143 T H E K IN G ’S B U S IN E S S For the Worker’s Library “The Coming of Christ, both Pre-Millennial and Imm inent'" B y I. M . H A L D E M A N ' P a sto r F irst B aptist C hurch, N ew Y ork City. [W e have chosen th e follow ing e x tra c t from th e second c h a p te r of D r. H ald em an ’s b o o k o j- th e above title fo r th is d e p a rtm e n t this m onth, b ecau se it p re sen ts forcibly a n d sim ply th e respective view points of th e tw o g re a t schools of in te rp re ta tio n of th e p ro p h e cies c o n ce rn in g o u r L o rd ’s re tu rn . T h e book itself is a n exhaustive stu d y of th e su b je ct from th e a u th o r’s view point a n d m erits th e carefu l re ad in g of even its sta u n ch e st op p o n en ts. It can be o b tain ed from th e Bible In stitu te Book R oom , A u d i to rium building, Los A ngeles, b o u n d in clo th (3 2 5 p a g e s ), fo r $1.00, po stp aid .__ E ditors. ] D oes it m a tte r w h e th er C h rist shall com e befo re o r a fte r th e M illennium ? Is it
It is c le ar en o u g h th a t if th e C om ing of C h rist c an n o t possibly ta k e p lace till a th o u sa n d y e a rs a fte r th e w o rld ’s co n v er sion, th en th e event as a p ra ctic a l fa ct in th e p re se n t life of th e C h ristian is of little avail a n d c an n o t a ro u se him , e ith e r to in tere st, o r en th u siasm ; c ertain ly it w ill n o t be a go v ern in g fa c to r in his daily life, he w ill n o t feel him self u n d e r o b ligation to say m uch a b o u t it; a n d if a p re ac h er, it will occu p y b u t a very sm all p lace in his con versation, his preach in g s, o r in his te a c h ing. H ow ever w on d erfu l a n d glorious it m ay be considered in itself a s th e display of th e p e rso n an d g lory of th e Son of G od; how ev er m uch it m ay be th e ju sti fication a n d em phasis of all H is p recio u s claim s, it is a lto g e th e r too fa r in th e b a ck g ro u n d of th e p ic tu re to centralize o u r a t ten tio n o r m ove us beyond th e g en eral a c c ep ta n ce of th e fact. If, o n th e c o n tra ry , th e L o rd is com in g befo re th e M illennium ; if H is co n tin u e d a b sen ce .m eans th e d eepening of th e sp iritu a l n ig h t a ro u n d u s; if th e gloom can be dissipated only b y H is com ing; if it be a t all possible to h asten th a t com in g a n d drive aw ay th a t n ig h t; if n o th in g in th e w ay of p re d ic te d events has been a ctu ally p laced betw een us a n d th a t com ing; if th e L o rd h a s com m anded us to look, to w atch a n d b e re ad y in a n y h o u r fo r H im self; if it is tru e th a t we m ig h t m eet H im a t a n y tim e in a n y tu rn of th e ro ad a n d h e a r H is voice in th e m idst of daily duties done o r undone,
som e th in g w holly u n im p o rta n t? Is it so u n im p o rta n t th a t w e n eed spend b u t little tim e in its discussion? Is its discussion p u re ly a se co n d ary m atter? T o adm it th is is to a dm it th a t th e com in g itself is eq ually u n im p o rta n t. T h e im p o rta n c e th en of th e issue raised, w h e th er th e com ing of C h rist is before o r a fte r th e M illinnium , m ust tu rn in th e last analysis u p o n th e d e te rm in a tio n ; a n d th a t d e te r m ination is to be re ac h ed by a C onsidera tio n of th e p lace w hich th e Second C om in g of o u r L ord holds in sacred S crip tu re. T o adm it, as it m ust b e adm itted, th a t th e Second C om ing of o u r L o rd Jesus has su ch a pre-em in en ce in H oly S crip tu re, th a t a s to sta tem en t it easily o u tran k s a n y o th e r su b ject in th e w hole scale an d schem e of revelation, a n d th e n to say th a t it is a m a tte r w holly u n im p o rta n t an d o u g h t n o t to en g ag e th e serio u s a tte n tio n of th e devout stu d e n t of th e W ord, is to be guilty of th e m ost lim itless illogic. If, o n th e c o n tra ry , th e very p rom i n e n ce of th e them e classifies it a s of su p rem e im p o rtan ce, th e n th e d eterm in atio n of its n e arn e ss o r rem oteness is a m a tte r of e q u al im port. H ow fa r th is n e arn e ss o r rem oteness is im p o rta n t m ay be seen in th e effect p ro du ced by e ith e r conclusion u p o n th eir respective advocate*. •Copyright, 180», by I. M. Haldeman.
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