earth are then gathered into this kingdom. They
will not be gathered into the Church, as is often said, for the Church
is no longer here but has entered into glory to reign with Christ over
the earth.

Daniel in his vision beheld the Son of Man coming with the clouds of
Heaven: "And there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom,
that all people, nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion
is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom
that which shall not be destroyed" (Dan. vii:13-14). As the result of
the first coming of our Lord in humiliation and His sacrificial death
He receives the Church, which is now forming during this age. When He
comes the second time He receives this world-wide Kingdom, in which the
nations of the earth will be subjects. When that time comes, and not
before, the kingdoms of this world become the Kingdom of our Lord and
of His Christ, "and He shall reign forever and ever" (Rev. ii:15). So
much for the conversion of the world, and the blessings promised to the
nations and to the whole earth. It is inseparably linked with the
second coming of Christ.

The Nations which Enter into the Kingdom

In Matthew xxv:31 our Lord speaks of what will take place when He has
returned, "When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the
holy angels with Him, then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory,
and before Him shall be gathered all nations, and He shall separate
them one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats;
and He shall set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the
left." We are aware that this passage is often looked upon as teaching
a universal judgment of the whole human race; but it is not that. Not
a word is said by our Lord concerning the resurrection of the dead.
The dead are not included in this judgment. This judgment can
therefore not be identified with the Great White Throne Judgment of
Revelation xx. Nor is the Church in any way connected with this
judgment, because when that takes place the saints are with the Lord in
glory. It is the judgment of the living nations which the Lord finds
on earth at the time of His second coming. This judgment will cover
the first part of His reign as King, when He will first rule like David
in subduing His enemies, when Gog and Magog, under the leadership of
the Prince of Rosh, will also be dealt with in judgment (Ezekiel
xxxviii and xxxix), and that will be