THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM.

BY F. C. BLAND.

PRESUME that the majority of intelligent and godly Christians hold that the return of the Lord for His saints is the true hope of the Church, and that we are called "to wait for God's Son from heaven, even Jesus whom He raised from the dead;" and we endorse most fully the words of the author of the "Coming Prince," viz., "That the words of Christ are unequivocally true; that He never enjoins His people to live in expectation of His coming save at a time when nothing intervenes to bar the fulfilment of their hope."

On the other hand, we hold that there are certain things which must take place before the last great apostasy sets in, and "the wicked one is revealed, "whom the Lord shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and destroy by the brightness of His appearing."

Those who have studied prophecy will all agree that the Jews must be restored to the Holy Land; that a temple must be built at Jerusalem, and a daily sacrifice again be offered there, which, in its turn, is to be supplanted by "the abomination of desolation" spoken of by Daniel the prophet.

We have held, in a general way, that a period which is distinctly Jewish in its character is to succeed the present dispensation, which is Christian, and that the purpose which God had in "taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name" will have been fully accomplished before He returns to build "the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down." It will at once be seen that before the 70th week of Daniel begins to run its course some preparation for it is necessary, such, for instance, as the return of the Jews to Jerusalem; because they must be already in the scenes when the last week of Daniel opens; and, further, the appearance (in some inferior position at first) of the one who is afterwards to become the wilful king of Daniel xi.

No one will pretend that at this moment the 70th Heptad, which begins by the making of a covenant, could commence, for there is no person on the scenes answering to the description of that one who

is to make that covenant, nor are there any people to make it with; nor is the temple worship established, or the daily sacrifice set up, which is to be taken away and succeeded by the abomination of desolation.

If, therefore, the Church is to be left here till the 70th Heptad begins, it is manifest that we cannot expect the Lord to return just yet.

Or, let me put it this way. It is plain that if the Church were taken up at this moment, some time must elapse between this event and the time when the 70th week begins. Therefore, if we hold the Lord's return as a present hope, we must leave room for an interval occurring between the taking up of the saints and the time when the "little horn" makes this covenant with the many.

Our hearts may be beyond our knowledge, and we may hope for the Lord's coming at any moment because our spiritual instincts lead us to do so; but God does not give His people groundless expectations, and we are bound to search the Scriptures, that we may be able" to give to every man that asketh us a reason of the hope that is in us with meekness and fear."

It is very generally held that the present testimony will be succeeded by one Jewish in its character, which will be taken up by Jews who will preach in a special sense the Gospel of the Kingdom, and that it will be preached as a witness, and carried on till the end come. What the character of that preaching will be is a consideration of the deepest interest, and to this I hope to refer further on.

In the 4th chapter of John's Gospel, the Lord says, that the time was coming when worship at Jerusalem should cease, and give place to worship of another character; intimating that the Jewish worship of ritual and form, which was connected with a certain locality, was to be succeeded by one of spirit and truth; this also is to be succeeded (and that before the end) by a worship of which the temple at Jerusalem again becomes the centre, and which will be essentially Jewish in its form.

Moreover, it must be a worship which will be recognised by God, for the temple is called in Malachi iii. "His temple," and in Matt. xxiv. the inner shrine is