{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26643/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26643","id":"gutenberg_26643","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26643","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jesus Christ -- Person and offices","Messiah -- Prophecies"],"text":"Produced by Carl D. DuBois\n\n\n\n\nTHE\n\nWORK OF CHRIST\n\nPAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE\n\nBY\n\nA. C. GAEBELEIN\n\nEditor of \"Our Hope\"\n\nPrice 50 Cents Postpaid\n\n\nPUBLICATION OFFICE \"OUR HOPE\"\n\n456 FOURTH AVENUE\n\nNEW YORK CITY\n\nPICKERING & INGLIS\n\nGLASGOW, SCOTLAND\n\n\nCOPYRIGHT, A. C. GAEBELEIN, 1913\n\nPrinted by\n\nFRANCIS EMORY FITCH, INC.\n\n47 Broad Street\n\nNew York\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\nThe Work of Christ......\n\nHis Past Work...........\n\nHis Present Work........\n\nHis Future Work.........\n\n\n\nTHE WORK OF CHRIST\n\nTHE Word of God reveals, that all things were created by and for the Son\nof God. \"All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything\nmade that was made\" (John i:3). \"For by Him were all things created that\nare in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether\nthey be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things\nwere created by Him and for Him\" (Col. i:16). When this perfect creation\nwas ruined by the entrance of sin, when man fell and all creation on\naccount of that fall was brought into the bondage of corruption, the\nwork of redemption became a necessity. No creature of God was fitted or\nfit to do this. Only the Son of God, the Creator Himself, could\nundertake this mighty work and accomplish it to the Praise and Glory of\nGod. To do this great work, He had to appear on this earth in the form\nof man.\n\nA Threefold Aspect.\n\nThis work of the Son of God has a threefold aspect. It is a past work, a\npresent work, and beyond the present, there is His future work. His work\nand service will terminate when He delivers up the kingdom, so that God\nwill be all in all (1 Cor. xv:24-28). This threefold aspect of His work\ncorresponds to His threefold office as Prophet, Priest and King. It has\na special meaning for the church. In Ephesians v:25-27, we read of this.\nHe loved the church and gave Himself for it; this is His past work.\nSince then He is sanctifying the church by the washing of water by the\nWord, and in the future He will present it to Himself, a glorious\nchurch. In virtue of this threefold work of our Lord, believers are\nsaved, are being saved, and will be saved. This threefold work has also\na significance for the people Israel. When He came and went to the\ncross, \"He died for that nation\" (John xi:42). During the present age\nHis earthly people are not cast away; their miraculous preservation on\nearth, their continued, separate existence is due to Himself. In the\nfuture when He appears as their Redeemer and claims the purchased\npossession, He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And to this we\nmight also add the relation of His work to creation itself, the nations\nof the earth, and to Satan and his rule.\n\nThese brief remarks show the importance of distinguishing between this\nthreefold aspect of His work. A Christian who is ignorant of it must be\nconfused in his conception of the truth. He is unable to understand the\nWord of God, and is unsettled, and even miserable in his Christian\nexperience. Such, alas! is the present condition of a large number of\nprofessing Christians. Many are ignorant of what the finished work of\nChrist on the cross means. On account of this ignorance, they are ever\ntrying to do what God has done for them. How many more are at sea about\ntheir position in Christ, and know next to nothing of the priestly work\nof Christ. The confusion is the greatest in respect to His future work\nas King. Our theme is therefore an important one. But even God's people,\nwho in a measure have laid hold of these truths, need constantly to be\nreminded of it and need to have all this through the Spirit's power, as\na greater reality in their lives.\n\n\n\nI.\n\nHIS PAST WORK.\n\nHis past work was accomplished by Him when he became incarnate. It was\nfinished when He died on Calvary's cross. We have therefore to consider\nfirst of all these fundamentals of our faith.\n\nI. The Work of the Son of God is foreshadowed and predicted in the Old\nTestament Scriptures.\n\nII. The incarnation of the Son of God.\n\nIII. His Work on the cross and what has been accomplished by it.\n\nI.\n\nThrough the Old Testament Scriptures, God announced beforehand the work\nof His Son. This is a great theme and one which needs to be emphasized.\nThese foreshadowings and predictions were made in different ways. First\nwe might mention the appearance from time to time on earth of a\nsupernatural Being. This Being was the Son of God. As soon as sin had\nentered, He appeared on the scene seeking those who were lost. He\nHimself announced the promise, that the seed of the woman should bruise\nthe serpent's head. He indicated in Genesis iii:15, His incarnation, His\nredemptive work on the cross and His final victory over the enemy of\nGod. Then He covered the nakedness of His creatures by making them coats\nof skin. For the first time in the Word of God, it was made known by\nthis act what the blessed fruit of His atoning work would be.\n\nManifestations of Jehovah.\n\nAnd the same Jehovah appeared in visible form unto Abraham. He came as\ntraveller accompanied by two angels. He ate in the presence of Abraham,\nwho worshipped and addressed Him as Lord. This Being was none other than\nthe Son of God, the same who after His resurrection appeared to the two\ndisciples on their way to Emmaus as a traveller, and who, at another\noccasion, ate of a honeycomb and a piece of fish. In His presence\nAbraham interceded. This Lord, who visited Abraham later, made fire and\nbrimstone fall from heaven upon Sodom and Gomorrah; He executed\njudgment. He appeared unto Jacob and was the mysterious man who wrestled\nwith him at Peniel; later Jacob called Him \"The Angel, the Redeemer.\"\nRepeatedly we hear of Him as \"The Angel of the Lord,\" not a created\nangel, but an uncreated Being. Moses saw Him in the burning bush, and\nheard His voice. And while He is spoken of as the angel of the Lord, He\nrevealed Himself as Jehovah and made this Name known to Moses. He was\nwith Israel in the wilderness and dwelled with them in the Glory cloud.\nHe guided them, supplied their need, protected them, judged them and\noverthrew their enemies. To Joshua He appeared and manifested Himself as\n\"The captain over the Lord's hosts.\" Manoah and his wife saw Him, and\nwitnessed His ascension into heaven, in the smoke and fire of the\nsacrifice. Isaiah, Ezekiel and Daniel gazed upon His Glory. All these\nwere but foreshadowings and glimpses of the two great manifestations of\nthe Son of God on earth, as they are necessitated by His work, His\nmanifestation in humiliation and His manifestation in power and glory.\n\nOther Foreshadowings of His Work.\n\nBut there are other foreshadowings of His work. All the divinely given\ninstitutions and many of the historical events recorded in the Old\nTestament foreshadow His work. History, as recorded in the Old\nTestament, is the preliminary history of the incarnation. The whole\nsacrificial system of the levitical priesthood told out beforehand, in\nmany ways, what the great redemptive work of the Lamb of God was to be.\nEach offering and sacrifice revealed the different phases of His work on\nthe cross, as well as His holy and spotless humanity. The sufferings of\nChrist and their meaning for lost sinners were thus made known. From\nAbel's lamb to the last lamb, which died before the true Lamb of God\nuttered the never to be forgotten words on the cross, \"It is finished,\"\nthe thousands of lambs and bulls and goats, the innumerable herds of\nanimals slain, were all types of the one great sacrifice, brought on\nCalvary's cross. The tabernacle in all its appointments, down to the\nminutest details, had I some meaning in connection with the Person of\nHim who is \"Wonderful\" and His wonderful work. And what else could we\nsay of the historical events, such as the Passover, the passage through\nthe Red Sea, the brazen serpent hung up in the wilderness. And to this\nwe might add how men in their experiences, like Isaac, Joseph, David and\nothers foreshadowed the sufferings of Christ and the glory that should\nfollow.\n\nDirect Prophecies.\n\nStill more numerous are the direct prophecies announcing the different\nphases of the work of Christ. That He should appear as man, how and\nwhere He should be born, His life, His service, His miracles, all was\nrepeatedly foretold by the Prophets. But the great mass of predictions\nconcern His sufferings as the sin-bearer and His glories as the King.\nNone of the details of His sufferings were omitted. Think, for instance,\nof the predictions contained in the xxii Psalm. Death by crucifixion was\nunknown among the Jewish people. No nation in touch with Israel, living\nat that time, put human beings to death in that way. It was reserved for\ncruel Rome to invent death; by crucifixion. Yet in this Psalm there is\ngiven by divine inspiration a complete picture of that unknown mode of\ndeath by crucifixion. We read of His hands and feet pierced, the bones\nout of joint, the excessive thirst, the tongue cleaving to the jaws. And\nso we find His resurrection, His presence with God, His coming again and\nHis Kingdom of Righteousness and Glory foretold in the Prophets.\n\nThe Inspiration of the Old Testament.\n\nWe emphasize these facts of divine foreshadowing and prediction, because\nin these last days thousands of men have arisen throughout Christendom\nwho boldly deny the inspiration of the Old Testament. They would have us\nbelieve that all these wonderful predictions are of human origin. They\nbrand nearly everything as legend, and declare that there are no\nMessianic predictions in the Bible, that God did not speak to the\nProphets concerning His Son and His work. Such a denial of the\nrevelation of God in the Old Testament Scriptures is but the vanguard of\nthe denial of the Son of God and His work. \"Denying the Master that\nbought them\" (2 Peter ii:1), is the leading phase of apostate\nChristendom in the last days. It is Anti-christianity. This denial is\npreceded by a denial of the written Word of God. The higher criticism,\nso called, is Satan's leaven which leavens the theological institutions\nof Christendom and is fully preparing an empty Christian profession for\nthe reception of the Man of Sin. To believe that these marvelous,\nharmonious predictions and fore-shadowings contained in the Old\nTestament are the productions of clever men, legends put together by\nevil men, who claimed to have received them from God, is far more\ndifficult than to believe that they are given by divine revelation.\n\nII.\n\nThe Incarnation of the Son of God.\n\nAnd now let us turn to the great truth and fact of the Incarnation of\nthe Son of God. When the fulness of time had come, that is the appointed\ntime, the Son of God appeared on earth in the form of man. The Word\nwhich was in the beginning, the Word that was with the Father, the Word\nthat was God, the Word by whom all things were made, that Word was made\nflesh and dwelt on earth. He who subsisted in the form of God, emptied\nHimself and took upon Himself the form of a servant, and was made in the\nlikeness of men. The incarnation is a deep mystery, the depths of which\nhuman reason can never fathom. We must approach it in the spirit of deep\nreverence. \"Take off thy shoes from thy feet for the ground whereon thou\nstandest is holy ground!\" In the first chapter of the Gospel of Luke, we\nhave the record of the divine announcement of the incarnation as it was\nmade to the virgin, who had found favor in the sight of God. As she sat\nin the house, perhaps engaged in holy meditation, the angel Gabriel\nappeared unto her with the message from the throne of God. Was there\never such a message given to Gabriel before? Great as the revelation was\nwhich he was commissioned to carry to praying Daniel, the communication\nto the Virgin Mary here is far greater.\n\nThe Incarnation Announced.\n\nWe read in Luke i:35: \"And the angel of the Lord said unto her, The Holy\nSpirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall\novershadow thee; therefore also that Holy Thing, which shall be born of\nthee, shall be called the Son of God.\" Let us notice the two great\nstatements given about His incarnation. \"The Holy Spirit shall come upon\nthee.\" From the Gospel of Matthew we learn the full meaning of this\nstatement. \"That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Ghost.\"\nTherefore His human nature was produced in the virgin by the creative\naction of the Holy Spirit. Because His human nature was thus produced,\nit was a nature without sin; not only did He not sin, but He could not\nsin. He was sinless, absolutely holy, because He was conceived by the\nHoly Spirit.\n\nThe second statement is: \"And the power of the Highest shall overshadow\nthee.\" This is not a repetition of the same truth as contained in the\nfirst statement. If this too would mean the Holy Spirit, we would have\nto conclude that the Holy Spirit is the Father of Him who became\nincarnate. We read at once after this second statement, \"Therefore that\nHoly Thing, which shall be born of thee, shall be called the Son of\nGod.\" The power of the Highest does not mean the power of the Holy\nSpirit. It is none other than the Son of God Himself. The eternal Son of\nGod, He who is God, overshadowed her and this overshadowing meant the\nunion of Himself with the human nature created by the Holy Spirit in the\nVirgin Mary. He is called \"that Holy Thing.\" He is something entirely\nnew, a Being which cannot be classified. And then we read again, \"That\nHoly Thing shall be called the Son of God.\" It does not say \"shall be\nthe Son of God;\" such He ever was. Incarnation did not make Him Son of\nGod. He shall be called Son of God; God manifested in the flesh. Much\ntime could be spent in adding to these remarks, or in reviewing the\ndifferent attempts which have been made to explain the great mystery. We\nmight also enumerate all the evil teachings and theories which are the\nresults of attempted explanations. But all this would be but waste of\ntime. No human mind can fathom the depths of the incarnation, nor fully\ngrasp the wonderful personality of the God-Man, the Lord Jesus Christ.\nFar better it is to abide by these simple declarations of the Word of\nGod, than to enter into speculations, which can never solve this great\nmystery.\n\nA certain American statesman was once asked, \"Can you comprehend how\nJesus Christ could be both God and Man?\" The great thinker replied, \"No,\nsir; I cannot. And I would be ashamed to acknowledge Him as my Saviour\nif I could, for then He would not be greater than myself.\"\n\nThis is very true indeed. With joyful and grateful hearts we believe the\ngreat revelation given to us in God's holy Word, that God so loved the\nworld that He gave His only begotten Son and that the Son of God left\nHeaven's Glory and came to this earth. He emptied Himself and appeared\nin the form of the creature. This, however, does not mean what an evil\ntheory, by the name of \"Kenosis,\" teaches, that He emptied Himself of\nHis Godhead. He emptied Himself of His outward Glory. The child which\nrested on the bosom of Mary is the One, who ever was in the bosom of the\nFather. Listen once more to the language of the xxii Psalm. \"I was cast\nupon thee from the womb; Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Thou\ndidst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts.\" What mere human\nchild could have ever said this truthfully? Nor is this the language of\na poet. The child born in Bethlehem alone could speak thus.\n\nThe Foundation of the Gospel.\n\nThe incarnation is the great foundation of the whole Gospel. No\nincarnation means no Gospel, no Hope and no God. The person who denies\nthis truth has no right whatever to the name of Christian. At no time\nhas the denial of this great foundation truth been so pronounced and\nwidespread as in our times. Men believing themselves wise, in possession\nof greater knowledge than former generations, turn their backs upon\nrevelation. The miracle, including the incarnation, is denied. And this\ndenial is not from the side of outspoken infidels alone, but those who\nprofess to be teachers of Christianity are the foremost leaders in it.\nWe mention Reginald Campbell and his followers in the so-called \"New\nTheology.\" And the hundreds of evangelical preachers, who wished this\nman Godspeed during his recent visit to America, who passed resolutions\nof thanks, after listening to his subtle infidelity, are, in the light\nof 2 John 10, partakers of his sin. And then there is that\nAnti-christian system, known by the name of Christian Science. In its\nso-called philosophical, in reality, satanic utterances, it opposes the\nrevelation of God and denies that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh.\nThat evil book, \"Science and Health,\" to which we readily accord\ninspiration, not from above, but from below, teaches \"The Virgin Mary\nconceived the idea of God and gave to her ideal the name of Jesus;\" and\nagain \"Jesus was the offspring of Mary's self-communion with God.\"\n\nIt is a comfort to believers in these evil days to remember, that such a\nrejection of the doctrine of Christ, His Person and His work, is\npredicted in the Bible to take place immediately before the Lord comes.\nThe end of the age is upon us. These denials will not decrease, but\nbecome more numerous.\n\nThe Purpose of the Incarnation. And what was the purpose of the\nincarnation? By incarnation the invisible God was made known to man. The\nLord Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God. No man hath seen\nGod at any time, the only Begotten, who is in the bosom of the Father,\nhath declared Him. As One with the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ could\nsay, \"Whosoever seeth Me, seeth the Father.\"\n\nThe attributes of God were made known by Him in incarnation. We behold\nthe holiness of God in that holy life, which was lived on earth to\nglorify the Father. He manifested omniscience. He knew what was in men\nand knew their thoughts. He manifested the power of God in controlling\nthe forces of nature, commanding the wind and the waves, turning water\ninto wine. He had power over disease, over the demons and over death. He\nrevealed the Love and the compassion of God.\n\nBy incarnation the Son of God brought likewise the Word of God to man.\n\"God who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto\nthe Fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by\nHis Son\" (Hebrews i:1). He confirmed the Law and the Prophets, therefore\nall criticism of the Old Testament attacks the authority and\ninfallibility of the Son of God. He also revealed the will of God, made\nknown the Father and the fact of eternal life, and the eternal and\nconscious punishment of the wicked. He predicted the great future events\nconcerning Himself and His Kingdom, the end of the age and His visible\nReturn.\n\nThe incarnation was necessary in anticipation of His work as the Priest\nof His people. He was to be after His death on the cross and after\nresurrection, the merciful and faithful High Priest. Such He is now. He\ntook part of flesh and blood, we read in the second chapter of Hebrews,\nthat He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest. He was tempted in\nall things as we are, with the exception of sin. He suffered in being\ntempted so that He might be touched with the feeling of our infirmities\nand succour them that are tempted. And all He was to be and is now, the\nSecond Man, the last Adam, the head of the church, the head of the new\ncreation, all and much else necessitated His incarnation.\n\nWhat Incarnation could not Accomplish.\n\nHowever, the great purpose of the incarnation of the Son of God was His\nwork of redemption. For this great purpose He came into the world. He\ncame that, after a life, which completely glorified the Father and\nupheld His holy law and vindicated God's rights as the lawgiver, He\nmight accomplish the great work of atonement. John stated this great\nwork the Son of God came to do in a brief sentence, \"Behold the Lamb of\nGod, which taketh away the sin of the world.\" Sin, that accursed thing,\nhad to be taken out of the way. Propitiation for sins had to be made. A\nsacrifice had to be brought which would glorify a holy God and satisfy,\nas well as exalt, His righteousness. Peace had to be made. The sins of\nmany had to be paid and the full penalty of them to be borne.\n\nIncarnation in itself, the marvelous and ever blessed humiliation of the\nSon of God by taking on the human form, His holy blessed life, His\nloving words, words of life and peace, yea, all He did in deeds of love\nand compassion could never accomplish this. Incarnation brought God to\nMan, but could never bring man back to a holy God. Incarnation could not\nmake an end of sin, nor make it possible for a righteous God to show\nmercy to the fallen and the lost, in a righteous way. This great work of\nredemption could only be accomplished by His death on the cross. For\nthis He had come. He came to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.\nThe Author and Prince of Life came that He might give His Life a ransom\nfor many. The good Shepherd appeared to give His life for the sheep. By\nHis death alone, the great work of redemption could be accomplished.\n\nIII.\n\nHis work on the Cross and What has been Accomplished by It.\n\nAnd now let us consider His work on the cross and what has been\naccomplished by it. But who is able to speak worthily of this theme of\nall themes? Who can fathom the solemn yet blessed fact, the death of the\nSon of God on the cross? What tongue or pen can describe the sad, yet\nglorious truth, that the Just One died for the unjust, that Christ died\nfor the ungodly! He who knew no sin was made sin for us! And what human\nmind can estimate the wonderful results of His work on the cross!\n\nSome Christians speak as if the death on the cross, the work\naccomplished there, is so fully known to them, that they do not need any\nmore instruction on it. They tell us that they search for deeper things.\nThere can be nothing deeper than the death of God's Son on the cross.\nDepths are here which are unfathomable. We must ever turn back to the\ncross. Always we shall learn something new. With unspeakable Glory upon\nus and greater glory before us in eternal ages to come, the cross of\nChrist and the Lamb of God which has taken away the sin of the world can\nnever be forgotten. But we shall never know what that death on the cross\nmeant for Him and what it meant to God.\n\nMade Sin for Us.\n\nIn Hebrews x we read of the sacrifices which were offered by the Jews\nyear after year. These sacrifices could not take away sin. Then He, the\nSon of God, stepped forward and made His great declaration. Coming into\nthe world He saith, \"Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a\nbody hast Thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins\nThou hadst no pleasure\" (verses 4-5). The body prepared puts before us\nagain the fact of incarnation. That body was a prepared body, a holy\nbody, an undefiled body, a body in which sin could not dwell and on\nwhich death had no claim. But when He took on that body, He likewise\nsaid: \"Lo? come to do Thy will, O God.\" In the tenth verse we read, \"By\nthe which will (the will of God, which dates back before the foundation\nof the world), we are sanctified through the offering of the body of\nJesus Christ once for all.\" Through the eternal Spirit He offered\nHimself without spot to God. The holy Lamb of God, with no spot or\nblemish upon Him, shed His precious blood on the cross, to procure\nredemption. But what it all meant for Him who was as truly Man as He is\nGod! Here was a Being perfectly holy, One who had always pleased God and\ndid His will, yea, His meat and drink was to do the will of Him that\nsent Him. Sin was the horrible defiling thing to Him. He, too, like the\nholy God, hated and hates sin. And yet such a One was made sin for us.\nHe had to stand in the place of guilty sinners and all the waves and\nbillowy of divine judgment and wrath had to pass over Him. He drank the\ncup of wrath to the last drop. He suffered in a fourfold way.\n\n1. In Himself Before He ever approached the garden of Gethsemane, He was\ntroubled in His spirit. We hear Him say, \"Now my soul is\ntroubled--Father, save me from this hour, but for this cause came I to\nthis hour.\" He looked on towards the cross. And why that agony in the\ngarden? Why was His sweat as it were great drops of blood? Why the\nrepeated prayer, \"Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me?\"\nHow many dishonoring explanations have been written of the Gethsemane\nsuffering, as if He was afraid to die or that the devil tried to kill\nHim there to prevent his death on the cross, and that He feared the\ndevil. But what was it? He suffered in Himself. His holy soul shrank\nfrom that which a holy God must hate, that which He hated--SIN. He was\nabout to be made sin and He knew no sin. What suffering this produced in\nthe Holy One of God to take all upon Himself and to stand in the\nsinner's place before a holy sin-hating God, our poor finite minds\ncannot realize.\n\n2. He suffered from men. This he had foretold. When man, guilty man,\ncast Himself upon the willing victim, all the wickedness and vileness\nand cruelty man is capable of committing was brought out and spent upon\nthe blessed Son of God. The scourging, the buffeting, the mocking, the\nspitting and the shame connected with it, the shame of the cross, He\ndespised. How that sensitive body must have quivered under it all!\n\n3. He suffered from the devil. He had tempted him. Nothing was left\nundone, what this wonderful Being could do. All His cunning and powers\nwere brought into use, with the one purpose to keep Him from going to\nthe cross and dying in the sinner's place. And when at last he could not\nkeep Him from going to the cross, then he cast himself upon the victim\nand heaped all his hatred and malice upon Him. He used man in all this\nawful work and no doubt the legions of demons. And in all this the Son\nof God was as a lamb, which is dumb before the shearers. He opened not\nHis mouth.\n\n4. But the greatest of all, He suffered from God. With hushed breath, we\nmust speak of this. It is the Holy of Holies of the great work on the\ncross, the impenetrable mystery of the atoning work of the Son of God.\nFrom the darkness which enshrouded the cross and the blessed sufferer on\nthe accursed tree, there came the mournful cry: \"My God, My God, why\nhast Thou forsaken me?\" It made known the awful suffering, which the\nLamb of God, the substitute of sinners, endured from the hand of a holy\nGod. He was smitten and afflicted of God. Have you noticed that in the\nxxii Psalm this cry of the sufferer on the cross stands first? Man would\nhave written the sufferings of Christ in a far different way. The\ndescriptions of the sufferings not written by inspiration would have\nbeen in this wise: The physical sufferings, how they scourged Him, all\nthe sickening details of that which even cruel Rome called the\nintermediate death, would have been pictured. Then would have followed a\ndescription of how the nails were driven into the blessed hands who had\nlovingly touched so many weary, sin-laden and disease-stricken bodies.\nAll the agony of the cross and its shame would have been described first\nby man. Then how the multitude mocked and darkness came over the entire\nscene--then last of all, it would have been stated, He cried, My God, My\nGod, why hast Thou forsaken me? But the Holy Spirit in this great\nProphecy puts the cry of deepest agony first. Why? Because in that hour\nthe great work of atonement, propitiation, sin-bearing, judgment and\nwrath enduring, was once and for all accomplished. In this same Psalm we\nread what men energized by Satan's power, did unto Him. But man could\nnot put Him to death. It is written, \"Thou (that is God) hast brought me\ninto the dust of death.\" God's own hand rested upon Him. \"God laid upon\nHim the iniquity of us all\" (Isaiah liii:6). \"It pleased the Lord to\nbruise Him; He hath put Him to grief.\" And elsewhere we read, what\nrefers to the same atoning work of our Lord when He stood in the\nsinner's place.\n\n\"All Thy waves and billows go over me\" (Ps. xlii:7).\n\n\"Thine arrows stick fast in Me\" (Ps. xxxviii:2).\n\n\"Thine hand presses me sore\" (Ps. xxxviii:2).\n\n\"Thou hast laid me into the lowest pit\" (Ps. lxxxviii:6).\n\n\"Thy wrath lieth hard upon me\" (Ps. lxxxviii:7).\n\n\"Thy fierce wrath goeth over me\" (Ps. lxxxviii:16).\n\n\"I suffer Thy terrors\" (Ps. lxxxviii:15).\n\nBut what it all meant for the Son of God! Who can tell out His sorrow\nand deep affliction? Never shall we fully discover the greatness of the\nprice which was paid. The death of the cross, it has been truly said,\nstands perfectly alone. It can never be repeated and because of its\neternal efficacy, will never need to be repeated.\n\n_It is Finished._\n\nAnd this great work He came to do, is finished. \"It is finished!\" thus\nHe spoke on the cross and the words assure us that all is done. The rent\nveil and the open tomb tell us \"It is finished.\" But what has been\naccomplished in this blessed work? We cannot fully grasp it now as long\nas we look into a glass darkly. When at last we are brought into His\nPresence, transformed into His own image, when we shall have share with\nHim in His glorious inheritance, when at last sin and death are no more\nand a new heaven and new earth are called into existence, then shall we\nmore fully know what that work has accomplished. All, ALL we have and\nare, all we shall have and shall be as His own, has its blessed source\nin the cross of Christ. He died for all. He gave Himself a ransom for\nall. He tasted death for every man. He is the propitiation for the whole\nworld (not for the sins of the whole world, else the whole world would\nbe saved). It means His work is available to all sinners. Upon that fact\nthat He died for all, the Gospel is preached to lost and guilty sinners.\nChrist died for the ungodly. \"Whosoever will\"--\"Whosoever believeth,\"\nthese are the precious conditions of the Gospel of Grace which sounds\nforth from the finished work of Christ on the cross. And all who believe\non Him and accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, for them He\nbore their sins on the cross. Each believing sinner can look back to the\ncross and can say, \"He loved me, He gave Himself for me.\" He paid my\ndebt. He bore my sins in His own body on the tree. He stood in my place.\nHe was my substitute. He tasted death for me.\n\nMuch of the evil teachings of the present day, such as universal\nsalvation, larger hope, millennial dawnism, etc., emanate from the fact\nthat propitiation and substitution are not correctly understood.\nPropitiation is the Godward side of the sacrifice of Christ, with this\nGod is satisfied. The propitiation is for the whole world. This does\nnot mean that the whole world is therefore to be saved. He bore the sins\nof many--not the sins of all. He was the substitute on the cross only\nfor such who believe on Him.\n\nAnd what do we possess who have believed on Him, own Him as our Saviour\nand our Substitute? Many Scriptures might be read in answer to this\nquestion. We cannot do so, but shall mention briefly a few things which\nall believing sinners share on account of the finished work of Christ on\nthe cross.\n\nWe have a perfect justification. All our sins are forever put away,\nbecause they were borne and paid for by His death on the cross. The\nBlood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. All has been\nrighteously and forever settled. \"Who shall bring any accusation against\nGod's elect? It is God who justifies, who is he that condemns? It is\nChrist who has died.\" \"There is therefore now no condemnation to those\nin Christ Jesus.\" We have perfect Peace with God. Peace has been made in\nthe blood of the cross. It can never be unmade. We have peace with God\nthrough our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our Peace. So many Christians think\ntheir peace with God depends on their walk and service. If they sin,\nthey think they have lost their peace and their standing before God and\nunless they are restored, they will be lost forever. Not our walk and\nservice, not anything we have done, we do or shall do, is the ground of\npeace with God, but what God has done for us in Christ's atoning on the\ncross.\n\nThen we have a perfect acceptance and standing before God; perfect\nnearness and access to God. We are made nigh by the blood. With no more\nconscience of sins, we can stand in God's own presence, purged and\ncleansed, complete in Him, as near to God as He is.\n\nHis blessed work on the cross has made an end of the old man. We are\ndead to the world, to self, to sin, to the law. The old man was\ncrucified with Christ. \"Sin shall have no more dominion over you.\" This\nis the blessed message from the cross. We have deliverance from the\npower of darkness and a perfect title to an eternal inheritance. No\nuncertainty is attached to all this. We have salvation, are saved,\nforever secure, Sons of God, Heirs of God indwelt by the Holy Spirit,\nand much else, on account of the finished work of Christ on the cross.\n\nAnd to all this we add that on the cross He loved the church and gave\nHimself for it. There He died for Israel and as a result the remnant of\nthat people will some day be delivered from iniquity and perverse-ness,\nas Balaam, beheld them, \"no iniquity in Jacob and no perverseness in\nIsrael\" (Numbers xxiii:21). Groaning creation will ultimately be freed\nfrom the bondage of corruption and brought into the liberty of the sons\nof God, because He shed His blood on the cross. All things in heaven and\non the earth (not things under the earth) will be reconciled in virtue\nof the death of Christ on the cross.\n\nYe are not Your Own.\n\nLet us remember as such who have been reconciled and have redemption\nthrough His blood that we are bought with a price. \"Ye are not your own\nfor ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and\nin your spirit, which are God's\" (1 Cor. vi:20). Through His death we\nare positionally dead; all who believe on Him have died. We are dead to\nthe law, to the world, to sin. But are we truly living, walking and\nacting as such who have died, dead to sin and alive unto God? A child of\nGod who walks after the flesh practically denies the power and value of\nthe blessed finished work of Christ on the cross.\n\nLet us exalt in our lives, by our words and deeds, the cross of Christ.\n\"But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world\"\n(Gal. vi:14).\n\n\n\nII.\n\nTHE WORK OF CHRIST.\n\nThe great work which the Lord Jesus Christ, God's well beloved Son, came\nto do was to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. This finished\nwork of the cross is the basis of His present work and His future work.\nWhat mind can estimate the value and preciousness of that work in which\nthe Holy One offered Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot\nunto God! He procured redemption by His death on the cross. In His\npresent work and much more in the future work, He works out this great\nredemption into result.\n\nThere is much confusion in the minds of Christians about the present and\nfuture work of Christ. Many speak of the Lord being now the King of\nkings and Lord of lords, reigning over the earth. They speak of Him as\noccupying the throne of His father David in heaven. The church,\naccording to this teaching, is His Kingdom, and that kingdom is\ngradually being enlarged under His spiritual reign until the whole world\nhas been brought into this kingdom. All this is wrong. The Lord Jesus\nChrist will reign over the earth; He will have a kingdom of glory, of\nrighteousness and peace on this earth; the nations of the earth will\nhave to submit to His government, but all this is still to come. It will\nbe accomplished with His visible Return to the earth, when He will claim\nas the second Man the dominion of the earth. His kingly rule is future.\nHis present work is of another nature.\n\nI. The Bodily Presence of Christ in Glory.\n\nOur blessed Lord gave on the cross the body, which He had taken in\nincarnation. That body died. It was the only part of Him, which could\ndie. But that body so dishonored by man, scourged and nailed to the\ncross, could not see corruption. He arose from the dead. The mighty\npower of God opened that grave and raised Him from the dead. This mighty\npower of God, which brought Him forth is the power which is towards us\nwho believe. It is on our side (Eph. i:19). And God not alone raised Him\nfrom the dead, but He gave Him glory (1 Peter i:21).\n\nIf I were to teach on the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, I would\ndemonstrate two things. First, that He actually arose; the indisputable\nfact, that He who had really died, who was dead bodily, arose bodily,\nand, in the second place, the all important meaning of His resurrection.\n\nThe Apostle Paul writes in that great chapter in First Corinthians, \"If\nChrist be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then\nthey also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished\" (1 Cor.\nxv:18). In other words, if the Lord Jesus Christ came not forth from the\ntomb, where His blessed body had been laid and where it rested for three\ndays, if He did not leave that grave in a bodily form, His death on the\ncross would have no more meaning than the death of any other human\nbeing. Then that blood which was shed could never take away our sins and\ngive the guilty conscience rest. Furthermore, the countless beings, who\npassed out of this life trusting in Christ, would have all perished. But\nChrist rose from the dead. There can be no doubt about it. The witnesses\nfor it are simply unanswerable.\n\nHis Physical Resurrection.\n\nHis resurrection from the dead was God's answer to His prayers with\nstrong crying and tears.\n\n\"Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered prayers and\nsupplication with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save\nhim from death, and was heard in that he feared\" (Heb. v:27).\n\nThis took place in Gethsemane. The answer to His prayers and tears came\nfrom God on the morning of the first day. His resurrection from the dead\nwas the \"Amen\" of God to His triumphant shout on the cross, \"It is\nfinished.\" By raising Him from the dead, God set His seal to the work of\nChrist on the cross. God gave His witness by it that the work, which was\ndemanded by His holiness and righteousness, had been fully accomplished.\nGuilty man can now be righteously acquitted from His guilt because God's\neternal righteousness was upheld and satisfied by His own Son in that He\npaid the penalty. before God rolled away the stone? He had shown that\nthe work done was pleasing to Him. It seemed as if God could not wait\nfor the third day. His hand took hold of the veil, which hid the Holy of\nHolies from the eyes of man. He rent that veil from top to bottom. He\nshowed thereby that He, the Holy God, could now come forth in fullest\nblessing to man, and man bought by such a price, can approach into the\npresence of God and be at home with Him, a loving Father. Sinners saved\nby grace can enter into the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by the new\nand living way.\n\nAnd how did He come forth from the grave? It has already been stated. He\narose with the body He had taken on in incarnation, the body which could\nnot see corruption. He left the grave in a corporeal form. It was not a\nphantom, but a tangible body. The nailprints were still seen in His\nhands and in His feet. The side showed the place where the spear had\nentered. He appeared in that body in the midst of His disciples and\nshowed unto them His hands and His side. And when at another time they\ncried out for fear, He said, \"Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is\nmyself; handle me and see, for a spirit has not flesh and bones, as ye\nsee me have\" (Luke xxiv:39-40). And while they believed not for joy, He\nproved His corporeality by eating a piece of broiled fish and of a\nhoneycomb. But while it was the same body it was also a glorified body.\nSuch a body, like unto His own glorious body, we shall receive some\nblessed day in exchange for the body of humiliation; for this redemption\nof the body we still wait as well as those who have fallen asleep in\nJesus.\n\nPassing through the Heavens.\n\nIn this body He left the earth and passed through the heavens into\nheaven itself. What a scene that must have been! What must have taken\nplace after He had been lifted up and disappeared out of sight from the\ngazing disciples! They saw Him as He was lifted up, the same Lord Jesus,\nuntil the glory cloud, the Shekinah, took Him up and in that cloud He\nwas taken into the heavens, where the physical eye could not follow.\nWhat a triumphant entrance into the heavens it must have been! Perhaps\nthe mighty Archangel accompanied Him, the victor over Sin, Death, the\nGrave and Satan; for the Archangel will accompany Him some day in His\ndescent out of heaven. The Lord went up with a shout (Psalm xlvii:5). He\nwill return with the victor's shout. When He comes back, He will be\nattended by the mighty angels. May not these heavenly hosts have been\npresent as He ascended on high? And as the Man Christ Jesus passed\nupward through the territory, which is still the domain of Satan, the\nprince of the power in the air, the wicked tenants of the air fell back\nin fear and trembling. The glorified Man passed on, upward, higher and\nhigher. Nothing could arrest His progress. The mighty power of God\nraised Him up. Through the second heaven He passed, where the wonderful\nstars, the creation of His own power, describe their great orbits around\ntheir fiery suns. He is still attended by angels, and the angelic hosts\nbeheld Him, who were also the witnesses of His sufferings, His death and\nresurrection. At last a place was reached where every angel had to halt.\nEven the Archangel had to cover His face and cry, \"Holy! Holy!\" Yonder\nis the third heaven and there stands the glorious throne of God. The\nglorified Man advances alone; He ascended on high into the immediate\npresence of His God and our God, His Father and our Father. The\nwelcoming voice of God Himself bade Him to take His seat on His own\nright hand until His enemies are made His footstool. What must it have\nbeen when the only begotten Son returned to His eternal dwelling place\nas the First begotten, and God as well as He himself beheld the host of\nredeemed sinners brought by Him into that Glory!\n\nThe highest place was given to Him, who died on the cross, far above all\nprincipality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is\nnamed. There He is now the Man in the Glory. Once more let me state it,\nthe Lord Jesus Christ is corporeally present in the highest heaven.\nEverything depends on this. If His physical resurrection and corporeal\npresence in the highest heaven is denied, His present work and future\nwork are an impossibility, and we rob ourselves of every comfort, joy\nand peace. Then, too, His atoning work on the cross has no meaning for\nus.\n\nA Fundamental Truth Denied.\n\nAnd too often this great truth of the bodily presence of Christ in\nheaven is denied in these days of departure from the faith. They teach,\nHis resurrection was a spiritual one, that He lives only by His words.\nThe denial of the literal resurrection of our blessed Lord and His\npresence in heaven has become very widespread. Three evil systems\nespecially deny it.\n\n1. Unitarianism. As a sect this denomination is small, but the leaven of\nUnitarianism is leavening Christendom. All this criticism of the Bible,\nthe new theology, a more liberal religion, but all aiming at the\nessential Deity of our blessed Lord, His incarnation and resurrection\nfrom the dead, is the leaven of Unitarianism. At a recent annual service\nof the British and Foreign Unitarian Association the chairman observed\nthat \"earnest and thoughtful men, occupying pulpits once dedicated to\nthe propagation of doctrines strictly orthodox, were now preaching a\nGospel, which for liberality and broadmindedness even surpassed the\nUnitarianism of three or four generations ago.\"\n\n2. Christian Science. This new science is not new, but is the revival,\nthrough satanic powers, of ancient Gnosticism, a denial of every article\nof the faith once and for all delivered unto the saints. Prominent in\nthis system is the denial of the physical resurrection, and the bodily\npresence of the Lord Jesus in Glory. It is the masterpiece of Satan. Its\nphenomenal growth attracts to its ranks such of the Christian\nprofession, who were never saved or whose knowledge of the truth of God\nis insufficient. There will be no abatement of this great delusion. It\nwill continue to grow and become more powerful as the Gospel is denied\nand God's Word rejected.\n\n3. Millennial Dawnism. This is another great and widespread system. In\nit Satan appears even more so than in Christian Science as an angel of\nlight. It is offered throughout this land as \"food for Christians\" and\ngoes by the name of \"Bible Study.\" One meets it everywhere. What is it?\nIt is an amalgamation of several of the evil theories concerning the\nPerson of Christ, denying, like Unitarianism and Christian Science, the\nabsolute Deity of our Lord. \"Pastor\" Russell in his books also denies\nthe physical resurrection of Christ. According to this system the body\nof our Lord was either dissolved in its natural gases or is preserved as\na memorial somewhere. This, of course, means the denial of His bodily\npresence in heaven. But think of it! To say that the body of our Lord\nwas dissolved in its natural gases, when the Word so clearly states \"He\ncould not see corruption.\"\n\nII.\n\nThe Present Work of Christ; What It Is.\n\nAs Man in Glory, crowned with glory and honor, He is occupied in a\npresent work.\n\nHe is in the presence of God as the Heir of all things. He is the\nupholder of all and all things consist by Him. This great universe, with\nits innumerable stars and suns, is under His control; it belongs to Him.\nHow man ever since the fall attempts to penetrate the mysterious depths\nof the universe! Scientists with their glasses scan the heavens and try\nto regain the knowledge of creation, which was lost by the fall of man,\nTheir discoveries astonish us. How marvelous the heavens are! How they\ndeclare the glory of God and the firmament His handiwork! Often too has\nthe search of fallen man into the depths of the universe demonstrated\nthe truth of God given by revelation in His word. And yet the great\nquestions we ask of astronomers concerning this great universe are\nanswered with \"we do not know.\" Some day in the twinkling of an eye we\nshall know more about this great universe than all the knowledge gained\nby fallen man. But this universe rests in the hands of the Man in Glory.\nHe is the great central sun around which all revolves. We do not know if\nthere is any work to be done in connection with the great bodies which\nwe see in the great space about us. We do not know what changes go on\nthere. But we do know that all is in His hands. All is under His\ncontrol.\n\nWe must also think of the angels, the heavenly hosts. He has been made,\nafter His passion, so much better than the angels, as He hath by\ninheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Heb. i:4). What\nmay go on in this great world above, the world of unseen spirits, who\ncan tell? But they are all under His control. How He sends them forth\nand uses them in His providential dealings with His people on earth, and\nhow He restrains through these unseen agencies the wrath of the enemy\nand the evil work of demons, we do not know fully. \"Are they not all\nministering spirits sent forth to minister to them, who shall be heirs\nof salvation\" (Heb. i:14). This and much else, though not fully\nrevealed, and hidden from us, belongs also to His present work. We\nmention this that we might have a higher estimate of our Lord and\nrealize anew what a mighty and wonderful Lord we have.\n\nBut there is a present work of our Lord in Glory, which is fully\nrevealed in His Word.\n\nIn the first place, He is the Mediator between God and Man, and being\npreached as such to the world, He exercises His office as the Mediator\nthroughout this present age (1 Tim. ii:5-6). Besides this Mediatorship,\nHe has a service which concerns those for whom He died and who, by\npersonal faith, have accepted Him as their Saviour.\n\nThe Lord Knoweth His Own.\n\n\"The Lord knoweth them that are His.\" What a blessed thought of comfort\nand cheer it is, which should forever banish fear and unbelief! The\nLord, the One seated there in the Holiest, knows us personally. He knew\nus before we ever were in existence. He saw us before the foundation of\nthe world. He knew all our vileness and the depths of degradation. He\nknew us as we wandered in our sins. His loving eyes followed us then. He\nsought us in His love and brought us to Himself. He gave us His life and\ndwells in us. Each believing sinner, saved by grace, is one Spirit with\nthe Lord. \"I know my sheep.\" He calleth each by name, like a Shepherd\ncalleth his own sheep. Again He said \"I know them.\" What a comfort it\nshould be to our hearts, that He knows each of us by name. He knows our\ncircumstances, trials, difficulties and temptations. He knows our\nconflicts and our tears. \"He knoweth the way which I take.\"\n\nIt is very precious! In the xxxii Psalm we find the comforting word for\none whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered, \"I will guide\nthee with mine eye,\" or as it should read, \"I will guide thee with mine\neye upon thee.\" That eye up yonder, that eye which measures the depths\nof the universe, which follows every planet, that eye which neither\nsleeps nor slumbers, that all-seeing eye rests upon us. He is occupied\nwith each. The millions of His people who have lived and died, who\npassed through life and are now at home with Him, were each individually\nthe objects of His care. His loving eye was upon the multitudes of\nmartyrs. He knew and watched that poor tortured saint, who was cast with\nbroken bones into a dungeon to starve to death. His power and love\nrested upon those who were burned or cast before the wild animals. For\neach He served and worked. And so He does still. Oh, the preciousness\nthat each believer is under the loving care of the Man in Glory, the\nobject of His love. Let us turn to a few Scriptures which reveal this\nfact.\n\nLiving for Us.\n\nIn Romans v:10 we read:\n\n\"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of\nHis Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.\"\n\nWhat life is meant by which we are saved? Some have applied it to the\nlife of the Lord Jesus Christ before His death on the cross, as if that\nrighteous life, that perfect life, had any saving power in it for us.\nHence the teaching that the righteousness of His life is imputed unto\nus. This is wrong. The life, of which this verse speaks, is the life\nwhich He lives now in the Presence of God. When we were enemies we were\nreconciled to God by the death of His Son. And now being reconciled,\nmuch more are we saved by His life. By His life there, because He is\nthere, we are saved and kept down here.\n\nAnother passage in Romans may be linked with this. Romans viii:34:\n\n\"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is\nrisen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh\nintercession for us.\"\n\nThe risen Christ is at the right hand of God and maketh intercession for\nus. However, not in the Epistle to the Romans is this present work of\nChrist as the intercessor of His redeemed people revealed, but in the\nEpistle to the Hebrews. There we read in the ninth chapter, \"For Christ\nis not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the\nfigures of the true: but into heaven itself, now to appear in the\npresence of God for us.\" (Heb. ix:24).\n\nAnd again in chapter vii:24, 25: \"But this man, because he continueth\nforever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to\nsave them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever\nliveth to make intercession for them.\"\n\nBut notice all this is not spoken of those who are unsaved and live in\nsin. The unsaved who are not yet Christ's have no share in all this. For\nthe unsaved world the Lord is not the intercessor. He declared this\ntruth first of all in His high-priestly prayer, when He said, \"I pray\nfor them, I pray not for the world\" (John xvii:9).\n\nThis was also foreshadowed in the Old Testament. The High Priest in His\ngarments of Beauty and Glory had upon his shoulders two onyx stones, and\nupon his breast a breastplate with twelve stones. Upon both the onyx\nstones, upon the shoulder and the twelve stones on the breastplate there\nwere names engraven. But these were not the names of the Egyptians, the\nJebusites, the Amorites or the Hittites, but the names of the twelve\ntribes of Israel. Our high priest in the highest heaven carries His own\nupon His shoulders, which typify His power, and upon His bosom He\ncarrieth them; the bosom tells of His love. We are the objects of the\npower and the love of Him who appears in the presence of God for us. The\nfact that the names of the Israelites were engraven upon these precious\nstones also has a meaning. If they had been written there, they might be\nblotted out. They were engraven and could never be erased. It tells out\nthe blessed truth of our security.\n\nHis Priesthood.\n\nTwo other passages in Hebrews reveal some of the blessed details of the\npresent priestly work of the Lord in our behalf. \"Wherefore in all\nthings it behooved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might\nbe a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to\nmake reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself\nhath suffered, being tempted, he is able to succour them that are\ntempted\" (Hebrews ii:17, 18). \"Seeing then that we have a great High\nPriest, that is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us\nhold fast our confession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be\ntouched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points\ntempted like we are, apart from sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto\nthe throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in\ntime of need\" (Hebrews iv:14-16).\n\nThe first passage tells of the propitiation He made for the sins of the\npeople. He suffered, being tempted, and this is the basis of His\nintercessory service. The passage from the fourth chapter tells us how\nHe was fitted while on earth for this great office work. While down here\nHe was tempted in all points as we are, apart from sin. From sin within\nHe could never be tempted, for no sin was in Him. He has gone through\nthe trials, the difficulties and sufferings a man who depends on God is\nsubject to while in this world, with the exception of sin. He has known\nwhile on earth every possible difficulty. Now He can be a merciful and\nfaithful high priest and as such enter into all our sorrows and trials.\nHe sympathizes with us in all our conflicts and difficulties down here.\nHowever, He does not intercede for the flesh--He has no sympathy with\nsin. By His gracious and unbroken intercession in the sanctuary, He\nupholds us individually in the path down here. He gives strength to\nendure. If it were not for that intercession, we all would fall by the\nway. How often God's people fear troubles and difficulties, losses and\nbereavements, which might possibly come. What, if this favored child\nshould be taken from me, how could I stand it? Or, if I should lose her\nwhom I love? Or my health should fail? Perhaps my business and income\nstops, how could I ever stand it? Often that which we fear comes upon\nus. That loved one is taken and is put into a grave. Health fails and\nthe income stops; instead of plenty there is want. But with the trial,\nwith the loss, there comes such a strength to bear it all, and more than\nthat, real joy and songs of praise. It is because the great High Priest\nlives and intercedes. He knows all about it and in the tenderness of His\nlove and the might of His power, He takes us in His loving arms whenever\ntrials and troubles come upon us. At all times under all circumstances\nHe is our representative before God and thinks of us.\n\nAnd so it is with our temptations and our warfare with the wicked\nspirits. The enemy we have is most powerful and intelligent. He knows\nhow to spread his nets. His wiles are most subtle. If Satan had his way\nhe would overthrow and destroy completely the people of God on earth. If\nit depended on our strength, we would soon fall. But He knows. His eyes\nwatch the enemy as they watch us. Peter's case illustrates this\nperfectly. He saw the old serpent as he moved on his way towards Peter.\nHe knew the cunning plan Satan had conceived to ensnare Peter. In Judas\nhe had entered and taken complete possession of the disciple, who was\nnever born again. He planned to fell Peter completely and rush him\nafterwards into despair. But Satan did not reckon with Peter's Lord.\nBefore the plan could ever be carried out, the Lord had prayed for Peter\nthat His faith may not fail. And though Peter denied the Lord and fell,\nthe Lord's gracious intercession kept him through it all. And this is\nstill the case with us. He prays for us before that foe can ever\napproach us and thus we can be victorious in the conflict and should we\nstumble and fall, as it is so often the case, then He is the great\nshepherd \"who restoreth my soul.\" How much we owe to this blessed,\nprecious present work of our Lord in Glory no one knows. What blessed\nrevelation there will come to us when we shall know as we are known,\nwhen we look back over our lives and behold what the intercession of the\nLord Jesus accomplished for us and all the Saints of God! We have a\ngreat high priest who is passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of\nGod.\n\nAnother phase of His priestly present work is recorded in Heb. xiii:15.\n\"By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God\ncontinually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.\"\nHe presents our spiritual sacrifices to God. Our worship, our praise and\nour prayers we address to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus\nChrist, are all imperfect, but as they are presented to God by Him, they\nare acceptable unto God and delight the heart of God for that reason.\n\nHis Advocacy.\n\nBut there is a second aspect of His work in Glory in the presence of God\nfor His people. He is our advocate with the Father. Some Christians\nthink that the Priesthood and Advocacy of Christ are one and the same.\nThey are not. His advocacy is that which restores us. In the first\nEpistle of John we read of this phase of His present work. \"My little\nchildren, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man\nsin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous\"\n(John ii:1).\n\nIn the preceding chapter our wonderful privilege as the children of God\nis made known. We are to be in fellowship with the Father and with His\nSon Jesus Christ. What does that mean? Fellowship with the Father is\nwhen we delight ourselves in His basket Son, who is His delight, when we\nshare the Father's own thoughts about Him. The Son knoweth the Father\nand He has revealed Him and brought us into His own relationship with\nthe Father. Fellowship with His Son is to enjoy this relationship with\nthe Father. The condition for the enjoyment of this privilege in\nreality, fellowship with the Father and with His Son is, that we walk in\nthe light as He is in the light. These blessed things were written that\nwe sin not. Sin cannot rob us of our salvation, but it mars the\nenjoyment of that fellowship. The standard is that we sin not, and if we\nlive in constant enjoyment of that blessed fellowship into which grace\nhas brought us, we do not sin. But how often this is not the case. We\nfall into sin. Then the blessed revelation is given: \"If any man sin we\nhave an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.\" How\ngrateful we ought to be that it does not say: If any man repent. The\nLord's intercession as advocate is independent of our repentance or of\nour asking Him to do this for us. It is the exercise of grace in His own\nloving heart toward us to restore our souls, to put us back into the\nplace where we can enjoy His fellowship. The moment the believer sins on\nearth, He acts as the Advocate above. The Holy Spirit then likewise acts\nin that He applies the Word to convict and cleanse. The cleansing is by\nthe water, the Word, and not a second time by the blood. Then follows\nconfession from our side and the restoration is effected. Also notice\nthat it does not say \"we have an Advocate with God,\" but \"with the\nFather.\" It is a family matter, and the Father is a Father who can do\nnothing but love those whom He has brought to himself through His Son.\nThe conception that the Father is angry with His sinning child on earth,\nand that the Son of God by His pleadings inclines the heart of God to be\nmerciful, is an unscriptural one. Another reason why He acts thus as\nAdvocate is Satan, the accuser of the brethren. He still has access into\nthe presence of God. The day will come when He is cast out of heaven,\nbut that day will not come until the church has been caught up to meet\nthe Lord in the air.\n\n\"And the great dragon was cast out, that serpent, called the Devil, and\nSatan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,\nand his angels were cast out with him.\n\n\"And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and\nstrength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ; for\nthe accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our\nGod day and night\" (Rev. xii:9-10).\n\nBecause Satan accuses God's people before God day and night, the\nAdvocate is there to rebuke him. Every attack by accusation of the\nsinning children of God, the Lord Jesus Christ meets with the fact that\nHe made propitiation; He died for their sins.\n\nHe Shall not Fail nor be Discouraged.\n\nAnd this work of Himself as our Priest, the merciful and faithful High\nPriest and our Advocate goes on up yonder uninterruptedly. In Isaiah we\nfind a word which speaks of Him, \"He shall not fail nor be discouraged.\"\nWell may we apply this to His present work as Priest and Advocate of His\nown. As Priest He will never fail. He will never fail in being about His\nown, in keeping them and sustaining them, in sending them help from the\nsanctuary in time of need. As Advocate He will not be discouraged. The\nsame old failures in our lives, which humble us and break us down, but\nHe continues in this service in behalf of His poor sinning people. Some\nChristians do not believe in the fundamental doctrine of the Gospel,\nthat a child of God in possession of eternal life can never be lost.\nThey think it depends on their walk and service. If one of His own could\never be lost again, if even the weakest, the most imperfect could be\nsnatched out of His hands, His present work would be a failure as well\nas His finished work on the cross. But read the great high-priestly\nprayer He left for us in John xvii. There He prays the Father, who\nheareth Him always, that His own may be kept.\n\nHis Work for the Church.\n\nAnother aspect of His present work is what He does for His church. We\ncan but briefly indicate what this means.\n\nHe is in glory the Head of the church. The church is His body, the\nfullness of Him, that filleth all in all.\n\nEvery believing sinner is a member in that body. The risen Lord Himself\nadds new members to that body. He puts each member into the body as it\npleases Him. Each member is guided and directed by Himself. He supplies\nthis body with gifts.\n\n\"And He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists;\nand some, pastors and teachers;\n\n\"For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the\nedifying of the body of Christ.\n\n\"Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the\nSon of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the\nfullness of Christ\" (Eph. iv:11-13).\n\nThus He builds up from the Glory His own body. Some day that body will\nbe complete. Then we all come unto the measure of the stature of the\nfullness of Christ. That will be when we see Him as He is. Then His\npresent work in behalf of His own, His coheirs, will be finished.\nBrought home from this wilderness to the Father's house--safe\nhome--there will be no need any longer for His power and love to sustain\nus. No more tears will then be shed, no more wounds of pain and sorrow\nto be soothed, no more help is needed for the time of need; all that is\npassed. Nor does He then need to exercise His office as Advocate, for we\nare delivered forever from the presence of sin and sanctified wholly\nbody, soul and spirit. Sinning is then an impossibility. What a happy,\nglorious day that will be!\n\nIII.\n\nThe Practical Results of His Present Work in the Christian's Life.\n\nThe fact that the Lord Jesus Christ is in Glory occupied with us should\nlead us into a holy life which glorifies Him. That loving eye is never\nwithdrawn from us. If we were to remember this constantly, what a power\nthis would be in our lives! How many things would remain undone, how\nmany words unspoken, and how many other things done, if we were\nconstantly conscious of that eye which is upon us individually. He\nrepresents us before God, and we are to represent Him before men. A\nChristian is called to manifest Christ to be His representative. And\nsuch a life, which is unto His praise and Glory, is made possible\nthrough His blessed intercessory work and His presence in heaven. A true\nChristian life depends much on this heart occupation with the Person and\nwork of Christ. As His presence up yonder and His service for us is a\nreality to our hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, we shall\nwalk worthy of the Lord, and His blessed work for us will constantly be\nfelt in our lives here on earth. What a joy it is then, as we reckon\nonly with Him, who knows us, to serve Him, to depend on Him. And how we\nshould shun anything which grieves Him.\n\nEncouragement for Prayer.\n\nThese blessed facts of the Lord's loving interest in us and our life in\nthis present evil age, surrounded by dangers and evils of all kinds,\nwill be a great encouragement to us in our prayer life. We can go and\ntell Him all about that which troubles us. If He is interested in\neverything which happens to us, down to the smallest matter, then we can\ngo to him in prayer and tell Him about it. Some Christians teach that we\nshould not do this, but leave it all in His hands without praying for\nit, satisfied that His will be done. But this is contrary to Scripture,\nfor it says that in everything by prayer and supplication with\nthanksgiving we are to make our requests known (Phil. iv:6). He delights\nto have us tell Him, and like John's disciples we can go to Him and tell\nHim. His ear is always open. If in His service we become tired and\nweary, we can tell Him, for He was tired on account of the way. If\nhungry or without a resting place, He knows what that means, for He\npassed through this. If lonely and our best services are misunderstood,\nor the fiery darts of the enemy are aimed against us, we can speak to\nHim about it. All this can be so very real to us if we but go on led by\nHis spirit.\n\nDeliverance from Worry.\n\nIt should make an end of all worry and anxiety. We may possess a divine\ncarelessness. Be careful for nothing. Have no anxiety. Why should we\nworry or be anxious? Worry is the child of unbelief. Anxiety can never\nstay if the eyes of the heart behold the man in Glory and faith realizes\nthat all is in the hands of One \"who doeth all things well.\" Worry and\nanxiety accuse Him. Martha did that when she was encumbered with much\nservice and then said to Him, \"Dost Thou not care?\" Each time we give\nway to anxiety, we act as if He did not care. But He does; and He would\nhave us rest in faith and commit all to Himself.\n\nSharing His Work.\n\nIn conclusion we must not forget that He permits us to have some share\nin this blessed work of His. While He prays for us, we can pray one for\nanother, and for all the saints. He intercedes; we can intercede. He\nwashes our feet, typical of the cleansing by the Word. We are to wash\none another's feet. He carries our burdens, but the exhortation also is\nthat we carry one another's burden. He forgives and restores. We are to\nforbear one another, and forgive one another, \"even as Christ forgave\nus\" (Col. iii:13).\n\n\n\nIII.\n\nHIS FUTURE WORK\n\nThe Lord Jesus Christ, who finished the work on earth the Father gave\nHim to do, who is now bodily present in the highest heaven, occupying\nthe Father's throne and exercising His priesthood in behalf of His\npeople, is also King. To Him belongeth a Kingdom and a kingly Glory. He\nhas therefore a kingly work to do. While His past work was foretold by\nthe Spirit of God and His priestly work foreshadowed in the Old\nTestament, His work as King and His glorious Kingdom to come are\nlikewise the subjects of the Word of God.\n\nPredicted by the Prophets.\n\nHis kingly work was announced by Gabriel to the Virgin. \"The Lord God\nshall give unto Him the throne of His father David and He shall reign\nover the house of David forever; and of His Kingdom there shall be no\nend\" (Luke i:32, 33). According to this message He must occupy the\nthrone of His father David, He must reign and possess a Kingdom. This is\nbut heaven's confirmation of what God's prophets for many centuries had\nuttered in announcing the coming of the Messiah. The entire prophetic\nWord has its climax in the visions of the King and the Kingdom, He will\nreceive on this earth. These visions of glory to come, for Him who was\ndespised and rejected of men, are the glittering stars shining\nthroughout the dark night of the past and present age. They dazzle the\neyes of faith. They inspire hope and courage. We quote a few Scriptures\nwhich relate to the Christ as King.\n\n\"Yet I have set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the\ndecree: the Lord has said unto Me, Thou art my Son, this day have I\nbegotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the nations for Thine\ninheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession\"\n(Ps. ii:6-8). \"It is He that will judge the world in righteousness\" (Ps.\nxi:7). \"All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord,\nand all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before Thee. For the\nKingdom is the Lord's and He is the governor among the nations\" (Ps.\nxxii:27-28). \"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, ye\neverlasting doors; and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King\nof Glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of Glory\" (Ps. xxiv:9-10).\n\"All ye peoples clap your hands, shout unto God with the voice of\ntriumph! For Jehovah, the Most High, is terrible, a great King over all\nthe earth\" (Ps. xlvii:2). \"He shall judge thy people with righteousness,\nand the poor with judgment.\" \"Yea, all Kings shall fall down before Him;\nall nations shall serve Him.\" \"His name shall endure forever--all\nnations shall call Him blessed\" (Ps. lxxii:1, 11, 17). \"Also, I will\nmake Him my Firstborn, higher than the Kings of the earth\" (Ps.\nlxxxix:27). \"Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness\" (Is. xxxii:1).\n\"Behold the days come, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch,\nand a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and\njustice in the earth\" (Jer. xxiii:5). \"I saw in the night visions, and\nbehold there came with the clouds of heaven one like a Son of Man--and\nthere was given Him dominion and glory, and a Kingdom, that all peoples,\nnations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting\ndominion which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom which shall not be\ndestroyed\" (Dan. vii:13-14). \"Behold the man, whose name is the Branch,\nand he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of\nthe Lord. Even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear\nthe glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall be a\npriest upon his throne, and the counsel of peace shall be between them\nboth\" (Zech. vi:12, 13). \"And Jehovah shall be King over all the earth\"\n(Zech. xiii:9).\n\nAll these prophecies and many more speak of the Lord Jesus as King and\nbear witness of His Kingdom. The glories of His Kingdom are likewise\ndescribed by the holy men of God, the mouthpieces of the Spirit of God.\n\nNot Yet Fulfilled.\n\nWere these predictions fulfilled since the Lord Jesus Christ suffered on\nthe Cross? Have they been fulfilled since He entered the Father's\npresence in Glory? Is He now exercising His kingly rule and authority?\nIs the promised Kingdom of righteousness, of peace, of power and glory\nnow on this earth?\n\nThese questions arise at once in reading these divine predictions. They\nmust be answered in the negative. The Lord Jesus Christ has not even\nbegun His work as King. The Kingdom promised unto Him, He has not yet\nreceived. There is now no such Kingdom of glory and power on earth.\n\nThe New Testament Evidence.\n\nThe New Testament furnishes the completest evidence that our Lord is not\nKing over all the earth, and that His kingly rule is still in the\nfuture. The notion that the church is the Kingdom in which the Lord\nJesus Christ rules as King, and that the Old Testament predictions of\nKingdom glories are realized spiritually in the church, is a pure\ninvention. Nowhere is the church called the Kingdom, nor do we find the\nLord Jesus ever called \"the King of the Church.\" He is the Head of the\nchurch, which is His body. The New Testament still looks forward to the\nKingdom to come. The Lord has left the earth to receive a Kingdom and to\nreturn (Luke xix:11-28). He occupies the Father's throne, which is not\nHis permanent place, for He is to have His own throne. \"When the Son of\nMan shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then\nshall He sit upon the throne of His glory\" (Matt. xxv:31). He waits in\nheaven for the time when all enemies will be made the footstool of His\nfeet (Heb. x:13). \"But now we see not yet all things put under Him\"\n(Heb. ii:8). No nation serves Him and the Kingdoms of this world are not\nHis Kingdoms during this age. They will become His and heaven will\nresound with many voices saying: \"The kingdoms of this world are become\nthe kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and\never\" (Rev. xi:15). But that is future. When the seventh angel sounds\nHis trumpet, when heaven opens and He appears as King of kings, crowned\nwith many crowns (Rev. xix:11-16), then He will receive the nations for\nHis inheritance.\n\nHow Christ Begins His Future Work.\n\nThe beginning of Christ's future work is revealed in 1 Thessalonians\niv:15-18. This Scripture contains a great and unique revelation, unknown\nin the Old Testament. The Lord had made the promise to His disciples, \"I\nwill come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am ye may be\nalso\" (John xiv:3). He did not tell them in what manner He would keep\nthis most precious promise. In the first Epistle to the Thessalonians\nthe Lord gives the details of His coming for His own, and how He will\nfulfill the promise given to His disciples. He promises that He will\ndescend from heaven with a shout. When He accomplished His work on the\ncross, He gave a shout, for he cried with a loud voice \"Tetelestei\"--\"It\nis finished!\" As the risen One, He met His beloved ones and said \"All\nHail!\" The Greek gives only one word, \"Chairete\"--\"Oh! the Joy!\" This is\nHis resurrection shout, the shout of joy and victory. And when He\nascended He went up with a shout (Ps. xlvii:5). First Thessalonians\niv:16 tells us He is going to descend with a shout. He passed through\nthe heavens in His glorious ascension and entered into the presence of\nGod, His Father. Some day He will arise from the place He occupies on\nthe Throne of God. He will leave the place on the right hand of the\nMajesty on high and pass out of the third heaven. Once more He passeth\nthrough the heavens, not upward but downward. He comes to call His\nSaints to meet Him. The meeting-place is not the Mount of Olives,\nJerusalem or any earthly place; the meeting-place will be in the air. We\nrepeat, this is a revelation, which is not found in the Old Testament\nprophetic Word, nor did the Lord announce it fully in His earthly\nministry. According to the passage containing this revelation, the shout\nof the Lord as He descends into the air will be followed by the\nresurrection of the dead in Christ. All the Saints of God will be raised\nphysically from the graves. This includes the Old Testament and New\nTestament believers. When this shout is heard and the righteous dead are\nraised, all belonging to Christ and living in that day, will be caught\nup together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. For the\nsake of some, we add, that all who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ\nas Saviour, who received eternal life and the Spirit of God, belong to\nHim and their blessed Hope and destiny is to be \"caught up in clouds to\nmeet the Lord in the air.\" Some teach that in order to share this\nrapture certain attainments are needed. Such, however, is not the case.\nNo service, suffering, separation or any works we do, could ever fit us\nfor such a marvelous event. Grace has accomplished it for us. In 1 Cor.\nxv:51 we read: \"Behold I show you a mystery, we shall not all sleep, but\nwe shall all be changed in a moment, etc.\" The \"all\" means all that are\nChrist's at His coming, independent of their knowledge about\ndispensational truths, independent of their waiting for Him, or any\nother thing. That they belong to Him and are redeemed by His precious\nblood is a sufficient title to be caught up and to meet Him in the air.\n\nOf this double company, saints who died and who will be raised from the\ndead, and saints who live and will be changed in a moment and caught up\nto meet Him, we find a hint in His words in John xi:25-26. \"I am the\nresurrection and the life; he that believeth in Me, though he were dead,\nyet shall he live (Resurrection). And whosoever liveth (when He comes)\nand believeth in Me shall never die (The changing of living believers).\nBelievest thou this?\" May we answer Him, Yea, Lord, I believe. We may\nnot understand all the details of this wonderful event, an event which\nwill come suddenly, but we can believe His promise and wait daily for\nits glorious fulfillment. This is the blessed Hope of the Church. For\nthis we are told to wait. Ere He begins His judgment work, before the\nlast scenes of tribulation and wrath can be enacted upon this earth and\nHe returns as the King of Glory to claim His blood-bought inheritance,\nHe will come into the air to meet His redeemed host and co-heirs. This\nis the first event in connection with His future work.\n\nThe Judgment Seat of Christ.\n\nAll judgment is to be executed by the Lord Jesus Christ. \"For the Father\njudgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son\" (John\nv:22). Up to the present time no judgment work has been done by Him. Nor\nhave His people received their crowns and rewards for service and\nfaithfulness. The meeting of the Saints in the presence of the Lord will\nbe immediately followed by the judgment seat of Christ. \"For we shall\nall stand before the judgment seat of Christ\" (Rom. xiv:10). \"For we\nmust all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that everyone may\nreceive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,\nwhether it be good or bad\" (2 Cor. v:10). No unsaved person appears\nbefore this judgment for they were not raised from the dead, nor changed\nin the twinkling of an eye. This judgment concerns only believers. This\njudgment, however, does not decide their eternal salvation. That was\nsettled when they believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. The words of our\nLord in John v:24 make this clear. \"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He\nthat heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath\neverlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed\nfrom death unto life.\" \"There is therefore now no condemnation to them\nwhich are in Christ\" (Rom. viii:1). The works and the service of His\npeople will be dealt with by the Lord in this first judgment act in His\nfuture work. Of this we read in 1 Cor. iv:5--\"Therefore judge nothing\nbefore the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the\nhidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the hidden counsels of\nthe hearts; and then shall have every man praise of God.\"\n\nEverything will be made manifest before that judgment seat. The\nunconfessed sins in the believer's life will be brought to light and all\nhidden things will be uncovered. Then the works of the believer will be\nmade manifest. \"Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day\nshall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire\nshall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide\nwhich he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's\nwork shall be burned, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be\nsaved, yet so as by fire\" (1 Cor. iii:13-15). It will be the time when\nGod's people will receive their rewards and crowns. Then the Apostles,\nthe faithful martyrs, the self-sacrificing missionaries and servants of\nGod will receive praise and reward for their labors. The judgment seat\nis the reward seat of Christ. In view of this the Apostle wrote to the\nfaithful Thessalonians: \"For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of\nrejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at\nHis coming? For ye are our glory and joy\" (1 Thess. ii:19-20). And the\nApostle John exhorts: \"And now little children, abide in Him; that when\nHe shall appear, we (the apostles and teachers) may have confidence, and\nnot be ashamed before Him at His Coming\" (1 John ii:28). All believers\nin Christ are saved and have eternal life; but not all receive a reward.\nTheir works will be consumed by the fire of that judgment, for they were\nnothing but wood, hay and stubble. They will go rewardless, while the\nfaithful saints, who toiled and served, who spent and were spent,\nfollowing closely in His steps, will receive rewards. What these will be\nno Saint does know at this time.\n\nWhen all is accomplished in connection with this judgment seat of\nChrist, He will lead His Saints into the Father's house, that they may\nbehold His glory (John xvii:24). He will present the church to Himself,\n\"a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but\nthat it should be holy and without blemish\" (Eph. v:27). He presents His\nchurch \"faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy\"\n(Jude 24).\n\nII.\n\nHis Future Work in Connection with the Earth.\n\nWhen the Saints of God have left the earth and met the Lord in the air,\nwhen the events took place we have briefly outlined, then the Lord Jesus\nChrist will begin from heaven a work which will be severely felt on the\nearth. He begins to deal with the world in a series of judgments. From\nthe Book of Revelation we learn that the \"Lion of the tribe of Judah the\nRoot of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and loose the seven\nseals thereof.\" (Rev. v:5). The book He receives contains the judgments\ndecreed for this earth with its apostate masses. The Lamb is seen\nopening the seals of the book, and as He breaks the seals the events\ndescribed under each seal happen. It is His work in judgment. In the\neighth chapter of Revelation an Angel is seen before an altar with a\ngolden censer. \"And the angel took the censer, and filled it with fire\nof the altar, and cast it into the earth, and there were voices, and\nthunderings, and lightnings and an earthquake. And the seven angels\nwhich had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound\" (Rev. viii:5,\n6). This Angel is the Lord Jesus Christ. He casts down the fire of\ndivine displeasure and judgment upon the earth. The seven trumpeting\nangels with their judgments for the earth are sent forth by Him. Then\ncome seven other angels, who pour out the bowls filled with the wrath of\nGod. We cannot examine all those judgments separately. There is no human\nbeing who can realize what they all mean and what it will be when the\nLord deals with this earth in righteousness.\n\nIsrael and the Nations.\n\nIsrael and the nations will pass through those judgments executed from\nabove. Christendom apostate, God defying and Christ rejecting\nChristendom, will like Pharaoh, be hardened by them. They do not repent,\nbut rather believe the strong delusion and accept the man of sin with\nhis lying wonders. The Jewish people will in part be restored to their\nland. The great tribulation centers in their land and will be felt there\nin its severest form. The apostate portion of the Jews will worship the\nfalse Christ and will therefore be visited by these righteous judgments.\nBut there is also a remnant of God-fearing Jews, who believe the Word of\nGod, who expect the Kingdom and the King. While these believing Jews\nsuffer, they also serve. They are the last messengers of the King. They\nherald once more the Gospel of the Kingdom and will bear witness of it\nto all the nations of the earth, before the end comes (Matt. xxiv:14).*\n\n* We refer the reader to our larger works, which deal more fully with\nthese coming events. Daniel, Joel, Commentary on Matthew, Harmony of the\nProphetic Word, Things to Come, etc., deal more fully with these truths.\nFor catalogue, address \"Our Hope,\" 456 Fourth Ave., New York City.\n\nNations Learning Righteousness.\n\n\"When Thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will\nlearn righteousness\" (Isaiah xxvi:9). A work of salvation will go on\nduring those seven years of judgment, tribulation and wrath. A great\nmultitude, which no man can number, of all nations, and kindreds, and\npeople, and tongues, come out of the great tribulation and have washed\ntheir robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev.\nvii:9-17). They heard and believed the final testimony as preached by\nthe Jewish remnant. Heathen nations will accept the Gospel of the\nKingdom, while apostate Christendom is excluded, for they received not\nthe love of the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (2 Thess.\nii).\n\nHis Glorious Appearing.\n\n\"Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be\ndarkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall\nfall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And\nthen shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall\nall the tribes of the earth mourn and they shall see the Son of Man\ncoming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory\" (Matthew\nxxiv:29-30). \"Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see\nHim, and they also which pierced Him, and all kindreds of the earth\nshall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen\" (Rev. i:7). \"And I saw heaven\nopened and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called\nFaithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His\neyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He\nhad a name written, that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed\nin a vesture dipped with blood; and His name is called the Word of God.\nAnd the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses,\nclothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of His mouth goeth a\nsharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule\nthem with a rod of iron and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness\nand wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a\nname written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords\" (Rev. xix:11-16).\n\nThe King in His Glory.\n\nEvery eye shall see Him, when He appears in glorious majesty as the King\nof Kings. His glory will cover the heavens (Hab. iii:3). Every tongue\nwhich denied Him will be forever hushed. His second, personal, visible\nand glorious coming will be the crowning and unanswerable proof of His\nDeity. His incarnation and all the work He accomplished on earth and in\nglory, can then no longer be denied. His glorious appearing will silence\nall His enemies. His rejection ends and His glory as God's appointed\nKing and ruler over this earth, He purchased with His blood, begins.\nEvery knee must then bow before Him and every tongue confess that He is\nLord.\n\nAnd when He appears in all His glory, He does not come alone. His Saints\ncome with Him. When He appears, then shall we also appear with Him in\nglory (Col. iii:4). In that day of triumph and glory, He will be\nglorified in His Saints and admired in all them that believed (2 Thess.\ni:10). Wonderful spectacle it will be, when He brings His many sons with\nHim unto glory! All will be conformed into the same image.\n\nHis Judgment-Work.\n\nHis feet will stand once more upon the Mount of Olives (Zech. xiv:4).\nBefore Him is Jerusalem and all nations are gathered against it to\nbattle (Zech. xiv:2). The Beast will be their leader, while the Man of\nSin, the Anti-christ, will do his dreadful work in the city itself. The\nremnant of Israel in great distress will then pray and look for\ndeliverance. The coming of the King will bring that deliverance. They\nwill shout then for joy and say in that day, \"Lo, this is our God, we\nhave waited for Him, and He will save us; this is the Lord; we have\nwaited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation\" (Isaiah\nxxv:9). They will welcome the once rejected One. \"Blessed is He that\ncometh in the name of the Lord\" (Matt. xxiii:39). And He will fight\nagainst those nations. The great battle of Armageddon will then take\nplace. \"The beasts and the Kings of the earth, and their armies,\ngathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and\nagainst his army\" (Rev. xix:19). But their opposition will suddenly be\nbroken to pieces. \"And the beast was taken, and with him the false\nprophet (the Anti-christ) that wrought miracles before him, with which\nhe deceived them that received the mark of the beast, and them that\nworshipped the image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire\nburning with brimstone\" (Rev. xix:20).\n\nOn His Throne.\n\nWhen the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels\nwith Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory\" (Matt.\nxxv:31). The judgment which will then be executed by Him is not a\nuniversal judgment (the dead are not mentioned), but it will be a\njudgment of the living nations in the day when He appears the second\ntime. Some nations are put on His right side and He calls them \"the\nblessed of my Father;\" they inherit the Kingdom which will then be\nestablished on the earth. That these righteous nations are not church\nsaints is obvious, for the church, as we have seen, was caught up in the\nbeginning of His future work to meet Him in the air and is associated\nwith Him when He comes in power and glory. Then there are other nations\nwhich are put on His left hand and they shall go away from that judgment\nthrone into everlasting punishment (Matt. xxv:46). But what is the\nstandard of this judgment? What they did to the Lord's brethren or what\nthey did not unto them. The Lord's brethren, according to the flesh are\nthe Jews. During the tribulation period believing Jews will preach the\nGospel of the Kingdom to all nations (Matt. xxiv:14). The nations who\nbelieved this last offer of mercy treated the messengers in kindness;\nthose who did not believe the message did not treat them in that way.\nAnd when this great judgment is passed, His Kingdom of righteousness and\npeace will be established on this earth. Righteousness will begin to\nreign as grace reigns now through righteousness.\n\nIII.\n\nThe Glories of His Kingdom.\n\n\"And in the days of those Kings shall the God of heaven set up a\nKingdom, which shall never be destroyed, and the Kingdom shall not be\nleft to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these\nKingdoms, and it shall stand forever\" (Dan. ii:44). \"I saw in the night\nvisions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of\nheaven, and came to the Ancients of days, and they brought Him near\nbefore Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,\nthat all people, nations and languages should serve Him; His dominion is\nan everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His Kingdom that\nwhich shall not be destroyed\" (Dan. vii:13-14). A closer study of these\ntwo fundamental passages from Daniel's great prophecies will establish\nthe fact that this promised Kingdom comes with the second coming of\nChrist. It will be preceded by a judgment blow at the earth Kingdoms;\nNebuchadnezzar beheld this in his prophetic dream.\n\nThis Kingdom is an earthly Kingdom and all the nations will be gathered\ninto that Kingdom. Jerusalem and a converted Israel will be the center\nof it. The Lord Jesus Christ and His Saints will reign with Him over the\nearth and over this Kingdom. And what will be His work then? But a few\nof the many things can be mentioned. \"He shall speak peace to the\nnations\" (Zech. ix:10). \"With righteousness shall He judge the poor, and\nreprove with equity the meek of the earth.\" (Isaiah xi:4). \"He shall\nbring forth judgment to the Gentiles\" (Is. xlii:1). \"And He shall judge\namong the nations, and shall rebuke many people, and they shall beat\ntheir swords into plow-shares, and their spears into pruninghooks;\nnation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn\nwar any more\" (Isaiah ii:4). He shall also \"set up an ensign for the\nnations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together\nthe dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth\" (Isaiah\nxi:12). \"And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and\nshall be my people\" (Zech. ii:11). \"And the Lord shall be King over all\nthe earth\" (Zech. xiv:9). \"Behold a King shall reign in righteousness\"\n(Isaiah xxxii:1). \"A King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute\njudgment and justice in the earth\" (Jere. xxiii:5).\n\nMany more passages predicting and describing the Kingdom and its glories\nmight be added. All these blessed words mean exactly what they say.\nRighteousness and peace will characterize that world-wide Kingdom of the\nLord Jesus Christ. His glory will cover the earth as the waters cover\nthe deep. Nations will worship Him. \"Yea, all Kings shall fall down\nbefore Him; all nations shall serve Him.\" \"He shall have dominion also\nfrom sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth\" (Ps.\nlxxii:8, 11). Every wrong will be righted on earth and present-day evils\nand oppression, crime and vice, poverty and sickness will be abolished.\nOnly He has the power to do this. Oh! the glories of the Kingdom! May we\npray, \"Even so, come, Lord Jesus.\" Thy Kingdom come.\n\nCreation Delivered.\n\n\"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the\nmanifestation of the Sons of God. For the creature was made subject to\nvanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same\nin hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the\nbondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.\nFor we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain\ntogether until now\" (Rom. viii:19-22). Sin has brought a curse upon\ncreation. The thorns and thistles are the result of the fall of man as\nwell as the blight and misery which rests upon a creation, which was\npronounced good by the Creator. But this condition into which creation\nhas been plunged will not continue forever. A better day is coming.\nGroaning creation is to be delivered. The curse will be removed. This\ncannot be the work of man. Scientists attempt to set things in order in\nthis ruined creation; but they fail. The things which destroy, the heat\nand the drought, the storms and earthquakes, cannot be arrested by the\narm of man.\n\nThe Son of God wore the crown of thorns. The curse was put upon Him. And\nHe who created all things and paid for redemption by His precious blood\nwill, with omnipotent power, deliver groaning creation. It will take\nplace when the sons of God are manifested. The sons of God (the\nredeemed) will be manifested with Him, as we have seen, in the day of\nHis visible appearing. Then the great vision of Isaiah will find its\nfulfillment. \"The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard\nshall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the\nfatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and\nthe bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the\nlion shall eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child shall play on\nthe hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the\ncockatrice den\" (Isaiah xi:6-8).\n\nAll Under His Feet.\n\nThe dispensation of the fulness of times has come (Eph. i:10). All\nthings are put under Him. All His enemies are made His footstool. He is\nLord of all. The glorious reign of Christ, in kingly glory, in\nfulfillment of the Prophet's visions, will be followed by another\njudgment.\n\nThe Great White Throne.\n\nThe second resurrection, that of the wicked dead, takes place at the end\nof the Kingdom reign of Christ. This great judgment and the final\ndestiny of the wicked is revealed in Rev. xx:11-15. The Lord Jesus\nChrist will be the judge in that awful scene, for it is written that all\njudgment is committed unto the Son\" (John v:22). Then Cometh the End.\n\n\"Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the Kingdom to\nGod, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all\nauthority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies\nunder His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. . . .\nAnd when all things shall be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also\nHimself be subject unto Him, who put all things under Him, that God may\nbe all in all\" (1 Cor. xv:24-28).\n\nThen He will create a new heaven and a new earth, the eternal dwelling\nplace of redeemed and glorified mankind. \"And I saw a new heaven and a\nnew earth\" (Rev. xxi:1). \"And He that sat upon the throne said, Behold,\nI make all things new. And He said unto me, Write: for these words are\ntrue and faithful\" (Rev. xxi:5). \"And there shall be no more curse; but\nthe throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and His servants shall\nserve Him. And they shall see His face; and His Name shall be in their\nforeheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle,\nneither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light; and they\nshall reign forever and ever\" (Rev. xxii:3-5).\n\nThis will be the ultimate result of the blessed Work of Christ. His past\nwork is finished. Soon His present Work may end and then His future,\nkingly work begins, when He comes the second time.\n\n\"Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus.\"","title":"The Work Of Christ: Past, Present and Future","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":18079}