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THE

CHURCH'S FORGOTTEN HOPE

OR,

SCRIPTURAL STUDIES

ON THE

TRANSLATION OF THE SAINTS.

BY THE REV.

WILLIAM BRAMLEY-MOORE, M.A.,

Trin. Coll., Camb., formerly Vicar of Gerrard's Cross, Bucks.

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"O Lord, Thou hast brought up my soul from the grave,
Thou hast kept me alive, that I should not go down to the pit.”—Psa. xxx. 3.
"I am the Resurrection and the Life."-St. John xi. 25.

GLASGOW: HOBBS & CO., 46 ALBION STREET.
LONDON: GEORGE J. W. PITMAN, 140 GOWER STREET, W.c.
1905.

Printed by HOBBS AND Co., GLASGOW.

GODLEIAN

209-1905

LIBRARY

INVOCATION OF THE BLESSING OF

GOD ON THIS TREATISE.

"O Almighty God, who hast instructed Thy Church with heavenly doctrine, and hast caused the light of Thy glorious gospel to shine into the world; Give unto us Thy grace, that we may be no longer children tossed about with every blast of vain doctrine, but may be established in Thy most holy truth: through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

"Blessed Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning; Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience, and comfort of Thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which Thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen."

"Our Father, which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth,

as it is in heaven.

And forgive us our trespass against us.

Give us this day our daily bread. trespasses, as we forgive them that And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil: for Thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."

INTRODUCTION.

(OR PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.)

THE important subject of this treatise, viz.: the translation or rapture of the saints raised and changed, having been too much forgotten by the Church Catholic as a point of faith and hope, is brought before the minds of earnest seekers after truth, who, like Simeon, are "waiting for the consolation of Israel," and, like Anna, are looking "for redemption in Jerusalem."

The moment appears to be at hand when the first resurrection may begin, and when the living saints of the Lord, elected to this glory, may be changed into His likeness without tasting death; while both shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall await the completion of the whole Church, the Bride of the Lamb.

Our thoughts in this treatise seem frequently limited to the firstfruits, to events in the immediate future and to the special hope for which the Church should be daily watching. But the translation of the risen and changed saints is not a disconnected act of God. It is a prelude to other mighty acts which must follow in due sequence. We speak of the gathering of a firstfruits, but we must not forget that the firstfruits are firstfruits of a harvest, and

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