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a g reat mystery kep t secret, un til th e apostle P au l was called to make it known, as 1 Cor. 15:51, 52 abundantly proves. And th is is doubtless why P aul in 1 Thess. 4:15 makes such a sta te ment, “F o r th is we say unto you BY THE WORD OF THE LORD.” I t was a p a rt of those g reat and abundan t rev elations made known unto him as unto r.one o th er (2 Cor. 1 2 :7 ). “When Christ shall appear, then shall we also appear WITH HIM in glory,” said P aul to th e Colossians (c. 3 :4 ). T h at is, when He “appears th e second tim e w ithout sin unto salvation” (Heb. 9 :2 8 ), then God will bring even th e sleeping saints back WITH Him (1 Thess. 4 :1 4 ). And th u s th e living saints a t th e present tim e are to look for these tw o ' distinct comings of our Lord, according to T itus 2:13. “T h at blessed hope” doubtless refers to the coming o f ' Jesus FOR us, while “ the appearing of the g reat God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” refers to His coming WITH us. But let us remember th a t while we shall appear WITH Him in “th a t great and dreadful day of the Lord,” some tim e between “ the ra p tu re ” and His revelfation from heaven, we m ust all appear BEFORE Him, at His judgm ent seat, th a t we may receive th e things done in our body, according- to th a t we have done, w hether it be good or bad (2 Cor. 5 :1 0 ). F o r every one of us must give account of HIMSELF to God (Rom. 1 4 :12 ). Therefore, while we “ look for the MERCY of our Lord Jesus Christ unto etern al life,” (Jud e 21 ), let us ever bear in mind, th a t “ th e Lord shall JUDGE His people (Heb. 1 0 :3 0 ), and th a t while we now “ draw n ear unto a th rone of Grace, th a t we may obtain MERCY,” yet th e Lord “ h ath prepared His throne for JUDGMENT” (Ps. 9 :7 ), and before th a t thron,e all th e saints m ust be made manifest.
Tke Modem Arena
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By W ni. J. Bryan
HE Christians of to-day who believe in . th e Bible as it has been in terp reted for centuries may find it worth while to in quire into the effect of some
of th e th ing s th a t are ta u g h t in these days by those who call themselves scien tists. Christianity has no reason to fear any fac t th a t science can discover, because tru th s never conflict. Chris tia n ity has no reason to fear any scien tific theory supported by facts. Chris tia n ity is no t opposed to science; it wel comes ligh t from every source and it appreciates th e real work done by science. Science is classified know ledge; and knowledge is power. When science builds upon facts it is invincible. Science has given us remedies for dis eases— remedies for yellow fever and typhoid fever recently,—b u t it is bu ilt upon facts; science has given us rules for th e use of electricity, steam , w ater and gas, b u t it is bu ilt upon facts; science has improved agriculture, in du stry and commerce, bu t it is bu ilt up on facts. It is scientific guessing, unsup po rted by facts, th a t Christianity re jects; it is th e guessing of so-called scientists th a t is to-day a menace to Christianity and civilization. Our civilization to-day needs some th ing more th an cold intellectuality; it needs th e w arm th of love and th e sp irit of brotherhood. It behooves our church es, therefore, to inquire into th e irreli gious influence exercised by those who are attem pting to sub stitu te th e guesses of so-called scientists for the words of God and His Son, and for th e teachings of th e prophets and th e apostles. If th e rig h t of these professors to destroy th e faith of the children en tru sted to them is questioned they invoke freedom
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