This series, following on directly from the last, is in reality a necessary appraisal of all that the Bible declares will happen prior to resurrection. In this first number we shall seek to set the scene in a very general fashion. [Read more…]

Frequently these days I receive papers, or read articles, which fight shy of accepting the thousand-year reign of Christ, as stated in Revelation 20. It is as though a new consensus of opinion is gaining ground amongst evangelicals and charismatics, whereby it is now in vogue to spiritualise the words of Rev.20, so that the “thousand years” can mean any length of time, as long as it’s not 1,000 years. In this article I wish to give my reasons for maintaining a belief in a literal Millennium. The reason for this may be seen as a first necessity in our study of the days “before He comes.” [Read more…]

It is so easy to live in the present and forget our heritage. Especially in these frantic days of speed, immersed in a consumer society, with all the wonders and delights (!) of modern technology at our finger tips, we tend to lose sight of our national background, and the meaning of the present in terms of the activities of the past. Our American friends have two days in the year in which they stop for a moment and reflect – Independence Day, and Thanksgiving Day. Here in Britain we do not have such days, but in November we have Armistice Day, in which we remember those who died in two world wars. [Read more…]

The word “Zionism” is inseparably linked with the name of Theodor Herzl who was born 2^nd May 1860 in Budapest, Hungary, part of the old Austrian empire.

He died 3^rd July 1904, Edlach, Austria at only 44 years of age.

Herzl was born of well-to-do middle-class parents. His first taste of school life brought him considerable trauma due to violent anti-Semitism. [Read more…]

Before getting to grips with today’s topic, I should like to thank those correspondents who have kindly written to correct me on a few historical points concerning the origin and growth of Pentecostalism. It would appear that I had not done my homework sufficiently. I had quoted Azusa Street as the start of the phenomenon in America, without making mention of another movement which, although less known, and certainly without the world-wide dissemination following, was nevertheless  quite a dynamic centre of outpouring of spiritual gifts – I speak of Charles Fox Parham, who began the Bethel Bible College at Topeka, Kansas in the fall of 1900. [Read more…]

Yesterday I made the suggestion that Jesus not only didn’t know “the day nor the hour” of His return, but also that He believed it to be within the lifetime of the generation then living. Many of His sayings would confirm this, and the apostles took up the message and declared it throughout their ministry and letters. [Read more…]

Yesterday I concluded by saying, “Having studied all these matters from Old Testament times, we are now in a position to attack the problem stated in the previous number in this series. We are presented with the problem of seeing numerous allusions to an early return of the Lord, well within the lifetimes of the apostles, knowing that it not only didn’t happen, but even after some 2,000 years, it still hasn’t happened. Why is this?” [Read more…]

The Prophecy of Isaiah chapter 6 is pivotal to the understanding of the progress of God’s plans in early New Testament times. We have mentioned this before, showing how the blindness, deafness, and hardness of heart predominated in Jesus’ day, and sadly, it continued afterwards during the preaching of the 12, and then the preaching of Paul. However, Paul’s eyes were opened to see that Israel’s failure became the doorway to faith for the Gentiles until “the fulness of the Gentiles” was achieved. He also saw that there was something beyond that point in time. He said quite emphatically that God was able to graft the natural branches back in again, and would do so under certain conditions. In this number we shall have another look at Isaiah 6 and see the prophecy within its context. [Read more…]

Now here is a subject which gains a considerable amount of attention in modern Christian writings. But even at a casual glance across the Internet, one comes away with the impression that all Christians are going to be whisked away out of this troubled world very soon, and then the Antichrist will take over, eventually producing this horrible period of time which the Bible calls “the great tribulation.”   However, the future cannot be laid down in letters engraved in marble, as though it was already past and readily remembered. Let’s take stock of what we find in the Bible, and ask a few pertinent questions. [Read more…]

Matthew 24:30  “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great trumpet, and they will assemble His elect.”

I would like to suggest that there are two items here, which at first reading seem to follow each other without a break, but in fact are separated by some considerable time.  The sign, and the mourning come first, and then later there is the dramatic event of the gathering. [Read more…]