THE END OF THE WORLD
The Lord said that there will be an end to this world. What will happen at the end of the world? Please note verses 41 to 43. "The Son of Man will send His angels, and they will collect out of His kingdom all the stumblingblocks and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. In that place there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
THINGS THAT CAUSE STUMBLING
At the end of the world the Lord will gather out of His kingdom all things that cause stumbling and those that cause iniquities. This is an excellent word. He will abolish all that causes stumbling. The racial problem causes stumbling. It shall be taken out. The international power struggle is also a stumbling element. It likewise will be removed. There will only be one kingdom: the kingdom of Christ. There will not be any more international conflicts. All the stumbling problems such as class exploitation and ideological struggle will be plucked out.
THINGS THAT CAUSE INIQUITIES
This is not all. All that cause iniquities will also be removed. You will not find gambling tables or barrooms anymore. All channels that lead to sins will be wiped out. Even if you want to sin, you will not be able to do so, for all the means for transgression will be gone. But this will happen only at Christ’s second coming. All these problems will be solved then.
THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE
At that time the kingdom of God will be inaugurated on earth. All the saved ones will become the righteous ones because their sins have been taken away. All these righteous ones will shine in His kingdom. They will rule over His kingdom. Their presence will be as the sun, whose rays reach the farthest corner and whose power transpires throughout the earth. But all this will be brought to pass only at Christ’s second coming.
No wonder you will fail if you want to work for Christ today. Only in that day will the kingdom of the earth become the kingdom of Christ and His saints. When that day comes, not only will all social vices be swept away, but the book of Isaiah tells us that even the enmities in the animal kingdom will be removed. Children will be able to play with snakes, and lions will graze in the pastures like cows. Even the beastly nature within animals will be transformed. All this will be realized at the second coming of Christ.
(The Normal Christian Faith, Chapter 15, by Watchman Nee)
