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in the redemption of Christ on the cross, also singing, “Worthy i§ the Lamb that hath been slain.” While the angels had no part in the atonement on the cross, we are told distinctly that they are greatly interested in it (1 Peter 1:11, 12). Will the day of grace be closed, as in Matt. 25 : 10 , at the rapture, or mil the rap ture of the Cliurch cause such a sensation that there will be a mighty revival? There is no scriptural ground for sup posing that there will be none saved after the Church is caught up. While we are not explicitly told that many will be made to think and led to repent by the disappear ance o f the Church, there is every reason to suppose that there will be. When peo ple who have been under Christian influ ences and very near accepting, Christ find that their loved ones have been -caught up to meet the Lord in the air and they them selves haye been left behind, it is difficult to see how it should not cause them to do some very deep thinking and lead .them to turn from their sins, and as there are to be those on earth after the Church is gone (i. e., during the tribulation) who are faithful and who come up out o f the great tribulation (Rev. 7:14, R. V .), these would seem to be those who are converted after the rapture o f the Church. They are saved, but are not part o f the Church, and they are blessed, but they go through the great tribulation, or at least pass into it and are saved uot o f it. They are martyred. There is absolutely no ground for saying that not one of those who are left behind when the Church is caught up will ever be saved. Furthermore, we are told in Rev. 19:19 that, “ Blessed are they that are bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Now as the Church is the bride of the Lamb, of course, the Church are not those who “gre bidden , to the marriage supper o f the Lamb,“.therefore, there must be other saved ones who, while they do not have that measure o f honor and blessing that belongs to the bride, nevertheless are blessed and are bidden to the marriage supper .of the Lamb.
tery of lawlessness at the present time, until he is taken out of the way, and only then shall “the lawless one” be revealed. We are not told who this restraining one is, but the most natural supposition is that it is the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit cannot be taken out o f the way until the Church is taken out o f the way, or re moved, for our Lord Jesus in giving the promise o f the Holy Spirit to His Church in John 14:16, .says expressly that when He is given, that He will abide with the Church forever, therefore when He is taken away the Church must necessarily be taken away. Furthermore, the most detailed description we have o f the last days is that found in the last book in the Bible. The Church is taken away at the beginning of the fourth 'chapter. The Church nowhere appears after that until the return o f the Lord, and the tribulation as described is Jewish. You say that the “living creatures” ("the beasts(’ in the Authorized Version) of Rev. 5:8 are the seraphim . Now if I understand aright the seraphim are a created heavenly body who have, been ordered for the office which they fill and hence have never been redeemed, while in Rev. 5:9 we hear them singing the redemption song. How do you explain this? : The answer to your question is found in the Revised Version. While it is true that “the four living creatures” are represented in Rev. 5 :8-10 as singing the redemption song, they are not represented in the best Greek text, nor in the Revised Version as being a part of those who were redeemed by the blood. The whole difficulty is with the mistranslation. ' Correctly rendered, as in the Revised Version, “ And they sing a new song! saying, Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God with thy blood men of every tribe, (not “us r” as in the Authorized Version), etc.” That is, they sing o f the redemption of others. In the 11th and 12th verses we see the angels, who o f course, had no part
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