THE

WORK OF CHRIST

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

BY

A. C. GAEBELEIN

Editor of "Our Hope"

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CONTENTS

The Work of Christ. .. .. . 

His Past Work. .. .. .. .. .. 

His Present Work. .. .. .. . 

His Future Work. .. .. .. .. 

THE WORK OF CHRIST

THE Word of God reveals, that all things were created by and for the Sonof God. "All things were made by Him and without Him was not anythingmade that was made" (John i:3). "For by Him were all things created thatare in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whetherthey be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all thingswere created by Him and for Him" (Col. I:16). When this perfect creationwas ruined by the entrance of sin, when man fell and all creation onaccount of that fall was brought into the bondage of corruption, thework of redemption became a necessity. No creature of God was fitted orfit to do this. Only the Son of God, the Creator Himself, couldundertake this mighty work and accomplish it to the Praise and Glory ofGod. To do this great work, He had to appear on this earth in the formof man. 

A Threefold Aspect. 

This work of the Son of God has a threefold aspect. It is a past work, apresent work, and beyond the present, there is His future work. His workand service will terminate when He delivers up the kingdom, so that Godwill be all in all (1 Cor. Xv:24-28). This threefold aspect of His workcorresponds to His threefold office as Prophet, Priest and King. It hasa special meaning for the church. In Ephesians v:25-27, we read of this. He loved the church and gave Himself for it; this is His past work. Since then He is sanctifying the church by the washing of water by theWord, and in the future He will present it to Himself, a gloriouschurch. In virtue of this threefold work of our Lord, believers aresaved, are being saved, and will be saved. This threefold work has alsoa significance for the people Israel. When He came and went to thecross, "He died for that nation" (John xi:42). During the present ageHis earthly people are not cast away; their miraculous preservation onearth, their continued, separate existence is due to Himself. In thefuture when He appears as their Redeemer and claims the purchasedpossession, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And to this wemight also add the relation of His work to creation itself, the nationsof the earth, and to Satan and his rule. 

These brief remarks show the importance of distinguishing between thisthreefold aspect of His work. A Christian who is ignorant of it must beconfused in his conception of the truth. He is unable to understand theWord of God, and is unsettled, and even miserable in his Christianexperience. Such, alas! is the present condition of a large number ofprofessing Christians. Many are ignorant of what the finished work ofChrist on the cross means. On account of this ignorance, they are evertrying to do what God has done for them. How many more are at sea abouttheir position in Christ, and know next to nothing of the priestly workof Christ. The confusion is the greatest in respect to His future workas King. Our theme is therefore an important one. But even God's people, who in a measure have laid hold of these truths, need constantly to bereminded of it and need to have all this through the Spirit's power, asa greater reality in their lives. 

I. 

HIS PAST WORK. 

His past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It wasfinished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to considerfirst of all these fundamentals of our faith. 

I. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the OldTestament Scriptures. 

II. The incarnation of the Son of God. 

III. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it. 

I. 

Through the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the workof His Son. This is a great theme and one which needs to be emphasized. These foreshadowings and predictions were made in different ways. Firstwe might mention the appearance from time to time on earth of asupernatural Being. This Being was the Son of God. As soon as sin hadentered, He appeared on the scene seeking those who were lost. HeHimself announced the promise, that the seed of the woman should bruisethe serpent's head. He indicated in Genesis iii:15, His incarnation, Hisredemptive work on the cross and His final victory over the enemy ofGod. Then He covered the nakedness of His creatures by making them coatsof skin. For the first time in the Word of God, it was made known bythis act what the blessed fruit of His atoning work would be. 

Manifestations of Jehovah. 

And the same Jehovah appeared in visible form unto Abraham. He came astraveller accompanied by two angels. He ate in the presence of Abraham, who worshipped and addressed Him as Lord. This Being was none other thanthe Son of God, the same who after His resurrection appeared to the twodisciples on their way to Emmaus as a traveller, and who, at anotheroccasion, ate of a honeycomb and a piece of fish. In His presenceAbraham interceded. This Lord, who visited Abraham later, made fire andbrimstone fall from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah; He executedjudgment. He appeared unto Jacob and was the mysterious man who wrestledwith him at Peniel; later Jacob called Him "The Angel, the Redeemer. "Repeatedly we hear of Him as "The Angel of the Lord, " not a createdangel, but an uncreated Being. Moses saw Him in the burning bush, andheard His voice. And while He is spoken of as the angel of the Lord, Herevealed Himself as Jehovah and made this Name known to Moses. He waswith Israel in the wilderness and dwelled with them in the Glory cloud. He guided them, supplied their need, protected them, judged them andoverthrew their enemies. To Joshua He appeared and manifested Himself as"The captain over the Lord's hosts. " Manoah and his wife saw Him, andwitnessed His ascension into heaven, in the smoke and fire of thesacrifice. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel gazed upon His Glory. All thesewere but foreshadowings and glimpses of the two great manifestations ofthe Son of God on earth, as they are necessitated by His work, Hismanifestation in humiliation and His manifestation in power and glory. 

Other Foreshadowings of His Work. 

But there are other foreshadowings of His work. All the divinely giveninstitutions and many of the historical events recorded in the OldTestament foreshadow His work. History, as recorded in the OldTestament, is the preliminary history of the incarnation. The wholesacrificial system of the levitical priesthood told out beforehand, inmany ways, what the great redemptive work of the Lamb of God was to be. Each offering and sacrifice revealed the different phases of His work onthe cross, as well as His holy and spotless humanity. The sufferings ofChrist and their meaning for lost sinners were thus made known. FromAbel's lamb to the last lamb, which died before the true Lamb of Goduttered the never to be forgotten words on the cross, "It is finished, "the thousands of lambs and bulls and goats, the innumerable herds ofanimals slain, were all types of the one great sacrifice, brought onCalvary's cross. The tabernacle in all its appointments, down to theminutest details, had I some meaning in connection with the Person ofHim who is "Wonderful" and His wonderful work. And what else could wesay of the historical events, such as the Passover, the passage throughthe Red Sea, the brazen serpent hung up in the wilderness. And to thiswe might add how men in their experiences, like Isaac, Joseph, David andothers foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ and the glory that shouldfollow. 

Direct Prophecies. 

Still more numerous are the direct prophecies announcing the differentphases of the work of Christ. That He should appear as man, how andwhere He should be born, His life, His service, His miracles, all wasrepeatedly foretold by the Prophets. But the great mass of predictionsconcern His sufferings as the sin-bearer and His glories as the King. None of the details of His sufferings were omitted. Think, for instance, of the predictions contained in the xxii Psalm. Death by crucifixion wasunknown among the Jewish people. No nation in touch with Israel, livingat that time, put human beings to death in that way. It was reserved forcruel Rome to invent death; by crucifixion. Yet in this Psalm there isgiven by divine inspiration a complete picture of that unknown mode ofdeath by crucifixion. We read of His hands and feet pierced, the bonesout of joint, the excessive thirst, the tongue cleaving to the jaws. Andso we find His resurrection, His presence with God, His coming again andHis Kingdom of Righteousness and Glory foretold in the Prophets. 

The Inspiration of the Old Testament. 

We emphasize these facts of divine foreshadowing and prediction, becausein these last days thousands of men have arisen throughout Christendomwho boldly deny the inspiration of the Old Testament. They would have usbelieve that all these wonderful predictions are of human origin. Theybrand nearly everything as legend, and declare that there are noMessianic predictions in the Bible, that God did not speak to theProphets concerning His Son and His work. Such a denial of therevelation of God in the Old Testament Scriptures is but the vanguard ofthe denial of the Son of God and His work. "Denying the Master thatbought them" (2 Peter ii:1), is the leading phase of apostateChristendom in the last days. It is Anti-christianity. This denial ispreceded by a denial of the written Word of God. The higher criticism, so called, is Satan's leaven which leavens the theological institutionsof Christendom and is fully preparing an empty Christian profession forthe reception of the Man of Sin. To believe that these marvelous, harmonious predictions and fore-shadowings contained in the OldTestament are the productions of clever men, legends put together byevil men, who claimed to have received them from God, is far moredifficult than to believe that they are given by divine revelation. 

II. 

The Incarnation of the Son of God. 

And now let us turn to the great truth and fact of the Incarnation ofthe Son of God. When the fulness of time had come, that is the appointedtime, the Son of God appeared on earth in the form of man. The Wordwhich was in the beginning, the Word that was with the Father, the Wordthat was God, the Word by whom all things were made, that Word was madeflesh and dwelt on earth. He who subsisted in the form of God, emptiedHimself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in thelikeness of men. The incarnation is a deep mystery, the depths of whichhuman reason can never fathom. We must approach it in the spirit of deepreverence. "Take off thy shoes from thy feet for the ground whereon thoustandest is holy ground!" In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, wehave the record of the divine announcement of the incarnation as it wasmade to the virgin, who had found favor in the sight of God. As she satin the house, perhaps engaged in holy meditation, the angel Gabrielappeared unto her with the message from the throne of God. Was thereever such a message given to Gabriel before? Great as the revelation waswhich he was commissioned to carry to praying Daniel, the communicationto the Virgin Mary here is far greater. 

The Incarnation Announced. 

We read in Luke i:35: "And the angel of the Lord said unto her, The HolySpirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shallovershadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing, which shall be born ofthee, shall be called the Son of God. " Let us notice the two greatstatements given about His incarnation. "The Holy Spirit shall come uponthee. " From the Gospel of Matthew we learn the full meaning of thisstatement. "That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost. "Therefore His human nature was produced in the virgin by the creativeaction of the Holy Spirit. Because His human nature was thus produced, it was a nature without sin; not only did He not sin, but He could notsin. He was sinless, absolutely holy, because He was conceived by theHoly Spirit. 

The second statement is: "And the power of the Highest shall overshadowthee. " This is not a repetition of the same truth as contained in thefirst statement. If this too would mean the Holy Spirit, we would haveto conclude that the Holy Spirit is the Father of Him who becameincarnate. We read at once after this second statement, "Therefore thatHoly Thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son ofGod. " The power of the Highest does not mean the power of the HolySpirit. It is none other than the Son of God Himself. The eternal Son ofGod, He who is God, overshadowed her and this overshadowing meant theunion of Himself with the human nature created by the Holy Spirit in theVirgin Mary. He is called "that Holy Thing. " He is something entirelynew, a Being which cannot be classified. And then we read again, "ThatHoly Thing shall be called the Son of God. " It does not say "shall bethe Son of God;" such He ever was. Incarnation did not make Him Son ofGod. He shall be called Son of God; God manifested in the flesh. Muchtime could be spent in adding to these remarks, or in reviewing thedifferent attempts which have been made to explain the great mystery. Wemight also enumerate all the evil teachings and theories which are theresults of attempted explanations. But all this would be but waste oftime. No human mind can fathom the depths of the incarnation, nor fullygrasp the wonderful personality of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Far better it is to abide by these simple declarations of the Word ofGod, than to enter into speculations, which can never solve this greatmystery. 

A certain American statesman was once asked, "Can you comprehend howJesus Christ could be both God and Man?" The great thinker replied, "No, sir; I cannot. And I would be ashamed to acknowledge Him as my Saviourif I could, for then He would not be greater than myself. "

This is very true indeed. With joyful and grateful hearts we believe thegreat revelation given to us in God's holy Word, that God so loved theworld that He gave His only begotten Son and that the Son of God leftHeaven's Glory and came to this earth. He emptied Himself and appearedin the form of the creature. This, however, does not mean what an eviltheory, by the name of "Kenosis, " teaches, that He emptied Himself ofHis Godhead. He emptied Himself of His outward Glory. The child whichrested on the bosom of Mary is the One, who ever was in the bosom of theFather. Listen once more to the language of the xxii Psalm. "I was castupon thee from the womb; Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Thoudidst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts. " What mere humanchild could have ever said this truthfully? Nor is this the language ofa poet. The child born in Bethlehem alone could speak thus. 

The Foundation of the Gospel. 

The incarnation is the great foundation of the whole Gospel. Noincarnation means no Gospel, no Hope and no God. The person who deniesthis truth has no right whatever to the name of Christian. At no timehas the denial of this great foundation truth been so pronounced andwidespread as in our times. Men believing themselves wise, in possessionof greater knowledge than former generations, turn their backs uponrevelation. The miracle, including the incarnation, is denied. And thisdenial is not from the side of outspoken infidels alone, but those whoprofess to be teachers of Christianity are the foremost leaders in it. We mention Reginald Campbell and his followers in the so-called "NewTheology. " And the hundreds of evangelical preachers, who wished thisman Godspeed during his recent visit to America, who passed resolutionsof thanks, after listening to his subtle infidelity, are, in the lightof 2 John 10, partakers of his sin. And then there is thatAnti-christian system, known by the name of Christian Science. In itsso-called philosophical, in reality, satanic utterances, it opposes therevelation of God and denies that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh. That evil book, "Science and Health, " to which we readily accordinspiration, not from above, but from below, teaches "The Virgin Maryconceived the idea of God and gave to her ideal the name of Jesus;" andagain "Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-communion with God. "

It is a comfort to believers in these evil days to remember, that such arejection of the doctrine of Christ, His Person and His work, ispredicted in the Bible to take place immediately before the Lord comes. The end of the age is upon us. These denials will not decrease, butbecome more numerous. 

The Purpose of the Incarnation. And what was the purpose of theincarnation? By incarnation the invisible God was made known to man. TheLord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. No man hath seenGod at any time, the only Begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father, hath declared Him. As One with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ couldsay, "Whosoever seeth Me, seeth the Father. "

The attributes of God were made known by Him in incarnation. We beholdthe holiness of God in that holy life, which was lived on earth toglorify the Father. He manifested omniscience. He knew what was in menand knew their thoughts. He manifested the power of God in controllingthe forces of nature, commanding the wind and the waves, turning waterinto wine. He had power over disease, over the demons and over death. Herevealed the Love and the compassion of God. 

By incarnation the Son of God brought likewise the Word of God to man. "God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past untothe Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us byHis Son" (Hebrews i:1). He confirmed the Law and the Prophets, thereforeall criticism of the Old Testament attacks the authority andinfallibility of the Son of God. He also revealed the will of God, madeknown the Father and the fact of eternal life, and the eternal andconscious punishment of the wicked. He predicted the great future eventsconcerning Himself and His Kingdom, the end of the age and His visibleReturn. 

The incarnation was necessary in anticipation of His work as the Priestof His people. He was to be after His death on the cross and afterresurrection, the merciful and faithful High Priest. Such He is now. Hetook part of flesh and blood, we read in the second chapter of Hebrews, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. He was tempted inall things as we are, with the exception of sin. He suffered in beingtempted so that He might be touched with the feeling of our infirmitiesand succour them that are tempted. And all He was to be and is now, theSecond Man, the last Adam, the head of the church, the head of the newcreation, all and much else necessitated His incarnation. 

What Incarnation could not Accomplish. 

However, the great purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God was Hiswork of redemption. For this great purpose He came into the world. Hecame that, after a life, which completely glorified the Father andupheld His holy law and vindicated God's rights as the lawgiver, Hemight accomplish the great work of atonement. John stated this greatwork the Son of God came to do in a brief sentence, "Behold the Lamb ofGod, which taketh away the sin of the world. " Sin, that accursed thing, had to be taken out of the way. Propitiation for sins had to be made. Asacrifice had to be brought which would glorify a holy God and satisfy, as well as exalt, His righteousness. Peace had to be made. The sins ofmany had to be paid and the full penalty of them to be borne. 

Incarnation in itself, the marvelous and ever blessed humiliation of theSon of God by taking on the human form, His holy blessed life, Hisloving words, words of life and peace, yea, all He did in deeds of loveand compassion could never accomplish this. Incarnation brought God toMan, but could never bring man back to a holy God. Incarnation could notmake an end of sin, nor make it possible for a righteous God to showmercy to the fallen and the lost, in a righteous way. This great work ofredemption could only be accomplished by His death on the cross. Forthis He had come. He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The Author and Prince of Life came that He might give His Life a ransomfor many. The good Shepherd appeared to give His life for the sheep. ByHis death alone, the great work of redemption could be accomplished. 

III. 

His work on the Cross and What has been Accomplished by It. 

And now let us consider His work on the cross and what has beenaccomplished by it. But who is able to speak worthily of this theme ofall themes? Who can fathom the solemn yet blessed fact, the death of theSon of God on the cross? What tongue or pen can describe the sad, yetglorious truth, that the Just One died for the unjust, that Christ diedfor the ungodly! He who knew no sin was made sin for us! And what humanmind can estimate the wonderful results of His work on the cross!

Some Christians speak as if the death on the cross, the workaccomplished there, is so fully known to them, that they do not need anymore instruction on it. They tell us that they search for deeper things. There can be nothing deeper than the death of God's Son on the cross. Depths are here which are unfathomable. We must ever turn back to thecross. Always we shall learn something new. With unspeakable Glory uponus and greater glory before us in eternal ages to come, the cross ofChrist and the Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world cannever be forgotten. But we shall never know what that death on the crossmeant for Him and what it meant to God. 

Made Sin for Us. 

In Hebrews x we read of the sacrifices which were offered by the Jewsyear after year. These sacrifices could not take away sin. Then He, theSon of God, stepped forward and made His great declaration. Coming intothe world He saith, "Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but abody hast Thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sinsThou hadst no pleasure" (verses 4-5). The body prepared puts before usagain the fact of incarnation. That body was a prepared body, a holybody, an undefiled body, a body in which sin could not dwell and onwhich death had no claim. But when He took on that body, He likewisesaid: "Lo? come to do Thy will, O God. " In the tenth verse we read, "Bythe which will (the will of God, which dates back before the foundationof the world), we are sanctified through the offering of the body ofJesus Christ once for all. " Through the eternal Spirit He offeredHimself without spot to God. The holy Lamb of God, with no spot orblemish upon Him, shed His precious blood on the cross, to procureredemption. But what it all meant for Him who was as truly Man as He isGod! Here was a Being perfectly holy, One who had always pleased God anddid His will, yea, His meat and drink was to do the will of Him thatsent Him. Sin was the horrible defiling thing to Him. He, too, like theholy God, hated and hates sin. And yet such a One was made sin for us. He had to stand in the place of guilty sinners and all the waves andbillowy of divine judgment and wrath had to pass over Him. He drank thecup of wrath to the last drop. He suffered in a fourfold way. 

1. In Himself Before He ever approached the garden of Gethsemane, He wastroubled in His spirit. We hear Him say, "Now my soul istroubled--Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I tothis hour. " He looked on towards the cross. And why that agony in thegarden? Why was His sweat as it were great drops of blood? Why therepeated prayer, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me?"How many dishonoring explanations have been written of the Gethsemanesuffering, as if He was afraid to die or that the devil tried to killHim there to prevent his death on the cross, and that He feared thedevil. But what was it? He suffered in Himself. His holy soul shrankfrom that which a holy God must hate, that which He hated--SIN. He wasabout to be made sin and He knew no sin. What suffering this produced inthe Holy One of God to take all upon Himself and to stand in thesinner's place before a holy sin-hating God, our poor finite mindscannot realize. 

2. He suffered from men. This he had foretold. When man, guilty man, cast Himself upon the willing victim, all the wickedness and vilenessand cruelty man is capable of committing was brought out and spent uponthe blessed Son of God. The scourging, the buffeting, the mocking, thespitting and the shame connected with it, the shame of the cross, Hedespised. How that sensitive body must have quivered under it all!

3. He suffered from the devil. He had tempted him. Nothing was leftundone, what this wonderful Being could do. All His cunning and powerswere brought into use, with the one purpose to keep Him from going tothe cross and dying in the sinner's place. And when at last he could notkeep Him from going to the cross, then he cast himself upon the victimand heaped all his hatred and malice upon Him. He used man in all thisawful work and no doubt the legions of demons. And in all this the Sonof God was as a lamb, which is dumb before the shearers. He opened notHis mouth. 

4. But the greatest of all, He suffered from God. With hushed breath, wemust speak of this. It is the Holy of Holies of the great work on thecross, the impenetrable mystery of the atoning work of the Son of God. From the darkness which enshrouded the cross and the blessed sufferer onthe accursed tree, there came the mournful cry: "My God, My God, whyhast Thou forsaken me?" It made known the awful suffering, which theLamb of God, the substitute of sinners, endured from the hand of a holyGod. He was smitten and afflicted of God. Have you noticed that in thexxii Psalm this cry of the sufferer on the cross stands first? Man wouldhave written the sufferings of Christ in a far different way. Thedescriptions of the sufferings not written by inspiration would havebeen in this wise: The physical sufferings, how they scourged Him, allthe sickening details of that which even cruel Rome called theintermediate death, would have been pictured. Then would have followed adescription of how the nails were driven into the blessed hands who hadlovingly touched so many weary, sin-laden and disease-stricken bodies. All the agony of the cross and its shame would have been described firstby man. Then how the multitude mocked and darkness came over the entirescene--then last of all, it would have been stated, He cried, My God, MyGod, why hast Thou forsaken me? But the Holy Spirit in this greatProphecy puts the cry of deepest agony first. Why? Because in that hourthe great work of atonement, propitiation, sin-bearing, judgment andwrath enduring, was once and for all accomplished. In this same Psalm weread what men energized by Satan's power, did unto Him. But man couldnot put Him to death. It is written, "Thou (that is God) hast brought meinto the dust of death. " God's own hand rested upon Him. "God laid uponHim the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah liii:6). "It pleased the Lord tobruise Him; He hath put Him to grief. " And elsewhere we read, whatrefers to the same atoning work of our Lord when He stood in thesinner's place. 

"All Thy waves and billows go over me" (Ps. Xlii:7). 

"Thine arrows stick fast in Me" (Ps. Xxxviii:2). 

"Thine hand presses me sore" (Ps. Xxxviii:2). 

"Thou hast laid me into the lowest pit" (Ps. Lxxxviii:6). 

"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me" (Ps. Lxxxviii:7). 

"Thy fierce wrath goeth over me" (Ps. Lxxxviii:16). 

"I suffer Thy terrors" (Ps. Lxxxviii:15). 

But what it all meant for the Son of God! Who can tell out His sorrowand deep affliction? Never shall we fully discover the greatness of theprice which was paid. The death of the cross, it has been truly said, stands perfectly alone. It can never be repeated and because of itseternal efficacy, will never need to be repeated. 

_It is Finished. _

And this great work He came to do, is finished. "It is finished!" thusHe spoke on the cross and the words assure us that all is done. The rentveil and the open tomb tell us "It is finished. " But what has beenaccomplished in this blessed work? We cannot fully grasp it now as longas we look into a glass darkly. When at last we are brought into HisPresence, transformed into His own image, when we shall have share withHim in His glorious inheritance, when at last sin and death are no moreand a new heaven and new earth are called into existence, then shall wemore fully know what that work has accomplished. All, ALL we have andare, all we shall have and shall be as His own, has its blessed sourcein the cross of Christ. He died for all. He gave Himself a ransom forall. He tasted death for every man. He is the propitiation for the wholeworld (not for the sins of the whole world, else the whole world wouldbe saved). It means His work is available to all sinners. Upon that factthat He died for all, the Gospel is preached to lost and guilty sinners. Christ died for the ungodly. "Whosoever will"--"Whosoever believeth, "these are the precious conditions of the Gospel of Grace which soundsforth from the finished work of Christ on the cross. And all who believeon Him and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, for them Hebore their sins on the cross. Each believing sinner can look back to thecross and can say, "He loved me, He gave Himself for me. " He paid mydebt. He bore my sins in His own body on the tree. He stood in my place. He was my substitute. He tasted death for me. 

Much of the evil teachings of the present day, such as universalsalvation, larger hope, millennial dawnism, etc. , emanate from the factthat propitiation and substitution are not correctly understood. Propitiation is the Godward side of the sacrifice of Christ, with thisGod is satisfied. The propitiation is for the whole world. This doesnot mean that the whole world is therefore to be saved. He bore the sinsof many--not the sins of all. He was the substitute on the cross onlyfor such who believe on Him. 

And what do we possess who have believed on Him, own Him as our Saviourand our Substitute? Many Scriptures might be read in answer to thisquestion. We cannot do so, but shall mention briefly a few things whichall believing sinners share on account of the finished work of Christ onthe cross. 

We have a perfect justification. All our sins are forever put away, because they were borne and paid for by His death on the cross. TheBlood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. All has beenrighteously and forever settled. "Who shall bring any accusation againstGod's elect? It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns? It isChrist who has died. " "There is therefore now no condemnation to thosein Christ Jesus. " We have perfect Peace with God. Peace has been made inthe blood of the cross. It can never be unmade. We have peace with Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Peace. So many Christians thinktheir peace with God depends on their walk and service. If they sin, they think they have lost their peace and their standing before God andunless they are restored, they will be lost forever. Not our walk andservice, not anything we have done, we do or shall do, is the ground ofpeace with God, but what God has done for us in Christ's atoning on thecross. 

Then we have a perfect acceptance and standing before God; perfectnearness and access to God. We are made nigh by the blood. With no moreconscience of sins, we can stand in God's own presence, purged andcleansed, complete in Him, as near to God as He is. 

His blessed work on the cross has made an end of the old man. We aredead to the world, to self, to sin, to the law. The old man wascrucified with Christ. "Sin shall have no more dominion over you. " Thisis the blessed message from the cross. We have deliverance from thepower of darkness and a perfect title to an eternal inheritance. Nouncertainty is attached to all this. We have salvation, are saved, forever secure, Sons of God, Heirs of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and much else, on account of the finished work of Christ on the cross. 

And to all this we add that on the cross He loved the church and gaveHimself for it. There He died for Israel and as a result the remnant ofthat people will some day be delivered from iniquity and perverse-ness, as Balaam, beheld them, "no iniquity in Jacob and no perverseness inIsrael" (Numbers xxiii:21). Groaning creation will ultimately be freedfrom the bondage of corruption and brought into the liberty of the sonsof God, because He shed His blood on the cross. All things in heaven andon the earth (not things under the earth) will be reconciled in virtueof the death of Christ on the cross. 

Ye are not Your Own. 

Let us remember as such who have been reconciled and have redemptionthrough His blood that we are bought with a price. "Ye are not your ownfor ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, andin your spirit, which are God's" (1 Cor. Vi:20). Through His death weare positionally dead; all who believe on Him have died. We are dead tothe law, to the world, to sin. But are we truly living, walking andacting as such who have died, dead to sin and alive unto God? A child ofGod who walks after the flesh practically denies the power and value ofthe blessed finished work of Christ on the cross. 

Let us exalt in our lives, by our words and deeds, the cross of Christ. "But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord JesusChrist, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world"(Gal. Vi:14). 

II. 

THE WORK OF CHRIST. 

The great work which the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well beloved Son, cameto do was to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This finishedwork of the cross is the basis of His present work and His future work. What mind can estimate the value and preciousness of that work in whichthe Holy One offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spotunto God! He procured redemption by His death on the cross. In Hispresent work and much more in the future work, He works out this greatredemption into result. 

There is much confusion in the minds of Christians about the present andfuture work of Christ. Many speak of the Lord being now the King ofkings and Lord of lords, reigning over the earth. They speak of Him asoccupying the throne of His father David in heaven. The church, according to this teaching, is His Kingdom, and that kingdom isgradually being enlarged under His spiritual reign until the whole worldhas been brought into this kingdom. All this is wrong. The Lord JesusChrist will reign over the earth; He will have a kingdom of glory, ofrighteousness and peace on this earth; the nations of the earth willhave to submit to His government, but all this is still to come. It willbe accomplished with His visible Return to the earth, when He will claimas the second Man the dominion of the earth. His kingly rule is future. His present work is of another nature. 

I. The Bodily Presence of Christ in Glory. 

Our blessed Lord gave on the cross the body, which He had taken inincarnation. That body died. It was the only part of Him, which coulddie. But that body so dishonored by man, scourged and nailed to thecross, could not see corruption. He arose from the dead. The mightypower of God opened that grave and raised Him from the dead. This mightypower of God, which brought Him forth is the power which is towards uswho believe. It is on our side (Eph. I:19). And God not alone raised Himfrom the dead, but He gave Him glory (1 Peter i:21). 

If I were to teach on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, I woulddemonstrate two things. First, that He actually arose; the indisputablefact, that He who had really died, who was dead bodily, arose bodily, and, in the second place, the all important meaning of His resurrection. 

The Apostle Paul writes in that great chapter in First Corinthians, "IfChrist be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Thenthey also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished" (1 Cor. Xv:18). In other words, if the Lord Jesus Christ came not forth from thetomb, where His blessed body had been laid and where it rested for threedays, if He did not leave that grave in a bodily form, His death on thecross would have no more meaning than the death of any other humanbeing. Then that blood which was shed could never take away our sins andgive the guilty conscience rest. Furthermore, the countless beings, whopassed out of this life trusting in Christ, would have all perished. ButChrist rose from the dead. There can be no doubt about it. The witnessesfor it are simply unanswerable. 

His Physical Resurrection. 

His resurrection from the dead was God's answer to His prayers withstrong crying and tears. 

"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers andsupplication with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to savehim from death, and was heard in that he feared" (Heb. V:27). 

This took place in Gethsemane. The answer to His prayers and tears camefrom God on the morning of the first day. His resurrection from the deadwas the "Amen" of God to His triumphant shout on the cross, "It isfinished. " By raising Him from the dead, God set His seal to the work ofChrist on the cross. God gave His witness by it that the work, which wasdemanded by His holiness and righteousness, had been fully accomplished. Guilty man can now be righteously acquitted from His guilt because God'seternal righteousness was upheld and satisfied by His own Son in that Hepaid the penalty. Before God rolled away the stone? He had shown thatthe work done was pleasing to Him. It seemed as if God could not waitfor the third day. His hand took hold of the veil, which hid the Holy ofHolies from the eyes of man. He rent that veil from top to bottom. Heshowed thereby that He, the Holy God, could now come forth in fullestblessing to man, and man bought by such a price, can approach into thepresence of God and be at home with Him, a loving Father. Sinners savedby grace can enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the newand living way. 

And how did He come forth from the grave? It has already been stated. Hearose with the body He had taken on in incarnation, the body which couldnot see corruption. He left the grave in a corporeal form. It was not aphantom, but a tangible body. The nailprints were still seen in Hishands and in His feet. The side showed the place where the spear hadentered. He appeared in that body in the midst of His disciples andshowed unto them His hands and His side. And when at another time theycried out for fear, He said, "Behold, my hands and my feet, that it ismyself; handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as yesee me have" (Luke xxiv:39-40). And while they believed not for joy, Heproved His corporeality by eating a piece of broiled fish and of ahoneycomb. But while it was the same body it was also a glorified body. Such a body, like unto His own glorious body, we shall receive someblessed day in exchange for the body of humiliation; for this redemptionof the body we still wait as well as those who have fallen asleep inJesus. 

Passing through the Heavens. 

In this body He left the earth and passed through the heavens intoheaven itself. What a scene that must have been! What must have takenplace after He had been lifted up and disappeared out of sight from thegazing disciples! They saw Him as He was lifted up, the same Lord Jesus, until the glory cloud, the Shekinah, took Him up and in that cloud Hewas taken into the heavens, where the physical eye could not follow. What a triumphant entrance into the heavens it must have been! Perhapsthe mighty Archangel accompanied Him, the victor over Sin, Death, theGrave and Satan; for the Archangel will accompany Him some day in Hisdescent out of heaven. The Lord went up with a shout (Psalm xlvii:5). Hewill return with the victor's shout. When He comes back, He will beattended by the mighty angels. May not these heavenly hosts have beenpresent as He ascended on high? And as the Man Christ Jesus passedupward through the territory, which is still the domain of Satan, theprince of the power in the air, the wicked tenants of the air fell backin fear and trembling. The glorified Man passed on, upward, higher andhigher. Nothing could arrest His progress. The mighty power of Godraised Him up. Through the second heaven He passed, where the wonderfulstars, the creation of His own power, describe their great orbits aroundtheir fiery suns. He is still attended by angels, and the angelic hostsbeheld Him, who were also the witnesses of His sufferings, His death andresurrection. At last a place was reached where every angel had to halt. Even the Archangel had to cover His face and cry, "Holy! Holy!" Yonderis the third heaven and there stands the glorious throne of God. Theglorified Man advances alone; He ascended on high into the immediatepresence of His God and our God, His Father and our Father. Thewelcoming voice of God Himself bade Him to take His seat on His ownright hand until His enemies are made His footstool. What must it havebeen when the only begotten Son returned to His eternal dwelling placeas the First begotten, and God as well as He himself beheld the host ofredeemed sinners brought by Him into that Glory!

The highest place was given to Him, who died on the cross, far above allprincipality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that isnamed. There He is now the Man in the Glory. Once more let me state it, the Lord Jesus Christ is corporeally present in the highest heaven. Everything depends on this. If His physical resurrection and corporealpresence in the highest heaven is denied, His present work and futurework are an impossibility, and we rob ourselves of every comfort, joyand peace. Then, too, His atoning work on the cross has no meaning forus. 

A Fundamental Truth Denied. 

And too often this great truth of the bodily presence of Christ inheaven is denied in these days of departure from the faith. They teach, His resurrection was a spiritual one, that He lives only by His words. The denial of the literal resurrection of our blessed Lord and Hispresence in heaven has become very widespread. Three evil systemsespecially deny it. 

1. Unitarianism. As a sect this denomination is small, but the leaven ofUnitarianism is leavening Christendom. All this criticism of the Bible, the new theology, a more liberal religion, but all aiming at theessential Deity of our blessed Lord, His incarnation and resurrectionfrom the dead, is the leaven of Unitarianism. At a recent annual serviceof the British and Foreign Unitarian Association the chairman observedthat "earnest and thoughtful men, occupying pulpits once dedicated tothe propagation of doctrines strictly orthodox, were now preaching aGospel, which for liberality and broadmindedness even surpassed theUnitarianism of three or four generations ago. "

2. Christian Science. This new science is not new, but is the revival, through satanic powers, of ancient Gnosticism, a denial of every articleof the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints. Prominent inthis system is the denial of the physical resurrection, and the bodilypresence of the Lord Jesus in Glory. It is the masterpiece of Satan. Itsphenomenal growth attracts to its ranks such of the Christianprofession, who were never saved or whose knowledge of the truth of Godis insufficient. There will be no abatement of this great delusion. Itwill continue to grow and become more powerful as the Gospel is deniedand God's Word rejected. 

3. Millennial Dawnism. This is another great and widespread system. Init Satan appears even more so than in Christian Science as an angel oflight. It is offered throughout this land as "food for Christians" andgoes by the name of "Bible Study. " One meets it everywhere. What is it?It is an amalgamation of several of the evil theories concerning thePerson of Christ, denying, like Unitarianism and Christian Science, theabsolute Deity of our Lord. "Pastor" Russell in his books also deniesthe physical resurrection of Christ. According to this system the bodyof our Lord was either dissolved in its natural gases or is preserved asa memorial somewhere. This, of course, means the denial of His bodilypresence in heaven. But think of it! To say that the body of our Lordwas dissolved in its natural gases, when the Word so clearly states "Hecould not see corruption. "

II. 

The Present Work of Christ; What It Is. 

As Man in Glory, crowned with glory and honor, He is occupied in apresent work. 

He is in the presence of God as the Heir of all things. He is theupholder of all and all things consist by Him. This great universe, withits innumerable stars and suns, is under His control; it belongs to Him. How man ever since the fall attempts to penetrate the mysterious depthsof the universe! Scientists with their glasses scan the heavens and tryto regain the knowledge of creation, which was lost by the fall of man, Their discoveries astonish us. How marvelous the heavens are! How theydeclare the glory of God and the firmament His handiwork! Often too hasthe search of fallen man into the depths of the universe demonstratedthe truth of God given by revelation in His word. And yet the greatquestions we ask of astronomers concerning this great universe areanswered with "we do not know. " Some day in the twinkling of an eye weshall know more about this great universe than all the knowledge gainedby fallen man. But this universe rests in the hands of the Man in Glory. He is the great central sun around which all revolves. We do not know ifthere is any work to be done in connection with the great bodies whichwe see in the great space about us. We do not know what changes go onthere. But we do know that all is in His hands. All is under Hiscontrol. 

We must also think of the angels, the heavenly hosts. He has been made, after His passion, so much better than the angels, as He hath byinheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Heb. I:4). Whatmay go on in this great world above, the world of unseen spirits, whocan tell? But they are all under His control. How He sends them forthand uses them in His providential dealings with His people on earth, andhow He restrains through these unseen agencies the wrath of the enemyand the evil work of demons, we do not know fully. "Are they not allministering spirits sent forth to minister to them, who shall be heirsof salvation" (Heb. I:14). This and much else, though not fullyrevealed, and hidden from us, belongs also to His present work. Wemention this that we might have a higher estimate of our Lord andrealize anew what a mighty and wonderful Lord we have. 

But there is a present work of our Lord in Glory, which is fullyrevealed in His Word. 

In the first place, He is the Mediator between God and Man, and beingpreached as such to the world, He exercises His office as the Mediatorthroughout this present age (1 Tim. Ii:5-6). Besides this Mediatorship, He has a service which concerns those for whom He died and who, bypersonal faith, have accepted Him as their Saviour. 

The Lord Knoweth His Own. 

"The Lord knoweth them that are His. " What a blessed thought of comfortand cheer it is, which should forever banish fear and unbelief! TheLord, the One seated there in the Holiest, knows us personally. He knewus before we ever were in existence. He saw us before the foundation ofthe world. He knew all our vileness and the depths of degradation. Heknew us as we wandered in our sins. His loving eyes followed us then. Hesought us in His love and brought us to Himself. He gave us His life anddwells in us. Each believing sinner, saved by grace, is one Spirit withthe Lord. "I know my sheep. " He calleth each by name, like a Shepherdcalleth his own sheep. Again He said "I know them. " What a comfort itshould be to our hearts, that He knows each of us by name. He knows ourcircumstances, trials, difficulties and temptations. He knows ourconflicts and our tears. "He knoweth the way which I take. "

It is very precious! In the xxxii Psalm we find the comforting word forone whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, "I will guidethee with mine eye, " or as it should read, "I will guide thee with mineeye upon thee. " That eye up yonder, that eye which measures the depthsof the universe, which follows every planet, that eye which neithersleeps nor slumbers, that all-seeing eye rests upon us. He is occupiedwith each. The millions of His people who have lived and died, whopassed through life and are now at home with Him, were each individuallythe objects of His care. His loving eye was upon the multitudes ofmartyrs. He knew and watched that poor tortured saint, who was cast withbroken bones into a dungeon to starve to death. His power and loverested upon those who were burned or cast before the wild animals. Foreach He served and worked. And so He does still. Oh, the preciousnessthat each believer is under the loving care of the Man in Glory, theobject of His love. Let us turn to a few Scriptures which reveal thisfact. 

Living for Us. 

In Romans v:10 we read:

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death ofHis Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. "

What life is meant by which we are saved? Some have applied it to thelife of the Lord Jesus Christ before His death on the cross, as if thatrighteous life, that perfect life, had any saving power in it for us. Hence the teaching that the righteousness of His life is imputed untous. This is wrong. The life, of which this verse speaks, is the lifewhich He lives now in the Presence of God. When we were enemies we werereconciled to God by the death of His Son. And now being reconciled, much more are we saved by His life. By His life there, because He isthere, we are saved and kept down here. 

Another passage in Romans may be linked with this. Romans viii:34:

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that isrisen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makethintercession for us. "

The risen Christ is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession forus. However, not in the Epistle to the Romans is this present work ofChrist as the intercessor of His redeemed people revealed, but in theEpistle to the Hebrews. There we read in the ninth chapter, "For Christis not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are thefigures of the true: but into heaven itself, now to appear in thepresence of God for us. " (Heb. Ix:24). 

And again in chapter vii:24, 25: "But this man, because he continuethforever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also tosave them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he everliveth to make intercession for them. "

But notice all this is not spoken of those who are unsaved and live insin. The unsaved who are not yet Christ's have no share in all this. Forthe unsaved world the Lord is not the intercessor. He declared thistruth first of all in His high-priestly prayer, when He said, "I prayfor them, I pray not for the world" (John xvii:9). 

This was also foreshadowed in the Old Testament. The High Priest in Hisgarments of Beauty and Glory had upon his shoulders two onyx stones, andupon his breast a breastplate with twelve stones. Upon both the onyxstones, upon the shoulder and the twelve stones on the breastplate therewere names engraven. But these were not the names of the Egyptians, theJebusites, the Amorites or the Hittites, but the names of the twelvetribes of Israel. Our high priest in the highest heaven carries His ownupon His shoulders, which typify His power, and upon His bosom Hecarrieth them; the bosom tells of His love. We are the objects of thepower and the love of Him who appears in the presence of God for us. Thefact that the names of the Israelites were engraven upon these preciousstones also has a meaning. If they had been written there, they might beblotted out. They were engraven and could never be erased. It tells outthe blessed truth of our security. 

His Priesthood. 

Two other passages in Hebrews reveal some of the blessed details of thepresent priestly work of the Lord in our behalf. "Wherefore in allthings it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he mightbe a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, tomake reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himselfhath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that aretempted" (Hebrews ii:17, 18). "Seeing then that we have a great HighPriest, that is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let ushold fast our confession. For we have not an high priest which cannot betouched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all pointstempted like we are, apart from sin. Let us therefore come boldly untothe throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help intime of need" (Hebrews iv:14-16). 

The first passage tells of the propitiation He made for the sins of thepeople. He suffered, being tempted, and this is the basis of Hisintercessory service. The passage from the fourth chapter tells us howHe was fitted while on earth for this great office work. While down hereHe was tempted in all points as we are, apart from sin. From sin withinHe could never be tempted, for no sin was in Him. He has gone throughthe trials, the difficulties and sufferings a man who depends on God issubject to while in this world, with the exception of sin. He has knownwhile on earth every possible difficulty. Now He can be a merciful andfaithful high priest and as such enter into all our sorrows and trials. He sympathizes with us in all our conflicts and difficulties down here. However, He does not intercede for the flesh--He has no sympathy withsin. By His gracious and unbroken intercession in the sanctuary, Heupholds us individually in the path down here. He gives strength toendure. If it were not for that intercession, we all would fall by theway. How often God's people fear troubles and difficulties, losses andbereavements, which might possibly come. What, if this favored childshould be taken from me, how could I stand it? Or, if I should lose herwhom I love? Or my health should fail? Perhaps my business and incomestops, how could I ever stand it? Often that which we fear comes uponus. That loved one is taken and is put into a grave. Health fails andthe income stops; instead of plenty there is want. But with the trial, with the loss, there comes such a strength to bear it all, and more thanthat, real joy and songs of praise. It is because the great High Priestlives and intercedes. He knows all about it and in the tenderness of Hislove and the might of His power, He takes us in His loving arms whenevertrials and troubles come upon us. At all times under all circumstancesHe is our representative before God and thinks of us. 

And so it is with our temptations and our warfare with the wickedspirits. The enemy we have is most powerful and intelligent. He knowshow to spread his nets. His wiles are most subtle. If Satan had his wayhe would overthrow and destroy completely the people of God on earth. Ifit depended on our strength, we would soon fall. But He knows. His eyeswatch the enemy as they watch us. Peter's case illustrates thisperfectly. He saw the old serpent as he moved on his way towards Peter. He knew the cunning plan Satan had conceived to ensnare Peter. In Judashe had entered and taken complete possession of the disciple, who wasnever born again. He planned to fell Peter completely and rush himafterwards into despair. But Satan did not reckon with Peter's Lord. Before the plan could ever be carried out, the Lord had prayed for Peterthat His faith may not fail. And though Peter denied the Lord and fell, the Lord's gracious intercession kept him through it all. And this isstill the case with us. He prays for us before that foe can everapproach us and thus we can be victorious in the conflict and should westumble and fall, as it is so often the case, then He is the greatshepherd "who restoreth my soul. " How much we owe to this blessed, precious present work of our Lord in Glory no one knows. What blessedrevelation there will come to us when we shall know as we are known, when we look back over our lives and behold what the intercession of theLord Jesus accomplished for us and all the Saints of God! We have agreat high priest who is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son ofGod. 

Another phase of His priestly present work is recorded in Heb. Xiii:15. "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to Godcontinually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. "He presents our spiritual sacrifices to God. Our worship, our praise andour prayers we address to God, the God and Father of our Lord JesusChrist, are all imperfect, but as they are presented to God by Him, theyare acceptable unto God and delight the heart of God for that reason. 

His Advocacy. 

But there is a second aspect of His work in Glory in the presence of Godfor His people. He is our advocate with the Father. Some Christiansthink that the Priesthood and Advocacy of Christ are one and the same. They are not. His advocacy is that which restores us. In the firstEpistle of John we read of this phase of His present work. "My littlechildren, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any mansin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous"(John ii:1). 

In the preceding chapter our wonderful privilege as the children of Godis made known. We are to be in fellowship with the Father and with HisSon Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Fellowship with the Father iswhen we delight ourselves in His basket Son, who is His delight, when weshare the Father's own thoughts about Him. The Son knoweth the Fatherand He has revealed Him and brought us into His own relationship withthe Father. Fellowship with His Son is to enjoy this relationship withthe Father. The condition for the enjoyment of this privilege inreality, fellowship with the Father and with His Son is, that we walk inthe light as He is in the light. These blessed things were written thatwe sin not. Sin cannot rob us of our salvation, but it mars theenjoyment of that fellowship. The standard is that we sin not, and if welive in constant enjoyment of that blessed fellowship into which gracehas brought us, we do not sin. But how often this is not the case. Wefall into sin. Then the blessed revelation is given: "If any man sin wehave an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous. " Howgrateful we ought to be that it does not say: If any man repent. TheLord's intercession as advocate is independent of our repentance or ofour asking Him to do this for us. It is the exercise of grace in His ownloving heart toward us to restore our souls, to put us back into theplace where we can enjoy His fellowship. The moment the believer sins onearth, He acts as the Advocate above. The Holy Spirit then likewise actsin that He applies the Word to convict and cleanse. The cleansing is bythe water, the Word, and not a second time by the blood. Then followsconfession from our side and the restoration is effected. Also noticethat it does not say "we have an Advocate with God, " but "with theFather. " It is a family matter, and the Father is a Father who can donothing but love those whom He has brought to himself through His Son. The conception that the Father is angry with His sinning child on earth, and that the Son of God by His pleadings inclines the heart of God to bemerciful, is an unscriptural one. Another reason why He acts thus asAdvocate is Satan, the accuser of the brethren. He still has access intothe presence of God. The day will come when He is cast out of heaven, but that day will not come until the church has been caught up to meetthe Lord in the air. 

"And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent, called the Devil, andSatan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, andstrength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; forthe accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before ourGod day and night" (Rev. Xii:9-10). 

Because Satan accuses God's people before God day and night, theAdvocate is there to rebuke him. Every attack by accusation of thesinning children of God, the Lord Jesus Christ meets with the fact thatHe made propitiation; He died for their sins. 

He Shall not Fail nor be Discouraged. 

And this work of Himself as our Priest, the merciful and faithful HighPriest and our Advocate goes on up yonder uninterruptedly. In Isaiah wefind a word which speaks of Him, "He shall not fail nor be discouraged. "Well may we apply this to His present work as Priest and Advocate of Hisown. As Priest He will never fail. He will never fail in being about Hisown, in keeping them and sustaining them, in sending them help from thesanctuary in time of need. As Advocate He will not be discouraged. Thesame old failures in our lives, which humble us and break us down, butHe continues in this service in behalf of His poor sinning people. SomeChristians do not believe in the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel, that a child of God in possession of eternal life can never be lost. They think it depends on their walk and service. If one of His own couldever be lost again, if even the weakest, the most imperfect could besnatched out of His hands, His present work would be a failure as wellas His finished work on the cross. But read the great high-priestlyprayer He left for us in John xvii. There He prays the Father, whoheareth Him always, that His own may be kept. 

His Work for the Church. 

Another aspect of His present work is what He does for His church. Wecan but briefly indicate what this means. 

He is in glory the Head of the church. The church is His body, thefullness of Him, that filleth all in all. 

Every believing sinner is a member in that body. The risen Lord Himselfadds new members to that body. He puts each member into the body as itpleases Him. Each member is guided and directed by Himself. He suppliesthis body with gifts. 

"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;and some, pastors and teachers;

"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for theedifying of the body of Christ. 

"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of theSon of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of thefullness of Christ" (Eph. Iv:11-13). 

Thus He builds up from the Glory His own body. Some day that body willbe complete. Then we all come unto the measure of the stature of thefullness of Christ. That will be when we see Him as He is. Then Hispresent work in behalf of His own, His coheirs, will be finished. Brought home from this wilderness to the Father's house--safehome--there will be no need any longer for His power and love to sustainus. No more tears will then be shed, no more wounds of pain and sorrowto be soothed, no more help is needed for the time of need; all that ispassed. Nor does He then need to exercise His office as Advocate, for weare delivered forever from the presence of sin and sanctified whollybody, soul and spirit. Sinning is then an impossibility. What a happy, glorious day that will be!

III. 

The Practical Results of His Present Work in the Christian's Life. 

The fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is in Glory occupied with us shouldlead us into a holy life which glorifies Him. That loving eye is neverwithdrawn from us. If we were to remember this constantly, what a powerthis would be in our lives! How many things would remain undone, howmany words unspoken, and how many other things done, if we wereconstantly conscious of that eye which is upon us individually. Herepresents us before God, and we are to represent Him before men. AChristian is called to manifest Christ to be His representative. Andsuch a life, which is unto His praise and Glory, is made possiblethrough His blessed intercessory work and His presence in heaven. A trueChristian life depends much on this heart occupation with the Person andwork of Christ. As His presence up yonder and His service for us is areality to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, we shallwalk worthy of the Lord, and His blessed work for us will constantly befelt in our lives here on earth. What a joy it is then, as we reckononly with Him, who knows us, to serve Him, to depend on Him. And how weshould shun anything which grieves Him. 

Encouragement for Prayer. 

These blessed facts of the Lord's loving interest in us and our life inthis present evil age, surrounded by dangers and evils of all kinds, will be a great encouragement to us in our prayer life. We can go andtell Him all about that which troubles us. If He is interested ineverything which happens to us, down to the smallest matter, then we cango to him in prayer and tell Him about it. Some Christians teach that weshould not do this, but leave it all in His hands without praying forit, satisfied that His will be done. But this is contrary to Scripture, for it says that in everything by prayer and supplication withthanksgiving we are to make our requests known (Phil. Iv:6). He delightsto have us tell Him, and like John's disciples we can go to Him and tellHim. His ear is always open. If in His service we become tired andweary, we can tell Him, for He was tired on account of the way. Ifhungry or without a resting place, He knows what that means, for Hepassed through this. If lonely and our best services are misunderstood, or the fiery darts of the enemy are aimed against us, we can speak toHim about it. All this can be so very real to us if we but go on led byHis spirit. 

Deliverance from Worry. 

It should make an end of all worry and anxiety. We may possess a divinecarelessness. Be careful for nothing. Have no anxiety. Why should weworry or be anxious? Worry is the child of unbelief. Anxiety can neverstay if the eyes of the heart behold the man in Glory and faith realizesthat all is in the hands of One "who doeth all things well. " Worry andanxiety accuse Him. Martha did that when she was encumbered with muchservice and then said to Him, "Dost Thou not care?" Each time we giveway to anxiety, we act as if He did not care. But He does; and He wouldhave us rest in faith and commit all to Himself. 

Sharing His Work. 

In conclusion we must not forget that He permits us to have some sharein this blessed work of His. While He prays for us, we can pray one foranother, and for all the saints. He intercedes; we can intercede. Hewashes our feet, typical of the cleansing by the Word. We are to washone another's feet. He carries our burdens, but the exhortation also isthat we carry one another's burden. He forgives and restores. We are toforbear one another, and forgive one another, "even as Christ forgaveus" (Col. Iii:13). 

III. 

HIS FUTURE WORK

The Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work on earth the Father gaveHim to do, who is now bodily present in the highest heaven, occupyingthe Father's throne and exercising His priesthood in behalf of Hispeople, is also King. To Him belongeth a Kingdom and a kingly Glory. Hehas therefore a kingly work to do. While His past work was foretold bythe Spirit of God and His priestly work foreshadowed in the OldTestament, His work as King and His glorious Kingdom to come arelikewise the subjects of the Word of God. 

Predicted by the Prophets. 

His kingly work was announced by Gabriel to the Virgin. "The Lord Godshall give unto Him the throne of His father David and He shall reignover the house of David forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be noend" (Luke i:32, 33). According to this message He must occupy thethrone of His father David, He must reign and possess a Kingdom. This isbut heaven's confirmation of what God's prophets for many centuries haduttered in announcing the coming of the Messiah. The entire propheticWord has its climax in the visions of the King and the Kingdom, He willreceive on this earth. These visions of glory to come, for Him who wasdespised and rejected of men, are the glittering stars shiningthroughout the dark night of the past and present age. They dazzle theeyes of faith. They inspire hope and courage. We quote a few Scriptureswhich relate to the Christ as King. 

"Yet I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare thedecree: the Lord has said unto Me, Thou art my Son, this day have Ibegotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thineinheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession"(Ps. Ii:6-8). "It is He that will judge the world in righteousness" (Ps. Xi:7). "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For theKingdom is the Lord's and He is the governor among the nations" (Ps. Xxii:27-28). "Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, yeeverlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this Kingof Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory" (Ps. Xxiv:9-10). "All ye peoples clap your hands, shout unto God with the voice oftriumph! For Jehovah, the Most High, is terrible, a great King over allthe earth" (Ps. Xlvii:2). "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and the poor with judgment. " "Yea, all Kings shall fall down before Him;all nations shall serve Him. " "His name shall endure forever--allnations shall call Him blessed" (Ps. Lxxii:1, 11, 17). "Also, I willmake Him my Firstborn, higher than the Kings of the earth" (Ps. Lxxxix:27). "Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness" (Is. Xxxii:1). "Behold the days come, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment andjustice in the earth" (Jer. Xxiii:5). "I saw in the night visions, andbehold there came with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man--andthere was given Him dominion and glory, and a Kingdom, that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlastingdominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom which shall not bedestroyed" (Dan. Vii:13-14). "Behold the man, whose name is the Branch, and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple ofthe Lord. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bearthe glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be apriest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between themboth" (Zech. Vi:12, 13). "And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth"(Zech. Xiii:9). 

All these prophecies and many more speak of the Lord Jesus as King andbear witness of His Kingdom. The glories of His Kingdom are likewisedescribed by the holy men of God, the mouthpieces of the Spirit of God. 

Not Yet Fulfilled. 

Were these predictions fulfilled since the Lord Jesus Christ suffered onthe Cross? Have they been fulfilled since He entered the Father'spresence in Glory? Is He now exercising His kingly rule and authority?Is the promised Kingdom of righteousness, of peace, of power and glorynow on this earth?

These questions arise at once in reading these divine predictions. Theymust be answered in the negative. The Lord Jesus Christ has not evenbegun His work as King. The Kingdom promised unto Him, He has not yetreceived. There is now no such Kingdom of glory and power on earth. 

The New Testament Evidence. 

The New Testament furnishes the completest evidence that our Lord is notKing over all the earth, and that His kingly rule is still in thefuture. The notion that the church is the Kingdom in which the LordJesus Christ rules as King, and that the Old Testament predictions ofKingdom glories are realized spiritually in the church, is a pureinvention. Nowhere is the church called the Kingdom, nor do we find theLord Jesus ever called "the King of the Church. " He is the Head of thechurch, which is His body. The New Testament still looks forward to theKingdom to come. The Lord has left the earth to receive a Kingdom and toreturn (Luke xix:11-28). He occupies the Father's throne, which is notHis permanent place, for He is to have His own throne. "When the Son ofMan shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, thenshall He sit upon the throne of His glory" (Matt. Xxv:31). He waits inheaven for the time when all enemies will be made the footstool of Hisfeet (Heb. X:13). "But now we see not yet all things put under Him"(Heb. Ii:8). No nation serves Him and the Kingdoms of this world are notHis Kingdoms during this age. They will become His and heaven willresound with many voices saying: "The kingdoms of this world are becomethe kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever andever" (Rev. Xi:15). But that is future. When the seventh angel soundsHis trumpet, when heaven opens and He appears as King of kings, crownedwith many crowns (Rev. Xix:11-16), then He will receive the nations forHis inheritance. 

How Christ Begins His Future Work. 

The beginning of Christ's future work is revealed in 1 Thessaloniansiv:15-18. This Scripture contains a great and unique revelation, unknownin the Old Testament. The Lord had made the promise to His disciples, "Iwill come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may bealso" (John xiv:3). He did not tell them in what manner He would keepthis most precious promise. In the first Epistle to the Thessaloniansthe Lord gives the details of His coming for His own, and how He willfulfill the promise given to His disciples. He promises that He willdescend from heaven with a shout. When He accomplished His work on thecross, He gave a shout, for he cried with a loud voice "Tetelestei"--"Itis finished!" As the risen One, He met His beloved ones and said "AllHail!" The Greek gives only one word, "Chairete"--"Oh! the Joy!" This isHis resurrection shout, the shout of joy and victory. And when Heascended He went up with a shout (Ps. Xlvii:5). First Thessaloniansiv:16 tells us He is going to descend with a shout. He passed throughthe heavens in His glorious ascension and entered into the presence ofGod, His Father. Some day He will arise from the place He occupies onthe Throne of God. He will leave the place on the right hand of theMajesty on high and pass out of the third heaven. Once more He passeththrough the heavens, not upward but downward. He comes to call HisSaints to meet Him. The meeting-place is not the Mount of Olives, Jerusalem or any earthly place; the meeting-place will be in the air. Werepeat, this is a revelation, which is not found in the Old Testamentprophetic Word, nor did the Lord announce it fully in His earthlyministry. According to the passage containing this revelation, the shoutof the Lord as He descends into the air will be followed by theresurrection of the dead in Christ. All the Saints of God will be raisedphysically from the graves. This includes the Old Testament and NewTestament believers. When this shout is heard and the righteous dead areraised, all belonging to Christ and living in that day, will be caughtup together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. For thesake of some, we add, that all who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christas Saviour, who received eternal life and the Spirit of God, belong toHim and their blessed Hope and destiny is to be "caught up in clouds tomeet the Lord in the air. " Some teach that in order to share thisrapture certain attainments are needed. Such, however, is not the case. No service, suffering, separation or any works we do, could ever fit usfor such a marvelous event. Grace has accomplished it for us. In 1 Cor. Xv:51 we read: "Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, butwe shall all be changed in a moment, etc. " The "all" means all that areChrist's at His coming, independent of their knowledge aboutdispensational truths, independent of their waiting for Him, or anyother thing. That they belong to Him and are redeemed by His preciousblood is a sufficient title to be caught up and to meet Him in the air. 

Of this double company, saints who died and who will be raised from thedead, and saints who live and will be changed in a moment and caught upto meet Him, we find a hint in His words in John xi:25-26. "I am theresurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live (Resurrection). And whosoever liveth (when He comes)and believeth in Me shall never die (The changing of living believers). Believest thou this?" May we answer Him, Yea, Lord, I believe. We maynot understand all the details of this wonderful event, an event whichwill come suddenly, but we can believe His promise and wait daily forits glorious fulfillment. This is the blessed Hope of the Church. Forthis we are told to wait. Ere He begins His judgment work, before thelast scenes of tribulation and wrath can be enacted upon this earth andHe returns as the King of Glory to claim His blood-bought inheritance, He will come into the air to meet His redeemed host and co-heirs. Thisis the first event in connection with His future work. 

The Judgment Seat of Christ. 

All judgment is to be executed by the Lord Jesus Christ. "For the Fatherjudgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son" (Johnv:22). Up to the present time no judgment work has been done by Him. Norhave His people received their crowns and rewards for service andfaithfulness. The meeting of the Saints in the presence of the Lord willbe immediately followed by the judgment seat of Christ. "For we shallall stand before the judgment seat of Christ" (Rom. Xiv:10). "For wemust all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone mayreceive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad" (2 Cor. V:10). No unsaved person appearsbefore this judgment for they were not raised from the dead, nor changedin the twinkling of an eye. This judgment concerns only believers. Thisjudgment, however, does not decide their eternal salvation. That wassettled when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The words of ourLord in John v:24 make this clear. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hethat heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hatheverlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passedfrom death unto life. " "There is therefore now no condemnation to themwhich are in Christ" (Rom. Viii:1). The works and the service of Hispeople will be dealt with by the Lord in this first judgment act in Hisfuture work. Of this we read in 1 Cor. Iv:5--"Therefore judge nothingbefore the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light thehidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the hidden counsels ofthe hearts; and then shall have every man praise of God. "

Everything will be made manifest before that judgment seat. Theunconfessed sins in the believer's life will be brought to light and allhidden things will be uncovered. Then the works of the believer will bemade manifest. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the dayshall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fireshall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abidewhich he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man'swork shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall besaved, yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. Iii:13-15). It will be the time whenGod's people will receive their rewards and crowns. Then the Apostles, the faithful martyrs, the self-sacrificing missionaries and servants ofGod will receive praise and reward for their labors. The judgment seatis the reward seat of Christ. In view of this the Apostle wrote to thefaithful Thessalonians: "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown ofrejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ atHis coming? For ye are our glory and joy" (1 Thess. Ii:19-20). And theApostle John exhorts: "And now little children, abide in Him; that whenHe shall appear, we (the apostles and teachers) may have confidence, andnot be ashamed before Him at His Coming" (1 John ii:28). All believersin Christ are saved and have eternal life; but not all receive a reward. Their works will be consumed by the fire of that judgment, for they werenothing but wood, hay and stubble. They will go rewardless, while thefaithful saints, who toiled and served, who spent and were spent, following closely in His steps, will receive rewards. What these will beno Saint does know at this time. 

When all is accomplished in connection with this judgment seat ofChrist, He will lead His Saints into the Father's house, that they maybehold His glory (John xvii:24). He will present the church to Himself, "a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; butthat it should be holy and without blemish" (Eph. V:27). He presents Hischurch "faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy"(Jude 24). 

II. 

His Future Work in Connection with the Earth. 

When the Saints of God have left the earth and met the Lord in the air, when the events took place we have briefly outlined, then the Lord JesusChrist will begin from heaven a work which will be severely felt on theearth. He begins to deal with the world in a series of judgments. Fromthe Book of Revelation we learn that the "Lion of the tribe of Judah theRoot of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the sevenseals thereof. " (Rev. V:5). The book He receives contains the judgmentsdecreed for this earth with its apostate masses. The Lamb is seenopening the seals of the book, and as He breaks the seals the eventsdescribed under each seal happen. It is His work in judgment. In theeighth chapter of Revelation an Angel is seen before an altar with agolden censer. "And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fireof the altar, and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, andthunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angelswhich had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound" (Rev. Viii:5, 6). This Angel is the Lord Jesus Christ. He casts down the fire ofdivine displeasure and judgment upon the earth. The seven trumpetingangels with their judgments for the earth are sent forth by Him. Thencome seven other angels, who pour out the bowls filled with the wrath ofGod. We cannot examine all those judgments separately. There is no humanbeing who can realize what they all mean and what it will be when theLord deals with this earth in righteousness. 

Israel and the Nations. 

Israel and the nations will pass through those judgments executed fromabove. Christendom apostate, God defying and Christ rejectingChristendom, will like Pharaoh, be hardened by them. They do not repent, but rather believe the strong delusion and accept the man of sin withhis lying wonders. The Jewish people will in part be restored to theirland. The great tribulation centers in their land and will be felt therein its severest form. The apostate portion of the Jews will worship thefalse Christ and will therefore be visited by these righteous judgments. But there is also a remnant of God-fearing Jews, who believe the Word ofGod, who expect the Kingdom and the King. While these believing Jewssuffer, they also serve. They are the last messengers of the King. Theyherald once more the Gospel of the Kingdom and will bear witness of itto all the nations of the earth, before the end comes (Matt. Xxiv:14). *

* We refer the reader to our larger works, which deal more fully withthese coming events. Daniel, Joel, Commentary on Matthew, Harmony of theProphetic Word, Things to Come, etc. , deal more fully with these truths. For catalogue, address "Our Hope, " 456 Fourth Ave. , New York City. 

Nations Learning Righteousness. 

"When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world willlearn righteousness" (Isaiah xxvi:9). A work of salvation will go onduring those seven years of judgment, tribulation and wrath. A greatmultitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, andpeople, and tongues, come out of the great tribulation and have washedtheir robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. Vii:9-17). They heard and believed the final testimony as preached bythe Jewish remnant. Heathen nations will accept the Gospel of theKingdom, while apostate Christendom is excluded, for they received notthe love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess. Ii). 

His Glorious Appearing. 

"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun bedarkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shallfall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. Andthen shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shallall the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Mancoming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (Matthewxxiv:29-30). "Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall seeHim, and they also which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earthshall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen" (Rev. I:7). "And I saw heavenopened and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was calledFaithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. Hiseyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and Hehad a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothedin a vesture dipped with blood; and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth asharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rulethem with a rod of iron and He treadeth the winepress of the fiercenessand wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh aname written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords" (Rev. Xix:11-16). 

The King in His Glory. 

Every eye shall see Him, when He appears in glorious majesty as the Kingof Kings. His glory will cover the heavens (Hab. Iii:3). Every tonguewhich denied Him will be forever hushed. His second, personal, visibleand glorious coming will be the crowning and unanswerable proof of HisDeity. His incarnation and all the work He accomplished on earth and inglory, can then no longer be denied. His glorious appearing will silenceall His enemies. His rejection ends and His glory as God's appointedKing and ruler over this earth, He purchased with His blood, begins. Every knee must then bow before Him and every tongue confess that He isLord. 

And when He appears in all His glory, He does not come alone. His Saintscome with Him. When He appears, then shall we also appear with Him inglory (Col. Iii:4). In that day of triumph and glory, He will beglorified in His Saints and admired in all them that believed (2 Thess. I:10). Wonderful spectacle it will be, when He brings His many sons withHim unto glory! All will be conformed into the same image. 

His Judgment-Work. 

His feet will stand once more upon the Mount of Olives (Zech. Xiv:4). Before Him is Jerusalem and all nations are gathered against it tobattle (Zech. Xiv:2). The Beast will be their leader, while the Man ofSin, the Anti-christ, will do his dreadful work in the city itself. Theremnant of Israel in great distress will then pray and look fordeliverance. The coming of the King will bring that deliverance. Theywill shout then for joy and say in that day, "Lo, this is our God, wehave waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we havewaited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation" (Isaiahxxv:9). They will welcome the once rejected One. "Blessed is He thatcometh in the name of the Lord" (Matt. Xxiii:39). And He will fightagainst those nations. The great battle of Armageddon will then takeplace. "The beasts and the Kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, andagainst his army" (Rev. Xix:19). But their opposition will suddenly bebroken to pieces. "And the beast was taken, and with him the falseprophet (the Anti-christ) that wrought miracles before him, with whichhe deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them thatworshipped the image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fireburning with brimstone" (Rev. Xix:20). 

On His Throne. 

When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angelswith Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory" (Matt. Xxv:31). The judgment which will then be executed by Him is not auniversal judgment (the dead are not mentioned), but it will be ajudgment of the living nations in the day when He appears the secondtime. Some nations are put on His right side and He calls them "theblessed of my Father;" they inherit the Kingdom which will then beestablished on the earth. That these righteous nations are not churchsaints is obvious, for the church, as we have seen, was caught up in thebeginning of His future work to meet Him in the air and is associatedwith Him when He comes in power and glory. Then there are other nationswhich are put on His left hand and they shall go away from that judgmentthrone into everlasting punishment (Matt. Xxv:46). But what is thestandard of this judgment? What they did to the Lord's brethren or whatthey did not unto them. The Lord's brethren, according to the flesh arethe Jews. During the tribulation period believing Jews will preach theGospel of the Kingdom to all nations (Matt. Xxiv:14). The nations whobelieved this last offer of mercy treated the messengers in kindness;those who did not believe the message did not treat them in that way. And when this great judgment is passed, His Kingdom of righteousness andpeace will be established on this earth. Righteousness will begin toreign as grace reigns now through righteousness. 

III. 

The Glories of His Kingdom. 

"And in the days of those Kings shall the God of heaven set up aKingdom, which shall never be destroyed, and the Kingdom shall not beleft to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all theseKingdoms, and it shall stand forever" (Dan. Ii:44). "I saw in the nightvisions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds ofheaven, and came to the Ancients of days, and they brought Him nearbefore Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion isan everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom thatwhich shall not be destroyed" (Dan. Vii:13-14). A closer study of thesetwo fundamental passages from Daniel's great prophecies will establishthe fact that this promised Kingdom comes with the second coming ofChrist. It will be preceded by a judgment blow at the earth Kingdoms;Nebuchadnezzar beheld this in his prophetic dream. 

This Kingdom is an earthly Kingdom and all the nations will be gatheredinto that Kingdom. Jerusalem and a converted Israel will be the centerof it. The Lord Jesus Christ and His Saints will reign with Him over theearth and over this Kingdom. And what will be His work then? But a fewof the many things can be mentioned. "He shall speak peace to thenations" (Zech. Ix:10). "With righteousness shall He judge the poor, andreprove with equity the meek of the earth. " (Isaiah xi:4). "He shallbring forth judgment to the Gentiles" (Is. Xlii:1). "And He shall judgeamong the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beattheir swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruninghooks;nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learnwar any more" (Isaiah ii:4). He shall also "set up an ensign for thenations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather togetherthe dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth" (Isaiahxi:12). "And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, andshall be my people" (Zech. Ii:11). "And the Lord shall be King over allthe earth" (Zech. Xiv:9). "Behold a King shall reign in righteousness"(Isaiah xxxii:1). "A King shall reign and prosper, and shall executejudgment and justice in the earth" (Jere. Xxiii:5). 

Many more passages predicting and describing the Kingdom and its gloriesmight be added. All these blessed words mean exactly what they say. Righteousness and peace will characterize that world-wide Kingdom of theLord Jesus Christ. His glory will cover the earth as the waters coverthe deep. Nations will worship Him. "Yea, all Kings shall fall downbefore Him; all nations shall serve Him. " "He shall have dominion alsofrom sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth" (Ps. Lxxii:8, 11). Every wrong will be righted on earth and present-day evilsand oppression, crime and vice, poverty and sickness will be abolished. Only He has the power to do this. Oh! the glories of the Kingdom! May wepray, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus. " Thy Kingdom come. 

Creation Delivered. 

"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for themanifestation of the Sons of God. For the creature was made subject tovanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the samein hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from thebondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in paintogether until now" (Rom. Viii:19-22). Sin has brought a curse uponcreation. The thorns and thistles are the result of the fall of man aswell as the blight and misery which rests upon a creation, which waspronounced good by the Creator. But this condition into which creationhas been plunged will not continue forever. A better day is coming. Groaning creation is to be delivered. The curse will be removed. Thiscannot be the work of man. Scientists attempt to set things in order inthis ruined creation; but they fail. The things which destroy, the heatand the drought, the storms and earthquakes, cannot be arrested by thearm of man. 

The Son of God wore the crown of thorns. The curse was put upon Him. AndHe who created all things and paid for redemption by His precious bloodwill, with omnipotent power, deliver groaning creation. It will takeplace when the sons of God are manifested. The sons of God (theredeemed) will be manifested with Him, as we have seen, in the day ofHis visible appearing. Then the great vision of Isaiah will find itsfulfillment. "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopardshall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and thefatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow andthe bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and thelion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play onthe hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on thecockatrice den" (Isaiah xi:6-8). 

All Under His Feet. 

The dispensation of the fulness of times has come (Eph. I:10). Allthings are put under Him. All His enemies are made His footstool. He isLord of all. The glorious reign of Christ, in kingly glory, infulfillment of the Prophet's visions, will be followed by anotherjudgment. 

The Great White Throne. 

The second resurrection, that of the wicked dead, takes place at the endof the Kingdom reign of Christ. This great judgment and the finaldestiny of the wicked is revealed in Rev. Xx:11-15. The Lord JesusChrist will be the judge in that awful scene, for it is written that alljudgment is committed unto the Son" (John v:22). Then Cometh the End. 

"Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom toGod, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and allauthority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemiesunder His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. . . . And when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son alsoHimself be subject unto Him, who put all things under Him, that God maybe all in all" (1 Cor. Xv:24-28). 

Then He will create a new heaven and a new earth, the eternal dwellingplace of redeemed and glorified mankind. "And I saw a new heaven and anew earth" (Rev. Xxi:1). "And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words aretrue and faithful" (Rev. Xxi:5). "And there shall be no more curse; butthe throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shallserve Him. And they shall see His face; and His Name shall be in theirforeheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and theyshall reign forever and ever" (Rev. Xxii:3-5). 

This will be the ultimate result of the blessed Work of Christ. His pastwork is finished. Soon His present Work may end and then His future, kingly work begins, when He comes the second time. 

"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. "