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man fell, he made for himself aprons of fig leaves. Now God took those aprons away, and gave him a cover ing of His own making. Into the fig leaf aprons God did not put one stitch; it was all the work of man. Into the coats of skins man did not put one stitch; it was all the work of God. Moreover, before Adam and Eve could be clothed with skins, the fig leaf aprons, the work of their own hands, had to be taken away. They had to be willing to exchange their aprons for the garments of God’s pro vision. MEANING OF LORD'S RETURN Q. In what way does the coming of the Lord affect us now? A. It is sanctifying truth. It grips the soul and changes the life. It converts idle Christians into zealous soul-win ners. The thought that, at any mo ment, the church may be caught away to be with Christ, makes the child of God want to be ready for His coming. The desire to snatch sin ners as brands from the burning be fore it is too late makes one go out into the highways and byways to win men and women and boys and girls to Christ. It leads to personal evangelism in its purest, most aposto lic form. No truth causes a man to hold so loosely to the things of time as does this doctrine. “ Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (I John 3:3). “ And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed be fore him at his coming” (I John 2: 28). “Behold, I come quickly,” the risen Lord is saying to us today. My friend, can you pray from an eager heart the last prayer recorded in the Word of God, uttered in response to this promise of the glorified Christ? It is the prayer of all “who love his appearing” : “Even so, come, Lord Jesus” (Rev. 22:20).
and the angels announced the birth of the promised One. It was this lamp that lighted up the sin of man’s failure, and dispelled the darkness. Listen to the very first promise of this coming Redeemer; it was uttered when God spoke to the serpent, say ing: “ I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed, he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (Gen. .3:15, R.V.). Thus began the great line of Messianic promise which runs like a scarlet thread throughout the whole of the Old Testament. In t h i s marvelous statement several things need to be noted carefully: 1. The promised Redeemer was to be “the seed of woman”—not of man. This is the first intimation that the Saviour would have a human mother, but not a human father. 2. The seed of woman was to “ bruise” the serpent’s “head.” Now the head speaks of government, and the bruising of the head is prophetic of the overthrow of Satan’s kingdom and the liberation of his captives. 3. “ The heel” of the seed of wo man was to be bruised, prophetic of the Redeemer’s death. The heel is a part of the physical body; and in His death the hands and feet of the Sa viour were pierced, even as the proph ecy foretold. The provision of a robe of righteous ness on the basis of the death of the Saviour, “ the seed of woman,” is next suggested; for in Genesis 3:21 we read: “Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them.” How sug gestive this is! The coats of skins could be had only on the basis of a death. To take the skin from an ani mal is first to destroy the life. Here also is a prophetic picture—that on the basis of a death, the death of the Son of God, man would be clothed in a garment of righteousness that would fit him for the presence of a holy God. We have seen that when
THE 144,000 Q. Who are the 144,000 of Revelation 7? A. I believe that every cult in the country at one time or another has claimed these to be their followers, but only until their membership exceeded that number. However, I note that some of them now call their top-notch, well-paid leaders the 144,- 000, while the other cult members are designated in some other way. These interpretations indicate how men will resort to fancy and fable when dealing with the Word of God. If people would only accord to the Bible the fair treatment they do to other books, and believe that it means literally what it says (unless it is explained as figurative language) they would stay out of trouble and confusion. There would not be all of these disagreements. The 144,000 are Jews. The tribes are definitely named, 12,000 from each tribe. I believe these are the Jews who during the tribulation will be converted and will become mis sionaries and doubtless martyrs for the faith. They will then proclaim the gospel which they failed to pro claim from the time of the calling of Abraham to the present time. They will one day acknowledge Christ as their Messiah and Saviour. PROPHECIES OF CHRIST'S COMING Q.Was Christ’ s coming into the world, to save man predicted before the angel spoke of His birth to Mary? When was this first mentioned in the Bible? A. Very soon after the fall of man, God promised a Redeemer. Into the scene of man’s failure and sin God came with the lamp of promise—the promise of a Saviour. This lamp burned brighter and brighter all through the Old Testament days, until the Star of Bethlehem appeared
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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