Life On The Highest Plane
Our Lord's Return - Attitude
Is the time for the fulfillment of the Christian's hope drawing near? Is the Lord's return near at hand? We are told explicitly in Scripture that we know neither the day nor the hour that our Lord will come. Then of course, it is impossible to fix a date for this glorious event. Yet some, attempting to do this, have brought great discredit upon this precious truth.
Matthew 25:13, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
Yet our Lord Himself in His great prophetic address in the last week of His earthly life stated that there would be signs that would indicate the approach of His return in power and glory and He exhorted His disciples to watch for such signs.
Luke 21:25-28, "And there shall be sign in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; ... Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth for the powers of heaven shall be shaken ... And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ... And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."
The Bible unfolds the divine program in the carrying out of God's eternal purpose in Christ. It is divided into definite cycles. There are certain signs which will precede the consummation of the cycle or "age" we are now in and the Spirit-taught Christian will be able to discern these "signs of the times." Today, "the children of light" see in the conditions prevailing both in the world and in the Church a marvelous fulfillment of prophetic truth regarding "the last days" of this age and they believe it indicates the approach of the Lord from glory.
1 Thess. 5:4-6, "But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief ... Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. ... Therefore let us not sleep as others; but let us watch and be sober."
In the limited scope of this study we can mention only four signs which Scripture says will immediately precede "the day of the Lord" and indicate its approach.
Matthew 24:31-33, "And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other ... Now learn a parable of the fig tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know the summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see these things know that it is near, even at the doors."
The prophecies of God if they relate to the fulfillment of His divine purposes on earth center in the Jewish race and in the land of Palestine. Repeatedly He says that this people, who have been scattered among all peoples and have lived as exiles for two thousand years, are to be gathered out from all the nations and restored to their own land. As the prophecy that God would take them from their land was fulfilled literally so will the prophecies that he will return them to their land and give it to them as an everlasting possession be as literally fulfilled.
Israel is typified by the fig tree. For centuries she has been withered, dead, fruitless nationally. Yet the Jewish race has been divinely preserved as a distinct people and has never been absorbed by the nations among whom it has been scattered.
But in the last few years there has been marked evidence of new national life in Israel. Through the Zionist Movement which has as its purpose the restoration of Israel to Palestine, through the action of the Allies since the World War in committing themselves to the return of Palestine to the Jews, the fig tree is again putting forth leaves.
"Since General Allenby entered Jerusalem on that never to be forgotten day December 9, 1918, the fig tree has been putting 'forth leaves' with amazing rapidity. Over 55,000 Jews have returned to Palestine since the Balfour Declaration. The population has more than doubled during the five years of Sir Herbert Samuel's Commissionship. A Hebrew University on Mount Scopus was opened on April 1, 1925. Trade has flourished and the revenue shows a surplus of one and a quarter millions. The sacred custom of going up to the passover was observed in the spring of 1922 for the first time in nearly 2,000 years. The Sanhedrin has been revived. Schools have been established. A shipping company has been formed by wealthy American Jews for the purpose of carrying Jews back to Palestine." (Signs of Christ's Coming, by E. E. Hotchell)
Matthew 24:33, "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors."
Luke 21:24, "And they shall fall by the edge of he sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled."
Perhaps no sign is more significant than this one. In the recent World War a prophetic prediction became an historical fact. Christ had said that the liberation of Jerusalem from Gentile overlordship would not take place "until" a certain time and then stated what that time would be. "The times of the Gentiles" refers to the period from the captivity of Judah under Nebuchadnezzar and the dispersion of Israel from her land until the setting up of the Kingdom by the return of the King and His reestablishment of His chosen people in the land He gave them. Jerusalem has been emancipated and is today virtually in the control of the Jews. Then may we not confidently believe that "the times of the Gentiles" are at least nearing fulfillment and the coming of the Lord draweth neigh?
Luke 21: 25, 26, "Upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity: ... Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth."
~Ruth Paxson~
(continued with # 9)
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