On the Mount of Olives
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all nations; and then shall the end come.” This prophecy will again
be fulfilled. The abounding iniquity of that day finds its counterpart
in this generation. So with the prediction in regard to the preaching
of the gospel. Before the fall of Jerusalem, Paul, writing by the Holy
Spirit, declared that the gospel was preached to “every creature which
is under heaven.”
Colossians 1:23
. So now, before the coming of the
Son of man, the everlasting gospel is to be preached “to every nation,
and kindred, and tongue, and people.”
Revelation 14:6, 14
. God “hath
appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world.”
Acts 17:31
.
Christ tells us when that day shall be ushered in. He does not say that
all the world will be converted, but that “this gospel of the kingdom
shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.” By giving the gospel to the world it is in our
power to hasten our Lord’s return. We are not only to look for but to
hasten the coming of the day of God.
2 Peter 3:12
, margin. Had the
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church of Christ done her appointed work as the Lord ordained, the
whole world would before this have been warned, and the Lord Jesus
would have come to our earth in power and great glory.
After He had given the signs of His coming, Christ said, “When ye
see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh
at hand.” “Take ye heed, watch and pray.” God has always given men
warning of coming judgments. Those who had faith in His message
for their time, and who acted out their faith, in obedience to His
commandments, escaped the judgments that fell upon the disobedient
and unbelieving. The word came to Noah, “Come thou and all thy
house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before Me.” Noah
obeyed and was saved. The message came to Lot, “Up, get you out of
this place; for the Lord will destroy this city.”
Genesis 7:1
;
19:14
. Lot
placed himself under the guardianship of the heavenly messengers, and
was saved. So Christ’s disciples were given warning of the destruction
of Jerusalem. Those who watched for the sign of the coming ruin,
and fled from the city, escaped the destruction. So now we are given
warning of Christ’s second coming and of the destruction to fall upon
the world. Those who heed the warning will be saved.
Because we know not the exact time of His coming, we are com-
manded to watch. “Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when
He cometh shall find watching.”
Luke 12:37
. Those who watch for the
Lord’s coming are not waiting in idle expectancy. The expectation of