Now NOAH was safely shut up in the Ark-"God shut him in" before the flood descended upon the earth. And LoT was lodged in the little city ZoAR, which was given as an answer to his prayers,-before the fire and brimstone were poured down on Sodom. We remember how the destroying angel bade him quickly leave the doomed city-Haste thee, escape thither, (that is to Zoar,) for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither." So THEN IT SHALL BE WHEN THE SON OF MAN IS REVEALED: the waiting people of the Lord shall be delivered: they shall be taken to a place of safety ere the fearful burden of the last great tribulation shall descend upon the earth's inhabitants.

But let us take some further evidence upon this point. In the text which forms the heading of this chapter, we find our Saviour forewarning his disciples —"Take heed, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come ON ALL THEM THAT DWELL ON THE FACE OF THE WHOLE EARTH. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to ESCAPE all those things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man." Surely this makes matters very plain. The day of Christ shall come "unawares" upon upon "all them that

dwell on the face of the whole earth." NONE shall be prepared for it. But it is not thus to come upon the waiting servants of the Lord. They will be accounted worthy to escape-(exqure to flee out of)

*Gen. vii. 17.

† Gen. xix. 21-23.

all those terrors which the people of the world must suffer,-"The distress of nations,"-"the perplexity”—“the fear" which shall make men's hearts to fail-and the shaking of the powers of heaven. They shall but "see these things begin to come to pass," and then they shall be called away, and "Stand before the Son of Man."*

But we will examine this important matter further yet. ST. PAUL has a word upon it in his first Epistle to the Thessalonians, which reads as follows: "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him."+ "Them ALSO!"-who then besides them shall form a portion of his train? The Apostle tells us "For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent (that is "go before" or "be in advance of") them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel. and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise FIRST. THEN we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."‡ Let us observe the order: the dead in Christ FIRST, and THEN the living in Christ, are to go and "MEET the Lord IN THE AIR, as He descends from above; that He may "bring" them "with Him" to the earth, among that glorious train which then shall do Him honor. Thus far is the testimony of the Apostle Paul clear. He does not indeed tell us what shall *Luke xxi. 34-36. † 1 Thess. iv. 14. 1 Thess. iv. 15-17.

take place in the world after the living in Christ shall be changed, and safely taken to the presence of their Lord; but, so far as his testimony goes, it is very decided in support of the doctrine which we have advanced. And if we take the word of Paul in connection with that of our Lord which we have quoted, we shall find it perfectly evident that the Lord's people who shall be living upon the earth at the time of our Saviour's coming will be caught up to meet Him in the air, and will abide with Him in safety till the period of the tribulation shall be over.

But let us strengthen our position, by examining what the PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT have advanced.

We will turn first to ISAIAH. We find he has devoted the twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth chapters of his prophecy to the subject now before us. He speaks of a day wherein the Lord will "swallow up death in victory," "wipe away tears from off all . faces," and "take away the rebuke of his people from off all the earth;" a day wherein it shall be said, "Lo! this is our God: we have waited for Him, and He will save us;" a day wherein the Lord "will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Him;" a day wherein the Lord's hand shall be lifted up, and though the wicked "will not see, they shall see." Now we find a wonderful word spoken by the Prophet, both concerning these wicked ones who "will not see," and the people who have waited for the Lord. Of the wicked he declares, "They are dead, they shall not live: they are deceased, they shall not rise: therefore, Thou hast visited and

destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish."* And then after an expression of wonder and gratitude to God for the increase and prosperity of Israel, which shall take place at that time, he continues, (still addressing God,) "Thy dead shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise." And then (as it were) turning to the people of the Lord, who shall be lying in the silent tomb, he adds"Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead." And then again addressing others, he says "Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." This last address could not certainly have been intended for the dead. They, already secure against the sword,-would be beyond the reach of comfort from such exhortation: a punishment designed for the "inhabitants of the earth," a punishment, concerning the effect of which it is declared-"The earth shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her SLAIN"-could not be profitable for men already dead. The LIVING surely must be addressed here. THE LIVING PEOPLE OF THE LORD. Those "who are alive and remain" unto His coming. Such (speaking after the manner of men) would be unsafe amid the fearful tribulation to be poured out upon the unbe

*Isaiah xxvi. 14.

lieving world. Therefore, they are called away BEFORE "The Lord cometh out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity."

But let us take the word of yet another Prophet,DANIEL. We will refer to the twelfth chapter of his prophecy. The chapter opens thus-"And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of Thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time: and at that time Thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."* Now this passage requires a little explanation. It appears that at the time when the great Prince shall stand up, there shall be AN UNPRECEDENTED TRIBULATION, but every one whose

name "shall be found written in the book" shall be delivered: he shall not be a sufferer: he shall (as we have seen elsewhere) arise to meet the Lord, and abide with him in safety. Moreover, "many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.” “Many”—NOT ALL,-a part only of the dead. But who of these? The passage tells us, as it continues, "Some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." But here we must remove a difficulty. I believe there is an acknowledged incorrectness in rendering the Hebrew words which are translated SOME. They should be "these" and

*Daniel xii. 1, 2.