Jesus is Coming

The First Resurrection.

“Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection.” Rev. 20:6.

Paul, as a Pharisee, believed in the general fact of the resurrection.²⁸ But we see from the foregoing, why he counted all things but loss that he might win Christ, . . . and know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, . . . if by any means he might attain unto the out resurrection from among the dead. Phil. 3:8-11.

And we see also, why the three favored disciples were “questioning one with another what the rising from the dead should mean.”²⁹ They understood perfectly, what the resurrection of the dead meant, for this was a commonly accepted doctrine of the Jews.³⁰ But the resurrection from the dead was a new revelation to them.

And it is an important revelation to us, for it is “the resurrection of life.”³¹

But there is also to be a resurrection of judgment (so the Greek). John 5:29. It is the resurrection of the unjust.³² It is the completion of the resurrection (νεκρων or των νεκων) of the dead. Hence we see there is a difference in time as well as in character, in the order of the resurrection; the first being that of the just, and the second that of the unjust; and this difference in time is perfectly in accordance with the account in Rev. 20, where the interval is stated to be the 1000 years of the Millennial kingdom. And as Christ comes at the resurrection of the just, or those who sleep in Him (1 Thes. 4:13-16), His coming must be pre-millennial. [We humbly invite a candid and prayerful consideration of the above argument, on the part of Greek students. Dr. David Brown quite superficially disposes of it by the erroneous presumption that Pre-millenarians apply the resurrection (νεκρων or των νεκων), of the dead, only to the ungodly. Whereas, we hold that it embraces all, even Christ Himself, but that (εκ νεκρων) from the dead applies only to the select class who have part In the first resurrection. Again is he wrong in his citation of the texts Mark 9:9-10; Acts 10:41; 13:34; 26:23, and Rom. 1:4, each of which, according to Griesbach have εκ νεκρων or εξ αναστασεως νεκρων. Second Advent, p. 198.]

No. VII. Watching.

We are commanded to watch for His coming.

Again and again did Jesus tell His disciples to watch! He said: “Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” Mat. 24:42. “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.” Mat. 25:13. Adding, “And, what I say unto you, I say unto all,— Watch.” Mark 13:35-37. He places especial emphasis on the word Watch, particularly in Rev. 16:15, “Blessed is he that Watcheth.” (See Greek.)

Now it is absolutely inconsistent with the constitution of the human mind, thus to watch for an event which we believe to be one thousand years or more in the future.

And yet this is just the position which Post-millennialists are forced to take.

Matthew Henry, commenting on Luke 12:45, says: “Our looking at Christ’s second coming as a thing at a distance is the cause of all those irregularities which render the thought of it terrible to us.” And on watching, he says: “To watch implies not only to believe that our Lord will come, but to desire that He would come, to be often thinking of His coming, and always looking for it as sure and near, and the time of it uncertain.”

As followers of Christ we are compared to soldiers, fighting the fight of faith (1 Tim. 1:18; 6:12; 2 Tim. 2:3; 4:7), and perhaps no better illustration could be given us of watching, than that of picket duty in the army.

Old soldiers know that out on the skirmish line it is full of life and excitement, because they are watching for something immediately possible. But in camp it is a dull, soulless drudgery, because they are expecting nothing until the outer pickets, perhaps five or six miles away, are driven in.

How intensely do we increase this difference in watching, if we separate the pickets by a thousand years. And this is what post-millennialism does.

We believe this argument appeals to the common sense of every person, and we pray God that these seven arguments may be blessed to the perfecting of that which is lacking in your faith.³³

He is faithfu’ that hath promised, an’ He’ll surely come again,
He’ll keep his tryst wi’ me, at what hour I dinna ken;
But he bids me still to wait, an’ ready aye to be,
To gang at ony moment to my ain countrie.

So I’m WATCHING aye, and singing o’ my hame as I wait,
For the soun’ing o’ His footfa’ this side the gowden gate,
For His bluid hath made me white, and His hand shall dry my e’e
When He brings me hame at last to my ain countrie.

True watching is an attitude of mind and heart which would joyfully and quickly turn from any occupation to meet our Beloved, rapturously exclaiming “this is the Lord; we have waited for Him.” Isa. 25:9.

Continue to Watch.

But, perhaps, you say: “The Church has been watching for eighteen hundred years and He has not come, and He may not come for eighteen hundred years more.”

Well, possibly He may not; but do we know He will not? and shall we set a date for His coming? and cease to watch?

Post-millennialists say that He will not come for a thousand years or more, which is equivalent to setting a date, as it places His coming out of all possibility in our life­time; and then, dear reader, how quickly do we lay down our watching.

The principal condemnation pronounced in the Scripture, in regard to the Lord’s return, is to those who say “My Lord delayeth His coming.”³⁴

It is immeasurably better to be ready than to be late.³⁵

Pre-millennialists believe that He may come any moment, and that we should ever be found watching and waiting, with our loins girded about, and our lights burning, and ourselves like men that wait for their Lord. Lu. 12:35.

The eighteen hundred years which have passed only make “our salvation” much “nearer than when we believed,” and it is “high time to awake out of sleep.” Rom. 13:11.

A Little While.

There is no prophesied event which has to be fulfilled before His coming in the air to receive the Church. Therefore we have need of patience that we may receive the promise: “For yet a little while” (Greek—very, very little while) “and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10:37.

“But,” you say, “it is not a little while.” Ah! beloved, does it seem long to you from creation to the flood, or from the flood to Christ? The “little while” of Hag. 2:6-7,³⁶ we believe, has not ended yet,³⁷ and it certainly covered the five hundred years up to Christ’s first coming. Remember that God speaks to you as to an immortal soul.

Wait until you have realized a few of the mighty cycles of eternity, and then these eighteen centuries will indeed appear to be “a very, very little while.”

O! let us fix our eyes upon Jesus. Let us watch and wait for the King Eternal.³⁸

The Faith of the Early Church.

It is admitted on all sides that the pre-millennial coming of Christ, and His reign with His saints upon the earth a thousand years, was the faith of the early church. Indeed, this is substantiated by such an abundance of evidence, that it cannot be denied.

We would that we had space to quote at length, from the many authorities on this point, but must be content to select a few:

Mosheim says: “The prevailing opinion that Christ was to come and reign a thousand years among men before the final dissolution of the world had met with no opposition previous to the time of Origen.” (Vol. 1, p. 89.)

Geisler says: “In all the works of this period (the first two centuries) Millenarianism is so prominent that we can not hesitate to consider it as universal. [Geisler’s Church History. Vol. 1, p. 215.]

Chillingworth, with his characteristic invulnerable logic, argues: “Whatever doctrine is believed and taught by the most eminent Fathers of any age of the Church and by none of their cotemporaries opposed or condemned, that is to be esteemed the Catholic doctrine of the Church of those times. But the doctrine of the millenaries was believed and taught by the most eminent Fathers of the age next after the Apostles, and by none of that age opposed or condemned; therefore, it was the Catholic doctrine of those times.” [Chillingworth’s Works, Phila. Edit. 1844, p. 730.]

Stackhouse, in his “Complete Body of Divinity” (Vol. 1, p. 597), says: “It cannot be denied but that this doctrine (Millenarianism) has its antiquity, and was once the general opinion of all orthodox Christians.”

Bishop Newton says: “The doctrine of the Millennium (as held by Millenarians) was generally believed in the first three and purest ages.” [Dissertations on the Prophecies, p. 527.]

Bishop Russell, though an anti-millenarian, says: “Down to the beginning of the fourth century, the belief was universal and undisputed.”[Discourse on the Millennium, p. 236.]

Gibbon, who is at least an unprejudiced witness, says: “The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of Fathers from Justin Martyr and Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the Apostles, down to Lactantius, who was the preceptor of the son of Constantine. It appears to have been the reigning sentiment of orthodox believers.”

He also says: “As long as this error (as he calls it) was permitted to subsist in the Church, it was productive of the most salutary effects on the faith and practice of Christians. [Milman’s Gibbon’s Rome, Vol. 1, p. 262.]

Dr. Daniel Whitby,—the father of the modern post-millennial theory,—in his “Treatise on Traditions,” candidly acknowledges that, “the doctrine of the Millennium passed among the best of Christians, for two hundred and fifty years, for a tradition apostolical, and as such is delivered by many Fathers of the second and third centuries, who speak of it as a tradition of our Lord and His Apostles, and of all the ancients who lived before them, who tell us the very words in which it was delivered, the Scriptures which were so interpreted, and say that it was held by all Christians that were exactly orthodox.”

Lest anyone should lose the full force of these quotations, it may be proper to state, that this “ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium,” as Gibbon styles it, was the belief in the pre-millennial coming of Christ, and His reign on the earth for a thousand years. It was commonly called chiliasm, which see in Webster’s Dictionary.

Such, in brief, is the testimony of historians, both ecclesiastical and profane upon this subject. And some of the early Fathers, of whom they speak, were very nearly, if not quite, the cotemporaries with the Apostles.

Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, who was a disciple of St. John, or who at least received his doctrines from the immediate followers of the Apostle, was an extreme Millennialist, and has been called the father of Millenarianism. (See McClintock and Strong’s Enc.) Irenaeus, as a disciple of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was directly connected with St. John. And also Justin Martyr was one of the earliest of the Fathers.

Is it not solemnly incumbent upon us, to respect and heed this doctrine, which these eminent Christian Fathers so undisputedly taught, as being the “tradition of our Lord and His Apostles”? Why is it, that, upon every other subject connected with our holy religion, such as Baptism, Church government, Forms of worship, Articles of faith, etc., we go back and search diligently to ascertain the doctrine of the Fathers, placing so much stress upon what we think they believed and taught, and yet upon this most important theme, cast aside what we know was their faith and testimony? Is it consistent? Dear reader, do let us here emphasize Paul’s exhortation to the Thessalonians: “Brethren, stand fast and

Hold the Traditions

(teachings) which ye have been taught whether by word or by our epistle.”³⁹ That is, whether taught in writing, or orally, see Verse 5. Now, what were these traditions (teachings) if not the coming of Christ and the Reign of the Saints, of which Paul and the other Apostles wrote so freely? Being thus exhorted, it is reasonable to believe that they did hold them, and that they are the very traditions which Whitby and the other authorities clearly prove were held by the early Church. Then let us also hold,—not the comparatively modern post-millennial theory of Whitby,—but the aged faith of the Fathers.

The Apostles Were Not Mistaken.

We cannot believe (as some assert) that the Apostles were mistaken, and consequently not inspired upon this theme, nor that they and all the early Christians mocked themselves with false hopes in regard to the pre-millennial coming of Christ. They watched and waited for the return of our Lord, as a sure event, the hour of which none but the Father knew, but which had been enjoined upon them as uncertain⁴⁰ and imminent.⁴¹ And as they passed away to the unseen domain of Paradise, they have left us the written Word, their reiterated traditions (teachings handed down), and their great hope. So we take up their vigil, hopefully watching, not daring to say that He will come tomorrow, nor a thousand years hence, but only this are we sure of, He may come now.

Expectancy.

God has held this glorious hope constantly before the Church, to keep her in her proper attitude of expectancy and longing, until the Bridegroom comes. Like Israel in the wilderness, we should realize that we are pilgrims and strangers, seeking a Land, a City, and a King, which are beyond our Jordan of death and resurrection.

Death and Resurrection is the common lot of the great mass of the Church. But, of course, there will be some living when Christ comes,⁴² who will not die but be changed in a moment,⁴³ and be caught up, like Elijah, with the raised saints to meet the Lord in the air. 1 Thes. 4:16-18.

It may be at morn, when the day is awaking,
When sunlight thro’ darkness and shadow is breaking,
That Jesus will come in the fullness of glory,
   To receive from the world “His own.”

It may be at midday, it may be at twilight,
It may be perchance, that the blackness of midnight
Will burst into light in the blaze of His glory,
   When Jesus receives “His own.”

While its hosts cry Hosanna, from heaven descending,
With glorified saints and the angels attending,
With grace on His brow, like a halo of glory,
   Will Jesus receive “His own.”

Oh, joy! Oh, delight! should we go without dying;
No sickness, no sadness, no dread, and no crying;
Caught up thro’ the clouds, with our Lord, into glory,
When Jesus receives “His own.”

CHAPTER VIII.

Diagram.

We here present the following diagram, merely as an outline of the order of events, in connection with our Lord’s return. We exhort (1 Thes. 4:18, margin) a faithful study of it, together with the references and explanations appended, believing that, as an object lesson, it will be a great help to the reader to understand these mighty questions.

EXPLANATION.

*—The birth of Christ, the King of the Jews. Mat. 2:2.
t—The death and resurrection of Christ.
A—Ascension of Christ. Acts 1:9.
D—Descent of the Holy Ghost. Acts 2.

Church—Mystical body of Christ. Eph. 1:22-23; 3:3-6; Rom. 12:4-5; Col. 1:24-27; 1 Cor. 12:12-27; and the Bride of Christ, Eph. 5:21-23.

De—Descent of the Lord (1 Thes. 4:16) to receive His Bride. John 14:3.

R—Resurrection of the just. Lu. 14:14; Acts 24:15; 1 Thes. 4:15-16; and change of living believers. 1 Cor. 15:23, 51, 52.

Rapture—Translation of the saints who (like Enoch) are caught up to meet Christ in the air. 1 Thes. 4:17.

M—The meeting of Christ and His Bride. 1 Thes. 4:17; Eph. 5:21-32; 2 Cor. 11:2.
This is our gathering together unto Him. 2 Thes. 2:1.
And the marriage of the Lamb. Mat. 22:2-10; 25:10; Lu. 14:15-24; Rev. 19:7-8.
So shall we ever be with the Lord. John 12:26; 14:3; 17:24; 1 Thes. 4:17.
It is the Hope of the Church. Phil. 3 :20-21; Tit. 2:13; 1 John 3:2-3.
And the redemption mentioned in Lu. 21:28; Rom. 8:23; Eph. 4:30.
Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. 1 Thes. 4:18.
Thus the Church escapes the tribulation. Lu. 21:36; 2 Pet. 2:9; Rev. 3:10.

T.—Period of unequaled tribulation to the world (Dan. 12:1; Mat. 24:21; Lu. 21:25-26), during which—the Church having been taken out—God begins to deal with Israel again (Acts 15:13-17; Psa. 51:18; 102:16), and will restore them to their own land. Isa. 11:11; 60; Jer. 30:3; Jer. 31; 32:36-44; Amos 9:15; Zech. 8:10; Rom. 11.
Antichrist will be revealed. 2 Thes. 2:8.
The vials of God’s wrath poured out. Psa. 2:1-5; Rev. 6:16-17; Rev. 14:10; 16. But men only blaspheme God. Rev. 16:11-21. Israel accepts Christ (Zech. 12:10-14; 13:6), and are brought through the fire. Zech. 13:9. They pass not away. Mat. 24:34; Psa. 22:30.

Rev.—The revelation of Christ and His saints (Col. 3:4; 1 Thes. 3:13), in flaming fire (2. Thes. 1 :7-10) to execute judgment on the earth. Jude 14-15.
This is Christ’s second coming to the earth. Acts 1:11; Deut. 33:2; Zech. 14:4-5; Mat. 16:27; 24:29-30.

J—Judgment of the nations, or the quick. Mat. 25:31-46; 19:28; Acts 10:42; 1 Pet. 4:5.
Antichrist is destroyed. 2 Thes. 2:8. The Beast and the False Prophet are taken. Rev. 19:20. Gog and his allies are smitten. Ezek. chapters 38 and 39.
Satan is bound. Rev. 20:1-3; Rom. 16:20.

R. T.—Resurrection of the Tribulation Saints, which completes the First Resurrection. Rev. 20:4-6.

Mill’m.—The Millennium. Christ’s glorious reign on the earth for 1,000 years (Rev. 20:4) with His Bride, 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10; Isa. 2:2-5; 4; 11:1-12; 25:6-9; Isa. 65:18-25; Mic. 4:1-4; Zeph. 3:14-20; Zech. 8:3-8; Zech. 8:20-23; 14:16-21.

S—Satan loosed for a little season, and destroyed with Gog and Magog. Rev. 20:7-10; Heb. 2:14.

Res.—The Resurrection of Judgment. Rev. 20:12-15; John 5:29; Dan. 12:2.

J. W. T.—Judgment at the Great White Throne of all the remaining dead. Rev. 20:11-15.
Death and Hell destroyed. Rev. 20:14; 1 Cor. 15:26.

E. E.—Eternity, or rather, The aions to come. Eph. 2 :7.

[These events, we believe, are plainly foretold in the Word, though we would not be dogmatic as to the precise order in which they are given above (see preface). But we trust it will enable the reader to apprehend, in some degree, the extent to which the future has been revealed, unto us, by the Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21; John 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10) and to realize that ETERNITY ITSELF will not be a blank, or statue like condition, but a continually unfolding manifestation of God to us throughout the “ages to come” (Eph. 2:7) even the “AGES OF AGES.” See Greek Gal. 1:5; Eph. 3:21; Phil. 4:21; 1 Tim. 1:17; 2 Tim. 4:18; Heb. 13:21; 1 Pet. 4:11; Rev. 1:6, 18; 4:9, 10; 5:13; 7:12; 10:6; 11:15; 14:11; 15:7; 19:3; 20:10; 22:5. See page 218.]

CHAPTER IX.

Rapture and Revelation.

Two things are of vital importance, in order to the right understanding of this subject, and these are:

First. The distinction between the Rapture and the Revelation.

Rapture means to be caught up, or away.

Revelation (αποκαλυψις—apokalupsis) means Appearing or shining forth or manifestation.¹

The Rapture occurs when the Church is caught up to meet Christ in the air,² before the tribulation; and

The Revelation occurs when Christ comes, with His saints, to end the Tribulation, by the execution of righteous judgment upon the earth.³

At the Rapture, Christ comes into the air for His saints.⁴

At the Revelation, He comes to the earth with them.⁵ He certainly must come for them before He can come with them. The assurance that God will bring them (Greek—lead them forth) with Jesus (1 Thes. 4:14) is evidence that He will first come for them, they being caught up to meet him in the air. Verse 17. The Greek word here rendered “to meet” signifies a going forth, in order to return with. The same word is used in Acts 28 :15,⁶ where the brethren came out to meet Paul and had a season of thanksgiving with him at Appii Forum and the Three Taverns, when he was on his way to Rome. This exactly accords with our being caught up to meet Christ and afterward returning to the earth with Him.

Again, at the Rapture Christ comes as the Bridegroom⁷ to take unto Himself His bride, the Church.⁸

At the Revelation, He comes, with His bride, to rule the nations.⁹

At the Rapture He comes only to meet the saints in the air, 1 Thes. 4:17.

At the Revelation, He comes to the earth,¹⁰ and His feet stand upon the same Mount Olivet from which He ascended.¹¹

At the Rapture the Church, like Enoch, is taken out of the world.¹²

At the Revelation, the Millennial Kingdom is begun.¹²

In Luke 21:28, the Rapture is referred to at the beginning of the Tribulation. “When these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” (Redemption here meaning the first resurrection, same as in Rom. 8:23.)¹³

In Luke 21:31, the Revelation is referred to, when “these things” (the Tribulation) have come to pass, and the kingdom of God draweth nigh.

The Rapture may occur any moment.¹⁴

The Revelation can not occur, until Antichrist be revealed, and all the times and seasons (which point to the day of the Lord) in Lev. 26, Daniel and Revelation be fulfilled.

The Revelation ushers in the day, the Day of the Lord.¹⁵

The failure to make this distinction has led to great confusion among commentators upon this subject.

For instance: In 2 Thes. chapter 2, the apostle, in the first verse, speaks of the Rapture, to-wit: the coming of the Lord and our gathering together unto Him, of which He had written so fully in the previous epistle, especially in the 4th chapter.

In the second verse he speaks of the Revelation, or Day of the Lord [Greek, the oldest MSS. read κυριου = Lord, not χριστου = Christ. See Bengels’ Gnomon and others.], which could not come, except there be a falling away first, and the “man of sin” and “that wicked,” or the Antichrist, be revealed.

And yet, most commentators have argued that the apostle, in both of these verses, referred to one and the same event, and thus they have made Scripture contradict itself.

But we see plainly, that Paul had no intention of contradicting Christ’s admonitions, unto all, to watch for His coming, as being imminent. Mark 13:35-37; Luke 12:35-40. He only made the distinction, as above stated, between the Rapture and the Revelation. The persecuted Thessalonians thought that they were in the Tribulation, and that the Day of the Lord had set in. [ενεστηκεν (enesteeken) which authorized version renders “at hand,” means to be present, or to have set in. See same word in Rom. 8:38; 1 Cor. 3:22; 7:26; Gal. 1:4; Heb. 9:9, in each place rendered “present.”] But Paul corrects them, first by reminding them that the Lord had not come for them yet, as He had said that He would (1 Thes. 4:15-17), and then by adding certain other things which must occur before the Day of the Lord should come. He had told them that the Day of the Lord should come as a thief in the night (1 Thes. 5:2), but that they were not of the night, and therefore He exhorts them to watch and be sober. (See also Lu. 21:36.¹⁶)

Another evidence of the difference between the Rapture and Revelation consists in the fact that the Church is to escape the Tribulation, which precedes the Revelation. (Mat. 24:29-30.)

Enoch, a type of the Church, by his rapture,—that is by being caught away or translated (Heb. 11:5)—escaped the flood.

Christ says, in Luke 21:36, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”

And in keeping with this injunction He gave a blessed promise to the Church, in Rev. 3:10, viz.: “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold I come quickly,” etc. A special hour, or time, of temptation—i. e., trial—is here mentioned, which shall come upon all the world (οικουμενη-oikoumenee—the whole habitable—same word in Mat. 24:14—all the world).

It is a time of trouble not limited to Judea, but as extensive as the inhabited earth. This accords with the great tribulation described in Mat. 24:21, a “tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world . . . nor ever shall be.”

Jesus promises to keep the Church from, or (εκ) out of this tribulation, or hour of temptation, that is, the watchful and prayerful believers will escape it. Luke 21 :36. Now, as it covers the whole earth, there is no way of escape from it, but to be taken out of the world, and this is accomplished by the Rapture. Acts 15:14, and 1 Thes. 4:17, which thus presents a glorious deliverance for the Church.

The elect,¹⁷ a portion of Israel,¹⁸ will be gathered back to Jerusalem,¹⁹ and pass through the fire, or great trial.²⁰

Like Enoch, the Church escapes from it.

Like Noah, Israel passes through it.

So the Church should humble herself to walk with God (Micah 6:8), as Enoch did (Gen. 5:24), having the testimony that she pleases God,²¹ and watch for the Rapture at any moment.

The Jews, through their dates and seasons, may look for the Revelation, or day of the Lord, a day of thick darkness to them, in which there is no light at all.²² Yet, in it they will accept Christ²³ and “at evening time it shall be light,” and “living waters shall go out from Jerusalem.” Zech. 14:6-8.

The Rapture, or being caught away, at the coming of the Bridegroom, is full of the sweetest comfort for the believer, and therefore Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thes. 4:18.

But the Revelation of Christ with His Saints, to take vengeance on the ungodly, is full of solemnity and terror to them who obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.²⁴

CHAPTER X.

The Church and the Millennial Kingdom.

The second point is: The distinction between the Church and the Millennial Kingdom.

The Christian Church (εκκλησια—ekkleesia), meaning assembly or congregation, is distinct from the congregation of the Mosaic dispensation, or Church in the wilderness.¹ For, until after Christ came, it was a thing of the future. This is proved by his assertion in Mat. 16:18, “On this rock will I build my Church,” showing that it had not yet been built.

And, it is likewise distinct from the Millennial Kingdom, which is to follow it.

The Church is a companion of Christ in His humiliation, manifesting His sufferings and filling up the afflictions which are behind.²

The Kingdom is the manifestation of the glory of Christ which shall follow,³ when He “shall sit in the throne of His glory,” and when they who have suffered with Him during this time of the trial shall also be exalted to regal power and authority.⁴ This Kingdom was at hand,⁵ that is, it came nigh⁶ (or approached, same Greek word)⁷, when Jesus, the King, came. So much so, that the three favored disciples witnessed a foretaste of its glory and power on the Mount of Transfiguration.⁸

But the Jews rejected it and slew their King. They were not willing to have this man reign over them, and therefore the Kingdom did not “immediately appear.” It became like a nobleman which “went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom and to return.” See Luke 19:11-27. By this parable Jesus distinctly taught that the Kingdom was in the future.

The Kingdom Still Future.

It was in the future when Christ said: “I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof (the passover) until it be fulfilled in the Kingdom of God,” and again, “For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the Kingdom of God shall come.” Luke 22:16-18; also Mat. 26:29; Mark 14:25.

It was in the future when the thief cried, “Lord remember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom.” Luke 23:42. Joseph of Arimathea, who laid Jesus’ body in the sepulchre, “waited for the Kingdom of God,” which also indicates that it was still in the future. Mark 15:43.

It was still future when Paul exhorted the disciples to continue in the faith, and said “that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22. It was in the future while the persecuted Thessalonians suffered, that they might “be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God.” 2 Thes, 1 :4-5.

It was most assuredly future when, years afterward, Peter gave his exhortations as follows: “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure; for if ye do these things ye shall never fall. For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:10-11. And it has been future during all the long, sad history of the faithful and godly Church, while she has suffered the terrible persecutions of fagot, inquisition, banishment, ridicule and false accusation.⁹

And it will be future until Jesus, “having received the Kingdom,”¹⁰ shall return to recompense tribulation to those who have troubled the Church¹¹ and “sit in the throne of His glory.”¹²

Then the Kingdom, which, for these centuries, has been hid in mystery,¹³ shall be manifested in power and glory.¹⁴

Then shall “the kingdom of the world become our Lord’s and His Christ’s,”¹⁵ and then shall the Kingdom be given unto the Saints of the Most High.¹⁶ Therefore we pray, as Jesus taught us,

“Thy Kingdom Come.”

The Church militant, which was begun on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) ends at the Rapture, before the Tribulation.

The Kingdom begins with the Revelation, at the close of the Tribulation.

It is the personal reign of Christ on earth.

He was prophesied to be king of the Jews. Isa. 9:6.

He was born King of the Jews. Mat. 2:2.

He said he was the King of the Jews. Mat. 27:11.

He was crucified as King of the Jews. Mat. 27:37.

He came preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, saying, “The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand.” Mark 1:14-15.

He said the Kingdom was among them. Luke 17:21, margin.

He came unto His own, but His own received Him not. John 1:11.

He would have set up the Kingdom (Mat. 23:37-39), but they rejected and crucified Him.

However, God raised Him from the dead and set Him on high.¹⁷

He sent the Holy Ghost into the world, and under His power and guidance the apostles went out preaching the good news of the Kingdom (Acts 2, etc.) to the Jews first,¹⁸ but they rejected it, and the disciples turned to the Gentiles.¹⁹ Thus the Kingdom came nigh unto the Jews, who spurned it, and while it waits*²⁰ God visits “the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name” (Acts 15:14), breaking down the middle wall of partition to make of twain (all Jews and Gentiles who believe in His name) one new man,²¹ that is, the Church, or Mystical Body of Christ.²²

*This we believe is the true explanation of this subject. The Kingdom did come “nigh” when Christ came, and had they received Him, it would have been manifested, but now it is in abeyance, or waiting until He comes again.

However the Greek word εγγιζω = engizo, which is translated at hand in Mat. 3:2; 4:17; 10:7, and is come nigh in Luke 10:9-11, does not necessarily mean immediately near. For we find the same word used in Rom. 13:12: “The day is at hand,” and in Heb. 10:25, “as ye see the day approaching” and in James 5:8, “The coming of the Lord draweth nigh,” and in 1 Pet. 4:7, “the end of all things is at hand,” each of which passages are yet unfulfilled.

So we see that the word engizo (is at hand) covers a period of more than 1800 years, and reaches unto the second coming of the Lord.

The Mystery.

Thus the Church came in as a mystery, and was but rarely, if at all, spoken of in the Old Testament prophecies. For we read in Rom. 16:25 that it is a “mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,” and in Eph. 3:3-6, “The mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men,” and in Col. 1:24-27 . . . “Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest . . . the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles.”

It was this mystery of the Church which so puzzled the prophets and caused them to inquire and search diligently what the Spirit meant when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ. See 1 Pet. 1 :10-12.²³ They could understand the glory of the Kingdom, which should follow, but could not understand the mystery, which has been revealed unto us, and which interested the angels; to-wit, a suffering Messiah and a persecuted Church.

The Church is to be the Bride of Christ, which He is going to present unto Himself. Eph. 5:23-32.

But now she is a Virgin of sorrow and affliction, a companion in suffering with her espoused Husband—the Lord Jesus Christ.²⁴

He said: “Because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you,” and “if they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you” (John 15:19-20), and “in the world ye shall have tribulation” (John 16:33), and the apostle says, “yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Tim. 3:12. See also John 17:14; 1 Thes. 3 :3.²⁵ And this is perfectly consistent. For this world has murdered the Son of God, and is guilty of His blood, but the Father bears this insult to His matchless love and grace, patiently staying the day of vengeance, being long suffering and not willing that any should perish.²⁶

If He thus bears with the murderers of His Son, will He not bear with the persecutors of His Church?

And this persecution will continue until Jesus comes and takes the Church away,²⁷ and saves her from the great hour of temptation (or trial), which shall come upon all the world,²⁸ when He shall recompense tribulation to them that have troubled her.²⁹ And this spirit of rebellion and persecution will continue, even through the tribulation³⁰ and up to the very day of the Lord,³¹ when Christ shall be revealed in flaming fire,³² with His Saints, to execute judgment upon the earth.³³ So we see that there is no place in the whole earthly history of such a persecuted Church, for the Millennial Kingdom. For, in that time, “righteousness and peace” shall kiss each other, “truth shall spring out of the earth, and righteousness shall look out of heaven.” Psa. 85.

“A King shall reign in righteousness, and Princes shall rule in judgment.” Isa. 32:1. With righteousness shall He judge the poor. Judah and Israel shall be restored and dwell safely. There shall be no harm nor destruction in all God’s holy mountain, and even the animals shall be at peace.³⁴

Again, from all of these passages, and especially Isa. 60, we see that restored Israel and Jerusalem are to be the very central glory of the Millennial Kingdom. But God does not restore Israel and rebuild Zion, or Jerusalem, until He appears in His glory.

“When the Lord shall build up Zion, He shall appear in His glory.” Psa. 102:16. And He does not build up Zion or the tabernacle of David until He has taken out the Church.³⁵

Thus we see a clear distinction between the suffering Church and the glorious Kingdom, which are separated by the Tribulation, to-wit;

See Diagram, page 72.

The Church Shall Be Rewarded.

But, do you ask: “Is the Church always to suffer and be persecuted?”

Surely not. For she shall yet be married. And the light affliction shall work out a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory in the things which are not (yet) seen,³⁶ and the church shall be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which she suffers, when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven.³⁷ Therefore we glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope. Rom. 5:3-4. And when Christ, who is our hope (1 Tim. 1:1) and our life shall appear, then shall we also appear with Him in glory.³⁸ If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him.³⁹ We shall reign on the earth. Rev. 5:10. Hence we conclude that the Church shall be recompensed in reigning, with Christ, over the Millennial Kingdom. “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” Lu. 12:32; Dan. 7:18-22-27. O! then, let us pray as Jesus taught us: “Thy kingdom come.”

Nominal Christians.

But, do you say, “The Church is not persecuted, and does, even now, enjoy comparative peace”?

We answer, it is because the professing Church (and by this we include Roman Catholics, Greeks and all nominal Christians—in all perhaps 400,000,000) has conformed so largely to the world that the world has little, if any, controversy with her.

Of what avail to God are nominal, cold-hearted, world-conforming Christians? He wants a separate and holy people, and the command is, “Come out and be ye separate.” 2 Cor. 6:14-18.

We believe that the birds of the air and the leaven in the parables of Mat. 13 represent the children of the wicked one, or hypocrites, which have lodged in the Church and the false doctrines which have crept in and so pervaded the professing Church that it has, in the main, become merely formal and nominal.

God wants zealous Christians, in whom the Word of Life shall burn as it did in Jeremiah’s bones. And are not the number of these few, even today?

The professing Church is luke-warm, and, we fear, almost ready to be spued out of the Master’s mouth. But, thanks be unto His name, there are those who are rebuked and chastened, and who are buying gold and white raiment and anointing their eyes that they may see, and who will overcome and sit down with Christ in His throne. Rev. 3:14-22.

The True Church.

There is truly a Church, and it is THE BODY OF CHRIST,⁴⁰ one and indivisible,⁴¹ composed of all true believers in Him.⁴² It may be called a church within, or among the churches—the wheat among the chaff. And let us remember that this true Church of Christ is appointed unto affliction, and that the intervals of rest (Acts 9:31) only strengthen her to endure new and varied forms of persecution. This has been her history, and we may expect it will be her future, amid the scoffers, evil men and seducers of the last times.⁴³

And yet it is her blessed privilege, in all her affliction, to know that she travails in the birth of souls,⁴⁴ which are born from above by the Holy Ghost (John 3), and that the gospel (good news) of the Kingdom, which she preaches is the power of God unto salvation unto all who believe.⁴⁵

The Bride of Christ.

“Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

In this precious passage (Eph. 5) the Church, as the Bride of Christ, is typified by the most intimate, tender and sacred relationship known among the children of men.

Abraham’s servant went into a far country (Gen. 24) to seek a bride for Isaac, who was the honored type of Christ as a sacrifice. Gen. 22. So has the Holy Spirit come into the world to seek a Bride for Jesus. The servant said, “Hinder me not.” So the Holy Ghost is striving with the world, and pleading with cold-hearted professors, that He may hasten the presentation of the bride to the Bridegroom. See Mat. 22:2-10.

Rebekah said, “I will go.” So the Bride should be yearning to go. God has made the wedding and prepared the feast, and all things (except the Bride) are ready for the rapturous meeting, and blessed are they who are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. Rev. 19:9.

O! that the Church would work a hundredfold more earnestly for the conversion of souls and the edifying of the body of Christ, that the bride might be complete, and thus hasten the coming of her Lord,⁴⁶ ever listening to catch the midnight cry: “Behold the Bridegroom cometh!” and “so be ready to go out to meet Him.” Mat. 25:6.

“O! I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine;
He brings a poor vile sinner into His ‘house of wine.’
I stand upon His merit—I know no safer stand,
Not e’en where glory dwelleth in Immanuel’s land.

The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of Grace;
Not at the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hand—
The Lamb is all the glory of Immanuel’s land.”

CHAPTER XI.

TRIBULATION—RESURRECTION—JUDGMENT.

The Tribulation.

We use this term to designate the whole period of earthly history, between the Rapture and the Revelation, or between the Church and the Millennial Kingdom. It will not altogether be a time of tribulation, for in it “they shall rejoice and send gifts one to another” (Rev. 11:10), and shall say “peace and safety.” 1 Thes. 5:3. We believe that it will be comparatively a short season, because the 6,000 years and the times, or year-days, of prophecy have nearly run out. Doubtless it embraces the last one of Daniel’s seventy weeks,¹ for the reason that then God begins to deal with Israel again, after He has taken the Church away,² and yet it is probable that it includes much more than the seven years of that week.

It is certain that there will be in it a period of unequalled trial, sorrow and calamity,³ spiritual darkness and open wickedness.⁴ It is the night of the world.⁵ But the true Church, which is not of the night,⁶ being watchful and prayerful, will be accounted worthy to escape it, by the Rapture, and to stand before the Son of Man,⁷ while a third part of Israel will be brought through it,⁸ and for the elect’s sake the days of this culminating tribulation shall be shortened⁹ by the revelation of Christ.¹⁰ From Isa., chapters 24 to 28, an idea may be gained of the terrible character of this period, during which Antichrist will also be revealed (see p. 107). Some, especially from the remnant of Israel, will accept of Christ and become His witnesses, and be slain by Antichrist. These we call the tribulation saints, who are to be raised at the close of the great tribulation, as the gleanings of the great harvest of the first resurrection.

The Resurrection.

In regard to the Resurrection, we would say that the literal rendering of 1 Cor. 15:23, is “but each one in his own band.”

It seems plain that the resurrection of those “who are Christ’s at His coming,” includes both those who constitute the Bride, who are raised at the Rapture, when Christ comes into the air; and the Old Testament saints,¹¹ the friends of the Bridegroom,¹² who doubtless are raised in a different band from the Church, see Rev. 6:9-11,¹³ and also those who believe and suffer during the tribulation,¹⁴ who will be raised at the Revelation (when Christ comes to the earth), to take part with Him in the Millennial Kingdom.¹⁵

This latter we represent by “R. T.” on the diagram.

Then, the great harvest of the first Resurrection—or the Resurrection of Life—includes:

The second Resurrection, or Resurrection of Judgment,¹⁶ occurs after the Millennium, and includes the remaining dead.¹⁷

Judgment.

We often hear Post-millennialists use the expression “General Judgment,” thereby conveying the idea of some future day in which all mankind will simultaneously appear before God to be judged.

The expression is not in the Scriptures. Pre-millennialists believe that the Judgment is general, only in the sense that all are judged—but not all at the same time.

The Judgment of believers, as sinners, is past, being accomplished in Christ on the cross.

“He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation (Greek, Judgment); but is passed from death unto life.” John 5:24. See also John 3:17-19 (R. V.) Judged instead of condemned.¹⁸

There is a Judgment day coming, not a day of twenty­four hours, but a long series of years. Day is used to designate such a period in 2 Cor. 6:2; Eph. 6:13, and Heb. 3:8.¹⁹ The “Hour” in John 5:25, has been over eighteen centuries long. So “the hour” in John 5:28 may be centuries of years.

This “Day of Judgment” [Mat. 10:15; 11:22; 11:24; 12:36; Mar. 6:11; 2 Pet. 2:9; 3:7; 1 John 4:17.] is also called “The Day of the Lord,” [lsa. 2:12; 13:6, 9; 34:8; Lam. 2:22; Ezk. 13:5; Joel 1:15; 2:1; 3:14; Amos 5:18; Obd. 15; Zeph. 1:7, 8, 18; 2:2, 3; Zech. 14:1; 1 Cor. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:14; 1 Thes. 5:2; 2 Pet. 3:10.] “The Last Day,” [John 6:39, 40, 44, 54; 11:24; 2 Tim. 3:1.] and “The Great Day.” [Jer. 30:7; Hos. 1:11; Joel 2:11, 31; Zeph. 1:14; Mal. 4:5; Jude 6; Rev. 6:17; 16:14; Acts 2:20.]

It is ushered in with plagues²⁰ and closes in fire,²¹ between which lies a long season of the “sure mercies of David,”²² or the Millennium.²³ In it there will be four visible judgments, in the following order:

Four Judgments.

I. The Judgment of the Saints for their works.²⁴

This is not on earth. Compare 1 Thes. 4:13-18, with 2 Thes. 1:6-10; Rev. 19:11-16. See (20) (32) and (33).

These glorified Saints receive their judgment undeniably before that of the ungodly. See Mat. 25:14-30. The judgment of the servants occurs before the judgment of the nations. Mat. 25:31-46. See also 1 Pet. 4 :17-18.²⁵

II. The Judgment of the living nations, who are upon the earth at the Revelation. Jesus is Judge of the quick (or living) and dead.²⁶

The Church or Saints, having been before caught up in the Rapture, come with Christ to execute judgment²⁷ upon the world or living nations.²⁸ This is the judgment of the quick, or those who are living upon the earth, when Christ comes at the Revelation. He separates the sheep from the goats, gathering out all things that doth offend (Mat. 13:41-42), and sets up His kingdom (verse 43). The third party, His brethren, are the Israelites,²⁹ who are never to be reckoned among the nations.³⁰

Then follows the Millennium, which is one continuous day of Judgment (Acts 17:31), when the righteous Judge will be upon earth (2 Tim. 4:8), and when judgment shall be laid to the line and righteousness to the plummet. Isa. 28:17.

III. The judgment of the dead at the Great White Throne.³¹

IV. The Judgment of angels,³⁴ into fire “prepared for the devil and his angels.” The ungodly go there first. Compare Rev. 19:20 with Rev. 20:7-10; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6.³⁵

Such events, requiring intervals of time, preclude the idea expressed in the term, “general judgment.”

The “Day of the Lord” has two aspects, to-wit: Judgment on God’s enemies, and deliverance and blessing on God’s people.³⁶

So we have the Judgment:

Of believers, as to their, character, on the cross.

Of believers, as to their works, at the Judgment seat of Christ.

Of the living nations at the Revelation.

Of the ungodly at the Great White Throne.

CHAPTER XII.

Antichrist.

This name introduces to us one of the most solemn and foreboding subjects in the Word of God. An antichrist—one absolutely opposed to Jesus Christ—we are told, shall come.¹ The spirit of antichrist is already in the world, denying the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh, either in the past² or in the future.³

This spirit of antichrist, now possessed by many, will culminate in one person, the Antichrist, who will deny both the Father and the Son.⁴

That he is a single individual is plainly taught in 2 Thes. 2, where he is called “that man of sin” . . . “the son of perdition”—”that wicked,” or properly, “the lawless one.”

As, Christ is the express image of God,⁵ so it appears that antichrist is the culminating manifestation of Satan, “the prince of this world.”⁶ His coming is “after the working (energy, or inward working) of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders and deceivableness of unrighteousness.”

He will be a “strong (or inward working) delusion,” to them who believe not the truth.⁷

This mystery of Lawlessness (so the Greek) already worked in the days of the apostle, but there has been a hindering power, which, we believe, is the Holy Spirit, in His present manifestation, or office, viz.: as the reprover of the world and gatherer of the Church. When He, the restraining one, is taken out of the way (or out of the midst), at the rapture of the Church, then shall the mystery be unveiled, and the Lawless one be revealed. (Verses 7 and 8).

He will be received, even by the Jews,⁸ who, having returned to their own land and rebuilt their temple, will make a treaty with him, called by the prophet “a covenant with death and an agreement with hell.”⁹ And antichrist will exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God (the rebuilt temple at Jerusalem) and sheweth himself that he is God. 2 Thes. 2:4. Doubtless he is the king described in Dan. 11:36, etc.,¹⁰ who shall do according to his own will and magnify himself above every god. Again, he is seen as the beast described in Rev. 13 :11-18¹¹ whose number is the number of a man, 666, and who performs “great wonders and deceiveth them that dwell upon the earth,” by means of his miracles, and has the power to kill those who will not worship the image of the beast. And again he is seen in Lucifer, or the day star, of Isa. 14,¹² of whom the king of Babylon was a type, and who weakens the nations, exalts his “throne above the stars of God,” and sits “upon the mount of the congregation.”

Such, in brief, is the awful picture which Scripture gives us of this great opponent of Christ. Many think that he has already been manifested in Antiochus Epiphanes—or the Popes of Rome—or Mohammed and his successors, all of which we regard as erroneous. The Popes have received their exaltation and power, as the pretended vicars of Christ, and not as His opponent. It is a great mistake, therefore, to call them the antichrist, or the opposing one. Antiochus was doubtless a type of antichrist. And in his opposition to the worship of Jehovah, his sacrifice of the hated swine in the temple and his merciless treatment of the Jews, he has given us a miniature picture of what the final antichrist will do. But he passed away long before Paul and John wrote of the antichrist to come. Likewise Mohammed may be in some sense a type, but that is all.

No, antichrist is still in the future, and he will not be manifested until the true Church has been taken away, at the rapture, as described in 1 Thes. 4.¹³ For Paul says,¹⁴ “We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him,”— that is, by this very fact of the rapture, of which he had previously written them,¹³ and which must first occur before the apostasy should come to the full, and the man of sin be revealed. This is confirmed by verse 7. The Holy Spirit, who, while he is gathering the Bride,¹⁵ reproves the world of sin, righteousness and judgment,¹⁶ will, when he is taken out of the way, catch up the Bride to meet the Lord in the air, leaving the apostate church, adulterous Israel and the ungodly world, to believe a lie,¹⁷ and then shall the lawless one be revealed. Praise God, that the Church is to be kept from this awful hour of temptation.¹⁸ She shall be with her Lord,¹⁹ while the world is ruled by antichrist.

But, though antichrist shall so greatly exalt himself and rule over the world with such power, yet “shall he come to his end, and none shall help him.”²⁰ The Lord shall destroy him “with the brightness of His coming,” literally “will paralyze (him) with the forthshining of His arrival”²¹ (See Rotherham’s translation), when He shall come, with His saints, to execute judgment upon the ungodly.²² Yes, he shall “be brought down to hell (sheol), to the sides of the pit.” They that see him shall narrowly look upon him and consider him, saying, “is this THE MAN that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms; that made the world as a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof?” Isa. 14:15-17.

We would call special attention to the fact that antichrist denies the Father and the Son,²³ and that the Greek words in 2 Thes. 2:7-8 should be rendered “the mystery of lawlessness”—”the lawless one.” This, we think, gives an alarming significance to the atheistic and lawless trio of socialism, nihilism and anarchy, so rapidly spreading in our day, and which seeks to wipe out all law relating to marriage, property, etc.

It may be that these are the immediate precursors of antichrist. At any rate, he is surely coming, and sad indeed is the thought of a godless world, rushing on to such a culmination of evil.*

* For a more extended statement of this subject of the antichrist; the rebuilding of Babylon, as Satan’s earthly capitol and the headquarters of commercialism, its complete overthrow and destruction, and other co-relative events, see the author’s pamphlet, “Satan, his kingdom and its overthrow.” F. H. Revell Co., Chicago, New York, etc.

CHAPTER XIII.

The Principal Event.

We believe that the foregoing outline of the order of events will commend itself to every careful student of the Word. However, we persistently urge but ONE POINT, and that is the PRE-MILLENNIAL COMING OF CHRIST AND RAPTURE OF THE SAINTS. This we believe to be the GREAT HOPE for the church, and the principal event for which believers wait.¹

Much has been revealed in regard to the Tribulation, the Kingdom, etc., which follow the Rapture; but it is, as it were, only an outline. And, dear reader, let us not be discouraged if we cannot fully understand it.

Do not forget that THE KING is coming. And when HE comes it will be time to make known, in detail, the manner of the Kingdom.²

Post-Millennial Questionings.

Post-millennialists apparently forget this altogether, and because they cannot fully understand those things in regard to the Lord’s coming, which we now see through a glass darkly, they reject what is plainly revealed.

If, even in the present dispensation, we cannot explain the doctrines of “Free Will,” and “God’s Sovereignty,” to our mutual understanding,—much less can we comprehend the glory, which shall be revealed in us, in the coming Kingdom. Let us not be disturbed, then, by the questions which they ask; such as—

How will men be saved during the Millennium?

What will be the means of grace?

What may take the place of the preaching of the gospel? and of the sacraments of the Church?

The Jews could not have answered similar questions before the first coming of Christ. It was not revealed until He came.

Jesus is coming AGAIN, and it is just as consistent that we shall receive an addition to the revealed Word of God when He comes, as it was when He came before.

He will speak again, who spake as never man spake,³ even the dead will hear His voice,⁴ and the gracious words which shall proceed out of His mouth⁵ will be a continual revelation.⁶

It will all be plain when Jesus comes, for we shall be like Him and see Him as He is,⁷ eye to eye,⁸ face to face.⁹

Post-millennialists seem to think that all must be accomplished under the Church, and with present instrumentalities.

Pre-millennialists look for the main accomplishment under Christ Himself, who will cut short the work in righteousness,¹⁰ and with different instrumentalities.¹¹

Post-millennialism exalts the Church:

Pre-millennialism exalts Jesus and fills the heart of the believer with a LIVING, PERSONAL, COMING Savior.

Post-millennialists, though ACKNOWLEDGING that the Second Advent of Christ is the very POLE STAR of the Church, have little heart in it, and are disposed to say very little about it. This is natural and perfectly consistent for those who believe the event is at least a thousand years away.

They very seldom preach or talk about it.

Preach the Word.

What a contrast to Paul, who charged Timothy to PREACH THE WORD (2 Tim. 4:2);* and when writing to Titus, of the blessed hope and glorious appearing of Jesus, he said: “THESE THINGS SPEAK.” Ch. 2:15.

* “I bear full witness, in presence of °God and Christ Jesus °who Is about to be judging living and dead, both as to His °forthshining and His kingdom proclaim the Word.” Rotherham’s N. T. from the Gr. text of Tregelles.

And again, when writing to the Thessalonians of the descent of the Lord and the rapture of the church, he said: “WHEREFORE COMFORT (or exhort) ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS.” Ch. 4:18; see also 2 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 10:25; 2 Pet. 1:19.¹²

We ask our post-millennial brethren, Why do you not give the Church these comforting words,—this “meat in due season?” “Blessed is that servant whom His Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.” Lu. 12:43.

Ah! brethren, post-millennialism is hiding this STAR OF HOPE from the church, and incurring thereby a responsibility that God alone can estimate. The Church is languishing because of this neglected truth.

Solemn Warning.

We beg of you to heed the following solemn words from Dr. Hugh McNeill: “My reverend brethren, watch, preach the coming of Jesus. I charge you, in the name of our common Master,—PREACH THE COMING OF JESUS; solemnly and affectionately, in the name of God, I charge you,— PREACH THE COMING OF JESUS. WATCH ye, therefore, lest, coming suddenly, He find the porter sleeping.”

Pre-millennialism has a vital life in it, and gives the disciple a real love and relish for the Word of God, which opens up to him like a new book.

Even Dr. Brown recognizes this, and he says: “Pre­millennialists have done the Church a real service by calling attention to the place which the second advent holds in the Word of God and the scheme of divine truth.” [The Second Advent, Page 13.]

Many have we heard say, “Why, the Bible is another book to me since I accepted this truth.” And though one is almost lost in the unfolding majesty and infinity of God’s plans revealed therein, yet do we find it such a store­house of truth and comfort, that continual study ever gives us richer food.

It is the MOST PRACTICAL DOCTRINE in the Christian faith, for “every man that hath this hope in Him (Christ) purifieth himself even as He (Christ) is pure.” 1 John 3:3. And do we not want PRACTICAL HOLINESS?

Again, this doctrine when received into the heart is a mighty power to separate one from the love of the world. And were it thoroughly believed and preached in the Church, she would readily give of her substance so liberally that we should not be begging for money to sustain our missions.

It was this doctrine that inspired the sainted Bliss, and gave his songs such favor. How all of us love to sing “WHEN JESUS COMES,” or “HOLD THE FORT FOR I AM COMING.” The Church and the people want this truth, and God wants them to have it, we are assured, by the manifest interest and attention with which He blesses its presentation.

CHAPTER XIV.

SOME OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED.

No. I. It Discourages Missions.

It is objected that this doctrine discourages missions.

This is not true. The missionary spirit among the evangelists of to-day is a sufficient answer to this. And let us name, among the missionaries who held this faith, Ben Ezra, Joseph Wolf, James McGregor Bertram, L. D. Mansfield, Gonsalves, Dr. Kelley and Hewitson.

“This was the hope that inspired Heber, the great missionary bishop of the English Church, who gave us that glorious missionary hymn, ‘From Greenland’s Icy Mountains,’ and who spent his strength and rested from his labors ‘on India’s coral strand!’

“This was the hope that energized Gutzlaff, the opener of China, and Bettleheirn, the opener of Japan; that inspired the noble Duff, who, under its influence, woke moderate Scotland from its lethargy, and was the pioneer of his indomitable race in India. This was the hope that inspired and cheered and everjoyed McCheyne and our own Poor, and Lowrie, and Rankin, and Lowenthal, and a host of others.”

Mr. Lord affirms that among missionaries of all denominations, there is as great proportion of pre-millennialists, as there is among the ministry at home. They earnestly labor, as did the apostle, to save some from the wrath to come.¹

No. II. It Discourages Work.

It is objected that it discourages work. This is most inconsistent and untrue, for the very essence of the doctrine is to WATCH, WORK AND WAIT, and to work NOW for the night cometh when no man can work.²

No. III. So Many Unsaved Friends.

Some object that they have so many unsaved friends, they cannot wish Jesus to come.

WORK THEN, for we read “all that my Father giveth me shall come to me” (John 6:37-39), and whosoever will may come.³ Knowing the terror (fear) of the Lord, let us persuade men. 2 Cor. 5:11.

The Antedeluvians would not heed the preaching of Noah, and even Lot’s kindred (his sons-in-law) would not go with him out of Sodom. So there will be those who will not accept of Christ. But of all who believe in Him⁴ not one will be lost.⁵ The Israelites were often led to repentance, in the midst of adversity and calamity, and so if our friends will not be entreated to accept of Christ now, it is perhaps possible that they may do so under the visible judgments of God, during the Tribulation.

But whether they will or not, let us consider, that the great mass of humanity are engulfed in the maelstrom of sin, which is sweeping its millions down to graves of destruction (Mat. 7:13), and compared to them, in numbers, the true believers are but a handful. In the Millennium all this will be changed, “for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9), and all men shall bow to the righteous scepter of King Immanuel.⁶

We would not sacrifice the hundreds of lives upon a passenger train, to save the life of even a FRIEND who willfully exposed himself to danger upon the track; and are not all men our brothers? and shall we not yearn to save them from the tide of spiritual death? Oh! then, let us cry with the Holy Spirit: “Even so come, Lord Jesus.” Rev. 22:20. For when He comes the work will be cut short in righteousness.⁷

No. IV. My Kingdom Is Not of This World.

It is objected that Jesus said: “My Kingdom is not of this world.” John 18:36. True! not of the spirit of the world (1 John 2:15-17); just as believers are not of the world. John 15:19. The correct rendering of the passage is, “My Kingdom is not (εκ) out of this world.” That is, it does not emanate from this world. He is not (εκ) out of this world.⁸ Both He and His Kingdom are from above.⁹ But it will be set up on this earth, in accordance with the prayer which He taught us “Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” Luke 11:2.¹⁰ Earthly kingdoms are corrupted by the deception of Satan. But in the Millennial Kingdom he will not deceive them, for he shall be bound.¹¹

There is nothing essentially sinful in matter. Adam was sinless before his fall and he had a material body. Christ has a material body and is without sin. The earth was cursed because of sin and the spirit of the world clings to sin.¹² But when the curse is removed,¹³ and all things that offend are gathered out of the kingdom,¹⁴ then shall all creation have that for which it groans,’6 and the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.¹⁶

No. V. The Kingdom Within You.

It is objected, that the kingdom of God is not material and visible, but that it is spiritual and invisible. In support of this the following words of Jesus in Luke 17:20-21 are cited: “When He was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation; neither shall they say, lo, here! or lo, there! for behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Observation should be translated “careful watching,” see Dr. Adam Clarke, or “narrow watching,” see Rotherham. The marginal, and better reading for “within you” is “among you,” see Rotherham, Wilson, Prof. Whitting, and others. He dld not say that the kingdom of God was within, or in the hearts of those wicked Pharisees, but that it was among them, viz.: within the Jewish nation. As Bengel states it, “within is here used, not in any respect of the heart of individual Pharisees, . . . . but in respect to the whole Jewish people. The King, Messiah, and therefore the kingdom is here: ye see and ye hear.”

The sense, then, is as follows: The kingdom of God cometh not with “careful watching.” That is, not in such a way as to be discerned only by sagacious critics, nor is it to be seen only by those who are scrupulously watching for it. They shall not say, Behold here or there, for the kingdom of God is among you, to-wit: it was then visibly present among them, in the person of Jesus the King. And so it will be visibly present when He comes again.¹⁷ It did not, and will not, need scrupulous watching to discern it. Had they received Him with faith,—instead of (narrowly) watching Him with deceitful spies,¹⁸ they might have realized that their King was then visibly present, and ready to usher in the universal manifestation of the kingdom, which had been seen by the favored disciples of the Mount.¹⁹ How gladly He would have then fully manifested Himself as King, and established His Kingdom among them, is shown by His words of tender yearning in Mat. 23:37-39:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh In the name of the Lord.”

He came in His Father’s name; but the Israelites to whom He spoke would not receive Him.²⁰

“He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” John 1:11.

Preferring a robber, they rejected and crucified their King and so the kingdom waits until they shall accept Him,²¹ when the kingdom of the world shall become the kingdom of our Lord’s and of His Christ’s and He shall reign for the AGES OF AGES. See Greek.²²

Oh! Blessed “KING OF KINGS!” COME, and may “THY KINGDOM COME.”

The King there in His beauty,
Without a veil is seen;
It were a well-spent journey,
Though sev’n deaths lay between,
The Lamb, with His fair army,
Doth on Mount Zion stand,
And glory, glory dwelleth
In Immanuel’s land.

No. VI. The Kingdom Is Not Meat and Drink.

It is objected that Paul said, “The Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” Rom. 14:17.

Indeed it is not “meat and drink,” or eating and drinking, or simply outward observances. Neither was the Kingdom of Israel meat and drink, nor the Roman Empire. But the subjects of each did eat and drink, and Paul simply taught that they should do so circumspectly and with charity. So will the subjects of the kingdom of God eat and drink. “Blessed is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God.” Luke 14:15. “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Rev. 19:9. See the Feast of Isa. 25:6.8.²³

Jesus himself said, “I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” Mat. 26:29.

And again: “I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom.” Luke 22:29-30. This is the strongest proof that the kingdom will be literal and material, though it shall be freed from the curse of sin.²⁴

No. VII. Flesh and Blood.

It is objected that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.²⁵

Certainly we do not INHERIT it through the flesh—the unregenerate man. But through the Spirit we are born again,²⁶ created anew in Christ Jesus,²⁷ and made “joint heirs” with Him.²⁸ The flesh profiteth nothing. The Spirit quickeneth.²⁹

Paul in this chapter (1 Cor. 15) is treating of the subject of the resurrection which he proves to be so important, that without it, we could not inherit, or become possessed of the kingdom of God. “Flesh and blood” he says cannot inherit it, and therefore he shows that at the resurrection, our bodies of corruptible flesh and blood, which have died, shall be raised in incorruption and immortality. And the bodies of those who are living at that time shall be changed and “fashioned like unto His glorious body.”³⁰ Now, in our flesh and blood, we are bearing the image of Adam, the first man, “which is of the earth, earthy.” But at the resurrection we shall be changed so as to “bear the image of the heavenly” “the second man,” “the Lord from heaven.”³¹

And He who raised up Christ from the dead, and who hath given us the Spirit of adoption (sonship) whereby we become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, will, by His Spirit that dwelleth in us, also quicken (or make alive) our mortal bodies.³² Then, and then only, can we inherit,³³ or come into possession of the kingdom,³⁴ which God hath promised to give unto us.³⁵ Hence, we see the vital importance of the resurrection, without which we could not inherit the kingdom of God, [Here let It be noticed is another evidence that the Kingdom is yet future.] verse 50. The evident purpose of this objection is to support the assertion made by Post-millennialists that the kingdom is only spiritual and that there is nothing literal or material in it. But Paul says nothing of the kind and his whole argument is entirely to the contrary. For he asserts that our σωμα (soma—body) which is sown in corruption, dishonor and weakness, will be raised in incorruption, glory and power, or if living, will be changed in the twinkling of an eye.³⁶ In these glorified bodies we shall “inherit the kingdom prepared for” us “from the foundation of the world.”³⁷ For Christ the rightful heir of all things³⁸ will be there and we shall be there to reign with Him.³⁹

And He will have his glorified body, His body that was raised⁴⁰ and ascended⁴¹ and entered into heaven.⁴²

The glorified body which Stephen saw there,⁴³ and which Paul saw (Acts 9:5) and also John, Rev. 1:13.

The body which bears the sears of the cross;⁴⁴ “A Lamb as it had been slain.” Yes, He will return in the flesh. Acts 1:11. The true reading of 2 John 7, is, “who confess not Jesus Christ coming [Gr. ερχομενον coming. See page 200.] in the flesh.” See also Isa. 63:1-6, and Rev. 19:11-16. And “we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him.” 1 John 3:2. Therefore it is clear, that we, in these same bodies, changed into the image of Christ’s glorious body, shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

No. VIII. The Work of the Holy Spirit a Failure.

It is objected that this doctrine disparages the work of the Holy Spirit.

Not so! For what is the work of the Holy Spirit? He is gathering the bride. He teaches, guides, and comforts her,⁴⁵ until she is presented to Christ.⁴⁶

At the same time he reproves the world of sin, and of righteousness, and judgment. John 16:8.

He may be grieved,⁴⁷ resisted,⁴⁸ and quenched⁴⁹ now, but He will not always strive with man.⁵⁰ His present work will be finished, and the King of kings and Lord of lords will come forth with the armies of heaven to subdue His enemies (Rev. 19) and finish the work.⁵¹

It was “the Spirit of God,” which “moved upon the face of the waters” in the beginning (Gen. 1:2), and we believe He had a part in all the work of creation, Gen. 1:26. He strove with sinners before the flood, Gen. 6:3. He spake by the prophets, Acts 1:16; 2 Pet. 1:21. He was specially granted unto Joseph and others. Gen. 41:38; Ex. 31:3; Num. 11:17; 24:2; 27:18; 2 Kings 2:9, etc. In short, He has been engaged in all the work of creation and redemption. We do not believe that His work is a failure because of the flood, nor because the Jews have rejected Christ, and as natural branches, have been broken off. Rom. 11:20. Neither do we believe His work will be a failure, though the preaching of the gospel in the present dispensation shall only result in the salvation of “some.”⁵² We feel sure that He shall have a part in the glory and triumph of the millennial dispensation, for even the Israelites shall then have a new Spirit within them.⁵³ And the nations are to be ruled, in peace and righteousness, by Him upon whom the Spirit of the Lord doth rest.⁵⁴

Let us then have no fear of jealousy on the part of the Spirit, because of the triumphs of Christ. Rather let us be sure that He seeks to hasten the presentation of the bride,—which is being sealed by Him (Eph. 4:20),—unto her Lord—who hath the Spirit without measure,⁵⁵ that these twain, united into one,⁵⁶ may be the one perfect man,⁵⁷ the Holy temple,⁵⁸ built for the habitation of God in Spirit.⁵⁹ And who can estimate what shall be accomplished by the Spirit, through this holy, living Temple, in which He shall dwell. No wonder that He yearns to hasten its completion. See the type of His haste in Gen. 24:56.⁶⁰ But this completion shall not take place until the Lord comes, when the Head shall forever be united to the body. 1 Thes. 4:18. Therefore, in this we may realize, to some extent, the meaning of that yearning cry of the Spirit “EVEN SO COME LORD JESUS.” Rev. 22:20.

No. IX. The Gospel a Failure.

It is said that it makes the gospel a failure.

But this is not so. Man is a failure. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom. 1:16). It is not the incompetency of the gospel, but the willful unbelief of sinners that prevents the conversion of the world. Jesus said: “Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37. But He also said “Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life.” John 5:40. While we are to preach the gospel everywhere, we are not to expect that all will receive it. For, when He said unto them, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature,” He also added, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:15-16. But “what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief make THE TRUTH of God of none effect? God forbid.” Rom. 3:3. Salvation shall be revealed in the last time.⁶¹

Jesus shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Isa. 53:11.

“After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes and palms in their hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb.” Rev. 7:9-10.

Alleluia; Amen; Alleluia.

No. X. The Gospel Not Preached in All the World.

It is objected that the gospel has not yet been preached in all the world, as Christ asserted it should be, in Mat. 24:14, and therefore we cannot yet look for Christ, nor the end to come. Let us carefully examine this passage:

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

1st. The end is unquestionably the end of the age (του αιωνος—tou aionos) of which the disciples asked in verse 3.

2d. The world (οικουμενη—oikoumenee) means habitable, that is, the inhabited earth.

3d. The gospel of the kingdom is the good news, or glad tidings of the kingdom to come.

These glad tidings, it is asserted, shall be proclaimed in all the inhabited earth for a witness unto all nations and then (τοτε—tote) shall come the end of this age—or dispensation. It will be noticed that the time, during which the preaching shall continue, is determined entirely by the qualifying clause “for a witness unto all nations.” When the witness is complete, then shall the end come.

When the Witness Is Complete.

Now, no finite mind can determine when the witness is complete. If we could, the evidence is to the effect that it has passed already. For when the gospel was preached on the day of Pentecost, there were present “devout men out of every nation under heaven.” Acts 2:5. Afterward the disciples were scattered abroad and went about preaching the Word. Acts 8:4. “And they went forth and preached everywhere.” Mark 16:20. [See Bengell’s Gnomon.] Paul says, in Rom. 10:18, “Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of.the world,” [See Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, also Alford.] (world here being from the same word οικουμενη—oikoumenee that is used in Mat. 24:14).

And again he says in Col. 1:23 [See Bengell’s Gnomon. See Jamieson, Faussett and Brown, also Alford.] that the gospel had already been “preached to every creature which is under heaven.”

These inspired statements as to the universal preaching of the gospel ought to be conclusive. Mighty as it makes the work of the early disciples, I do not see how we can refuse to accept it. (See Dr. A. Clarke on Mat. 24:14 as to the special point of the universality of this preaching, also the authorities previously cited.) Surely we must give no broader meaning to the word οικουμενη (oikoumenee) used by the Holy Spirit in Mat. 24:14 than in Rom. 10:18, or than to the equally strong words used in Col. 1:6 and 23.⁶² If we limit the one, we can, with equal propriety, limit the other. Because we have so full an account of Paul’s work, we are apt to depreciate what was accomplished by the other Apostles and Disciples. Peter was in Babylon (1 Pet. 5:13), and tradition gives us account of the preaching of the gospel in Parthia, India, Ethiopia, Scythia, Spain and Britain.

So then we may rest confidently on the plain statement of Col. 1:23, as being such fulfillment of Mat. 24:14, that the Church from that day to the present has not had, neither can have, in this, any sign or prophesied event standing between believers and the Lord’s coming. If we take it upon ourselves to judge that the witness is not complete, or more presumingly, that it cannot be complete for centuries to come, then are we foolishly assuming a prerogative which belongs to God only.

Only God Knows.

Surely, only God can judge when the witness to all nations is complete, and here lies the essence of this entire question. If the Church is the agent which is to proclaim the gospel until the witness is complete, no mortal can judge but what the witness shall be completed this moment. But we have no evidence that the Church is the only agent, and it is quite probable that she is not, for we read of another agent in Rev. 14:6.⁶³

Therefore the witness may not be completed, until after the Church is taken away, and this other heavenly messenger proclaims the everlasting gospel to them that dwell on the earth, even unto every nation and tribe and tongue and people. Rev. 14:6 (see Greek). In this case it is not the Church which shall complete the witness and it evidently can be no sign to her.

We conclude then that like the “day and hour,”⁶⁴ it is known to God only, and the Church can have no definite sign in it. Therefore nothing is left for us to do, but faithfully to continue proclaiming the glad tidings of the coming kingdom while we watch momentarily for the Bridegroom.

No. XI. Some Here Live to See Kingdom.

It is objected, that we are taught in Mat. 16:28; Mark 9:1, and Luke 9:27,⁶⁵ that the coming of Christ, and of the kingdom, should occur during the lifetime of some of the multitude (Mar. 8:34)⁶⁶ to whom Jesus spake, and that therefore His coming and kingdom can only be interpreted spiritually, viz.: the establishment of the power of the gospel by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost, or as some hold, figuratively, viz.: the destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish polity by the Romans, and the establishment of the Church. That is, as they say,—Christ came, by His spirit, on the day of Pentecost and manifested His power through the disciples, in the preaching of the gospel, performing of miracles, etc.,—or, He came through the Roman army, destroyed Jerusalem and overthrew the Jewish polity,—and that His Kingdom is the Church over which He now reigns, or (as some say) in which or through which He now reigns over the nations of the earth.

We answer—The Holy Spirit is a distinct person, not to be confounded with the person of Christ. The Savior expressly said: “I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter” (John 14:16), and if it be another, it cannot be Himself. He, the Holy Spirit, came according to the promises,⁶⁷ and it is entirely inconsistent to confound this event with Christ’s return, which latter is in accordance with other promises, that He should Himself come again. They are two events, as distinct as the births of Moses and John.

It is true that Christ is spiritually with, or in, believers,⁶⁸ and it is just as true that He always has been, and that in this sense He has never left them, for He said: “Lo! I am with you alway,” Mat. 28:20. Mark the language: “I AM with you alway.” He was with them during those days of prayer previous to the day of Pentecost, and He has been with His people all the time. But suddenly the (Parakleetos) Comforter came, another person and for a special and glorious purpose. It is, therefore, conclusive, that this coming of the Holy Spirit is a manifestation of the Divine presence, entirely different from, and superadded to, the spiritual presence of Christ, which latter, according to His own language, has never been withdrawn from His people. He never went away spiritually, but He did go bodily and visibly, and in like manner shall He return.⁶⁹

Again, after the day of Pentecost, the disciples continued to talk of the coming of Christ, which they surely would not have done if His promise to return was fulfilled on that day. And after the destruction of Jerusalem (about A. D. 71), St. John wrote the book of Revelation (about A. D. 96), in which he repeatedly speaks of the coming of Christ as being yet future, clearly showing that it could not have been fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem.

Again, as we have before shown, the Church is not the kingdom, but the body of Christ,⁷⁰ and His bride. Eph. 5. She is not to be reigned over,⁷¹ but to suffer and reign with Christ.⁷² She is “to be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God for which she suffers,”⁷³ and therefore Paul exhorts the disciples (members of the Church) “that they must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22), and Peter stirs us up, putting us in remembrance to add the Christian graces and give all diligence to make our calling and election sure, for so an entrance shall be ministered unto us “into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.” 2 Pet. 1:5-11.

Surely this language plainly distinguishes between the Church and the kingdom, and as plainly asserts that the kingdom is yet future. So we see that both the spiritual and figurative interpretations of the coming of Christ are without foundation.

Another theory has been advanced, viz.: that the coming of Christ in His Kingdom (Mat. 16:28) was fulfilled in what they term the spiritual coming on the day of Pentecost,—and that His coming in the clouds of heaven, in the glory of His Father, with the holy angels, etc., is his real, personal, visible coming at the end of the gospel age (which they also hold to be the end of time and of the world).

This seems to us to be founded upon a mere distinction of terms, where there is no difference in fact. For is it not at His coming in His Kingdom that He shall be manifested in His glory?⁷⁴ History proves—and all our ideas of the glory of Kings coincide with the fact—that such glory is identical with the majesty and manifestation of their kingdoms.

It is in Christ’s Kingdom that He shall rule all nations with a rod of iron,⁷⁵ and it is in His Kingdom that He is to be manifested as “the Blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords.”⁷⁶ Therefore His coming in His Kingdom and His coming in His glory are synonymous, and both are yet future.

Some of Them Did See the Kingdom.

Then what do the passages mean, to wit: Mat. 16:28, “verily I say unto you, there be some standing here which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom,”—or as in Mark 9:1, “till they have seen the Kingdom of God come with power,”—or as in Luke 9:27, “till they see the Kingdom of God.”

We answer first, the limiting clause “shall not taste of death” may have the deep signification, in which sense the true believers, who were standing there, shall never experience it.⁷⁷ This is certainly the signification the same language has in Heb. 2:9,⁷⁸ and if we understand it likewise in these passages, then we have all eternity for the fulfillment. However we only suggest this. We do not rely upon it, for we believe the word “till” more than intimates that the “some” should taste of death, and that therefore natural death or separation of soul and body was meant.

Peter Saw It.

But now let us mark well what the “some” standing there were to see, and then let us go up the Mount of Transfiguration, and gaze through the favored eyes of Peter, James and John upon the scene which is recorded immediately after the passage we are considering. Behold His face shining as the sun and His raiment white and glistening as the snow, or as the light. See Moses and Elias as they appear in glory with Him, and listen to the communings of this exalted trio. Then bow in silent awe, as the cloud of surpassing glory overshadows them, and reverently listen to the voice of God, the Father, saying “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him.” No wonder that even the favored and beloved disciples trembled with fear beneath this supernatural majesty and effulgent glory. Surely this was I AM⁷⁹ spanning the centuries and giving these apostles a view of His coming and kingdom.

So they understood it and Peter especially confirms it.

“For,” he says, “we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and COMING of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount.” 2 Pet. 1:16-18.

We cannot tell how much of the future they saw in that enraptured hour, but doubtless they had a specific vision of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in His kingdom and glory.

John Saw It.

We have only to turn to Revelation, where we find that He “which is and which was, and which is to come” permitted John to see (Rev. 1:2, 11, etc.) it most definitely. His enraptured vision swept the centuries. Time, to him, was annihilated and he gazed upon the literal facts. He actually saw them. Thirty-six times does he say “I saw,” seven times “I beheld,” and five times “I looked,” besides many similar expressions. And he saw the very things mentioned in the passages.

“And I SAW heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and Truth, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire and on His head were many crowns, . . . . and He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. . . . And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

He saw the beast and kings of the earth gathered and taken and cast into the lake of fire. He saw Satan bound, and he saw Christ and His saints reigning for a thousand years. He saw it all in perfect fulfillment of the statements in the passages we are considering. Rev. 19:20.

Paul Saw It.

Paul also saw Christ in His glory and doubtless he saw all that John did, and probably more, for he saw things that it was impossible for a man to utter. (2 Cor. 12:4, margin.) Surely these are an absolute and literal fulfillment of what Jesus promised “some” should see, and satisfactorily explain the passages in question.

Ye Shall Not Have Gone Over the Cities of Israel.

Another passage is cited in support of the above theories, viz.: the spiritual coming on the day of Pentecost or the figurative coming, in the destruction of Jerusalem, etc., and that is Mat. 10:23, “verily I say unto you ye shall not have gone over (or finish) the cities of Israel, till the Son of Man be come.”

In regard to this we answer, that this was spoken to the twelve disciples, when Jesus sent them forth two by two, with a message especially for and exclusively to Israel. We find from Mark 6:30, and Luke 9:10,⁸⁰ that they returned to the Master, of course, without finishing the cities. And there is no evidence that they ever, in like manner, renewed the visitation preaching the message “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”⁸¹ Indeed they could not, for Israel had rejected their King, and the kingdom had become like a nobleman which went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and return.⁸²

But from the force of the word “till” we believe that the message will be renewed (perhaps by the “two witnesses” after the Church is taken away), to the unbelieving Israelites, who shall yet return to their land and restore Judaism,⁸³ and before they shall have gone over the rebuilt cities, the Son of Man shall appear again.

No. XII. Gloomy View of the Future.

It is objected that this doctrine presents a gloomy view of the future; that “it is the philosophy of despair,”— that it stands opposed to the popular idea, viz.: that the world is growing better, and “if it is true,” it is sarcastically said, “we might as well fold our hands and wait for Christ to come.”

We candidly think that many who raise these objections have altogether mistaken the spirit and work of pre-millennialists.

We do Not Despair.

We neither despair, nor fold our hands to sleep. On the contrary, we are filled with a lively (Greek—living) hope (1 Pet. 1:3), the most “blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13), while we strive to save some from this worldly, sinful and adulterous generation, which is nigh unto cursing and whose end is to be burned.⁸⁴

We would not deceive them with the hallucination that they are “growing better,” for, as the apostle has said, “we know that we are of God and the whole world lieth in wickedness” (Greek—in the wicked one), 1 John 5:19—and therefore we would tell them in the plain words of Scripture, that they are in the broad way that leadeth to destruction (Mat. 7:13), and that they must repent or perish. Luke 13:3. And further, that this same world, once overflowed by the flood, is now “stored with fire [See the Greek.] against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” 2 Pet. 3:5-7.

We rejoice over every one of those, who, by believing the gospel, the good news of the coming kingdom,⁸⁵ are saved from this awful fate and made “joint heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:16-17) “to an inheritance . . . reserved in heaven for us,” and “who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time,” and who “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto” us “at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Pet. 1:4-5-13.

Surely this positive conviction of coming doom is a mightier incentive to action than can be the quieting fallacy that things are moving on prosperously and that EVEN THE WORLD IS GETTING BETTER.

And this is clearly proved by the zeal and faithful work of the ministers, evangelists and laymen, who hold and proclaim this doctrine of the pre-millennial coming of Christ.

It is true that they do not expect the conversion of the world in this present evil age [See the Greek.] (Gal. 1:4), but they do believe that a millennial age of peace is coming, and they do strive “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation,” to “shine as lights in the world holding forth the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16), that they may snatch some brands from the burning (Mal. 4:1; 1 Cor. 3:13-15; Jude 23), to increase the godly company who shall be ready to welcome the Bridegroom.⁸⁶

Why, then, should they be so bitterly opposed for proclaiming this scriptural doctrine? Are they not all members of the body of Christ?⁸⁷ And, as such, do they not merit the warmest sympathy and prayers of the Church? Shall they be condemned because, like the early Church, they are holding the traditions (or teachings handed down) of the apostles,⁸⁸ and looking for Jesus?⁸⁹ God forbid! But let us remember that “we be brethren,” strangers and pilgrims (Heb. 11:13), whose “citizenship” is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). And let us speak “the truth in love,” be built up in love (Eph. 4:15-16), and “walk in love” (Eph. 5:2), “redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”⁹⁰

The Days Are Evil.

Yes, THE DAYS ARE EVIL, and we freely admit that this doctrine does present a gloomy future in the present evil age, for this world of sinners, who are full of unbelief and radically opposed to Christ, His people and His salvation.⁹¹ They are rejecting God’s gracious entreaties for reconciliation,⁹² and rushing madly on toward the day of wrath. Rev. 6:15-17.

But there is no gloom in the future for those “who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us,”⁹³ and “who have received the Spirit of adoption,” become “children” and “heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. . . For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.” Rom. 8:15-18.

There seems to be a prevailing disposition to balance up the good and the bad in the world by a process of general average, in which the triumphs of art and science, the progress in inventions, discoveries, etc., are counted as moral goodness, and it is concluded that the world, on the average, is growing better.

But this is utterly fallacious and, we fear, a grand deception of Satan.

The Church and the World.

First, there is no such thing as averaging together the true church and the world. There is no possible consanguinity. The one is “from beneath,”—the other “from above.” The one “is of this world,”—the other “not of this world.” John 8:23. They must not be yoked together, for there is no fellowship, communion, concord, part or agreement between them. They are and always must be separate. [See (91) pg. 144.] The true church is in the world, but not of it.⁹⁴ There are three parties in the world, viz.: the Jew, the Gentile and the Church of God.⁹⁵ As the Jews were a separate, called-out and peculiar people,⁹⁶ not to be reckoned among the nations,⁹⁷ so is this true church a separate and peculiar people,⁹⁸ called unto cleansing and holiness,⁹⁹ sealed by the Spirit of God, unto the day of redemption (Eph. 4:30), no longer darkness, but “children of light,” and exhorted to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:8-11). They are of God, while the whole world lies in the wicked one.¹⁰⁰ There is an irrepressible conflict between them—no possible harmony exists. On the contrary, their principles and tendencies are absolutely opposite. It is therefore entirely inconsistent that they should be spoken of as forming one general mass.

Art, Science and Invention.

Second, the triumphs of art and science, the progress in inventions, discoveries, etc., by no means argue an increase in godliness.

Many of the acknowledged leaders today in science and philosophy—yes, even those who rank the very highest among them, are positive infidels. And very many more, who disclaim absolute infidelity, deny the divinity of Jesus Christ.

It is strange, indeed, that the Christian optimists, in their noisy trumpetings of the strides of science, should lose sight of this momentous fact. And history bears a similar testimony. The power, splendor and wisdom of David and Solomon were followed by the idolatry and innocent blood of Ahab and Manasseh, resulting in the overthrow of Jerusalem and the Babylonish captivity.

The temple, built by Herod, was one of the grandest works of art. It fairly flashed with splendor, and the temple service was conducted on a magnificent scale. The Jews of his time enjoyed great privileges in literature and learning, and yet they crucified the Lord Jesus.

The Greeks rose to a pinnacle of triumph in literature, poetry and art, and yet they failed by wisdom to find out God. To them he was the unknown God.¹⁰¹ See how plainly this is brought out in 1 Cor. chapters, 1, 2 and 3: “For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (1:21). The trouble is not with the heads, but with the hearts of men. No matter how great the learning, man must have a new heart, and this is obtained not by education, but by the operation of the Spirit of God. It was not many wise men after the flesh who received the grace of God in Corinth, but the simple and the despised. “I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,” said Jesus, “that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent (discerning ones) and hast revealed them unto babes.” Luke 10:21.

The world, then, by “wisdom” or “philosophy” (Col. 2:8), or “science falsely so called” (1 Tim. 6:20), can never find out God. Indeed, we have a clear evidence of this in the rationalism, infidelity and atheism of our day. No matter how refined and polished is their garb or the delicacy with which they may be set forth, still they are only the poisonous deceptions of him who can appear as “an angel of light.”¹⁰² The truth is that Satan is the arch enemy of God, and the world, in this present evil age (Gal. 1:4), is in his power (1 John 5:19), so that he besets the people of God with his “wiles,” and arrays against them “principalities . . . . powers . . . . and the rulers of the darkness of this world.” Eph. 6:11-13. Therefore the Christian must “love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:15-16.

The World Not Growing Better.

Surely, then, this wicked world, which is so radically opposed to God, and under the present control of His arch enemy, is not growing better. On the contrary, judgment, fire and perdition are before it.¹⁰³ Perilous times are coming.¹⁰⁴ “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” The tares, which naturally grow much faster than the wheat, shall continue up to the harvest. Mat. 13:40. “The mystery of iniquity” which already worked in the days of the apostles, shall culminate in “the man of sin,” the personal antichrist, whom even the mass of the Jews will receive,¹⁰⁵ and who will be so great and rule with such universal authority that he is to be destroyed only by the personal appearing of the Lord Himself.¹⁰⁶

There is no hope, then, for the world, but in the coming of Christ the King. And, praised be God for the promises, the Lord will come at the end of this age. Antichrist will be destroyed.¹⁰⁶ All things that offend shall be gathered out,¹⁰⁷ and the Millennial Kingdom of righteousness shall be established on the earth. So, while there is a gloomy prospect for the world during this evil age, there is a bright and glorious prospect during the coming millennial age.

Civilization and Beneficent Institutions.

But perhaps it is still insisted that the world has made great progress in civilization and refinement, in benevolence, in personal liberty, international fraternity, Christian work, etc. In proof of this, the abrogation of slavery is cited; also the cessation of the inquisition and martyrdom, the establishment of charitable institutions, the great postal and commercial means of communication, built upon the agencies of steam and lightning; the right of trial by jury, international arbitration, missionary triumphs, etc.

Well, first of all we answer that Civilization and Refinement are not the Source of Holiness. They may elevate the head, while the heart is untouched. The gilded palace of sin is as certainly the gateway to hell as the darkest den of vice.

The cultured and scientific atheist is as surely in the service of Satan as the thief or the murderer. Jesus Himself classed them all together when He said, “He that is not with Me is against Me.” Mat. 12:30. So it matters not how much more like an angel of light the serpent may appear, nor how civilized and refined the world may be.

Satan is the devil still.

And the world is still the world.

His manifestations and methods may be changed, but the spirit of darkness is the same. And accordingly we see that while slavery is disappearing, communism, socialism and nihilism are lifting their godless, headless forms. And darker are their forebodings than were even the days of the inquisition and martyrdom. Oppressing monopolies, systematic peculation and fraud are parallel with charitable institutions. The mails, so useful for news and correspondence, afford a most convenient agency for disseminating the flood of obscene literature which is blasting the morals of the young. Trial by jury has too often proved a mere farce, in which the criminal escapes. The nation which opened the way for the missionary also forced upon the teeming millions of China the awful curse of opium.

While missionary efforts have been greatly blessed abroad (and praise God that they have), infallibility, ritualism, skepticism and desecration of the Lord’s day have more than equally triumphed at home. And let it not be forgotten that the monstrous assumption of infallibility has triumphed in what was once an apostolic church of Christ.

The past century has had its full share of war and carnage. Numerous, dark and fearful have been the fields of blood up to this very year. In short, Satan is on the alert and fully up to the times, multiplying his deceptions on either hand, as he will continue to do, until chained by the angel at the beginning of the Millennium.¹⁰⁸

Is the Church Progressing?

Lastly, it is argued that, as Christians are the light of the world and the salt of the earth,¹⁰⁹ the greatly increased number of professed Christians must certainly have augmented the light and the salt, and consequently have made the world better.

Jesus was indeed the light of the world, but He shone in the darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. Men loving and clinging to the darkness, because their deeds were evil, would not see the light, and were not made better by it.¹¹⁰ So true Christians, reflecting the light from heaven, only intensify the darkness about them. The darkness is still darkness and cannot be improved. The sinner must forsake it and come to the light, or he can never be saved.

Losing the Saltness.

Let us notice carefully that Jesus speaks of the salt losing its saltness and becoming good for nothing, and He also intimates that the light may be hid under a bushel, And therefore He exhorts, “Have salt in yourselves.” Mark 9:50. Evidently the Jews lost their “savour” (Mat. 5:13) and “were broken off.”¹¹¹ This leads to the solemn query, is the professing Church progressing or declining in faith and spiritual life?

The kingdom in mystery,¹¹² or the state of Christendom until Christ comes again, is taught us, we believe, by the parables of Mat. 13.

The Parables.

“The parable of the Sower shows the varied and imperfect reception of the Word. The parable of the Tares shows the early and continued effects of Satan’s presence among the saints. The parable of the Mustard-seed shows outward growth sheltering evil. The parable of the Leaven shows the gradual and utter corruption of the truth. The parable of the Treasure hid in a field shows what Israel is to be in the world. The parable of the Pearl of great price shows what the Church is to Christ. And the parable of the Dragnet shows the cleansing of the kingdom at His second coming.”

The Leaven.

There is, perhaps, but little opposition to this interpretation of the parables, excepting that of the Leaven, which has quite extensively been interpreted to teach exactly the opposite, viz.: that the power and influence of the gospel or Christian life is to permeate the masses of the world, until the whole is leavened into holiness. The inconsistency of this is seen when we consider that precisely the contrary is taught by the parable of the sower and the tares, each of which most undisputedly shows that evil is to continue and grow up to the end of the age. This is surely the most sufficient and scriptural reason for assigning the same typical meaning to the Leaven, in this and the correlative passage,¹¹³ which we find it to bear in the numerous other passages, where the same word is used, viz.: the corrupting influence of evil and the symbol of death. See carefully Mat. 16:6-12.

Here then we are most emphatically taught not only that the world is growing no better, but that the professing Church itself will lose its saltness, becoming nominal and lukewarm, fit only to be spued out of the Master’s mouth.¹¹⁵ The entire teaching of the Word of God, we believe, agrees with this.

And we have but to take an unprejudiced survey of the Church even now, to see the truth of it. The loss of spiritual power in the different branches of the great nominal Church has not resulted from the casting out of truth, but from the imbibing and internal workings of false doctrine, which, like leaven, has fermented the mass. Little by little the ordinary bishop of Rome has developed into an infallible Pope. Image worship, the confessional, world conformity and post-millennialism have all worked out their enormous growth like the little leaven in the meal.

How do the great Papal and Greek churches, in their stateliness, formality, popularity and spiritual weakness of to-day, compare with the despised Nazarene and his followers,¹¹⁶ or with the persecuted, consecrated and godly congregations (ekkleesias) of the first two centuries?

And are not the present evangelical denominations, by worldly conformity and increeping doubts regarding the inspiration of the Word, etc., dangerously tending in the same direction? How very few of the members in them are to-day crying out for separation and holiness. Surely, no one can fail to see the corrupting influences of the leaven permeating them.

We realize that this is an awful fact. It is not even pleasant to state it. But, while Noah’s preaching was not pleasant to them that heard it, still it was true and the flood did come. Likewise, the prophesying of Jeremiah was exceedingly unpleasant, but it was true and was followed by the terrible fate of the city, and the Babylonian captivity. The preaching of Jesus was at times of fearful severity,¹¹⁷ but was it not true? So would we humbly yet faithfully proclaim the Word of God. We would “cry aloud and spare not,”¹¹⁸ fully believing that, upon an apostate church,¹¹⁹ rebellious and murderous Israel,¹²⁰ and a sinful world, the day of darkness is coming.¹²¹

The Faithful Remnant.

But even in the darkness, so gloomy for the ungodly, there is hope—bright, glorious hope for the faithful.¹²² For God always has had, and ever will have a faithful remnant.¹²³ There were those, in blind unbelieving Israel, who waited for and accepted the Messiah. Luke 2, etc. So there will be those in the Church who will wait for (1 Thes. 1:10) and welcome the coming Bridegroom. Mat. 25:10. And there shall be a remnant in Israel, who, passing through the darkness and fire (Zech. 13:9), will yet accept their King. Zech. 12:10; Rom. 9:27; 11:25-26. And there shall even be a remnant (residue or remainder) among the Gentiles (ungodly world) who shall seek after the Lord.¹²⁴

Glory to God! the darkness shall yet flee away before the Sun of Righteousness, arising with healing in His wings,¹²⁵ when He comes to sit in the throne of His glory.¹²⁶ The mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established and all nations shall flow unto it (Isa. 2:1-6; Mic. 4:1-5, please read it) during that bright millennial day of peace and glory,¹²⁷ which shall follow “this present evil age” (Gal. 1:4) and in which even the creature “shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Rom. 8:21. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa. 11 :9.

“A better day is coming, a morning promised long,
When girded Right, with holy Might, will overthrow the wrong;
When God the Lord will listen to every plaintive sigh,
And stretch His hand o’er every land, with justice by and by.

The boast of haughty Error no more will fill the air,
But Age and Youth will love the truth and spread it everywhere;
No more from want and sorrow will come the hopeless cry;
And strife will cease, and perfect peace will flourish by and by.

Oh! for that holy dawning we watch, and wait, and pray,
Till o’er the height the morning light shall drive the gloom away;
And when the heavenly glory shall flood the earth and sky,
We’ll bless the Lord for all His Word, and praise Him by and by.”

No. XIII. Cruel to the Unsaved.

It is objected that it would be cruel for Christ to come in Judgment upon the world, while there are so many millions unsaved.

We answer,—Is not such a declaration a presumptions criticism of God’s motives? Was the flood an expression of cruelty, or rather was it not a manifestation of God’s love and mercy, toward them who should live after, in that He swept away the great overflow of wickedness? Surely it was done in mercy. And now let us remember that this world DIES every thirty-three years. The average of human life is even a little less than this. The world is in the power of the devil,¹²⁸ and he has the power of death.¹²⁹ He has slain this world with the sword of death, over fifty times in the present dispensation.

Think of it! more than fifty worlds gone down in the whirlpool of death. Each generation brings on to the scene an entirely new world. And how few out of these are converted. How few are reached by the gospel life­boat, and how few of those reached heed the message of salvation. The great mass sweep on, like a wrecked vessel, in darkness and unbelief, to the Judgment.

The coming of Christ will inaugurate a far better state of things. For, when He comes, all things that offend shall be gathered out and the kingdom shall be established in righteousness.¹³⁰ And even though the subjects of the kingdom (not the reigning ones)¹³¹ may die during the millennial age, yet shall they die in a good old age, the child even a hundred years old,¹³² and their death shall be blessed,¹³³ and though the Millennium is not the perfect state, yet Judgment will speedily follow the sinner of that day, or the nation which shall swerve from serving God.¹³⁴

Surely, then, His speedy coming cannot be counted an unmerciful event. The wonder is rather at the long-suffering of God, which now¹³⁵ (as before the flood¹³⁶) waits in such patient pleading. But He will fulfill His promise, and the Coming One [So the Greek.] will come¹³⁷ and cut short the work in righteousness. Rom. 9:28.

Then let us not look upon Christ’s coming as cruel or unmerciful. He has said “SURELY I COME QUICKLY,” and let us have the mind of the Holy Spirit, who replied “EVEN SO COME LORD JESUS.” Rev. 22:20.

“Then welcome, thrice welcome, ye tokens of God.
What else but His coming can comfort afford?
What presence but His set this prisoned earth free?
O Star of the Morning, our hope is in Thee!”

No. XIV. This Generation.

Jesus said: “This generation shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.” Lu. 21:32. See also Mat. 24:34; Mar. 13:30.

Some have construed “generation” to mean a time of thirty or forty years; and, as Jerusalem was destroyed within forty years after Christ spoke, they refer all he said to that event.

Israel the Generation That Passes Not Away.

We believe “generation,” as there used, means the whole existence of the Israelitish race. Compare the following passages where the same Greek word is used.¹³⁸

In Psa. 22:30, we read: “A seed shall serve Him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation.” And in Psa. 24:6: “This is the generation of them that seek Him.”

In Prov. 30:11-14, the generation of the righteous and the generation of the wicked are clearly distinguished. Hence we conclude that the generation of the Israelites were not only to see the destruction of Jerusalem, but the COMING of Christ (at the revelation) and the end of the age. Mat. 24:3.

And their wonderful preservation, as a distinct people, through all the persecutions, vicissitudes and wanderings of the past eighteen centuries down to the present moment, is a standing miracle, attesting the truth of God’s word, and assuring us of His purposes in their future history.

Said Frederick the Great to his chaplain: “Doctor, if your religion is a true one, it ought to be capable of very brief and simple proof. Will you give me an evidence of its truth in ONE WORD?” The good man answered, “Israel.”

Other nations come and go, but Israel remains; She passes not away. God says of her, “For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer.” Isa. 54:7-8.

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