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HEN once we get a proper focus on the Bible testimony regarding the Coming of the Lord, our vision of the entire subject becomes clarified; and the earnest student of Revelation realizes that no other Bible theme is fraught with such tremendous and vital import as that of the Second Coming of the Savior. In his wonderful revelation, St. John, the beloved disciple, was given a glimpse of future events, and in marvelous vision was borne across this dispensation with the powers of evil still in control. He saw its changing scenes of church and State, and witnessed the final culmination. He saw a great change take place on earth-Satan bound, the forces of evil overthrown, and Christ and the saints reigning in glorious triumph. He saw the world of mankind liberated from the prison-house of death, and returned to their home in Eden-Paradise restored. No wonder that as the beloved St. John beheld this blessed vision of the world's future he cried out of the very depths of his soul: "Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus!"-Rev. 22:20.

As one of the Twelve who walked with Jesus while on earth, St. John remembered the prayer which our Savior taught His followers, "Thy Kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as in Heaven." The Apostle well knew that there could be no more sure guarantee of the lifting of the curse from the earth and of the restoration of humanity than in this promise of the Kingdom at the Second Coming of our Lord.

Joy for All in the Morning.

As has been previously pointed out in these pages, the Bible teaches that the great Divine Plan of the Ages was instituted before the foundation of the world, for the purpose of ultimately delivering the race from sin and death; and that our Lord's return marks the fulfillment of that great design. "Weeping may endure for a Night, but joy cometh in the Morning." (Psalm 30:5.) We believe the careful, earnest student of Scripture will more and more realize the truthfulness and the validity of this teaching as he considers the combined testimony of the Bible on this subject.

In this connection let the reader consider a text which is generally ignored, except by Universalists; for. although the writer of this article is not a Universalist, he claims the right to believe and rejoice in every testimony of God's Word. It reads, "We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of ALL MEN, especially of those who believe." (I Tim. 4:10.) God will save all men, but will not especially ("to the uttermost") save any except those who come to Him through Christ. God's salvation of all men is not such as will conflict with their freedom of will or their liberty of choice, to give them life or death against their wills. "I have set before you this day life and death, blessing and cursing; CHOOSE life, that ye may live."-Deut. 30:19, 20.

Simeon contrasted these two salvations, saying, "Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation . . . A LIGHT TO

LIGHTEN THE GENTILES, and THE GLORY OF THY PEOPLE, ISRAEL (ites indeed.) (Luke 2:28-32.) This is in harmony with the Apostle's declaration that Jesus Christ, the Mediator, gave Himself a Ransom for all, to be testified to all in "DUE TIME." (1 Tim. 2:5, 6.) This is that which shall come to all mankind, regardless of faith or will on their part. This good tidings of a Savior shall be to all people (Luke 2:10, 11); but the complete eternal salvation from sin and death will come only to His people (Matt. 1-21)-those who believe into Him; for we read that the wrath of God continues to abide on the unbeliever. John 3:36.

We see, then, that the general salvation which shall come to every individual consists of light from the True Light, and of an opportunity to choose life; and that since the great majority of the race is in the tomb, it will be necessary to bring them forth from the grave in order to testify to them the good tidings of a Savior. We also see that the special salvation which believers now enjoy in hope (Rom. 8:24) and the reality of which will be revealed in the Millennial Age to those who "believe in that Day," is a full release from the thralldom of sin and the corruption of death, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.Rom. 8-19-21.

But attainment of all these blessings will depend upon hearty compliance with the Laws of Christ's Kingdomthe rapidity of attainment to perfection indicating the degree of love for the King and His Law of Love. If any who have been enlightened by the Truth, brought to a knowledge of the Love of God, and restored—either actually or reckonedly-to human perfection, become fearful and draw back (Heb. 10:38, 39), they with the unbelievers will be destroyed from amongst the people. (Rev. 21:18; Acts 3:23.) This is the Second Death.

Resurrection of Israel.

St. Peter tells us that this Restitution is "spoken by the mouth of all the

holy Prophets." (Acts 3:19-21.) All the Prophets of Israel teach it. Ezekiel says of the Valley of Dry Bones, "These bones are the whole house of Israel." God says to Israel, "Behold, O My People, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and will bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the Lord when I . . . shall put My Spirit into you and shall place you in your own land; then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it and performed it, saith the Lord."-Exek. 37:11-14.

To this agree the words of St. Pa (Rom. 11:25, 26), "Blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentiles (the elect company, the Bride of Christ) be come in; and so all Israel shall be saved," or brought back from their cast off condition; for "God hath not cast off His people which He foreknew." (Rom. 11:2.) They were cast off from His favor while the Bride of Christ was being selected, but will be reinstated when that work is accomplished. (Verses 28-33.) The prophecies are full of statements of how God will plant the Israelites again and they shall be no more plucked up. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel . . . I will set Mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land; and I will build them and not pull them down, and I will plant them and not pluck them up. And I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God; for they shall return unto Me with their whole heart." (Jer. 24:5-7; 31:28; 32-40: 33:6-16.) These promises cannot refer merely to restorations from former captivities in Babylon, Syria. etc.; for the Jews have been plucked. up since those experiences.

Individual Responsibility for Sin.

Furthermore, the Lord says. "In those days and at that time they shall no more say, Thy fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge. But every one (who dies) shall die for his own iniquity."

(Jer. 31:29, 30.) This is not the case now. Each one who dies does not now die for his own sin, but for Adam's sin. "In Adam all die." He ate the sour grape of sin, and our fathers continued to eat it, thus entailing further sickness and misery upon their children, and hastening the penalty-death. The Day in which "every man (who dies) shall die for his own iniquity" only is the Millennial or Restitution Day.

Though many of the prophecies and the promises of the future blessing seem to apply to Israel alone, it must be remembered that they were a typical people; and that hence the promises made to them, while sometimes having a special application to that nation, have also a wider application to the whole world of mankind, the priesthood typified the "little flock," the Head and the Body of The Christ-the "Royal Priesthood"; and the sacrifices, cleansings and real atonement "for the sin of the whole world, of which Israel is a part.

Moreover, God names other nations and promises their restoration. As a forcible illustration, we mention the Sodomites. Surely if we shall find the Restitution of the Sodomites clearly taught in the Scriptures, we may be satisfied of the truth of this glorious doctrine of Restitution for all mankind," spoken by the mouth of all the holy Prophets." And why should the Sodomites not have an opportunity to reach perfection and everlasting life, as well as should Israel or any of us? True, they were not religious; but neither was Israel, nor were we who now hear the Gospel. "There is none righteous, no, not one." aside from the imputed righteousness of Christ, who died for all. Our Lord's own words tell us that although God rained down. fire from heaven and destroyed them all because of their wickeness. yet the Sodomites were not so great sinners in His sight as were the Jews, who had more knowledge. (Gen. 19:24; Luke 17:29.) Unto the Jews of Capernaum He said, "If the mighty works which have been done in thee had been done

in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."-Matt. 11:23, 24.

Sodomites to Be Restored.

Thus our Lord teaches that the Sodomites did not have a full opportunity; and He guarantees them such an opportunity when He adds, "But I say unto you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the Day of Judgment than for thee." The character of the Judgment Day and its work will be taken up in a succeeding article. article. Here we merely call attention to the fact that it will be a tolerable time for Capernaum, and yet MORE TOLERABLE for Sodom; for though neither people had as yet full knowledge nor all the blessings designed to come to mankind through the SEED of Abraham, yet Capernaum had sinned against more light.

If Capernaum and all Israel are to be remembered and blessed under Israel's New Covenant, sealed by the blood of Jesus; why should not the Sodomites also be blessed amongst "all the families of the earth"? Assuredly they should be! And be it remembered that since God "rained down fire from heaven and destroyed them all." many centuries before Jesus' day, when their restoration is spoken of, it implies their awakening, their coming from the tomb.

Let us now examine carefully Ezekiel 16:48-63. God here speaks of Israel and compares her with their neighbor Samaria and also with the Sodomites, of whom He says. "I took them away as I saw good." Neither our Lord Jesus nor the Prophet offers any explanation of the seeming inequality of God's dealings in destroying Sodom, but permitting others more guilty than Sodom to go unpunished. This will be made clear when in due time His great designs are made manifest. The Prophet simply states that God "saw good" to do so; and our Lord adds that in the Judgment Day it will be more tolerable for them than for others more guilty.

Under the supposition that death ends all probation and that thereafter.

none may have opportunity to come to a knowledge of the Truth and to obey it, we may well inquire, Why did God see good to take those people without giving them a chance for salvation through the knowledge of the Only Name whereby they may be saved? The answer is, Their due time had not yet come. In due time they will be awakened from death and brought to a knowledge of the Truth, and thus blessed together with "all the families of the earth." They will then be on trial for life everlasting.

Let us examine the prophecy still further. After comparing Israel with Sodom and Samaria and after pronouncing Israel the most blameworthy, the Lord says: "When I shall bring again their captivity, the captivity of Sodom and her daughters, and the captivity of Samaria and her daughters. then will I bring again the captivity of thy captives in the midst of them." The captivity here referred to can be none other than captivity in death; for those mentioned were then dead. In death all are captives; and Christ comes to open the doors of the grave. (Isa. 61:1; Zech. 9:11.) In Verse 55 this is called a "return to their former estate❞—a Restitution.

Some, who are willing enough to accept of God's mercy through Christ in the forgiveness of their own trespasses and weaknesses under greater light and knowledge, cannot conceive of the same favor as applicable to others under the New Covenant, though they seem to admit the Apostle's statement that Jesus Christ tasted death for EVERY MAN. (Heb. 2:9.) Some of these suggest that in this prophecy God must be speaking ironically to the Jews, implying that He would just as willingly bring back the Sodomites as them, but had no intention of restoring either. Verses 60-63 refute this thought; for when a promise is signed. by a "THUS SAITH THE LORD GOD." all who have set to their seal that God is true may rejoice in its certainty especially those who realize that these New Covenant blessings have been confirmed of God in Christ.

"All Israel Shall Be Saved"

To this St. Paul adds his testimony, saying, "And so all Israel (living and dead) shall be saved (recovered from blindness); as it is written, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is My covenant unto them when I shall take away their sins. . . They are beloved for the fathers' sakes; because the gifts and calling of God are without repentance." -Rom. 11:26-29.

We need not wonder that Jews, Sodomites, Samaritans, and all mankind. will be ashamed and confouned when in His own due time God shows forth the riches of His grace. Yea, many of those who now are God's children will be amazed when they see how God so loved the world and how far His thoughts and plans were above their

own.

Christian people generally believe that God's blessings are only for the selected Church. But now we begin to see that God's Plan is wider than we had supposed; and that although He has given the Church "exceeding great and precious promises," He has also made bountiful provision for the world. which He so loved as to redeem. The Jews made a similar mistake in supposing that all of God's promises were for them alone. But when the due time came, and the Gentiles were favored, the remnant of Israel-those whose hearts were large enough to rejoice in this wider evidence of God's graceshared that increased favor, while the rest were blinded by prejudice and human tradition. Let those of the Church who now see the dawning light of the Millennial Age, with its gracious advantages for all the world, take heed lest they be found in opposition to the advancing light, and so for a time be blinded to its glory and blessings. God's Plans Contrasted with Creeds.

How different is this glorious Plan of God-the selection of a few now in order to the blessing of the many hereafter-from the distortions of these truths as presented by the opposing

views of Calvinism and Arminianism! The former both denies the Bible doctrine of Free Grace and miserably distorts the glorious doctrine of Election by claiming that God could never have purposed to save any but a few-the Church; and that He elected and foreordained these to be eternally saved, but all others to go to eternal torment. Arminianism both denies the doctrine of election and fails to comprehend the blessed fulness of God's Free Grace, in denying that God has the power to bring to pass His loving designs for the blessing of all.

While the doctrines of Election and Free Grace, as taught by Calvinism

and Arminianism, could never be harmonized with reason or with the Bible, yet those two glorious doctrines are perfectly harmonious and beautiful, seen from the viewpoint of the Plan of the Ages.

Seeing, then, that so many of the glorious features of God's Plan for human salvation from sin and death lie in the future, and that the Second Advent of our Lord Jesus is the designed step in the accomplishment of those long promised blessings, shall we not even more earnestly yearn for the time of His Second Advent than the less informed Jew looked for and longed for the First Advent?