord’s Return. When Constantine became sole Emperor of Rome in A. D. 323, he united Church and State, and bestowed such great gifts and privileges ion the Church, that it claimed that the Millennial blessings of the Old Testament had been transferred from the Jews to the Christian Church. The arrogance and persecution of the Papal Church led to the charge that it was the “Beast” (Antichrist) of the Book of Revelation. This led to an effort to expunge the Book of Revelation from the Sacred Canon, and when this failed, the Bible was locked up and became a sealed book, and the gloom of night settled down upon all Christendom. The result was the “Dark Ages.” But amid the gloom God was not without witnesses to the Blessed Hope. At the Reformation the doctrine of the Premillennial Return of the Lord was revived, but was again lost sight of in the religious controversies that led to the formation of numerous sects. The result was an ebb of spirituality and the growth of Rationalism, which refused to believe that the world was fast ripening for judgment, and a new interpretation of the Millennial Reign of Christ was demanded. This interpretation was furnished by the Rev. Daniel Whitby (1636-1726), a clergyman of the Church of England, who claimed that in reading the promises made to the Jews in the Old Testament of their restoration as a nation, and the re-establishment of the Throne of David, he was led to see that these promises were spiritual and applied to the Church. This view he called a “New Hypothesis.” He claimed that Israel and Mount Zion represented the Church. That the promised submission of the Gentiles to the Jews was simply prophetic of the conversion of the Gentiles and their entrance into the Church. That the lying down of the lion and the lamb together typified the reconciliation of the Old and New natures, and that the establishment of an outward and visible kingdom at Jerusalem, over which Christ and the saints should reign, was gross and carnal, and contrary to reason, as it implied the mingling together of human and spiritual beings on the earth. His “New Hypothesis” was that by the preaching of the Gospel ‘ Mohammedanism would be overthrown, the Jews converted, the Papal Church with the Pope (Antichrist) would be destroyed, and there would follow a 1000 years of righteousness and peace known as the Millennium; at the close of which there would be a short period of Apostasy, ending in. the return of Christ. There would then be a general resurrection of the dead, followed by a general judgment, the earth would be destroyed by fire and eternity would begin. The times were favorable for the “New Theory.” A reaction had set in from the open infidelity of those days. All England was in a religious fervor. The “Great Awakening” followed under Whitefield and Wesley, and it looked, as Whitby claimed, that the Millennium was about to be ushered in. That he was mistaken the events of history since that time have shown. It is evident that we are not in the Millennium now, as the “Godless Civilization” of today proves. Nevertheless his “Theory” was favorably received everywhere, and spread with great rapidity and became an established doctrine of the Church, and is what is known today as the “Post-Millennial” view of the Second Coming of Christ, and supposed to be the orthodox faith of the Church. In short, “Post-Millennialism,” as advocated in our day, is barely 200 years old, while “Pre-Millennialism” dates back to the days of Isaiah and Daniel. The sad thing is that this “false doctrine_e” of “Post-Millennialism” is taught in our Bibles by the headings of the chapters in the Old Testament. For illustration the headings of chapters forty-three and four of Isaiah read-“The Lord comforteth The Church with His promises,” whereas the chapters are not addressed to the Church at all, but to Jacob and Israel, as we see by reading them. The ordinary reader overlooks the fact that the chapter headings of the Bible are put there by the publisher and should be omitted, as they are misleading, as for illustration the title to the Book of Revelation, which is called “The Revelation of St. John the Divine,” whereas it should be called
The fact is, the doctrine of the Premillennial Coming of the Lord is but the revival of the belief of the Apostolic Church that looked for the Return of the Lord at any time.
The “Church” and the “Kingdom” are not identical. They are never confounded in the Scriptures. The Church is compared to a “House” (I Tim. 3: 15), to a “Temple” (I Cor. 3: 16-17), to a “Body” (I Cor. 12:12-31), but never to a “Kingdom.” Christ is the “HEAD” of the Church (Eph. 1:22; 4:15; 5:23; Col. 1:18), but He is never spoken of as its “KING.” His relation to the Church is that of “LORD” (Master). I Tim. 6:13-14. The saints are not His “subjects” or His “servants,” they are fellow “HEIRS.” Rom. 8: 17. The Church is not to be ruled over by Christ, but to rule with Him. The Church is here, the Kingdom is TO COME. The Church is being “built up,” a gradual process, the Kingdom is to be “SET UP,” a sudden event. The Church is an invisible and Heavenly “SPIRITUAL ORGANISM,” entered by the “New Birth,” and is to be “caught out,” while the Kingdom is an outward, visible, and earthly “POLITICAL ORGANIZATION” that is to be “set up” on the EARTH, of which the Jewish Nation will be the “Head” (Deu. 28: 11-13), and will have a King, a Throne, and a Capital City-Jerusalem. The Kingdom is characterized by a “Throne,” the Church by a “Table.” Thus we see that the Church and the Kingdom have different “spheres” of work, and different “time periods” in which to do that work. Therefore what God has separated let no, man join together. There is much confusion as to the difference between the “Kingdom of God,” the “Kingdom of Heaven,” and the “Church.” No amount of sophistical argument can make them synonymous. The “KINGDOM OF GOD” is the all inclusive Kingdom, or rule of the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) over the whole Universe, especially over all moral intelligences, angelic or human, and includes “Time” and “Eternity,” “Heaven” and “Hell.” It is SPIRITUAL, and “cometh not with observation” (outward show). Luke 17:20-21. It is entered by the “New Birth” (John 3: 5), and is not “meat” and “drink,” but “Righteousness” and “Peace,” and “Joy” in the HOLY GHOST. Rom. 14:17. See Chart page 48. The “KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” is a New Testament term, and is found in Matthew’s Gospel only, where it is mentioned 27 times. It is the earthly sphere of the “Kingdom of God,” and is outward and visible. Its character is described in the 12 “Kingdom of Heaven Parables” given in Matt. 13:1-50; 18:23-35; 20:1-16; 22:1-14; 25:1-30. From these Parables we see that the “Kingdom of Heaven” is limited as to its “Time” and “Sphere.” Its “Time” is from the First to the Second Coming of Christ, and its “Sphere” is over that part of the world that we call Christendom. In it there is a mixture of “Good” and “Evil,” of “Wheat” and “Tares,” of “Wise Virgins” and “Foolish Virgins,” of “Good Fish” and “Bad Fish.” Entrance into it may be obtained by a righteousness that barely exceeds the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees. Dropping the Kingdom, let us now look at the Church.
1. The Church is a MYSTERY. To the Old Testament Prophets the Kingdom was no “‘Mystery,” neither was the fact that the Gentiles were to be saved. Rom. 9: 25-26 (Hosea 2:23). The “Mystery” was what was to come in between the “SUFFERINGS” (Isa. 53:1-12) and the “GLORY” of Christ (Psa. 72: 1-20. Dan. 7: 13-14), that is, between the “CROSS” and the “CROWN.” I Pet. 1:7-1L This “Mystery” was revealed to the Apostle Paul. Eph. 3: 1-11. It was that God was going to form an entirely “NEW THING,” composed of both Jew and Gentile, to be called the Church. The purpose then of this Dispensation is not the bringing in of the “Kingdom,” or the conversion of the world, but the “out gathering” of an “Elect Body.”-THE CHURCH. Acts 15:14-18. 2. The Church is a BODY. The Church is not only an “Elect Body,” it is the “BODY OF CHRIST.” Eph. 1:22-23. As its “HEAD,” there could be no Church until Christ had been raised from the dead and seated at the Right Hand of God, for God does not make headless bodies. In I Cor. 12:12-13 we are told how this “Body” is formed. It is formed by “Spirit Baptism.” The Church then could not have existed until the “Gift” of the Holy Spirit on the “Day of Pentecost.” Therefore the Church is composed only of those who are baptized into it by the Holy Spirit, that is by the “New Birth,” and when the Holy Spirit ceases His work of “Baptism” the formation of the Church as Christ’s “BODY” will cease, and the Church will be complete, and be taken out of the world. The Church then is not an “Organization,” but an “ORGANISM”-a LIVING BODY. 3. The Church is a BUILDING. In I Cor. 3:9 the Church is spoken of as “God’s BUILDING,” and in verse 16 as the “TEMPLE OF GOD.” In Eph. 2: 20-22, as a building in process of construction, it is spoken of as being “fitly framed together” and growing into a “HOLY TEMPLE” for the “HABITATION OF GOD” in the Person of the HOLY SPIRIT. As God’s Presence was manifested in the Tabernacle by the “Shekinah Glory,” so now in this Dispensation, when Israel, nationally, is out of fellowship with God, and there is no Temple at Jerusalem, the Church is the “Habitation of God” on earth, where He manifests Himself through the “Third Person” of the Godhead-the HOLY SPIRIT. Matt. 18: 20; 28: 20. The “Spiritual Temple” of the Church could not be erected until Christ became the “ROCK.” Matt. 16: 18. I Cor. 3:9-11. Then upon Christ the “Rock,” the “Foundation of the Apostles and New Testament Prophets” was laid (Eph. 2:20-22), and the first layer of the superstructure of 3000 “Living Stones” (I Pet. 2: 5) was laid on the “Day of Pentecost” (Acts 2:41), and a few days later the second layer of 5000 was added (Acts 4: 4), and so on, down the centuries, the Church has been growing as a “HOLY TEMPLE.” 4. The Church is to be the BRIDE OF CHRIST. At present the Church is a “VIRGIN,” but a Virgin espoused. II Cor. 11:2. The first Adam had his bride and so must the “Last Adam.” Some hold that the Church cannot be both the “Body” and “Bride” of Christ, and that the “Bride” must be Israel. But we must not forget that there are “Two Brides” mentioned in the Scriptures, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New. The one in the Old Testament is “Israel,” the Bride of Jehovah, the one in the New Testament is the “Church,” the Bride of Christ. Because- of her whoredoms Israel is at the present time a “cast off WIFE.” When she ceases from her adulteries she will be taken back. Jer. 3: 1-18; Ezek. 16: 1-63; Hosea 2: 1-23, 3: 1-5. She will not be taken back as a “Virgin,” but as a “Wife.” But it is a “VIRGIN” that the Lamb (Christ) is to marry. So the “Wife” of the Old Testament cannot be the “Bride” (Virgin) of the New Testament. Again, the “Wife” (Israel) is to reside in the earthly Jerusalem during the Millennium, while the “Bride” (the Church) will reside in the New Jerusalem. These distinctions make it clear that Israel cannot be the “Bride” of Christ. Where the word “Wife” is used in Rev. 19: 7-9; 21:9-10, it signifies the relation of the Bride to Christ after marriage, when she is no longer “Bride” but “Wife.” As to the Church being both the “Body” and “Bride” of Christ, we have the type of Eve, who was of the body of Adam before she became his bride.
As we have seen, the Church is not an “Organization,” but an “Organism.” Therefore it is not a “Social Club” organized, and supported for the benefit of its members. Neither is it a “Place of Amusement” to pander to the carnal nature of man. Nor is it a “House of Merchandise” for the sale of “Indulgences,” or other commodities, whereby the money of the ungodly can be secured to save the penurious church member a little self sacrifice. Neither is it a “Reform Bureau” to save the “bodies” of men. The reformation of men is very commendable, as are all forms of “Social Service,” but that is not the work of the Church. All the great philanthropic and civilizing agencies of the world are “By-Products” of Christianity, but the “Mission” of the Church is her “COMMISSION” to “Evangelize” the world. Mark 16: 15-16. Acts 1: 7-8. The “Kingdom Idea” has robbed the Church of her “UPWARD LOOK,” and of the “BLESSED HOPE.” There cannot be any “Imminent Coming” to those who are seeking to “Set up the Kingdom.” The “Kingdom Idea” has robbed the Church of the “Pilgrim” and “Martyr Spirit,” and caused it to go down into Egypt for help. When the Church enters into an “Alliance with the World,” and seeks the help of Parliaments, Congresses, Legislatures, Federations and Reform Societies, largely made up of ungodly men and women, she loses her “SPIRITUAL POWER” and becomes helpless as a redeeming force. The end of such an “Alliance” will be a “Religious Political Regime” that will pave the way for the revelation of Satan’s great “Religious Political Leader” and “Superman”the ANTICHRIST.
It is the Divine way to give, at the beginning of some new thing which God is going to do in the earth, a “Prophetic Foreview” of its history. The “Prophetic Foreview” of Israel’s history is given in Deuteronomy, chapters 27 to 30, and of the Gentiles in Daniel, chapters 2 and 7. Both of these down to date have been literally fulfilled. It follows therefore that we should find somewhere in the Scriptures a “Prophetic Foreview” of the History of the Christian Church. This History we find in the Book of Revelation, chapters 2 and 3, in the “Messages to the Seven Churches of Asia.” These were typical churches and are descriptive of “Seven Church Periods.” The Prophetic meaning of these “Messages” was hidden to the early Church because time was required for Church History to develop and be written so a comparison could be made to reveal the correspondence. For a full description of this correspondence see the author’s work on the Book of Revelation. An outline is shown on the accompanying Chart. We are now living in the “Laodicean” or “Last Stage” of the Church’s History in this Dispensation, which reveals the fact that the next “Event” is the “Return of the Lord,” who will “SPUE” the “Lukewarm” Church out of His mouth. Rev. 3: 14-16.
What is true of the “Physical Heavens” is true of the “Spiritual Heavens.” In the last book of the Old Testament Jesus is called the “Sun of Righteousness.” Mal. 4: 2. When He was on the earth He declared Himself to be the “LIGHT OF THE WORLD” (John 9: 5), but that “LIGHT” was eclipsed by Calvary. From this we see that earth’s “Spiritual Day” or “Night” is dependent on whether Jesus as the “Sun of Righteousness” is visible or invisible, and is determined by His presence or absence. See the Chart, “Night and Day.” Page 54. As Jesus is not now visibly present on the earth the period in which we are living is NIGHT, and we should expect only such illumination as the night can furnish, which in the physical heavens is the Moon and Stars, and on the earth artificial light. This is “MAN’S DAY” (I Cor. 4: 3 margin), a day of intellectual light, and as we have improved our artificial lights, and now use electricity where once we used candles, so men are boasting of the improvements they have made in intellectual lights, such as scientific discoveries and the various new religious cults, and have replaced “Divine Revelation” by the “Light of Reason,” and reject the illumination of the Holy Spirit for the “ignis fatuus” of “SEDUCING SPIRITS.” I Tim. 4: 1. II Pet. 2: 1-2. If this is the “Night” of this Dispensation what luminary in the “Spiritual Firmament” are we to look to for light? What luminary gives light in the physical heavens at night? The Moon. Then we must look to the “MOON” of the “Spiritual Firmament” for light, and that is the Church. The Moon shines by reflected light from the Sun, so the Church shines by reflected light from the “Sun of Righteousness.” The Moon is only visible in the night, so the Church is only visible in the night of this Dispensation. When the “Sun of Righteousness” arises, and the “Day of the Lord,” or “Millennial Day,” dawns, the Church will become invisible, not because she will cease to exist, but because her light will pale before the greater light of the “Sun of Righteousness.” What time is it then on the Dial of God’s Timepiece? It is NIGHT. But what time of the Night? Let the Apostle Paul answer. “The night is far spent, the day IS AT HAND.” Rom. 13:12. Jesus divided the night into “Four Watches.”
The “Four Watches” are –
How beautifully this is pictured prophetically in the experience of the Disciples on that night on the Sea of Galilee when the winds were contrary. Matt. 14: 22-33. After the miracle of feeding the 5000 Jesus constrained His Disciples to embark in their boat for the Galilean side of the Lake while He sent the multitude away, and then went into a mountain apart to pray. When the Disciples were halfway across the Sea they were caught in one of those sudden and severe storms that sweep over the Sea of Galilee, and, because the winds were “contrary,” they “toiled in rowing,” and could make no progress. Then it was that Jesus came to their rescue walking on the sea, that became a liquid floor, smooth and level, beneath His Holy Feet. The Disciples did not dare to turn back, for that would have been to fail in duty, but Jesus saw their faithfulness and was on His way to their rescue. They did not know it, but Jesus was COMING, and we are told the time, that it was the “FOURTH WATCH” of the night – the “MORNING WATCH.” That tempest tossed boat on the Sea of Galilee is a type of the Christian Church breasting the waves of sin and worldliness and false doctrine of this Dispensation. It is long past midnight, and it seems as if all the available forces of evil are associating themselves together, to, by one cyclonic effort, swamp the frail bark of the Church, and cause it to be engulfed in the waves of sin and unbelief. Over against it blow the “CONTRARY WINDS” of Atheism, Skepticism, Infidelity, Ritualism, Formalism, Unitarianism; Rationalism, Spiritualism and the “False Cults.” To many it is a dark hour. Sabbath Desecration, Lukewarmness, Indifference, and Worldliness are sapping the strength of the toilers in the boat. The clouds thicken and blacken, and the sky becomes more overcast as the “Falling Away” advances. II Thess. 2: 3. Many are pessimistic. But amid the deepening gloom we must not forget that the “darkest hour” of the night in just before the dawn. Jesus has not forgotten His Disciples. He sees them “toiling in rowing.” Soon He will leave the “Place of Intercession” and come to their rescue. Soon above the clouds that are now beginning to hide the “Empress of the Night”-the Church, as she sinks toward the horizon, will be seen –
The “Morning Star” is the herald of the coming day. It is seen only by the “Watchers” or the early risers. In the “Spiritual Heavens” Christ is also the “BRIGHT AND MORNING STAR.” Rev. 22:16. II Pet. 1 : 19. He is the “Morning Star” when He comes and takes out His Church at the “Rapture,” He is the “Sun of Righteousness” when He comes back with His Church at the “Revelation” to reign on the earth. The appearance of the “Morning Star” only intensifies the darkness of the night. So between the appearing of Christ as the “Morning Star,” and His coming as the “Sun of Righteousness,” there will be a period. of great darkness, known as “The Great Tribulation.” Matt. 24: 21, 29-31. We are living in the “Fourth Watch,” soon the “Morning Star” will appear, and the Church will be “Caught Out.” Then will follow the “Great Tribulation,” and after it will come the “SUNRISE” of that bright “Millennial Day,” when Christ, as the “SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS,” shall shine in full orbed splendor in the “Spiritual Heavens” of a “DAY” that is to be 1000 years long.
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