742 out just so with these uninspired proph esies concerning the Second Coming of Christ which uninspired prophets are making today. We know absolutely noth ing about the Second Coming of Christ but what this Book tells us. What this Book tells us is absolutely sure. Any thing that we are not told iij this Bool# is absolutely untrustworthy. The proph esies of this Book have always proven true to the very letter up to date, and so we may safely trust that the prophesies not as yet fulfilled will be fulfilled to the letter. Some years ago, several years before the outbreak of this war or any indication of the outbreak of this war, the Christian Herald of New York sent to a number of men in this country and in England asking them what they thought about the various peace societies, peace movements and Hague conferences, ask ing them whether they thought that there ever could be another great war. One of these letters of inquiry was sent to me and I replied that I was in favor of any thing that made for peace even tempor arily, but that I knew my Bible too well to believe for one moment that there would never again be a great war, that I knew from my Bible that the greatest war of this world’s history was ahead of us. Many thought I was a fanatic for making any such assertion but here we are today. I was right because I went by the Book. Just so about the Second Coming of Christ: We know nothing about it but what God has been pleased to reveal in His Word. But the Bible tells us a great deal about the Second Coming of Christ. What the Bible tells us on this subject is plain, explicit, defin ite, full, satisfactory, gladdening and glorious. What does it tell us? I. T hat J esu s C h r ist h a s gone away FROM THIS EARTH AND IS NOT HERE AT THE PRESENT TIME IN THE PERSONAL WAY THAT HE WAS HERE ONCE, THAT IS TO SAY, HE IS AT PRESENT OUR ARSENT LORD and S aviour . «The first thing that the Bible tells us
THE K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S about the Second Coming of Christ is that J esu s C h rist ha s gone away from t h is EARTH WHERE H e ONCE WAS AND IS NOT HERE AT THE PRESENT TIME IN THE PER SONAL WAY THAT H e WAS ONCE HERE. T hat is to say , at th e present tim e H e is our absent L ord and S aviour . Shailer Matthews in his booklet, “Will Christ Come Again?” sent out by the Amer ican Institute of Sacred Literature, and which they have done everything in their power to put into the hands of every preacher in this country, begins by ask ing, “Will Christ come again?” Some say Yes, and immediately. Others say, when did He ever go away? He is present spiritually. Has He not promised to be with us even to the end of the age? These two answers are the out come of two ways of using the Bible. W h ic h is correct ? In what immedi ately follows and in his whole booklet, Shailer Matthews makes it plain that he sympathizes with the latter “way of using the Bible,” and indicates that he would like to know when Christ ever went away. How any student of the Bible even of ordinary intelligence and honesty could ask such a question it is difficult to under stand. Shailer Matthews’ question is not difficult to answer. Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself answers the question. He answers it for example in John 14:28, where He says “Ye heard how I said to you, I GO AWAY, and I come unto you. If ye loved me, ye would have rejoiced, because I go unto the Father; for the Father is greater than I.” Now if our Lord Jesus Christ meant anything by these words, and He certainly meant something for He was not a fool, He meant to say that he was going away to the Father in Heaven. So Jesus Christ Himself tells us when He went away. He went away when, after having been cruc ified and raised again, He ascended from Mount Olivet leaving this world behind and going to another world, from which some, day, as we shall see later, He is coming back again. Shailer Matthews’
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