Mr. Rice says: “John the Baptist came preaching ‘Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matt. 3:2.) Jesus began to preach from the same text in his early ministry. (Matt. 4:17.) We find that the command to repent is repeated many times on through the rest of the New Testament, but the statement, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand,’ was dropped and not repeated any more, though the kingdom is mentioned dozens of times. The reason is that the Jews rejected Christ, their King, and the kingdom was postponed. (Luke 13:34, 35.)” “At hand” means “near.” In the third year of his public ministry Christ sent the seventy out to preach, “The kingdom of God is come nigh unto you.” (Luke 10:1-10.) That was during the last year of his ministry. Certainly, after the first Pentecost after the resurrection the kingdom was not preached as “at hand” any more, for the simple reason that it had come. Paul says that Christians have been “delivered out of the power of darkness, and translated into the kingdom of the Son of his love.” (Col. 1:13.) Christ is now “The blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (1 Tim. 6:15.) As he is the “only Potentate,” he alone rules in this kingdom. Hence, it is his kingdom, and the throne is his throne. But Mr. Rice would have us believe that when John and Jesus announced that the kingdom had come nigh they missed it a long way. Jesus also preached “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mark 1:15.) If Mr. Rice is correct, the kingdom was not at hand—the time for it to come was not fulfilled. He would have us believe that Jesus did not know what he was talking about. But that is not the worst reflection on Jesus that this theory makes. They were assured of the kingdom on condition that they repent and believe the gospel—that is, that they repent and accept Christ. Some of them, in good faith, trusting the words of John and Jesus, did repent, and accepted Christ. But, according to the adherents of the future-kingdom theory, they did not get what God had promised them. It will not relieve the situation to say that most of them rejected him. What about his word to those who did accept him? They did their part; did God do his? Mr. Rice says he did not. I am unalterably opposed to any theory that thus makes out God a liar to those who faithfully do his commands and trust his promises.