STRONGHOLD OF TRUTH
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preached. They proclaimed the resurrection to ·prove that He was God. In obedience to their Master they pro claimed the gospel of the kingdom. But inasmuch as all men are rebels, and were not in the kingdom, they had to proclaim the gospel of pardon. This is the three-fold message of the Acts of the Apostles; Christ as the Sav iour, Christ as Lord, Christ as God. So also in regard to the Epistles, we find the same thing: Christ is all. Paul is the Apostle of faith, John is the Apostle of love, Peter is the Apostle of hope. Christ is the Redeemer, the Priest, and the :Master. So all through this great section Christ is seen in the glory of His position in the Church of the living God. VI. Christ in the glory of His Second Ooming. \Ve sometimes sing: "Jesus, my Prophet, Priest, and King." We do well to remember, however, that the Lord Jesus Christ is not yet King. He is on the right hand of His Father's throne. He has not yet taken His seat on His own throne. If we look in the Gospels, Christ is the King of the Jews, but if we look in the Acts and the Epistles, especially the latter, practically nothing is said of Christ Jesus as the King. Never once is He called the King of the Church, only the Lord. But when we go to the Apocalypse and look to the future, He is seen to be King of the Jews and King of kings. So that theologically and ~trictly it is not right to call Christ King now. He is Prophet in the past, Priest and Lord in the present, He is to be King in the future. \Ve may notice the three appearances of Christ in Heb. 9 :24, 26, 28. I know, of course, that they represent dif ferent Greek words, but the thought is certainly there. In verse 26, "He appeared to put away sin." Christ in the past. In verse 24, "Now to appear in the presence of God for us." Christ in the present. In verse 28, "Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time." Christ in the future. And the glory of that future is very prominent in the New Testament and in the Old. The first part is that He is coming for His people ( 1
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