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rew ards, and a t th e same tim e they are supplemented by w arnings of irre p ar able loss if we fall short. No child of God should re st content w ith b are sal vation, saved so as from fire, b u t should aspire afte r an abund an t entrance into th e everlasting kingdom and cherish a holy ambition to win and wear a crown. Am. This la s t distinction w ill en able u s also to sep arate between th e judgm en t of th e believer’s works, th e judgm en t of th e living n ation s an d th e judgm en t of th e raised dead. Believers are not judged as sons bu t judged as servants before th e Bema of Christ in th e air a t th e second coming of th e Lord. The Judgm en t of th e living nations takes place in th e valley of Jeho saphat a t th e base of the Mount of Olives and is described in Matthew 25. Its basis is not evangelical, since th e decrees of th e judge are determ ined by th e doing or no t doing of the ' so- called sheep and goats. The judgm ent of the g reat white th ron e in Rev. 20 is th e gathering of the ungodly dead of all th e ages, th e ir condemnation from the opened books of life, and th e ir con signm ent to th e lake of fire. v m . T here is a difference in both tim e an d ch a racter between th e re su r rection of th e righ teou s and th e re su r rection of th e wicked. John in Rev. 20 and P aul in 1 Cor. 15 teach th e same th ing concerning these two events. A peculiar word is used of th e resu rre ct ion of the ju st. It is formed by com pounding th e ordinary word for resu r rection w ith the proposition “ from ” or “ ou t of,” and it m ight be literally expressed by the phrase “ th e out-resur-. rection from among th e dead” imply ing th a t a selected company are taken ou t from among a larg er company. This explains th a t beatitude, “ Blessed and holy is he th a t h ath p a rt in th e first resu rrection .” The two events are sep ara ted by an interval of one thousand years. The resu rrection of th e ju s t is unto life, while th a t of the u n ju st is unto shame and everlasting contem pt.1
IX. We m u st n o t only sep arate th e two advents of Christ b u t th e two stages of each advent. There are two distinct comings in th e first advent-__ His coming fo rth from Bethlehem (Micah 5 :2 ) and th e coming to Je ru salem (Zech. 9 :9 )— w ith an interval between them . There are two d istinct stages also in the second advent,— the rap tu re when th e raised and tran slated saints meet th e Lord in the air, and the revelation when He comes in th e clouds of heaven to tak e vengeance on His enemies. The word “P arou sia” is used to describe the former, to which 1 Thes- salonians is devoted and the words “Apocalypse” and “Epiphany” to indi cate th e la tte r, which seems to be set fo rth in 2 Thessalonians. The rap tu re is secret, sudden and impending. The revelation is visible and vindica tory. It is necessary to keep these ch aracteristics in m ind in order to know which event is referred to in many passages of Scripture. X. S crip tu re always distinguishes between th e Jew and Gentile. The en tire hum an race is divided into Jews and Gentiles, the church being an elect company taken out of both. The Old T estam ent is occupied w ith th e Jew and the Gentile; the New T estam ent is concerned chiefly, though n o t exclu sively, w ith the church. Both Jews and Gentiles, when born of th e Spirit, cease to be Jews or Gentiles as to th e ir stand ing, hopes or destinies and become members of the body o f Christ. P ro phecy deals largely w ith the Jew and the Gentile and w ith th e course of earth ly history, involving the times and the seasons which God h ath pu t in His own power. XI. — The Church and th e kingdom a re never to be identified. The church is a company of believers united to a living Man in glory. The kingdom is a form of government ruled over by a king. The kingdom of Christ on earth is th a t form of government which
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