King's Business - 1958-10

TALBOT

what is the blessed hope? Is that the hope of salvation? A. We get that expression from Paul’s words in Titus 2:13: “ Look­ ing for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.” As the word blessed means “happy,” this event should be looked upon as the most joyous thing that can ever occur. It was the great incentive to the early church. Paul, in writing to the Thessalonians said, “ Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait for his Son from heaven.” After describing the details of this bles­ sed hope in 1 Thessalonians 4:13- 18, Paul also states: “Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” It was this hope that comforted the early Christians and carried them through the terrible trials and persecutions and martyrdoms they endured. It is of great concern to me that the imminent, personal, visible return of Christ is not such a source of comfort to many Chris­ tians today, and that some of the Bible teachers who should know better are confusing this teaching which was so clear to the early church and so clearly taught by Paul and the other writers of the New Testament. The blessed hope is the incentive to faithful, untiring labors for Christ. Nothing will so inspire us to get the task finished as the pros­ pect of His near return. Nothing will so spur us on to holy living. John in his first epistle wrote: “ Be­ loved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that,

The 144,000 Q. Who are the 144,000 of Revela­ tion 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 missionaries and doubtless martyrs for the faith. They will then pro­ claim the gospel which they failed to proclaim from the time of the calling of Abraham to the present time. They will one day acknowl­ edge Christ as their Messiah and Saviour. The Blessed Hope Q. Recently I saw a church letter­ head containing this statement of their creed: “We believe in the blood, the book, and the blessed hope.” Now I suppose the. blood refers to the crucifixion, and no doubt the book is the Bible, but

when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure.” What greater thrill than to know that any mo­ ment we may see face to face our blessed Lord “whom having not yet seen, we love” ? It is a blessed hope. Date of Second Coming Q. Is there any way we can know the exact date of Christ’s return? A. That question is asked very frequently. I am very glad that we can give a clear and definite answer on this subject which has caused much confusion among God’s peo­ ple. The Lord foresaw this and stated unequivocally in Matthew 24:36: “ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the an­ gels of heaven but my Father only.” This is one of God’s secrets into which we have no right to pry. Various cults have set dates for the Lord’s return and brought confu­ sion and disappointment and heart­ break to the children of God, and embarrassment and disgrace to themselves. It is this very uncer­ tainty that keeps us watching and waiting and working. I think of the words in Mark 13: 35, 36: “Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming sud­ denly he find you sleeping.” It seems after every great world event, such as the late world war, a new crop of date-setters come along to mix up people and bring the true teaching of the Lord’s coming into disrepute.

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