not intervene between the coming of Christ for His saints in the air and His coming with His saints to the earth. Indeed, there are indications that there must be such an interval. Christ has much to do with His Church before He comes with His Church to deal with the world. Furthermore, we are distinctly taught in the 6th and 7th verses of this same chapter that there is now a restraining power that hinders the manifestation of the man of sin. Paul says, "And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end that he may be revealed in his own season. For the mystery of lawlessness doth already work; only there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall be revealed the lawless one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the manifestation of his coming." It is only natural to presume that this restraining power has something to do with the Church; and the inevitable implication seems to be that the Church must be removed from the earth before "the lawless one" can be revealed on the earth.

5. The last days and the time of the return of our Lord Jesus will be a time of

apostasy. We read in I Tim. 4:1, "But the Spirit saith expressly, that in later times some shall fall away from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." By "doctrines of demons" is evidently meant teachings that evil spirits will promulgate through those men and women who are under their control, such, for example, as the teachings of modern "spiritualism," which might more properly be termed "demonism." The marvelous growth of belief in the "occult" in our day seems to be a fulfillment of this word of prophesy. On every hand men seem to be departing from the faith once delivered to the saints and giving heed to all manner of evil spirits. We are further told by Paul in his second epistle to Timothy that those days shall be "grievous times." He says, "But know this, that in the last days grievous times shall come; for men shall be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God; holding a form of godliness, but having

denied the power thereof" (II Tim. 5:1-3). These words present to us a remarkably accurate picture of our own time. If one should take up in detail each item in Paul's characterization of the last days, he would find it marvelously fulfilled in our own day. This naturally leads many to suppose that the Lord's coming is very near at hand. However, we should always bear in mind that earnest men of God and students of the Bible have often thought in by-gone days that the coming of the Lord was very near. Luther, for example, thought this centuries ago. These men of the past were not mistaken. The Return of our Lord was very near. Those who were mistaken were those who thought it so far away that they let it have no effect upon their lives. But at the present time, the multiplied iniquities of our day, the apostasy into damning error and unbelief of many professed and hitherto apparently sincere Christians, and of many professedly evangelical preachers, and of numerous professors of theology in seminaries built at great sacrifice by orthodox men and women for the promulgation of truth and not for the breeding of error, the increase of lawlessness on the part of great

corporations on the one hand and on the part of the oppressed poor on the other hand, the mutterings preceding the storm of wild anarchy that seems likely soon to break, all these things are signs of His coming which may be very near at hand. Men's hearts are "fainting for fear, and for expectation of the things which are coming on the world" (Luke 21:26). Many of the greatest statesmen of England, America and Germany have forebodings which they scarcely dare to put in words of what lies just a little way ahead of the nations of the earth. But in such days as these our hearts should not faint nor fear. "When these things begin to come to pass" we should "look up and lift up our heads, because our redemption draweth nigh” (Luke 21:28). The darker the day grows, the nearer at hand is the dawn, and just at the moment when things seem unendurable, the brightest, gladdest day the earth ever saw is breaking.

6. The Return of our Lord is an event, that as far as we know, may occur at any moment. We are repeatedly exhorted in the Bible to be watching, looking and ready for our Lord's return. In Mark 13:34-36, our

Lord Jesus says to His disciples, "It is as when a man sojourning in another country, having left his house, and given authority to his servants to each one his work, commanded also the porter to watch. Watch, therefore; for ye know not when the Lord of the house cometh, whether at even, or at midnight, or at cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." Again in Luke 12:35, 36 our Lord is recorded as saying, "Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and be ye yourselves like unto men looking for their lord, when he shall return from the marriage feast; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may straightway open unto him." Still again we read in Matt. 25:13, these words of our Lord, "Watch therefore, for ye know not the day nor the hour." In the preceding chapter, Matt. 24:42, 44, we read, "Watch therefore, for ye know not on what day your lord cometh. Therefore be ye also ready, for in an hour when ye think not the Son of man cometh." If we knew that there were any event, or series of events, that must occur before our Lord comes to receive His own unto Himself, we could not be watching as our Lord in these passages bids