0. Preface and Contents
Our Lord Cometh Thoughts On The Olivet Prophecy By William J. Rowlands Second Edition ofOur Lord Cometh, Revised And Enlarged, by Wm. J. Rowlands.
Originally published in Great Britain (1939) by the author
Contents:
Chapter 1: General Examination of the Two-Stage Theory
Chapter 2. The Olivet Prophecy, Jewish Or Christian?
Chapter 3: The Ascension Of The Church Militant an Aspect Of The Rapture
Chapter 4: "The Day Of Christ" Is "The Day Of The Lord."
Chapter 5: Christ’s Second Coming: Post-Tribulation
Chapter 6: Taken Out Of The Way
Chapter 7: Does Sovereign Grace Exempt From Tribulation?
Chapter 8: The Letters To The Seven Churches.
Chapter 9: Some General Difficulties Met
Foreword To The First Edition
We accord this excellent work our whole-hearted and unreserved commendation, and exhort our friends to give it a wide circulation.
Those who have read the first edition will wish to obtain this revised and enlarged one. It forms a handy reference book to the subject. The style is simple and readable English, printed in clear type, nicely arranged. Problems are faced with a sweet Scriptural reasonableness and without any asperity when opponents are answered.
Outstanding passages such as Luke 21:20, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Revelation 3:10 are helpfully dealt with and Matthew 24 and 25 fully so. By this production the Truth will be served and we may expect God’s blessing on it.
J. Hunt Lynn
George H. Fromow.
Preface To The Second Edition (revised and enlarged) A Second Edition of Our Lord Cometh having been requested, the whole has been carefully revised and articles added on important phases of this momentous subject. This has necessitated some slight re-arrangement of the book in order to avoid undue repetition. The Scripture references are from the Authorized or Revised Version of the English Bible: mostly from the Revised, on account of its greater uniformity in translating keywords.
Wm. J. Rowland, The Second Edition was self published in 1939. Sovereign Grace Advent Testimony also published an edition (n.d.)
Notes:
1. The title "Our Lord Cometh" is the translation of the Aramaic phrase used by Paul: "marana tha" translated "maranatha" in 1 Corinthians 16:22 (KJV and NASB95)
2. Book Review (Amazon.com Kindle Edition)
The theory of the two-stage coming of the Lord is indeed very dear to the hearts of many of God’s people, who feel that if their belief in a secret, any moment rapture of the church were taken from them, the value and power as well as the joy of the Blessed Hope would be lost. This, however, was not the view of Messrs. Geo. Muller, Jas. Wright, Horatius Bonar, D. D., and others like Robert Chapman, Dr. Bergin and Dan Crawford, who have been used to carry the gospel to the dark places of the earth, and whose works do follow them; and my own experience, as one who held the two-stage theory for about twenty years, is that the hope of the second coming is to me brighter and clearer, as prophesied events are seen to be steadily moving toward His appearing. By this I do not mean that we have in Scripture a detailed prophetic history running from our Lord’s first coming to His second coming, but that Scripture does very clearly foretell the general marks of the age and also delineates certain specific events, some now fulfilled and some still future, to precede the Lord’s return. The idea that the church has been for 1,900 years expecting an any-moment coming, that may still be today or many years hence, is vague and unsatisfying. It has given room for the Lord’s enemies to say "Where is the promise of His coming?" and, since some have asserted that "the church’s hope waits on no sign," there is, in this theory, no relief, until the longed-for moment arrives. I write sympathetically; for I write for those whom I love in truth. Every prophesied event for this age, connected with the Jews or Gentiles or the church of God, precludes the thought that the church at Pentecost expected an any-moment coming, and if we expect what they could not expect, our hope is different from theirs. The Lord foretold the Coming of the Spirit at Pentecost, with the subsequent witness; He said, "Before governors and kings for My sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles"—His disciples were to be His witnesses from Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth. (Has this yet been reached?) Peter was to be martyred as an old man; Jerusalem and the temple were to be destroyed; apostasy would rise and spread; the leaven would work in the meal until the whole was leavened. These and other prophesied events forbid the thought that the church at Pentecost was looking for Christ to come without intervening events. Yea, the very Paschal discourse declares that "the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service" (John 16:2) (thus foretelling the death of apostles before Christ’s coming), and contains a program needing time for fulfillment, just as surely as Matthew 24 and Luke 21; "These things must needs come to pass first, but the end is not immediately" (Luke 21:9, R. V.). Christ has Himself warned us, "Take heed that ye be not led astray; for many shall come in my name, saying, I am He, and, The time is at hand. Go ye not after them" (ver. 8).
Source:
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Lord-Cometh-ebook/dp/B004Q9U4VQ Formatted by Theologue (www.theologue.org)