away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). He also spoke of their present blindness: “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes” (Luke 19:42). But neither this scattering nor this blindness is permanent. “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away un godliness from Jacob” (Rom. 11:25, 26). We are told that all Israel shall be saved when the fullness of the Gentiles is come in. Now God’s present purpose is to take out from the Gentiles a people for His name (Acts 15:14). This is the Church, His Body and Bride. But after the outcalling of the Church: “After this I will return, and will build again the taber nacle of David [the kingdom of Israel], which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up” (Acts 15:16). The Lord will return, and at His Second Coming, He will build again the tabernacle of David. Nationally and spiritually, Israel shall be re stored. But we repeat, all this awaits His Coming: “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives . . . and they [Israel] shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son . . . In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the in habitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness" (Zech. 14:4; 12:10; 13:1). The Gentile nations will be evangelized at the Second Coming of Christ. As a result of Israel’s conversion, the nations of the world will be saved, and never until then. It is not the purpose of God now to convert the world, though to be sure, God wants “all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4). But before there shall be a converted world, judgment from God will have to fall: “For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9). This will take place at the Second Coming of Christ: “After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things” (Acts 15:16,17). Then “All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name” (Psa. 86:9). When Christ comes again, creation itself shall be de livered from the curse of sin. We are familiar with the record of how God pronounced a curse upon all creation as the result of Adam’s sin in the Garden of Eden: “Cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field” (Gen. 3:17, 18). But Christ bore this curse on the Cross. Before He was crucified, the Roman sol diers mocked Him: “And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head” (Mark 15:17). Unwittingly they had borne witness that the Lord was about to bear the curse of His ruined crea tion. “Because the creature [creation] itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious- liberty of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). Then “ the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose . . . And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water” (Isa. 35:1, 7). Animal creation will be restored to its original state: “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the failing together; and a little child shall lead them” (Continued on Page H ) TH E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
been all made to drink into one Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:13). Since then, each sinner who has believed the Gospel has been added by the Holy Spirit to that Body. Some day that Body, which is also the Bride of Christ (Eph. 5: 22-33), will be completed. Then “the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4:16,17). As His Bride, we shall share His glory. Already He has said to the Father: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22). When the Body is complete, and in His presence, He shall present us to Himself as His spotless Bride: “Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:25-27). Then all the voices of Heaven shall proclaim: “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). Glorious hour! May it come soon! Not only will fullest glory come for the Church, but for the Old Testament saints as well. John the Baptist was a typical Old Testament saint, having passed from this scene before the Church began. He said: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled” (John 3:29). The above mentioned things: (1) the redemption of our bodies, (2) rewards to believers, and (3) glory for the Church, will take place at the Rapture, when the Lord will come for His saints. - But the greatest joy of that hour will not be having our redeemed bodies, or our rewards, or our glory, but looking upon the blessed face of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Forever, we shall praise and adore Him, “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” Now let us notice what shall occur at the Revelation, when the Lord will dome with His saints. Israel, as a nation, will be restored to their land and into covenant relation with God. Because Israel rejected Christ at His first coming, they were scattered among all nations, and spiritually blinded. Our Lord said: “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led
So L ittle and S o M u ch In that I have so greatly (ailed Thee, Lord, Have grace! And in Thy outer courts deny me not A place! So little of fair work for Thee have I To show; So much of what I might have done, I did not do. Ye t Thou hast seen in me at times the will For good. Although so oft I did not do all that I would. Thou knowest me through and through, and yet Thou canst. Forgive. Only in hope of Thy redeeming grace I live. —JOHN OXENHAM (Used by permission)
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