The Evidence that the Church of God is about to Close its Earthly History

(Continued from page 101.)

Predictions of two directly opposite conditions are made in the word of God in regard to events to be consummated immediately before the end. By that end is meant the return of the Lord to establish His kingdom and close up the Times of the Gentiles. If therefore we see these predictions within a small degree of being already fulfilled prior to the rapture of the Church, we may be certain that the coming of the Saviour to the air is very near at hand.

The predictions referred to were made:-one directly by the Lord Himself; the other by the Holy Spirit through the apostle Paul. To the question of the disciples, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age ? " the Lord gave a lengthy answer recorded in Matthew, chaps. 24 and 25 ; but the prediction I refer to now is that of the 14th verse of chap. 24:"This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all the nations; and then shall the end come." Now I recognize, in common with others, a distinction in aspect between "the gospel of the kingdom" and "the gospel of the grace of God," but I regard it as a mistake to say that the gospel of the kingdom is not, or should not be, preached now. Each are but different aspects of the one gospel; and Paul preached both.

In Acts 20:24, 25 we find the two aspects intimately connected in the ministry of the apostle Paul:"None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more." See also Acts 14:22. When he wrote, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus," it involved the present phase of the gospel of the kingdom; when he added, "And believe in thy heart that God hath raised Him from the dead thou shalt be saved," it was the gospel of the grace of God. Christ Jesus is Lord. He is also Redeemer. Men are called on to own Him in both characters. In the Jewish age, and in the coming tribulation period, the kingdom is the emphatic phase. Now, where there is intelligence, it is the grace of God that the gospel preacher will lay special stress upon.

Now it is the individual believer who owns the sovereignty of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Tribulation era, when Matt. 24:14 will be completely carried out, the whole world will be called on to own the sway of Him who is about to appear as King of kings and Lord of lords to reign over His world-kingdom.

But why this effort to show that the gospel of the kingdom is now being preached ? Because, my reader, the end comes when it has been carried into all the world, for a witness! And even now it has gone to the uttermost parts of the earth, so that it can confidently be said that with the possible exception of a few wild tribes of Indians in South America, or Negroes in Africa, there is probably no nation to whom the witness has not already been given. The nineteenth was the greatest missionary century since the days of the apostles. In one hundred years the whole world was practically entered with the gospel after a millennium of lethargy and indifference to the claims of the heathen. This great missionary awakening is like the trumpet blasts that herald the King's approach. In this twentieth century the work of carrying the gospel to the pagan world has gone on more extensively than ever. None can say when the last tribe or nation will get the witness message, but when they do, "then shall the end come." And, mark it well, it is not before the rapture, but after it, that the final call is to be given. It will be Jewish saints, and not Christian missionaries, who will complete the work of world-wide evangelization; therefore the coming of the Lord as predicted in i Thess. 4 must be very near !

But now we turn to consider the other prediction to which I referred in the beginning. "That day," writes the apostle, "shall not come except there come the apostasy first" (literal rendering of 2 Thess. 2:3). This is startling surely:-the gospel going into all the world-the apostasy sweeping all before it-and both just before the end, or the day of the Lord shall come!! How strange a paradox, and yet how exactly are both Scriptures being fulfilled ! Never before such wide-spread missionary activity ! Never before such far-reaching apostasy! Earnest workers guided by the Holy Spirit are hazarding their lives to carry the good news of Christ's incarnation, atonement, resurrection and coming again to the heathen world. Equally earnest, but Satan-inspired, men at home are tearing the Bible in pieces and railing at these very truths once for all delivered to the saints, and, alas! their unholy rationalizing is fast finding its way into the fields of missionary endeavor, where education is taking the place of the gospel; and culture, character building, and various accomplishments are put in place of the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners!

Theological seminaries are hot-beds of infidelity in many instances. Schools, and colleges are busy, as Harold Bolce graphically expressed it, in "Blasting at the Rock of Ages." The rising generation in so-called Christian lands bids fair to be a generation of Bible-rejectors. " The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what will ye do in the end thereof ? "-That end is almost upon us, and "When the Son of Man cometh shall He find the faith on the earth ? " It is fast being supplanted by human speculations and "oppositions of science falsely so-called."

The leaven of man-worship is rapidly leavening the whole lump and preparing the way for Antichrist who shall, if it were possible, deceive the very elect. Thank God, it is not possible; but it behooves every regenerated soul to hold fast to the revealed word of God and utterly refuse the lying systems of the enemy. To sit in churches and listen to preachers of the apostasy, or to support such in any way, is treason against Christ! "He that biddeth him [the false teacher] God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."

It would be a great mercy if every converted person would refuse positively to listen twice to a minister who denies the inspiration of the Bible, or to give a penny to a church or a missionary society that gave the right hand of fellowship to men of this type. To stay the on-rushing apostasy is impossible. To protest against it and to "have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness" is a positive duty.

In closing let me press my point again:- the world-wide gospel proclamation and world-wide apostasy at the same time are clear proofs that the end is close upon us! It is too late to trifle.

Reader, be in earnest for the few remaining hours! H. A. I.