world before Christ comes again. Though the great truth of Christ's second coming and the near approach of the end of the world is made prominent in our teaching, we believe that all signs point to the impending judgments soon to break in upon this degenerate world, yet a special effort is being made to spread the saving truth of the gospel to all people before Jesus comes, and we believe that it is the hand of God moving in the order of his plan. Already selfsacrificing missionaries are going to the different nations of earth, missions are being established in foreign lands, missionary homes are being built in many of our cities for the training of workers to invade heathen lands, pure literature by the ton is being sent to almost every corner of the earth. All this is preparing the way for the stupendous work before us. In fact, the reformation thus far has been but a preparation for the great work soon to be accomplished. The whole church on earth is being inspired of God for world-wide missionary work. It is certainly God's time, his plan, and his leading. He had prepared for this. Everything in the world seems to point to this spreading of the gospel over all the earth. in Rev. 14: 6-10 we have the three great messages of the reformation of the evening time. Included in these is, "The everlasting gospel shall be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." A careful study of the seventh chapter of Daniel will show that after the reign of the "little horn" and the consumption of apostate religion by the burning judgments of truth restored in the pure church in this evening time, "the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High" (Dan. 7: 27). This certainly teaches the spread of the gospel to all nations in the last days. We trust that erelong the vessels that plow the seas will carry hundreds of blood-washed saints with the message of salvation to all people. "The watch-fires kindle far and near; In every land let them appear, Till burning lights of gospel fire Shall gird the world and mount up higher." "We will gird the globe with salvation, Until light shall illumine every nation, The light from the lamp of his Word." This is the time when the gospel shall reach all nations and many of the heathen shall be saved. Before closing this chapter I wish to consider a few points that to the minds of some may seem like a contradiction of the truths contained in this chapter and in the one following. First, the fact that we are living in the time when the whole world shall hear the gospel and Christianity shall become universal, does not prove that all men will be saved. At the very time when Christianity spread over the Roman empire and supplanted paganism, and hundreds of thousands were saved through the gospel, wickedness and sin continued on every side. So in the last days not all men will be saved, but "evil men will wax worse and worse.". Daniel gives us a picture of the world at the time of the end: "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." Dan. 12:9, 10. So let it be understood that when the Bible says that people from all the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the Lord as a result of the pure gospel's being preached to all nations, it does not mean that the majority will be saved, but it simply teaches that "many" of all nations will turn to Christ and be saved; that is, wherever the saving gospel is carried, some will be saved, though few compared with those who will be lost. There are a number of texts that teach a state of wickedness at the revelation of Christ from heaven. Matt. 24:11, 12, is generally applied to the time immediately before Christ's coming. A careful reading of the texts and contexts, however, show that the great apostasy, the reign of false prophets, and the deception of the Christian era are foretold. Following this the blessed gospel of the kingdom shall be preached unto all nations (verse 14). 2 Thess. 2:2-12 has largely reached its fulfilment during the Catholic age, although this power is said to continue until destroyed by the brightness of his coming. 2 Tim. 3:1-5 and 1 Tim. 4:1-3 are certainly fulfilled in apostate Christianity and apply there, although it is a fact that this deplorable state of things still continues, men being lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, and having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof. Careful study of these few scriptures, however, shows that out of this state of things God gathers his people -separates them as wheat is separated from the chaff. From all this maze of confusion and dead formality God is now separating his clean, pure bride-the church-and at the second coming of Christ these empty professors will constitute no part of Christ's church. The fact that a general reign of deception and formalism will continue in apostate Christianity right up to the end, in no wise conflicts with the truth of the world's evangelization through the instrumentality of the pure church of God. These texts describe only the condition of the professed Christian world in the last days, and at the very time God separates from this mass of professors his own pure and chosen bride. It may be objected that his coming will be as a thief and a snare (Luke 21:34, 35; 1 Thess. 5:1-5); but this will be true only of those who are unsaved; of the many scoffers and worldlyminded, whose hearts are waxed gross through drunkenness, surfeiting, and the cares of life; of those throughout the earth who live in sin, fail to make preparation, but in carnal security cry, "Peace and safety." To all such the com |