of Christ) shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work o f what sort it is” (v. 13). And again “ If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall re ceive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (vv. 14-15). Suffering loss here does not mean losing our souls, but forfeiting rewards. Our works will pass in solemn review before the Lord and. we will be judged by the quality and the quan tity of our service for Him. Ephe sians 6:7 tells us what gives quality to our service: “With good will do ing service as to the Lord, and not to men” and Oolossians 3:23: “ And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, 'and not to men.” The expression “ as to the Lord” shows us what will produce gold, silver, and precious stones at the judgment seat of Christ. The quality o f our work depends too upon the power by which it was performed and that power should be the Holy Spirit’s. The cen ter and circumference of our work should be Christ Himself. Q. Please identify for me the four great confederacies of p r o p h e c y which will include the line-up of na tions in the last days. A. These are (1) the West, or the revived Roman Empire, headed by Antichrist; (2) Russia, controlling the confederacy of the North; (3) the East, called the “ sun-rising king dom” ; and (4) the countries south of Palestine which will form the confederacy o f the South. As the tribulation period draws to a close, the Antichrist, ruling over the west ern confederacy, will subdue the other three after which he will be destroyed at the coming of Christ to set up His Kingdom. Meantime the church will be with the Lord. THE FOUR GREAT CONFEDERAC IES
For details read Ezekiel 38, 39, Daniel, and Revelation. SETT ING DATES Q. Is there any way that we can know the exact date of Christ’s re turn? A. Absolutely not. The Lord foresaw all the speculations there would be on this subject and so He stated un equivocally in Matthew 24:36: “ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” And again just before His ascension, almost the very last words He said were: “ It is not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:7). That should settle once and for all the setting of dates for Christ’s return. Certain false systems have set such dates in years gone by, and have led people into despair and darkness when their prophets proved to be false. We have one thing to do while we wait for Christ’s return: to preach the Gospel and to lead as many people to Him as possible. THE SECOND DEATH Q. Will you please explain Revela tion 20:lh and Matthew 25:hi ? How can it be a second death if there is everlasting fire? Are the wicked an nihilated entirely? A. No. Annihilation would be ended punishment rather than endless pun ishment. Death never means cessa tion of existence, but only cessation of life, which is a different thing. God is the source of life, and the worst form of death is that spiritual death by which men are separated from Him. The duration of the pun ishment of the lost is proved to be endless by the use of the same words that are used to indicate the duration of the life of the saved: they are both aionion, translated eternal or everlasting. The same word is used also to denote the endlessness of the being and glory of God.
W A S JESUS A JEW? Q. A friend writes to ask if Jesus were really a Jew. This question, is often asked. A. Certainly He was a Jew. John 7:42 states: “ Hath not the Scrip tures said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem where David was?” In Romans 1:3 we read: . Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh” and again in II Timothy 2:8: “ Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel.” The coming o f Christ as a descendant of the Jews was predicted in II Samuel 7:12-19; Psalms 89:3-4; 34- 37; Psalms 132:11 and many other passages some of which are quoted in Acts 2:29-32 and 13:22, 23. In addition, there are the actual gene alogies of Christ given in Matthew 1 and Luke 3:23=38. Both the royal and legal lines are listed. This is one of the most easily proven facts of the Bible: that Jesus was a Jew. Of course, this was from the human standpoint. He was the co-eternal, co equal Son of God, whose deity was not affected in any way by His in carnation. “ The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” in order that He might bear our sins on Calvary and make an atonement for our sal vation. But He was God all the time as the brief glance of His glory on the Mt. of Transfiguration — as well as His mighty miracles, His baptism, His death and His resurrection — proved beyond all doubt. THE JU D GM EN T SEAT OF CH R IST Q. Just what will happen at the judgment seat of Christ? A. Read I Corinthians 3:11-15 and note that the Lord states that “every man’s work shall be made manifest; for the day (evidently the day when we appear before the judgment seat
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