dition of conversion to the gospel (to which it will never be brought) and as a result lead them to say, "My Lord delayeth his coming.'

The verse upon which much of the teaching of the world's conversion is based is that in Matt. 24:14: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." But this verse does not teach at all that the world will be converted. It teaches merely that the gospel will be sent to all the world, not for the conversion of the nations, but "for a witness" unto all nations.

The Bible nowhere teaches that the whole world will be converted. In the parable of the wheat and tares, recorded in Matt. 13: 24-30, 36-43, it is made very plain that both the righteous and the wicked are to grow together" until the "harvest," which is explained to be "the end of the world." At the end of the world, instead of the wicked all being converted, they are to be cast into a furnace of fire, where there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

World Growing Worse and Worse

Instead of the world growing better and better as the exponents of the world-conversion theory teach, we are plainly told in the Bible that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived." 2 Tim. 3:13.

Jesus himself, in speaking of the days immediately preceding his second coming, declared:

"As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:26-30.

Hence, all that it is necessary to do in order to discover the character of the days just before the coming of Christ is to refer to the history of the days just before the flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Concerning the conditions prevailing on the earth in the days of the flood, we read:

"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5.

So will it be in the days of the coming of Christ the second time.

An Age of Peril

We have a picture of the last days of the history of this earth, painted by divine inspiration. It is in 2 Tim. 3:1-5, and has already been commented on at length in the chapter on the signs of Christ's coming. Surely from this description, which is not a description of the world in general, but rather of the church, it does not appear that the world is to be converted in the last days. And if the professed church of Christ in the days of the second coming of Christ can be so described by divine inspiration, then what must the world at large be?

Nor are we left in ignorance by the Lord even of the rise of the movement which is teaching the world's conversion and a millennium of peace upon the earth.

“Of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them." 1 Thess. 5: 1-3.

It appears, then, that this very movement which is proclaiming the world's conversion and predicting peace is a sign in itself of the rapidly approaching destruction of all things.

Prophecies Misapplied

But, it will be asked, does not the Bible teach somewhere that all the world at some time in the future will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and all nations

serve him? Yes, the Bible does teach just this. But the mistake has been made in not seeing that this is taught with reference to the earth in its regenerated condition, when all things are made new, and not regarding the earth as it is now.

"The earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isa. 11:9.

"And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:23.

These passages clearly foretell a time when all the earth will be acquainted with Jehovah, and will worship him. But they have reference solely to the new earth, not to the earth in its present condition. And this condition of universal worship is to be brought about, not at all by the conversion of the nations of the earth, but rather by their destruction. Thus Peter informs us:

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up.' "Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." 2 Pet. 3: 10, 13.

Order of Millennial Events

Now let us study briefly the order of the events in connection with the beginning and closing of the millennium. It is to begin, as we have seen, with the second coming of Christ. At this time there are four classes of people on the earth; namely, the righteous dead and the righteous living, and the wicked dead and the wicked living. Let us notice what becomes of each class.

At the coming of Christ all the righteous dead will be raised from their graves to be taken to heaven with the righteous living, who are to be translated.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17.

Thus the righteous dead and the righteous living are taken together to be with the Lord. Where they then go is very clearly revealed in the following passage:

"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14: 2, 3.

The Righteous Taken to Heaven

It is plain from this that when the righteous dead are raised at the second coming of Christ, and all the righteous living are translated, they are then removed from the earth and taken to heaven to those mansions which Christ has been preparing for them. And there in heaven “they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Rev. 20:4. The righteous are all in heaven during the millennium.

The wicked dead are not raised at the second coming of Christ. They are left unmolested in their tombs. Their sleep is not broken at this time.

"But the rest of the dead [the wicked] lived not again until the thousand years were finished." Rev. 20:5.

There are two resurrections, a resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Christ, and a resurrection of the wicked one thousand years later, at the close of the millennium. Thus the millennium opens with a resurrection and closes with a resurrection.

The Living Wicked Destroyed

The living wicked will be destroyed at the second coming of Christ, and will remain dead until the second resurrection, at the close of the millennium. It is the living wicked at the coming of Christ "whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." 2 Thess. 2:8.

From what has now been said it will be clear what becomes of all four classes on the earth at the second

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