must be perdition. It is hardly necessary to point out that this idea has no basis whatever in Scripture. Rather than one judgment, the Scrip tures set forth no less than seven, each one with different issues, principles and destinies. These include the judg ment of the believer which was placed on Christ at the time of His death on Calvary; the self-judgment of the be liever’s .life which should be going on daily; the judgment of the believer’s works at the Judgment Seat of Christ, following the Rapture; the judgment of the nations at the Second Coming of Christ; the judgment of the Jew ish nations concerning their fitness to enter the Kingdom; the judgment of the fallen angels set forth in Jude 6; and finally, the Great White Throne Judgment. Some of the questions have been occasioned by failure to understand that the Great White Throne Judg ment of Revelation 20 is to include only the wicked dead. These unsaved dead are to stand before God, not for adjudication of their works, but rather to receive their sentence. The wicked dead, at the instant of death, go into a place which is called in the Hebrew, Sheol and in the Greek, Hades. This is a place of punishment and torment, but not the final place of anguish. Rather, it corresponds somewhat to the lake of fire as a city jail would to a Federal penitentiary. As far as can be determined, no one leaves the Great White Throne Judgment to inherit life, but all are sentenced to eternal death. This death does not mean an nihilation, but rather, the conscious exclusion of the soul from light, life, love, and even from fellow-prisoners. It has been suggested that the sub ject of the judgments is one that should be more earnestly stressed by the teacher and from the pulpit be cause of the natural tendency of men to put off consideration of that very day. Perhaps with more preaching on the judgments there would be the de lightful result of men and women turning to Christ and finding in Him a perfect refuge from all judgment. Bible Feast T HIS coming January 14th to 21st will bring another feast of good things from the Word of God in our Sixteenth Annual Torrey Memorial Bible Conference sponsored by. the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and held in the auditorium of the Church of the Open Door. The theme of this year’s Conference will be, “ Behold, I come quickly.” Speakers will include: Dr. Louis
S. Bauman, Pastor First Brethren Church, Washington, D. C.; Dr. Paul R. Bauman of Grace Theological Sem inary, Winona Lake, Indiana; Dr. E. B. Jones, Religion Analysis Serv ice Incorporated, Minneapolis, Minne sota ; Dr. Harry Rimmer, Los Angeles, California; Dr. Paul S. Rees, Pastor, First Covenant Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Dr. John F. Walvoord, Dañas Theological Seminary, Dallas, Texas. In addition to the services held at the Church of the Open Door, there will also be sessions of the Conference in the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian Church, Pasadena; First Brethren Church, Long Beach, Dr. Charles W. Mayes, Pastor; and the First Baptist Church, Montebello, Dr. Woodrow Rood, Pastor. Descriptive folder listing the meet ings and subjects will be gladly mailed upon request. Signs in Heaven T HE Word of God predicted long ago that the coming of Christ would be preceded by stellar and at mospheric phenomena along with other signs relating to the Lord’s return such as the increase o f iniquity and the return of the Jews to their home land. The matter of the flying saucers, which has been both believed and ridiculed, still mystifies many. Reports of other stellar mysteries continue to infiltrate the press. For instance, a brilliant blue meteor is supposed to have zoomed its way across an eve ning Dixie sky, vanishing in Ken tucky. Then again, British scientists ad mit, in an Associated Press dispatch, that they are quite plainly puzzled by mysterious radio signals that come from outer space. One scientist admits that the problem is mystifying be cause the signals are received from a part of the sky where no large bodies are known to be. We may safely predict, on the au thority of the Word of God, that if this is God’s time for the return of His Son, increasing stellar activity will be seen. All of these signs may have a satisfactory explanation by the scientists, but this will not detract from the fact that these signs are a part of God’s warning to the world that an event of outstanding impor tance is impending. Let Christians take courage, however, for every ad ditional sign shortens the time be tween the perilous days in which we live and the catching away of God’s own to be with Him forever and for ever.
Five Years After AT the time of this writing, the / l f i f t h anniversary of the birth of the United Nations has just been ob served. On October 24, 1945, in the city of San Francisco, the charter was signed by interested nations and over the years, while there has been some blundering and some ineffectivness, there has been some concrete action and at least one demonstration of the solidarity of the member nations. How long such union can be preserved, the world statesmen hesitate to venture. Yet, if this be the time referred to in Scripture, we may confidently expect to see three things. One, the withdrawal of the Russian nations along with their satellites, to form a world group of its own, per haps including communist China, com munist India, and possibly communist Japan. Second, the strengthening of the bonds of union by the remaining mem bers of the United Nations, hastened and encouraged by the threat of the new Russian group. Third, the sudden emergence of two world figures on the respective stages of these two confederacies. On the Russian stage it will be a person who will be in every sense a complete dic tator; on the stage of the western nations, a man with unusual wisdom, political sagacity and unlimited ambi tion. This sinister figure, by a few bold strokes, will captivate the imag ination of the world and with political moves dictated by what some will call superhuman wisdom, he will swiftly bring the world to his feet. What remains ere these things can transpire? Only one great event and that is the return of Christ to the air for those who are His and the trans lation and transformation of the saints to be with Christ. With this accom plished, the entire chain of events must swiftly pass in review. These are great days in which to be living if you are a child of God. How Many Judgments? O NE of the most unscriptural no tions in the mind of the average man or woman concerns the matter of future judgment. It is presumed that if a poll were taken of general thoughts on this subject, by far the greatest majority would set forth something like this: At the end of time all men will stand before God who will open the books o f their lives, weighing carefully their evil deeds against their good works. If the good outweighs the evil, the destiny will be Heaven. If, on the other hand, the evil over-balances the good, their fate
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