Two passages of Scripture suffice to indicate the hope that was before

the Corinthian Church, and all the churches of that period.  One is in the

Acts itself, and one is in the epistle to the Romans.  The Acts of the

Apostles gives clear testimony that but one hope runs throughout the period

covered, namely, `the hope of Israel'.  The apostles' question in Acts 1:6

arising, let it be noted, out of our Lord's opening up of the Old Testament

Scriptures and their enlightened understanding, makes that clear at the

beginning.  Paul's reference in Acts 26:6,7 to `the hope of the promise made

of God unto our fathers' is equally clear, while his statement in Acts 28:20,

that he was bound `for the hope of Israel' needs no explanation.  This is

most certainly the one hope of the Acts.

What of the epistles of that period?

We propose taking the testimony

of Romans for two reasons:

It was the last epistle written before Paul's imprisonment, and

will give the final aspect of the hope entertained by the then Church.

Romans is considered by all students to be the most basic of all

the epistles written during the Acts, and therefore should be

given most attentive hearing.

In Romans 15:8 we learn that the earthly ministry of the Lord Jesus was

limited to `the circumcision', and that He came to `confirm the promises made

unto the fathers', while in Romans 15:12,13 the hope is that:

`There shall be a root of Jesse, and He that shall rise to reign over

the Gentiles; in Him shall the Gentiles trust (hope).  Now the God of

(that) hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing'.

Our brother will not need proof that `trust' (elpizo) and `hope'

(elpis) must both be translated `hope', as we have done, or that the article

before elpis marks it out as `that' hope which is in view.  The hope, at that

time, before the Church was associated with the reign of Christ over the

Gentiles, the passage quoted being from Isaiah 11, where the reference to the

lion and the lamb makes it clear that the Millennium is the subject.  The

hope before the Church during the Acts was the Second Coming of Christ in

connection with the thousand year reign -- Israel's great day.  This hope is

entirely foreign to the Mystery which looks `far above all' for the

realization of its hope and is in no way related to Jerusalem, earthly or

heavenly.  The hope that is expressed in 1 Thessalonians 4 must never be read

without the consciousness that 2 Thessalonians 2 with its reference to the

`Man of Sin', was written to correct false ideas about the time of the Second

Coming.  If 1 Thessalonians 4 is my hope, then 2 Thessalonians reveals that

it will not be realized until the Day of the Lord.  Moreover, the reference

to the archangel links 1 Thessalonians 4 with Daniel's prophecy and with the

hope of Israel (Daniel 10 and 12).  The words used throughout Acts and its

epistles, together with the epistles of Peter and James, are parousia,

apokalupto and apokalupsis.  These are not used by Paul when speaking of the

blessed hope of the Mystery.  The one hope of the calling of the dispensation

of the Mystery has nothing to do with `reigning' over the Gentiles, or the

state of peace in God's `holy mountain'.  It belongs to heavenly places and

the right hand of God, and refers to a phase of the Lord's coming unknown and

unrevealed before Acts 28.

In answer to the question therefore, `To whom do the words "Till He

come" refer?' we say, that they referred to the Church of Jew and Gentile

that had been called into being during the Acts while the longsuffering of