Part 5 (2/2)
”In the days of these kings shall the G.o.d of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.
”Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the bra.s.s, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great G.o.d hath made known to the king what shall come to pa.s.s hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
”In the days of these kings,”--these kingdoms of our own time,--the next great world-changing event is to be the coming of Christ to begin the setting up of his everlasting kingdom. That is the grand climax toward which all the course of history has been tending. At last the end is to come.
”Down in the feet of iron and of clay, Weak and divided, soon to pa.s.s away; What will the next great, glorious drama be?-- Christ and His coming, and eternity.”
As the stone, cut out of the mountain ”without hands,” smote the image, so that all its parts, representative of earthly dominion, were ground to dust and blown away, so Christ's coming kingdom, set up ”without hands,” by no human power, but by the power of the eternal G.o.d, will end all earthly dominion and bring the utter destruction of sin and sinners out of the earth.
”The dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure.”
Then may all eyes well be turned toward the next great step foretold in the prophetic outline--the coming of Christ's glorious everlasting kingdom, which shall not pa.s.s away.
”Look for the waymarks as you journey on, Look for the waymarks, pa.s.sing one by one, Down through the ages, past the kingdoms four,-- Where are we standing? Look the waymarks o'er.”
[Ill.u.s.tration: PHOTOGRAPH BY MISSIONARY W.C. ISING
Ruins of the Palace of Nebuchadnezzar, in which was the hall of Belshazzar's Feast.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST
”This same Jesus ... shall so come in like manner.” Acts 1:11.
COPYRIGHT STANDARD PUB. CO.]
[Ill.u.s.tration: THE TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM
”Behold, thy King cometh,... lowly, and riding upon an a.s.s.” Zech.
9:9.]
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
”Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Heb. 9:28.
Too often the second coming of Christ is looked upon simply as a doctrine. It is, however, more than a doctrine merely to be believed; it is an impending event, something that is to take place on earth, and the most stupendous, all-transcendent event for the world since Christ came the first time to die on Calvary for the sins of men.
This second coming of Christ, like His first coming, has been the theme of divine prophecy from the beginning. This was emphasized by the apostle Peter in his second recorded sermon. He pressed upon the people of Jerusalem the fact that the things ”which G.o.d before had showed by the mouth of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer” (Acts 3:18), had been fulfilled to the letter before their eyes. Not a word had failed. Just so, he said, all that the prophets had spoken of His second coming would be fulfilled:
”He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of rest.i.tution of all things, which G.o.d hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:20, 21.
The Promise of His Coming
As iniquity began to abound, G.o.d sent a message to the antediluvian world, declaring that Christ's coming in glory would end the reign of sin:
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