Future Judgements

"What shall be the sign of Thy coming?" (Mat. 24:3). At the end of the tribulation, which extends for 31/2 years, when the sun is darkened, and the moon will not give her light (for we are told that the moon will be turned into blood) the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (1'1aL 24:29,30). This state of a darkened heavens seems to continue for some time, for part of a day at least, for both the sun and moon are mentioned, so that man on earth will be called to attention by what will be happening to the heavenly bodies, and even the stars in the blackness of that day will fall from heaven. After this we are told, "Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory" (~at. 24:30). What a sight! a sight to cause rejoicing to the suffering people of God, ~nd to bring terror to the Lord's enemies.

What is first in order of events so far as they affect men, as the Son of Man approaches the earth on the clouds? The first it seems to me is that described in MaL24:31:

And He shall send forth His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

This gathering together of the elect will, I judge, be to Jerusalem to where the Lord is descending, and not as in the case of the elect of this dispensation, such as are in Christ, who meet Him in the air (1 Thes. 4:13-18). The elect of Matthew 24:31 seem to me to be such as are alive at the Lord's coming to the earth. It is said of these elect who are taken from amongst such as are not of the elect:

Then shall two men be in the field; one is taken, and one is left: two women shall be grinding at the mill; one is taken, and one left. Watch therefore; for ye know not on what day your Lord cometh (Mat.

24:40-"2).

Some hold the opposite view to this, that it is the wicked that are taken in judgement and the righteous who are left, and they emphasize that this is what happened in the days of Noah, and also of LoL But if those scenes of God's past judgements be considered, it will be found that it was the righteous who were ta~~n and the wicked left for judgemeuL

J. Miller

Extracted from Needed Truth 1953

unknown | Dec 1993
Voices From The Past