office of the book of Proverbs. Then, into the observatory room of the prophets where from Isaiah to the book of Malachi I saw telescopes of various writers pointing to far-off events. All of the men were con cerned with the brightness of the Morning Star. I entered the audience room of the King of kings and caught a vision of His glory from the standpoint of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I passed into the Acts of the Apostles where Peter, Paul, James and John were writing their epistles. I thanked God that I could step into the throne room of the book of Revelation where towers the glittering peaks of scriptural truth. There I caught a new vision of Christ my King, sitting upon the throne in all of His glory. I cried out, ‘All hail the power of Jesus’ name, let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all!” ’ D r . A nderson : We do need to catch a glimpse of the total picture of the Lord’s coming both for the Church, as well as events after the Church has been removed physically from this world. It is not true, as some would have us believe, that certain great prophetic events have to take place before the rapture of the Church can occur. The fact is, Jesus Christ may return in the air for His Church today, or at any moment. All that awaits is the completion of the body of Christ, also referred to in Scripture as “the fulness of the Gen tiles” (Rom. 11:25). Other portions we have mentioned frequently, but which are key passages, include First Corinthians 15:51-58 and Sec ond Thessalonians 4:13-18. Following this, the world will enter that seven- year period, an awful cataclysmic hour, known as the Tribulation, the last three and a half years of which will usher in unprecedented woe. It is the time of Jacob’s trouble. The antichrist will be revealed. At the 28
first, he appears as Israel’s friend, only later to be revealed as her greatest foe. It may be that this evil individual is living today, and has yet to make his full ascendancy to power when his identity will be fully known. There will be increasing in terest in the Holy Land, even as we have seen it since this state was formed in May of 1948. According to Revelation there will be the ap pearance of the 144,000 sealed ones (Chapter 7) representing the 12 tribes of Israel. These are Jewish witnesses and have no connection with that erroneous cult which goes door-to-door professing to be a part of this assemblage. This faithful Jewish remnant will witness for the Lord during the tragic hour of the Tribulation, as they are sealed by the living God. Their fruit will be a num berless multitude of every nation who receive Christ. Next will be the emergence of the scarlet woman, representing all the false religious systems including what we see now in the ecumenical movement. There will be a world wide religion of apostasy, ungodli ness and unbelief. Replete with its form of ritual sin, there will be the obvious absence of our wonderful Saviour. This figurative picture of the evil woman shows her riding the beast which represents the political director of the world at that time. Of course, today we can see some nations which are being controlled by religious forces. Atheism is the final victor, at least for the closing mo ments of the great Tribulation, pre ceding the Battle of Armegeddon and the bodily return of the Lord in glory. (How wonderful it is to be a member of the body of Christ!) We will be with Christ when He returns as described in such portions as Matthew 24 and Revelation 19. He will make a spectacular appearance as He comes to put down man’s con tinual insurrection, setting up His
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