Signs of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 20. (5/13/1908)

Signs of the Times

May 13, 1908

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 13, 1908

THE HOME DEPARTMENT

By Editor

This department will be maintained and made stronger and more interesting than ever.

OUTLOOK DEPARTMENT

In this department special attention will be given to current events and the bearing they have on the fulfilment of prophecy. There are tremendous issues before us at the present time, and these will be dealt with by able men in all parts of the world.

MISSIONS

The SIGNS has always taken a lively interest in missions and missionary enterprises. During the coming year special attention will be given to this department. There will be articles on the great, needy fields of China, India, Africa, South America, Korea, Japan, and the Philippine Islands. These articles will be furnished by persons right on the ground, acquainted with all the difficulties and advance steps that are being taken.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

or, Our Inquirers' Department will be continued, together with the Bible-reading Band already organized, beginning with 1909, reading the Bible thru in a different way from the present.

During the year the senior editor will spend several weeks in Europe gathering information and material with which to enrich the pages of the SIGNS. He will make a special study of the great problems now agitating the social, religious, and political world, and give the readers of this paper the benefit of his research. His weekly letters, embodying notes of travel, etc., will be of special interest to all.

172 SPECIAL ARTICLES

By Editor

CRIMES, calamities, earthquakes, volcanoes, cyclones, hurricanes, and other startling phenomena are increasing on every hand. There is a general feeling of unrest, and men are inquiring what these things mean and what will be the outcome of it all.

The Genius of War Summoning the Nations to Arms. Joel 3:9.

Strong efforts have been put forth by influential men and women to secure peace among the nations, but in spite of this the nations are driving madly on into greater and still greater war preparations. Over half a billion dollars more a year is being spent on war now than was being spent ten years ago.

Official, and, particularly, municipal corruption is increasing so rapidly that it is alarming all thoughtful people.

The strife between the great combines of capital and the combines of labor is becoming more and more bitter and intense. These things, and many others which might be mentioned, are all subjects of prophecy, and will be carefully considered in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES during the coming year. This journal has always made a special study of the prophecies, but we have come into the unfolding of events that makes the present particularly interesting and important. The one great event—that of the second coming of Christ—is even now at the very doors; and this is shown to be a certainty by the fulfilling of prophecy right in these days.

While giving particular attention to these great events and the bearing they have on the fulfilment of prophecy, other important subjects will be considered. Well-known writers will furnish

172 SPECIAL ARTICLES

Covering all the leading themes of the Gospel. These will be illustrated and presented clearly and attractively. There will also be

50 MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES

On subjects of practical godliness, true Christian living, etc., will be given which will be very helpful to all.

52 BIBLE-READINGS

There will be 52 Bible-readings on various subjects. These readings will be brief but comprehensive.

CONSECRATED SERVICE

"No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier." 2 Tim. 2:4.

With Our Inquirers

By Editor

"If ye will inquire, inquire ye."

[All questions to this department will be answered which to the editors will seem to minister to the good of the readers and to the mission of the paper. The same question can not be answered repeatedly in the same volume. The name and address must accompany question, not for publication, but as an evidence of good faith, and that answer may be made by letter if deemed advisable. It is well always to enclose a stamp for reply.]

2497.—Hypnotism.

What is Hypnotism, and what is the Biblical relation of Hypnotism with Spiritualism?

The Standard Dictionary defines Hypnotism to be "an artificially induced somnambulistic state in which the mind becomes passive, acting readily upon suggestion or direction, and upon regaining normal consciousness retaining little or no recollection of the actions or ideas dominant during the condition." In other words, it is the absolute subjection of one mind to another; one mind is placed under the absolute control of another; but this was never designed of God. He created the mind free; He gave the individual all the power and the privilege of yielding it to whomever he would. The man who yields his mind to God keeps it free; he does not place himself in bondage in doing it, save as love may be called bondage. But he who places his mind and will in subjection to that of another creature, be he man or demon, by that very act weakens the will, subverts his freedom, and becomes thereby a slave. This destruction of will-power and purpose is the inevitable result of yielding to hypnotic influences. Spiritualism has the same effect. The Bible of course does not define Spiritualism and Hypnotism, but it does reveal enough of the workings and control of evil spirits to make it clear to us that the principle which underlies one is identical with the workings of the other.

2498.—Shall We Know Each Other?

Have we any proof that we shall know each other in heaven as we know each other here?

There are two scriptures which we recall that would indicate this: Luke 13:28 indicates that even those who are lost will see "Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and yourselves cast forth without." The apostle Paul in contrasting this imperfect time with that perfect time which shall be, writes, "For now we see in a mirror, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known." 1 Cor. 13:12. In the vision of Matthew 17, the disciples knew Moses and Elijah when they came to talk with Jesus.

2499.—Mixture of Races.

Is it wrong to marry out of one's own race of people? I mean, should people of the white race marry any one of any other race?

As an almost universal thing, such marriages have been condemned, and if not condemned in theory, have worked out anything but satisfactorily in practise. Some state governments have very decided laws forbidding it. The children of such unions are either under the almost constant reflection on the part of others that they are the product of illegitimate union, or the blood of one race is crying out for a recognition which people of pure blood will not grant. That there have been great persons who have sprung from such unions is true, but it would be far better if such practises had never been known. Almost invariably the results are evil, and should be countenanced by no race or people.

2500.—"God Is One."

Will you please explain thru your Question Department Deut. 32:39, first part, in connection with Deut. 4:35, last part, Isa. 45:5, 6, 18, 22, and Deut. 6:4.

The inquiry seems to indicate that these texts are brought forward to show that Christians should not worship Christ, because "God is one," for that is the teaching of each of all these texts; "God is one," "there is no other God save Jehovah." And that is all true. But the oneness expressed is not as regards persons, but as regards absolute unity. This is shown in the use of the original word, echad, defined by Strong as "properly united, that is, one." The root word is achad, meaning to "unify." We have, for instance, the same thought expressed in the use of the word in the scriptures: Gen. 11:6, "the people is one;" Gen. 32:8, "the one company;" Gen. 34:16, "we will become one people;" Gen. 41:25, 26, speaking of the two dreams of Pharaoh, "the dream is one." This shows that the thought is not merely individuality but unity; and so it is with God. There are the Father and the Son; and the Father said to the Son in the beginning, "Let Us make man." The words express unity, and do not necessarily exclude either plurality or duality. If there is but one person in the Godhead, why did God say, "Let Us make man in Our image"? And of whom does Jehovah speak when He refers to a certain Being, declaring, "My name is in Him"?

2501.—"Honor Thy Father and Thy Mother."

Does the command to honor father and mother mean to honor our earthly father and mother (because some parents are not honorable)? or does it mean our heavenly Father (for He is sometimes called our Father-mother)? Or is there not a commandment for parents also, like, "Excite not your children to anger"?

It is of course the duty of every creature in the universe to honor God, but that duty toward Him is covered directly by the first four commandments of the Decalogue. It is also the child's duty to honor his father and mother, even tho that father and mother may be sinful, even tho they may not be honorable, even tho to obey God the child must at times disobey parents, still that child should honor his parents, and nothing but absolute duty to God, in which is involved eternal character, should turn him from obedience to the fifth precept. This is his duty, and doing that he can leave the rest with God. Parents certainly have a duty to their children. That duty is well expressed in Eph. 6:4, "Ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath; but nurture them in the chastening and admonition of the Lord." In this and previous verses are the duties of both parents and children set forth. Again, "Fathers, provoke not your children, that they be not discouraged." Col. 3:21.

2502.—"Every Eye Shall See Him." Rev. 1:7.

It says in Rev. 1:7 that every eye shall see Christ when He comes. How can every eye see Him when the world is round?

The Lord does not come to, that is, upon, this earth, we learn in other scriptures; as, for instance, 1 Thess. 4:16-18. In the mid-atmospheric heavens He waits for His children, and as the earth revolves, angels of God gather them unto Him. They are gathered up to meet the Lord in the air. All that is necessary is for Him to remain stationary in the visible firmament above, while the revolving earth brings His children to Him.

2503.—Sprinkling and Baptism.

Will you please explain Eze. 36:25, "Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean"? Has this any reference to baptism?

The scripture has no reference to baptism whatever. The reference is to the ancient ceremony of cleansing. See Lev. 14:7, and the context; also other places in the Levitical law. When the water was sprinkled upon the unclean one, judicial cleansing took place; that very ceremony showed that he was clean; and the Jews understood that to be the case. So the Lord used that same figure to show how He will deal with His own people, meaning that they will be absolutely cleansed, just as truly as they were of old. Baptism means immersion, whelming, submersion. Cleansing is wrought by the blood of Christ and the Spirit of God; and baptism is an act of faith showing that the repentant soul has accepted of the cleansing which Christ gives.

2504.—Stones in Breastplate.

How many stones were there in the breastplate of the high priest, twelve or twenty-four?

Ex. 28:17-20 tells us just how many stones there were, four rows, with three in a row, making twelve in number. Whatever border there may have been around these stones we do not know, but it was upon the twelve stones named in Exodus 28 that the names of the children of Israel were written.

To the many inquirers who have asked for explanation of 1 Tim. 4:1-5, we would say that in an early number we will give a more extended explanation of this text.

Our Bible Band.

Schedule for Week Ending May 23, 1908.

Sunday	May 17	1 Kings 19, 20	Psalm 134
Monday	" 18	" 21, 22	" 135
Tuesday	" 19	2 Kings 1, 2	" 136
Wednesday	" 20	" 3, 4	" 137
Thursday	" 21	" 5, 6	" 138
Friday	" 22	" 7, 8	" 139
Sabbath	" 23	" 9-12	" 140

Suggestive Notes.

Our lesson of this week continues the story of the reign of weak and wicked Ahab. After Elijah's wonderful day of anxiety and triumph at Carmel, the mighty prophet girds up his loins and runs down the long slope before Ahab's chariot, a distance of at least sixteen miles, to the entrance of Jezreel. Here a messenger comes from the wicked Jezebel telling him his life must pay forfeit for the destruction of the false prophets. A feeling of discouragement and fear comes over the weary man, so unlike his usual manner, and he arises and flees for his life. But he is not forsaken of God. A wonderful lesson he learns at Horeb, and back he goes to do God's work. He connects with him Elisha. Chapter 20 is the story of the defeat of Ben-hadad, the Syrian king. It shows another effort on the part of God to win the weak Ahab.

In Chapter 21 Elijah meets Ahab again, and pronounces the doom of his house and the death of Jezebel; but Ahab seems to repent and is given respite. Chapter 22 introduces the good king Jehoshaphat of Judah, and records his fearful mistake of alliance with Ahab, and the death of the latter. Jehoshaphat's reign is touched lightly, and the wickedness of Ahab's son, Ahaziah, is portrayed.

The first twelve chapters of 2 Kings deal with the prophets Elijah and Elisha, the last days of Elijah, and his translation, and the noble, godly life of Elisha, by whose hand God wrought noted miracles and reproved and instructed backsliding Israel. We follow the house of Ahab to its extinction. The sure punishment of sin is shown in the case of Gehazi. Jehu might have redeemed Israel from false worship had he not been a worshiper of himself. His judgments upon Baal-worship were fierce and summary. Athaliah, the wicked daughter of Ahab, carries the spirit of Jezebel her mother into Judah. Our lesson closes with a sketch of the beginning of the reign of Joash in Judah under good priest Jehoiada, Joash's submission to Hazael, and his death.

Psalms 134 to 140 constitute the special devotional readings for the week. They largely consist of praise to Jehovah for His loving-kindness and tender mercy, which "endureth forever." Psalm 137 was a song of the captives in Babylon. How full of assurance is Psalm 138 to the humble! Psalm 139 is peculiarly heart-searching, and to the true heart, comforting.

God's Call to Service

The Militant Earth.

THIS old earth is the planet militant. For the six thousand years of its human history its story has been a record of warfare. The chronicles of these conflicts have been impressed upon the soft clay, and baked into permanent records; they have been engraved in black basalt; pen and brush have traced and portrayed them upon parchment and canvass; the valleys and rivers, the hills and mountains, are veteran witnesses of the mighty and titanic struggles the earth militant has known.

In its old age it would seem as if the war-worn earth would be seeking peace and rest. Men call for peace, and governments respond by greater preparation for war. Nations are becoming armed hosts; great armadas sail the oceans; and uniformed men throng the thorafares of travel and trade. Into the universities, schools, and even churches has swept the militant spirit, and in all these are organized uniformed clubs and squads, and companies, equipped and drilled after military fashion. The old world is fast becoming a vast armed camp, waiting for the tocsin or trumpet of war to call to sanguinary and universal conflict.

Man a Fighting Creature.

What does this all witness?—That man is a warring, fighting, militant creature. He can not for long be at peace. It is not his nature. Very few indeed are the times when it could be said with truth, "Peace reigns throughout the world." Even in such times, it is armed truce. Combatants have become weary, or the conquered and oppressed are not yet ready to resume the dread conflict, while the armed guards of the conqueror police the lands of "peace" to restrain the pent-up passions of war. Such are the conditions of the field from the warfare between mighty, military nations to the mobs which threaten our cities.

Moral Conflicts.

THE mightiest conflicts which this old earth knows are the great moral conflicts—struggles with eternal issues at stake. It matters little whether France or Germany rules Alsace and Lorraine. It matters little whether Italy or Spain controls a certain colony or island. The result is about the same to the people who may dwell in the dependency. If a fair degree of civil freedom is allowed, and humans get enough to eat, drink, and be merry without too much hard work, it is easily tolerable to the majority. Body and mind and heart develop about as under other conditions. But it makes mighty difference as to which side one stands on in the moral warfare. It matters infinitely whether the soul is under the rule, the bondage, of sin, or whether it is free from sin's dominion.

THIS is the great battle-field of earth, and in it every soul has an interest. We may not be interested as to whether Russia or Japan rules in the Orient, but we must all share in the results, on the one side or the other, of the great moral warfare. For, friend, we are either slaves or freemen. We are fighting this life-campaign to win or to lose. We may say, "I have no interest in the matters one way or the other;" but the enemy has, and if you are not a soldier for the right, if you have not an active, genuine interest in the moral warfare and its results, you are a slave of sin, wearing the shackles of bondage.

Great Principles—Eternal Issues.

THERE are great principles at stake in this moral warfare—equity and wrong, righteousness and sin. All the hosts of the world are ranged on the one side or the other. So you, and I, friend, are either on the side of wrong and sin, or of equity and righteousness. We bear the black and crimson banner of the one or the blue and white of the other.

THERE are two great leaders in this moral warfare—Jesus Christ the Son of God, and Satan, God's adversary. With the One are the everlasting principles of righteousness and truth and goodness, and naught of evil. In the ultimate these principles will issue in all the blessings of eternal peace and perennially upspringing joy and happiness, in pleasures which will never pall upon the appetite, in glad loyalty to God and fellowship with other souls, ever increasing with the growing capacity of the soul to appreciate and enjoy. Under the other leadership there may be temporal prosperity, seeming advantage, temporary success, ephemeral pleasure and joy, but with apples of Sodom for the fruitage, which promise joy and satisfaction to the eye, but are ashes within. There are promises of fame and wealth and life; but at the end the blackness of darkness forever. There are guises and deceptions innumerable to ensnare and hold the soul in sin; but the shallow deceits cover an abyss of misery, the end of which is death eternal.

Where We Now Are.

MANKIND by inheritance of a perverted nature stands on the side of sin, slaves to the power of selfishness and evil, with no might to rise above the low level. The old earth is a wandering planet, a vessel with lost bearings, in charge of a mutinous crew, warring among themselves, separated from God's great loyal fleet. She is an island cut off from the continent of Heaven by sin and rebellion, and her children have known sin and want, and sorrow and misery, and wo and death from the day of her severance to the present.

BUT God did not leave the separated ship to her fate, the rebellious island to destruction. He has exercised guiding control over the battered bark despite her mutinous crew. A nail-pierced hand has reached down thru cloud and tempest, grasped the helm, and guided her from the whirlpools of death. The love of an infinite God has spanned the gulf which separated the rebellious island from the mainland of eternal righteousness and life. A golden ladder of love has been let down from the throne of God to the low depths of the sin-laden, fog-enshrouded earth; and up and down upon its shining rounds, pass and repass messengers of blessed ministry to the sin-sick and sorrowing in earth's night of conflict and death. Tho man has sinned, God has not forgotten.

Messengers of Life.

God has done more than to minister life to the needy. Into the rebellious land have come recruiting officers sent of God to enlist men under the banner of eternal right.

Some have been imprisoned. Some have been tortured and slain. Still they come, bearing the message of life, calling men to leave the service of sin and selfishness and Satan, and enlist in the army of the living God. Then God sent His Son, who laid aside His glory and majesty so as not to affright and awe mankind into feigned subjection. He took upon Himself man's nature, "became sin for us;" fought for man the moral warfare in the flesh; conquered for man; resisted sin even unto death; died in our behalf; rose triumphant because the grave could not imprison Eternal Righteousness; and now He, the God-man, pleads in our behalf the merits of His infinitely perfect work, while He pours out of His Spirit of life upon a dying world, and sends His heralds into every land, every clime, every nation and tribe, to every town and hamlet and home and heart, with the glad tidings of salvation.

"Not as the World Giveth."

EVEN SO His message comes to you to-day, if you are not already His. He asks you, for your good always, to leave the service of sin and self, and serve Him. He does not promise you ease or pleasure for the flesh; He does not promise you worldly riches or fame or power. All these the world offers. The hearty hand of good fellowship holds out to you the sparkling draught of pleasure, and bids you quaff, but like the fabled cup of Circe, it turns men to swine. Society's fair hand beckons you to ease and pleasure, but it leaves you supine, manless, and helpless. Commerce and greed invite you to gather the gold of earth, but their bags have holes, and gold retained proves a weight which sinks the soul into everlasting perdition. Fame holds out the laurel wreath, but without the righteousness of God it becomes at last a crown of thorns, filled with barbs of envy and jealousy, calumny and hatred; and at the best its withered wreath is forgotten for the many fresher ones, and it gives no satisfaction to the heart which lies cold in the marble crypt. Earthly glory and power hold out to you the roll of honor, and intimate that your name may be written among the great who have gone before; but the highest honors which earth can bestow are no panacea against disease and suffering, nor will they fray away the black angel of death.

The Invitation to Life.

O HEED the call of the Captain of your salvation, Christ Jesus, Him who never lost a battle, who conquered even in death, who tunneled the grave for all who die in Him. Down the centuries come the ringing invitations to the sinful sons of earth: "My son, give Me thine heart; and let thine eyes delight in My ways." Prov. 23:26. "Come now, and let us reason together, saith Jehovah: tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it." Isa. 1:18-20. Gracious promises and faithful warning God gives. Surely we can not afford to reject the former or ignore the latter. Hear again: "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light." Matt. 11:28-30. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life." John 3:16. "And the Spirit and the bride say, Come; and he that heareth, let him say, Come. And he that is athirst, let him come; he that will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. 22:17.

COMPREHENSIVE, gracious, mighty, all-embracing, are the above promises, and, friend, they are all for you. However the world regards you, there is hope for you in God. There is rest of soul in Him. There is new life in God to flow into your life, which will give you new power to rise above sin. There is cleansing and regeneration from all its devilish past if you will come to Christ, if you will enlist with Him against all evil. And thus again we read: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7. In other words, "Arrange yourselves under God, that you may array yourselves against the enemy." God calls you to join His army, to be His soldier forever. He has His creed, and code, and discipline, His manual of arms, His field tactics, all the instruction that is needed, in His own great and simple law and word of truth. He has for our living example Jesus His Son, who asks us to do nothing which He has not done, bear nothing which He has not borne, make no hard marches the paths of which are not marked by His own blood-stained footprints, take no humble position the ground of which has not been pressed by His knees in prayer for you. And He, Christ, the Conquering One, is your Captain to lead to the victorious end.

YET His service gives pleasure, and the cup which He presses to your lips, tho it sometimes causes pain, contains the water of life. Drinking from that fountain, you will desire none other. He offers society and fellowship; for truly Christ's soldiers have each fellowship with all; "yea, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; and these things we write that your joy may be made full." 1 John 1:3, 4. He has riches, the riches of faith and love; "the exceeding riches of His grace," "His riches in glory," bestowed upon us thru Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:7; Phil. 4:19. The gold of character, refined by the fire of trial, will He give to those who are His. Rev. 3:18. Fame!—He will write your name on the book of life, among all the heroes of God. Honor and power!—You may reign with Him forever.

THEN, friend, enlist under the banner of Jesus Christ. These are trying times. World conflicts threaten everywhere. Nations will inevitably go down forever in the mighty battle of Armageddon which lies before. Millions of souls are going to destruction in the often fiercer moral struggles in the world to-day. Better is "he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." For the conqueror in Christ Jesus, under the banner of eternal righteousness and truth, whether he live till the Master come or die in the conflict, there waits the crown of life and glory and the everlasting kingdom of love and joy unspeakable. And, friend, it all may be thine.

The Church Triumphant.

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle.

Methought I stood, one summer night, Upon a hoary mountainside; I'd journeyed far on wings of light, A heavenly messenger my guide. Like favored seer whose mortal sense Has gazed on mysteries sublime, With heaven-anointed eyes I looked Adown the changing stream of time.

Methought I saw the church of Christ Adrift upon the whelming flood, The host of hell beset her path, Her streaming banners dripped with blood. And thru the ages drear and long, I heard her sad and mournful cry, As 'mid the hosts of sin and wrong, She bore her blood-stained banners high.

I looked again, the scene had changed; I saw the church of Christ once more; A diadem was on her brow, A robe of righteousness she wore. Her cruel foes, no longer proud, Had fallen 'neath the conquering feet, Fair as the sun, she stood arrayed, Her triumph and her joy complete.

The din of war I heard no more,— Instead, fair Zion's glorious notes, The song of Moses and the Lamb, Thru heaven's arches sweetly floats. Behold, the marriage feast was spread, I saw the Bridegroom blest and fair, His church, in royal dress arrayed, An honored guest, was seated there.

Then loud and long thru endless space, Angelic heralds bore the word, Where suns and systems blaze and race, Till vast infinity had heard: "Lo! here are they who've spotless come Thru tribulation's crimson flood, Who've washed their robes and made them clean And pure and white in Jesus' blood." And thru the ceaseless ages long, They shout redemption's wondrous song.

Our Lord's Return.

1. We ought to be looking for it.

"Seeing then that all these things [this earth and its works] shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hastening unto ['earnestly desiring,' A.R.V.] the coming of the day of God." 2 Peter 3:11, 12. "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." Phil. 3:20.

2. We should love His return.

"Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 2 Tim. 4:8.

3. We should be watching for His coming.

"Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh." Matt. 25:13. Watching also implies being ready. "Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." Matt. 24:44.

4. His return should be a subject of prayer.

"He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." Rev. 22:20.

5. We should firmly believe in His coming again.

Because: (a) He promised it just before His death. John 14:1-3. (b) The promise was repeated at His ascension. Acts 1:9-11. (c) He describes it. Matt. 25:31. (d) The apostle Paul further describes it. 1 Thess. 4:15-17.

Continue reading: The Invitation