v1.0, 2001-03-02, Initial ThML conversion from LRS source
by
Arthur W. Pink
Author of
“The Divine Inspiration of the Bible”
“Satan and His Gospel,”
“The Millennium,”
“Sins of the Saints,”
etc.
BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT
PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS
COPYRIGHT
1918
BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT
SWENGEL, PA.
[This text is in the public domain.]
This book is designed mainly for those who are beginners in the study of prophetic and dispensational truth, though should it fall into the hands of those who are “looking for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” and who have, perhaps for years, been giving earnest heed to the “more sure Word of prophecy,” we trust that it will afford meat in due season and stimulate praise to God for the marvelous and blessed prospect which His Word sets before us.
Many books have already appeared before the public presenting in clear and Scriptural language the various aspects of the subject of our Lord’s Return, and we hesitated long before we decided to add one more to the number. The different chapters in this volume have been given by the writer in sermon and lecture form to numerous audiences both in this country and in England, and it is only the repeated requests of many of those who have heard these addresses which has caused us to now set them down in writing; so that they may be preserved in a more permanent form and obtain a still wider hearing. They are sent forth with the prayer that the God of all grace will condescend to use them in blessing to His dear people and in the conversion of lost sinners even more widely than in their oral delivery.
While it is true that many books which treat of the Redeemer’s Return have been issued and widely circulated, yet, there are still great numbers of the Lord’s people who know next to nothing about this precious theme. Notwithstanding the fact that the Second Coming of Christ occupies a prominent place in the Holy Scriptures, notwithstanding the fact that this subject is a most practical one having, as it does, some bearing on every phase of our present and future life, and notwithstanding that it is calculated to awaken a deep interest in “things to come” and lead to definite heart-searching nevertheless, the vast majority of our pulpits entirely ignore the subject and in consequence great numbers of our church-members are in almost total ignorance concerning those things which God’s Word declares will shortly come to pass. It is with the earnest desire to reach a few of these that this book has been prepared and is now sent forth.
We wish it to be clearly understood that there is nothing in these pages except that which we have ourselves first received. We lay no claim at all to originality. We have read diligently many works on prophetic themes and have sought to “prove all things” and to “hold fast that which is good.” It is impossible for us now to do more than make this general acknowledgment of our indebtedness to other students of the Word. We have gleaned in many fields, gathering a fragrant flower here and there, and all that we now attempt is to arrange these in simple form, leaving our readers to admire the products of the labors of others into which we have entered.
The Redeemer’s Return! Here is a theme which in this day is regarded by many well-meaning people as an ideal of visionaries or as the pet hobby of certain cranks. So grievously has the study of Prophecy been ignored, so little place is given in the modern pulpit to the exposition of eschatology, and so generally is the daily reading of the Bible neglected by those in the pew, that it is an easy matter to persuade the average church-goer that the subject of the Second Coming of Christ is impractical and one that had better be left alone. Moreover, this subject has suffered so grievously at the hands of those who are the enemies of the Cross, that many Christians have been prejudiced against it. Satan has not been slow to avail himself of the wild and unscriptural teaching of such men as Irving and Joseph Smith, and more recently, Dowie and Pastor (?) Russell; nay, he has employed them to cast reproach on those who do seek to search and interpret the Prophetic Scriptures. Yet, notwithstanding, it is the imperative duty of every believer to seriously and prayerfully examine the Scriptures for himself and see what the Word of God has to say about Coming Events. In that Word we are plainly warned that in the “last days” (of this age) there should arise those who ridicule and mock at the very doctrine of which we are now speaking (see
The Redeemer’s Return! Is there anything that can be compared with this momentous and stupendous prospect? Excepting the Cross of Calvary, the greatest event of all in the past history of the world was the Advent of God’s Son to our earth. The Divine Incarnation was the theme of Old Testament prophecy. The very first promise ever given to fallen man was that the woman’s Seed should come and bruise the Serpent’s head (
It is impossible for us to fully estimate the tremendous importance of the first Advent of Christ to this earth, The Divine Incarnation is without a parallel in the annals of the human race. Heaven itself was stirred at the miraculous birth of the God-Man. Unto the angels was entrusted the honorous commission of announcing the birth of the Saviour. Heathendom was affected, the good news being conveyed to Chaldea by means of a mysterious “star” which heralded the birth of the King of the Jews. The Coming of Christ to this world changed its chronology, for all civilized time is now by common consent dated from the Bethlehem manger. As the result of the first Advent a new era was inaugurated, a new prospect was set before the sons of men, the door of mercy was flung wide open, and command was given that the glad tidings should be made known to every creature.
But wondrous and blessed as was the first Advent of our Lord in many respects, His Second Coming will be even more momentous. At His first appearing He was here in weakness and humiliation, but at His second He shall come in power and glory. When He was here before He was “despised and rejected of men,” but when He comes back again every knee shall bow before Him and every tongue confess His Lordship. When He was here before He paid tribute to Caesar, but when He returns He shall reign as King of Kings and Lord of lords. When He was here before His personal ministry was confined to the land of Palestine, but when He returns “the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (
God does not desire His dear people to remain in ignorance of His future purposes concerning them, concerning His Son, and concerning this earth. Said the apostle as he was moved by the Holy Spirit, “We have also a more sure Word of Prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts” (
The Redeemer’s Return! This was the great hope of the early Christians. In the first century of the Christian era it was the normal and regular thing to find that the expectation of the returning Saviour filled the vision and hearts of His followers. The apostles themselves taught their converts to look for the appearing of Christ. Writing to the Thessalonian saints the apostle Paul reminded them how they had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven” (
Right at the close of the first century A. D. when the time had come for the Sacred Canon to be completed, our Lord Himself sent His angel to communicate a special message to each of the seven Churches which were in Asia, and in five of them, namely, in the Epistles addressed to the Churches in Ephesus, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia (see
We have thus shown that this Age began with a ringing testimony to the truth of our Lord’s Return. Each of the apostles, of whose writings we have any inspired record, taught their converts to look for their Saviour’s appearing. Alas! that this testimony was not maintained. Alas! that this Blessed Hope should ever have become dim. Alas! that it should, for more than a thousand years, have been almost totally lost to the Lord’s people. Yet so it was. The immediate successors of the apostles turned their attention to other things: as it was with the Pharisees in the days of our Lord, so these tithed anise and mint but “omitted the weightier matters.” Instead of expounding the Prophetic Scriptures and setting before the Church its one great Hope, the early “Church Fathers,” for the most part, spent their time in wrangling among themselves. Even before the apostles themselves had left the earth, false teachers crept in and began to devour the flock, and within three centuries the whole professing Church had become Paganized. Then followed the Dark Ages—aptly named, for the lamp of Prophecy had ceased to shine and the prospect of the speedy return of the Morning Star had completely disappeared. As our Lord Himself had foretold, the virgins all slumbered and slept: no longer were His people looking for the Coming of the Bridegroom. No doubt the parable of the Bridegroom in
We need not remind our readers it was during this period known as the Dark Ages that the Roman Catholic Church sprang into prominence and the power, holding sway over all Europe and binding burdens on the souls of men which were grievous to be borne. The Bible was withheld from the laity and the vain traditions of men were substituted for the living Oracles of God. Instead of proclaiming salvation by the finished work of Christ, the multitudes were taught that heaven could only be obtained by penance, legal works, priestly mediation, and purgatorial fires. Instead of teaching her people that the hope of the saints was the appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, Rome taught that the hope of humanity lay in the subjugation of the entire world to the imperial rule of the Pope. Instead of exhorting believers to “look up” (
After a thousand years of spiritual darkness the Sun of Righteousness shone forth over Europe with healing in His beams. During the sixteenth century God raised up a number of mighty men who, by the power of His Spirit, were delivered from the iron shackles of the Papacy and made to rejoice in the freedom into which, the Lord Jesus brings His people. Under God, these men brought about what is known as the great Reformation. During this Reformation the Holy Scriptures were restored to the people and given to them in their own native tongues. The glorious doctrine of Justification by Faith alone, was sounded forth throughout Germany, Switzerland, Italy and the British Isles, and multitudes were “added unto the Lord.” Many precious truths, which for long centuries had lain buried beneath the rubbish heap of human traditions, were recovered and given out to the masses. But the Reformation, glorious as it was, witnessed only a partial recovery of long lost truths. The Hope of the Church was not yet restored! The prospect of a soon returning Redeemer was not yet set before God’s people again. Three more centuries passed by before the third part of our Lord’s prophecy in the Parable of the Virgins received its fulfillment. It was not until the nineteenth century that the midnight cry arose “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him” (
Is there any real need for Christ to return? So far as God’s children are concerned only one answer is possible to this question. There is. Christians of every shade of religious belief are agreed that there is an imperative need for our Lord to come back again. As to the precise character of that need, as to the particular urgency of that need, opinions may vary, but concerning the need itself this is universally admitted. Even post-millennarians teach that Christ must come back at the end of time to judge the wicked and reward the righteous. But we hope to show that the need for His return is much deeper and much wider than the reason put forth by the post-millennarians.
Suppose Christ never returns—then what? Has this alternative been weighed as it deserves? The present order of things cannot continue indefinitely; such a supposition is unthinkable. No one is satisfied with present conditions. Even those who despise the teachings of God’s Word, hope for a better day, a Golden Age, an era of blessedness, such as this earth has never yet witnessed. And pre-millennarians believe that this Golden Age can be ushered in by nothing short of the personal return of Christ Himself. Here then, in general, is the reason why we believe the Redeemer must come back again. We say “in general,” for in the remainder of this chapter we shall seek to show there is at least a tenfold necessity for our Lord’s Second Advent.
It is very apparent to any one who has read thoughtfully through the Old Testament that the First Advent of our Lord did not exhaust the burden and scope of the numerous predictions which had been made concerning Him. Many of the things foretold of Israel’s Messiah were not accomplished during the days when He tabernacled among men. Many of the promises found in God’s Word connected with the Person of Christ, still await their ratification. While it is true that the First Advent of the Lord Jesus literally and remarkable fulfilled many of the Old Testament prophecies concerning Him, yet, it is also true that many others were not then fulfilled. It is this very thing which has proven such a stumbling-block to the Jews and humanly speaking, has been the reason why so many of them have failed to see in “Jesus of Nazareth” the Messiah of Israel. But, as we shall show above, those Messianic prophecies found in the Old Testament which were not fulfilled at His first Advent will be fulfilled at His Second.
“And I will put enmity between thee (the “serpent”) and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (
First, the woman is to have a seed: as we know, this pointed forward to our Lord’s humanity. Second, He was to be peculiarly the woman’s “seed,” not the man’s, hence we read, “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (
“Thou shalt bruise His heel.” That old Serpent the Devil was to be permitted to attack and wound the only vulnerable part of our Lord’s person—His humanity, here intimated by the word “heel.” How this portion of the prophecy was fulfilled our readers will know. No sooner was the Lord Jesus born in Bethlehem of Judaea than the “Dragon” sought to encompass His destruction (
But we also read, “It shall bruise thy head,” that is, Christ shall bruise Satan’s “head.” The head is the seat and source of power, and in the Scripture we are now considering is placed in sharp antithesis with the “heel” of the woman’s Seed. Stripped of its prophetic symbolism, it can only mean that Christ is to depose Satan and reduce him to a state of impotency. This interpretation is fully confirmed in
Again; we read in
“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, the Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, the Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, the Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the North country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land” (
During the course of His public ministry our Lord made frequent reference to His Second Coming. When we consider how few of His discourses have been transmitted to us and how brief is the inspired record of His teachings as found in the New Testament Scriptures, we are deeply impressed with the importance of our present inquiry as we note how much there is in the Gospel narratives which relates to our Redeemer’s Return. Not only do we find many incidental references, but most of His “parables” treat of those things which have to do with His Second Advent, and, furthermore, several whole chapters in the Gospels are devoted to a fuller setting forth of the same great event. Unto our Lord’s own teaching, then, upon His Second Coming we turn our attention. We cannot now review all that He said upon the subject, but must content ourselves with singling out two or three of His utterances thereon.
In
In the nineteenth of Luke we have the Parable of the Nobleman which is very plain and pointed: “He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And He called His ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated Him, and sent a message after Him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, that when He was returned, having received the kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had given the money, that He might know how much every man had gained by trading” (
Perhaps the most explicit of all the statements which the Lord Jesus made upon our present theme is that recorded in the opening verses of
The testimony of our Lord given while He was here upon earth was confirmed, and rendered even more unequivocal, if that were possible, by His post-ascension utterances. Fifty years after He had returned to heaven the Lord Jesus sent His angel to the beloved John on the Isle of Patmos to give unto him “The Revelation” and in it we hear our Lord saying, no less than six times, “Behold, I come quickly.” This is His last promise, His final word to His people now on earth. He is coming back again. He Himself has said so. He said so repeatedly during the days of His earthly ministry. He said so in language about which there was no ambiguity whatsoever. He said so both to His friends and to His enemies. He said so again fifty years after His ascension to heaven. And He cannot lie. He is Himself the “Truth”—the Truth incarnate. He is “The Faithful and True Witness,” therefore He must keep His Word, fulfill His promises, and Return in person.
While our Lord was here upon earth and on the eve of His crucifixion, He promised to send His disciples another Comforter, even the Spirit of Truth. He further promised the apostles that, when the Spirit came to them, He would guide them “into all truth.” Therefore, it is to the Divinely inspired writings of these apostles we must turn if we would learn all that God has been pleased to reveal concerning our present inquiry.
As we read the Epistles of the New Testament it is highly important for us to keep in mind the fact that we have in them not the suppositions and speculations of their human writers but reliable and authoritative information communicated by the Holy Spirit Himself, for “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God” (
The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian saints, “I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; that in every thing ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you. So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ” (
The apostle James wrote, “Be patient, therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (
The apostle Peter wrote, “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (
The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (
The apostle Jude wrote, “Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life” (vs.
Here then is an argument simple but conclusive. Each Epistle writer of the New Testament makes mention of the Redeemer’s Return. These men were not hallucinated. They were not giving expression to impracticable ideals which would never be realized. Their writings were Divinely inspired. These holy men were “moved by the Holy Spirit” and recorded truth “not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Spirit teacheth” (
The degradation which the Lord Jesus endured when He was here upon earth before, requires that He shall come back again in power and glory in order to vindicate Himself. Is it reasonable to suppose that the last view which this world shall have of our blessed Lord before He takes His seat upon the Great White Throne to judge the wicked dead, shall be that of the “lowly Nazarene”? Surely not. Need we remind our readers of the depths of humiliation into which our Redeemer descended? Born in a manger, with the beasts of the field for His first companions, and a bed of straw for His cradle! Sharing the home of humble Jewish peasants and spending His youth and early manhood at the carpenter’s bench! During His public ministry, so poor and so lightly esteemed that the common courtesies of hospitality were denied Him—“He had not where to lay His head!” Despised and rejected of men; the butt of Pharisaic contempt and the center of Jewish ridicule! His life seemingly ending in defeat as He hung helpless upon the cross, enduring the shame of a criminal’s execution and taunted by his heartless enemies! Is this the only sight which the earth is to have of the Lord of Glory? Is the Son of God to retire from this world in apparent defeat without any subsequent opportunity for vindicating Himself? Surely not. Is it not evident then that He who was here before in humiliation must yet come back to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe? Does not the very fitness of things, do not the claims of equity and righteousness, insist, that He who was the willing Victim shall yet return as the triumphant Victor? Does not the Cross of Calvary necessitate that our Lord shall yet come back to our earth in order to substantiate His claims and ratify His promises?
“For dogs have compassed Me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed Me: they pierced My hands and My feet. I may tell all My bones: they look and stare upon Me. They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture” (
“And they that had laid hold on Jesus led Him away to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders were assembled” (
One of the greatest mysteries in all God’s creation is the Devil. For any reliable information concerning him we are shut up to the Holy Scriptures. It is in God’s Word alone that we can learn anything about his origin, his personality, his fall, his sphere of operations, and his approaching doom. One thing which is there taught us about the great Adversary of God and man, and which observation and experience fully confirms, is, that he is a being possessing mighty power. It would appear, from a study of the Bible, that Satan is the most powerful creature(not “Being”) in all the Universe. He has access to the Heaven of heavens and appears before God day and night to accuse His saints (
But not only does God’s Word enlighten us upon the great power which our Enemy possesses, it also informs us about the sphere in which he works and makes known the location of his kingdom. In the very first mention in Scripture of that old Serpent, the Devil, he is seen in Eden having unbarred access to our first parents. In the next reference, we read of him coming before the Lord, as one who came “From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it” (
We have thus seen that Satan is an exalted creature possessing and wielding prodigious power and that this world of ours is his present kingdom. For six thousand years he has been the avowed enemy of God and man. But are things going to continue thus throughout all time? Is Satan to be allowed “free rein” for ever? Surely there will yet be an end made to his power and dominion. But what and who is going to depose him? Humanity is helpless before him. Man is unable to chain him. The Church cannot dethrone him, or it would have done so long ago. Legislation is impotent, for human governments cannot vote him out of the world. Who then shall overthrow the Kingdom of Darkness? There is only one answer possible. There is only One sufficient for such a task, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, the very fact of Satan’s present exaltation and man’s utter inability to overthrow him, demands and necessitates the personal Return of our Redeemer to vanquish the Devil and imprison him in the Bottomless Pit.
Israel—the mystery and miracle of history! Israel—about whom more than half the Bible is concerned! Israel—to whom God gave the Land of Palestine. Israel—concerning whom it is written, “And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments. And to make thee high above all nations which He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in honor; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God as He hath spoken” (
Of old, Israel was honored of God as was no other nation. To them were entrusted the Holy Oracles, to them was given the Holy Law, to them came the Holy One. But look at Israel to-day and what do we see? Ten of their Tribes “lost;” and those who compose the remaining two, more despised and hated than any other people upon earth. Instead of being a blessing to all people, Israel seems to be a curse. Instead of enjoying the inheritance of the Promised Land they are homeless wanderers, while Jerusalem is trodden down by the Gentiles. Instead of rejoicing in God their Saviour Israel knows Him not, a “veil” being over their hearts.
But God’s purposes in connection with Israel have not yet been fully realized. A wonderful history lies behind them and a wonderful history stretches before them. True, their sorrow is not yet ended. True, a dark valley yet lies before them. True, they must yet pass through the time of Jacob’s trouble (
But, How are the above promises to be realized? When shall these prophecies be fulfilled? The answer is, At the Second Advent of Christ. He declared, “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” (
“Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name. And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written, after this, I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David (Israel), which is fallen down: and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up” (
Here is a reason which ought to carry conviction to every mind. If there is anything which imperatively needs our Redeemer to Return it is surely this poor sin-cursed world of ours! Look at it and what do we see? A world everywhere racked with suffering and out of joint. A world convulsed with misery entailed by the Fall. A world now in its very death-throes, with hope almost completely gone. Everything that man could devise to better conditions and make this world a happier place has been tested and proven a failure. Every possible form of human government has been tried, each new one being as unsuccessful as the previous ones. Theocracy, democracy, and mobocracy (the French Revolution, and Russia today) have each been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Legislation, education and civilization have all been built upon, only to find in the day of testing that they were merely foundations of sand. Look where you will, on land or sea, in the air or beneath the waters, and you will witness sin and death holding high carnival. The world is dying for want of a competent Ruler.
On all sides iniquity is abounding more and more. Crime is increasing, morality is decreasing; godlessness and lawlessness are growing apace; while over all, hangs the dreadful pall of the world-war. In the physical world, despite all our enlightenment, modern discoveries and the organized activities of medical science, disease is carrying off an ever increasing multitude year by year. The educational world is mainly under the control of infidels and agnostics, under whose leadership the rising generation is taught that the faith once for all delivered to the saints is an idle superstition, or at best a religious garment which we have now outgrown. In the economic world, greed and dishonesty are rapidly eating out the very vitals of commercial stability, while the fight between capital and labor threatens a revolution such as this world has not witnessed since the days when the streets of Paris ran with blood. In the political realm there is so much chicanery, and “graft” and “party” principles are so selfishly pursued, that the self-respecting man is becoming loath to get mixed up with such filth and rottenness. Each “party” is as corrupt as the other, and the believer in Christ who is subject to God’s Word will not hesitate to separate himself from that which offers his Lord no place and has no concern for His glory. In the moral realm, decay and putrefaction are witnessed upon all sides. Temperance Reform Societies, Purity-campaigns and Civic-righteousness Leagues are powerless to stem the tide of evil. The Drink-Bill of every civilized (?) nation is growing heavier every year. Immorality, both among the masses and those in high places, prevails to such a fearful extent, that our large cities are modern Sodoms and Gomorrahs. In the religious world, we gaze upon an apostate Christendom. Our Theological Seminaries, with very rare exceptions, are teaching Darwinism and Higher Criticism, while our pulpits are busily occupied with “echoing” these God-dishonoring and Scripture-denying heresies, and on all sides the Gospel is supplanted by political harangues or moral essays. The majority of our churches are more than half empty, while the mid-week prayer meeting is almost entirely a thing of the past. The few faithful servants of God that are left on earth are boycotted, maligned and persecuted. The Lord’s Day has become a day of pleasure-seeking and now, Sabbath-desecration, in the form of seven days a week work on the farms and in the munition factories, has been legalized by every nation that is now at war. And, as we have said, over all hangs the dreadful pall of this World War! Literally millions of men in the prime of their manhood have already been slaughtered, while millions more have been maimed for life in the vain effort to destroy militarism and establish a lasting peace. Innumerable homes have been plunged into grief, and there is no guarantee or even prospect but what millions more will suffer a like fate.
To-day the world stands helpless before the inrushing tide of evil which threatens to decimate almost half of the human race, and in its impotency a grief-stricken humanity is everywhere lifting up piteous hands to Heaven as it cries for a Deliverer. True, the cry may not always be articulated, yet it is audible nevertheless. True, the world, as a whole, is blind to its spiritual wretchedness and apostate condition. True, the canal mind is still enmity against God, yet, intelligent men realize that the present order of things is a complete failure and are ready and longing for a New Order. The world cries for deliverance, what shall be Heaven’s response? Again we say that only one answer is possible. While the Holy Scriptures reveal the fact that the severest of God’s judgments have not yet been poured upon this world, which has for so long lived in pleasure and wantonness; while the Holy Scriptures reveal the fact that the darkest hour of the night of earth’s sufferings and sorrows has not yet arrived; yet, they also teach, that at the close of this night, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings (
The effects of the Fall have been far-reaching—“By one man sin entered the world”(
To what extent the entire universe has suffered the evil consequences of sin it is impossible to say, but certain it is that they are not limited to our earth. Adam was not the first offender, for before his fall Satan also had apostatized from his Maker. What other worlds were affected by Satan’s fall Scripture does not inform us, yet we may infer from those principles which are revealed in God’s Word that the awful consequences of Satan’s rebellion were far-reaching in their scope. Astronomical observation reveals the fact that there are numbers of far-distant worlds upon which no life exists, while Scripture speaks of “wandering stars.” The moon is a ruined planet where Death holds absolute sway and death is the wages of sin. If then Adam’s transgression brought down upon the earth which he inhabited a curse from God, may we not soberly conclude that the fall of the highest of all God’s creatures brought down a Divine curse upon those worlds over which he may have exercised a delegated rulership? Be this as it may, Scripture does reveal the fact that the consequences of sin have reached far beyond the four corners of our earth. We read “The heavens are not clean in His sight” (
In the last mentioned Scripture we learn that the whole creation is in pain and misery. Surely this is abnormal. Surely things were not like this at the beginning, nor were they;’ and surely things will not continue thus forever, nor will they. We quote now the entire passage in which the above statement is found—“For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to usward. For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the Sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (
While our Lord was here upon earth He gave His disciples a pattern prayer saying, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven Hallowed by Thy name. Thy kingdom come” (
The last promise ever made by our Lord, made some fifty or sixty years after His ascension, given to the beloved John on the Isle of Patmos but recorded for the encouragement and joy of all His people throughout the Christian dispensation, was “Surely I come quickly” (
This argument may be summarized thus:—The Intermediate state into which the souls of the redeemed pass at death is not the perfect state, it is but an “unclothed” (
In the last book of the Bible, where the veil that separates between the present and the future and between this world and the next is pulled aside, we find a Scripture that bears closely upon the point now under consideration. We refer to
The “dead in Christ” are waiting in hope, waiting for the fulfillment of that promise, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (
To sum up. At least ten reasons require that Christ shall come back again -- the declarations of Old Testament prophecy; the affirmations of our Lord Himself; the ratification of the Holy Spirit through the writers of the New Testament Epistles; the humiliation of the Cross, requiring a corresponding vindication of Christ in power and glory; the present disorganization of Israel; the exaltation of Satan and the powerlessness of man to depose him; the degradation and desolation of the world; the lamentations of a Creation waiting to be delivered from its bondage of corruption; the supplications of the Church crying “Even so, come, Lord Jesus;” and the expectation of the dead in Christ waiting for their glorification, singly and collectively necessitate and demand the personal Return of our Redeemer.
In
That there is the greatest confusion of thought and belief among Christians concerning their Hope may readily be proven by questioning a number regarding the nature of their hope. Ask the average church-goer what his hope is, and he will say, Salvation—he hopes to be saved when he comes to die. Ask another and he will tell you that Death is his hope, for it is then that he will be released from all the sufferings of the flesh. Ask a third and he would say that Heaven was his hope. Perhaps this last reply would better express the common and popular belief than either of the others. But to say that our hope is future happiness, is to say no more than any heathen would say. There are several Scriptures which distinguish between Heaven and the believer’s Hope. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you” (
It is strange that there should be such ignorance and confusion upon this subject for Hope is made almost as prominent in the New Testament as is either Faith or Love. The Church epistles have much to say upon the subject. In the epistle to the Romans when setting forth the consequences or results of justification, the apostle wrote, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (
To the Thessalonian saints the apostle Paul wrote, “Sorrow not, even as others which have no hope”(
The apostle Peter found cause for rejoicing in that God had “according to His abundant mercy, begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (
The apostle John wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (
In all ages God’s people have had a hope set before them, and that hope has always centered in Christ. In Eden God gave to Adam the promise that the woman’s Seed should come and bruise the Serpent’s head and the anticipation of the fulfillment of this promise constituted the hope of the saints in those far-off days. Said Jacob, “I have waited for Thy salvation, O Lord” (
As there is so much confusion and uncertainty respecting this branch of our subject, and in order to clear away the rubbish which human devisings have gathered around it, we will deal first with the negative side of the character of our Hope.
We pray that these pages may be read by many who will be startled by the above statement. A world which shall eventually be saved by the preaching of the Gospel has been the expectation of almost all Christendom. That the Gospel shall yet triumph over the world, the flesh, and the Devil is the belief of the great majority of those who profess to be the Lord’s people. In the seminaries, in the pulpits, in the Christian literature of the day, and in the great missionary gatherings where placards bearing the words “The world for Christ” are prominently displayed, has this theory been zealously heralded. It is supposed that anything short of a converted “world” is a concept dishonoring and derogatory to the Gospel. We are told the Gospel cannot fail because it is the power of God, and though the Church has failed, yet, a day is surely coming when this captivating ideal shall be realized. To believe other than this, is to be dubbed a “pessimist,” yea, it is to be looked upon as a hinderer and traitor to the cause of Christ. But what are the plain facts?
The Lord Jesus Christ preached the Gospel, preached it faithfully, lovingly, zealously and untiringly. But with what results? Was the world “converted” under His preaching? Should it be said this question is not a fair one because He preached only locally, we accept the correction, but ask further, Was Palestine converted under His preaching? We have only to glance at the four Gospels to find an answer. In the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord declared that the “many” were on the broad road that leadeth to destruction and that only a “few” were on the narrow path that leadeth unto life. In the Parable of the Sower He announced that out of four castings of the good seed from His hand three of them fell upon unfruitful ground. Again, we are told, “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (
How was it in the days of the apostles? During the first generation of the Church’s history, wonderful things happened which were well calculated to convert the world if anything could. Eleven men who had been trained by our Lord Himself were now sent forth to herald the glad tidings of salvation. The Holy Spirit was poured forth upon them, and in addition to the Eleven, Saul of Tarsus was miraculously saved and sent forth as the apostle to the Gentiles. But what success attended their efforts? How were they received by the world? Again we have but to turn to the New Testament Scriptures to find our answer. Like their Master, they, too, were despised and rejected of men. The apostles were everywhere spoken against and regarded as the offscouring of the earth. Some of them were cast into prison, others were slain by the sword. One suffered death by crucifixion and the last of the little band was banished to the Isle of Patmos. True it is that their labors were not entirely in vain. True it is that God honored His own Word and numbers were saved, and here and there churches were organized. But the multitudes, the great masses, both of Jews and Gentiles, remained unmoved and unconverted. The actual conditions, in the days of the apostles then, gave no promise of a world converted by the Gospel.
How is it in our own day? “Ah!” it will be said “times have changed since then: Christ and His apostles lived in the days of Paganism and barbarism, but under the enlightenment of our modern civilization this twentieth century is far otherwise.” Yes, but all is not gold that glitters. We do not deny, we praise God for the fact, that to-day there are far more Christians upon earth than there were in the first century. But there are far more sinners too! What we are discussing now is the Conversion of the world. Has the growth of the Church of God kept pace with the increase of the earth’s population? We trow not. To-day there are probably 1,000,000,000 souls on earth who have never even heard the name of Christ! How then can we talk about a converted world when upwards of two-thirds of humanity is destitute of the Gospel? Moreover, what of Christendom itself? How much of that which bears the name of Christ is truly Christian? What proportion of those who term themselves the children of God, are really entitled to that name? More than half of professing Christendom is found within the pales of the Greek and Roman Catholic Churches! And what of Protestantism itself? What of the evangelical churches filled with their worldly, pleasure-loving, theater-going, Sabbath-desecrating, prayer-meeting-neglecting members? No; my reader, be not deceived with appearances or high-sounding phrases. God’s flock is only a “little flock” (
Has the Gospel failed? Have God’s purposes been defeated? Certainly not. The Gospel was never designed to convert the world. God never purposed to regenerate all humanity in this dispensation, any more than He did under the Mosaic Economy, when He suffered the nations to walk in their own ways. God’s purpose for this Age is clearly defined in
Having dwelt at some length upon the general, let us now come to the particular—
In the New Testament the word “Salvation” has a threefold scope—past, present and future, which, respectively, has reference to our deliverance from the penalty, the power, and the presence of sin. When we say, above, that our Hope is not the Salvation of the soul, we mean that it is not our deliverance from the wrath to come which is the prospect God sets before His people. To certain of our readers it may appear almost a wearisome waste of time for us to discuss these points, but for the sake of the class for which this work is specially designed we would ask them to bear with us in patience. In these days when the Bible is so grievously neglected both in the pulpit and in the pew, we cannot afford to take anything for granted. Multitudes of those in our churches are ignorant of the most elementary truths of the Christian faith. Experience shows that comparatively few people are clear about even the A, B, C, of the Gospel. Talk to the average church-member, and only too often it will be found that he has nothing more than a vague and uncertain hope about his personal salvation. He is “trying to live up to the light that he has,” he is “doing his best,” and he hopes that, somehow, everything will come out right in the end. He does not dare to say I know I have passed from death unto life, but he hopes to go to Heaven at the last.
Nowhere does Scripture present the Salvation of the soul as the believer’s hope. Salvation from the guilt, the penalty, the wages, of sin is something for which believers thank God even now. Said our Lord to His disciples, “Rejoice, because your names are written in heaven” (
As another has said, “Salvation is not away off yonder at the gates of Heaven; salvation is at the cross. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared, and it brings salvation all the way down to where the sinner is—right there. You know our Lord’s own picture of it. It is the illustration to which my mind recurs most instantly—that illustration of the good Samaritan. You know how beautifully that shadows out this blessed truth; that just as the good Samaritan went down the Jericho road and ministered to the wretch who lay there half dead, pouring oil into his wounds right there where he lay, just so the grace of God, that brings salvation, has come to the sinner in the place where he lies in his sins. No matter how great a sinner he may be, if he can be persuaded to turn the eye of faith toward the cross, there salvation comes” (Dr. C. I. Scofield). Again—
Of all the extravagant and absurd interpretations of Scripture which have found a place among sober expositors is the belief that Death is the Hope which God has set before the believer. How it ever came to find acceptance it is difficult to say. It is true that there are a number of passages which speak of the Lord returning suddenly and unexpectedly, but to make the words “At such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” and “Behold I come as a thief in the night” mean that death may steal in upon the believer without warning is to reduce the Word of God to meaningless jargon and is to make sane exposition impossible. Scripture says what it means, and means what it says. True there are Parables in the Bible; true there are some passages which are highly symbolical; but where this is the case the context usually gives clear intimation to that effect, and where it does not, the plain and literal force should always be given to the language of Holy Writ. In Scripture “death” means death, and the coming again of the Son of man means His coming, and the two expressions are not synonymous. As we have said, the Return of Christ and death (sometimes) each, alike, come suddenly and unexpectedly, but there all analogy between them ends.
It is passing strange that Bible teachers should have confounded Death with the Second Coming of Christ. The former is spoken of as an “Enemy” (
“Jesus Christ our hope” ( In Scripture, “hope” is something more than desire or longing: it is a joyous expectation, a definite assurance. Faith is that which lays hold of God’s promises; hope is that spiritual grace which sustains the heart until the promise is “received.”
The Hope of the believer is clearly set forth in
The hope of Philosophy has failed. Philosophy was the beau-ideal of the ancients. When Greece and Rome were the leading nations of the earth, the goal of every ambitious young man’s desire was to become a philosopher. Philosophers were respected and honored by all. Philosophy set out to solve the “riddle of the universe” and to explain the rationale of all creation. It was expected that philosophy would find a solution to every problem and devise a remedy for every ill. But what were its fruits? “The world by wisdom knew not God” (
The hope of Legislation has failed. It was the dream of the celebrated Plato that he could establish an ideal Republic by compiling and enforcing a perfect code of laws. But a perfect Code of Law was compiled a thousand years before Plato was born. God Himself gave to Israel a Code of Law on Mount Sinai—with what results? No sooner was that Law given than it was broken. The children of Israel declared, “All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient” (
The hope of human Government has failed. The Roman Empire experimented for many centuries and tried no less than seven different forms of government, but each in turn failed to accomplish the desired effects, and the last state of that Empire was worse than the first. Everything from absolute monarchy to absolute Socialism has already been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Revolting at tyrannical yokes imposed upon their subjects by the European rulers, our forefathers in this country sought to establish a free Republic, a democratic form of government, a government managed by the people and for the people. What have been its fruits? Are economic conditions in the United States better than those in England or Italy? Are relations between Capital and Labour more amicable and satisfactory? Is there less political corruption in high places, and fairer representation of the oppressed? Is there more contentment and satisfaction among the masses? We fear not. When we witness the methods employed in the average political campaign, when we read through the reports of the police courts, when we behold the strikes and lock-outs in every part of the country, when we peer beneath the surface and gaze upon the moral state of the masses, and when we hear the angry cries of the poor laborer and his half-starved family, we discover that the only hope for America as well as Europe is that our Lord shall come back again and take the government upon His shoulder.
The hope of Civilization has failed. How much all of us have heard of “the march and progress of Civilization” during the past two generations! What an Utopia it was going to create! The masses were to be educated and reformed, injustices were to cease, war was to be abolished, and all mankind welded into one great Brotherhood living together in peace and good will. Civilization was to be the agency for ushering in the long-looked-for Millennium. Any one who dared to challenge the claims made on behalf of the enlightenment of our twentieth century, or called into question the transformation which the upward march of Civilization was supposed to be effecting, was regarded as an “old fogey” who was not abreast of the times, or, as a “pessimist” whose vision was blinded by prejudice. Was not “Evolution” an established fact of science and did not the fundamental principle of Evolution—progress and advancement from the lower to the higher—apply to nations and the human race as a whole, if so, we should soon discover that we had outgrown all the barbarities of the past. War was now no longer to be thought of, for those cultured nations within the magic pale of civilization would henceforth settle their differences amicably by means of arbitration. It was true that the great Powers continued building enormous armies and navies, but these, we were told, would merely be used to enforce Peace. But oh! what a madman’s dream it has all proven. The Hope of Civilization, like every other hope which has not been founded upon the sure and certain Word of God, has also proved to be nothing more than an entrancing mirage, a tragic delusion. The great World War, with all its unmentionable horrors, its inhumanities, its barbaric ruthlessness, has rudely wakened a lethargic humanity to the utter insufficiency of all merely human expediencies, and has demonstrated as clearly as anything has ever been demonstrated that “Civilization” is nothing more than a high-sounding but empty title.
We repeat again, the ONLY hope of the Church is the personal Return of the Redeemer to remove His people from these scenes of misery and bloodshed to be for ever with Himself; and the ONLY hope for this poor sin-cursed and Satan-dominated world is the Second Advent of the Son of Man to rule and reign over the earth in righteousness and peace. This is the world’s LAST hope, for every other hope has failed it! We turn now to consider—
The insufficiency and failure of the various hopes of the world reviewed above, serve only to furnish a background upon which, by way of contrast, may shine forth more prominently and gloriously the certainty and sufficiency of our hope. Every hope of man which originates in his own mind and heart is doomed to end in disappointment. If men refuse the light which is furnished by Divine revelation then they must expect to remain in darkness, and, as our Lord said, “If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness how great is that darkness!” (
What warrant have we for expecting the Return of the Redeemer? After all that has been said in the previous pages and in view of the various Scriptures therein cited, a lengthy reply to this question is not necessary. In brief, it may be said, the inspired and infallible Word of Him who cannot lie is our warrant and authorization for looking for that Blessed Hope. But, briefly, to particularize.
We have already quoted from
These words are recorded in the first chapter of the Acts which presents a scene of unusual interest and importance. Our Lord’s sojourn upon earth was now to terminate. The time of His departure was at hand. The great purpose of the Divine incarnation had been accomplished. The cross and the empty sepulcher lay behind, and now the Saviour of sinners was to be exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high. Together with a few of His disciples He went as far as Bethany, and lifting up His hands He blessed them, and while in the act of blessing them He was “parted from them, and went up into heaven” (
We have already shown in a previous chapter that each of the apostles bore witness to the Second Coming of Christ. Their testimony is clear, full, and uniform. At this point we shall select but a single passage, a familiar one, from the epistles of the apostle Paul. In
The above passage is the most comprehensive statement upon the Redeemer’s Return which is to be found in the apostolic writings. The importance of the communication contained therein is intimated by the prefatory clause—“This we say unto you by the word of the Lord,” an expression which is always reserved for those passages of Divine revelation which are of peculiar importance or solemnity. Here again we learn that Christ is going to return in person—“The Lord Himself.” Here again we have a positive promise—“The Lord Himself shall descend.” And here again, the Second Coming of Christ is presented as the “blessed hope” of the Church—“comfort one another with these words.” We reserve further comment upon this passage for a later chapter.
We have previously pointed out that, some fifty or sixty years after His ascension to the right hand of God, Christ sent His angel to the beloved John on the Isle of Patmos saying, “Surely I come quickly”
The explanation of this supposed difficulty is very simple. When the Lord Jesus said, “Surely I come quickly,” He spoke from Heaven, and Heaven’s measurement of time is very different from earth’s. Never once while He was here upon earth did the Saviour say or even hint that He would return “quickly.” On the contrary He gave plain intimation that after His departure a lengthy interval would have to pass ere He came back again. In the Parable of the Nobleman He spoke of Himself as One taking a journey into “a far country” (
“Surely I come quickly.” These are the words of our ascended Lord. This is His promise, sent from the very Throne of Heaven. This is His final word to His people before they hear his “shout” calling them to be with Himself. This, then, is the warrant, the ground, the authorization of our Hope. Let us now consider—
It is both interesting and profitable to notice the several adjectives which are used in connection with the believer’s Hope. In
Israel’s future blessings wait for the Return of their Messiah. When He was here before He was despised and rejected by His brethren according to the flesh, but when He comes back again to this earth they shall welcome and worship Him. That prophecy of Zechariah’s which received a partial fulfillment when He was here before, is yet to receive a further and complete fulfillment, in the days of His Second Advent. This is clear from the words which immediately follow these which had reference to His entry into Jerusalem a few days before His crucifixion—“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth” (
This aspect of our subject has not received the attention which it deserves. It has been assumed by some that the present dispensation is the time when God is blessing the Gentiles and that in the Millennium the Jews will be the special objects of God’s favor. It is true that in the Millennium Israel shall enter into the enjoyment of their inheritance and that at that time they shall occupy the chief position, governmentally, among the nations, but it is a mistake to suppose that the Gentiles will receive less notice from God then than they do now. During this Age God is merely taking out of the Gentiles a people for His name, and hence it is that the vast majority of them are still living amid the darkness of heathendom. But it will not always be thus. The restoration of Israel to God’s favor will result in wide blessing to the Gentiles.
In the
The words of Simeon recorded in
There are many prophecies in the Old Testament which speak of the Millennial blessedness of the Gentiles. We single out one or two without commenting extensively upon them. “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it” (
One more quotation must suffice: “And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God, and none else: and My people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh”(
Concerning this point we shall here merely generalize, for this precious aspect of our subject will come up for consideration again in a later chapter. In a word, we may say that, the Hope of the Church lies in the future and not in the present, is heavenly and not earthly. To His disciples our Lord said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation” (
At first sight it may appear strange, especially to unbelievers, that the Christian should speak of his hope. In contrast to the wicked who have “no peace,” the saint has a satisfying portion. The believer has already drunk of that “living water” of which those who drink shall “never thirst.” The believer is already in possession of “eternal life,” but he has not yet entered into the full and unhindered enjoyment of it—that is still before him as the object of his hope. In one sense then, the Christian is satisfied, in another sense he is not. The believer already knows One, yea, is now indwelt by One who can satisfy him. He knows Christ, possesses Christ, enjoys Christ; but, as yet, he has not seen Christ. It is by faith (not feelings) that we know and enjoy Christ, but the more we know and enjoy Him thus, the more we long to behold Him—“Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory; receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (
“Yes, my brethren, believing in Christ, whom we have not seen, we love Him; we rejoice in Him with unspeakable joy; we receive the salvation of our soul. But to see Christ—to have the salvation which He wrought out on the cross applied to our bodies as well as to our soul—to have it perfected in our experience even as it respects our soul—to have it consummated thus in all who are follow-partakers with us of Christ—to be with Him, and with them, in our Father’s house—to behold His glory which the Father has given Him—to appear with Him in glory when He appears—to reign with Him over a ransomed and redeemed and happy creation—to fulfill our part in the universal harmony of all in heaven and all in earth, when all shall bow the knee to Jesus, when every tongue shall own Him Lord, and all voices shall join to celebrate His praise,—this, and far more than this—far more than heart can conceive or tongue explain, is what we wait for; and, above all, we wait for Him whose return shall introduce us to all this perfect blessedness—we wait for God’s Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. HE IS OUR HOPE. We know Him now by faith as our Saviour, our Lord, our life, our peace, our joy, our all. AND HE IS OUR HOPE. He is plainly said to be so in 600 pp. $1.25. Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, Pa.
Our Lord Himself is waiting that blest moment when He shall rise from the Father’s Throne, descend to the air and catch up His loved and redeemed ones to be for ever with Himself. What other meaning can possibly be given to that remarkable word recorded in
And now, dear reader, What is your hope? What is it that is occupying your heart and filling your vision? Is it the prospect of a speedily returning Redeemer? If you are truly the Lord’s then do you not yearn to see Him face to face? Do you not long to fall at His feet and say “my Lord and my God”? Surely you do, for you cannot be fully satisfied in this world. How could you be? How can you find satisfaction in a world from which your Saviour is absent? “Earth is a wilderness, not merely (no, nor chiefly) because of its trials and its hardships, its sorrows and its pangs, its disappointments and reverses, but because He is not here. Heaven would not be heaven to the saint if Jesus were not there. He, His presence (as that which introduces us to it), His coming is our hope—the hope of the Christian, the hope of the Church. May our hearts cherish it as we have never done! May its brightness so attract us that earth’s fairest, loveliest, most enchanting scenes may be weariness itself to our hearts, as detaining us from the object of our hopes! May that object so animate us that earth’s heaviest afflictions—the narrowest, most rugged, and most thorny portions of the narrow way—may be welcome to us, as the path that leads us onwards to the goal of our expectations the home of our heart, the Jesus whose presence makes it what it is, whose love made Him tread a narrower and a darker path than this, and whose smile of ineffable satisfaction shall crown the faith that has trusted Him, the love that has followed Him, and the patience of hope which has waited for Him, throughout this dreary journey, along this narrow way, amid the darkness and solitude of this long and dismal night” (W. Trotter).
It has been pointed out by another that the New Testament is concerned mainly with the presentation of three great facts: first, that the Son of God has been to the earth but has gone away; second, that the Holy Spirit has come down to this earth and is still here; third, that the Son of God is coming back again to this earth. To quote—“These are the three great subjects unfolded in the New Testament Scriptures; and we shall find that each of them has a double bearing: it has a bearing upon the world, and a bearing upon the church; upon the world as a whole, and upon each unconverted man, woman, and child in particular; upon the church as a whole, and upon each individual member thereof, in particular. It is impossible for any one to avoid the bearing of these three grand facts upon his own personal condition and future destiny” (“Papers on the Lord’s Coming” by C. H. M. 15 cents. Bible Truth Depot, Swengel, Pa.
First; the Son of God has been to this earth but has gone away. Here is a fact marvelous in its nature and far-reaching in its effects. This world has been visited by its Creator. The very feet of the Lord of Glory have trod this earth on which we now dwell. From heaven’s throne there descended the Only-begotten of the Father, and for upwards of thirty years He tabernacled here among men. His appearing was not attended with regal pomp and outward splendor. His glory was veiled and His Divine prerogatives were laid aside. He who was in the form of God took upon Himself the form of a servant. He who thought it not robbery to be equal with God, was made in the likeness of men. He who had received the worship of angels was born in a manger. What an infinite stoop! What amazing condescension! What matchless grace! Were it not that we have grown so familiar with the recital of these things, were it not that our cold hearts had lost their sense of wonderment, we should be overwhelmed with adoring gratitude. Were it not that we were so occupied with the things of this world and our own interests we should prostrate ourselves before God in worship and cry, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing”(
How was He received? What welcome did He meet with? What effect did the coming of the “Mighty God” (
“Where sin abounded grace did much more abound” (
Christ is absent. Why? Because the world rejected Him. Yet, if the world disowned Him, the heavens received Him. If men despised Him, God hath highly exalted Him, and given Him the name which is above every name. We shall consider now, though, more briefly, the second great fact.
God the Holy Spirit has come down to this earth and is still here. This, also, is an amazing and stupendous fact. God did not abandon the world to which in love He sent His Son, even though that love was requited by the crucifixion of the Holy One. How strictly just it would have been had God then and there entirely deserted this rebellious race of ours! He “spared not” the angels that sinned but “cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment” (
The Holy Spirit has come down to this earth. Here is an amazing fact of stupendous magnitude. There is a Divine person on earth to-day. He has been here, now, for eighteen centuries unseen, unknown, and unappreciated by the world, yet here, nevertheless. Like the absence of the Lord Jesus Christ, the presence of the Holy Spirit has a double bearing—a bearing upon the world, and a bearing upon the Church. His relation to the world is a solemn and an awful one. The Holy Spirit is here to convict the world of its terrible crime in rejecting and crucifying the Son of God. This is clear from the language of
Like the fact of our Lord’s rejection by the world, the presence of the Holy Spirit on earth also has a bearing upon the Church—a blessed bearing. God has overruled the issues of this second great fact. Though the presence here of the Holy Spirit condemns the world, it involves infinite blessing for the Church. Churchward, the Holy Spirit is here to take the place of our absent Saviour. He is here to “quicken” (
We are now prepared to consider the third great fact which is presented to our notice in the New Testament scriptures that fact which forms the subject of this chapter—the fact of the Redeemer’s Return. And—
To state in the fewest possible words the broad fact itself—the Lord Jesus is coming back again. As we have seen, He has gone away form this world. He ascended on high. But heaven is not to retain Him for ever. Scripture declares that He is to vacate His Father’s throne where He is now seated, that He will descend to the air and receive His people unto Himself, and, that subsequently, He will return to the earth to set up His Millennial Kingdom.
The fact of our Lord’s Return is set forth in the New Testament as clearly and as fully as either of the other two facts to which we have referred. The fact and truth of the second advent of Christ occupies a commanding position in the New Testament. In our Lord’s tender farewell address to His disciples (
The fact of our Lord’s Return is stated in the most positive, emphatic, and unequivocal language. “I will come again” (
This third great fact which is presented to our notice in the New Testament must be interpreted on precisely the same lines and by the same canons as the other two Facts, i.e., the Scriptures which set forth the Second Advent of Christ must be received just as we receive those statements which tell us of His first advent and of the descent to earth of the Holy Spirit. Those verses which treat of the Redeemer’s Return must be taken at their face value: they must be received by faith just as they read: they must be understood literally. We press this point upon our readers because there have been many teachers who have sought to spiritualize the Scriptural references to our Lord’s second coming and who have treated them as though their language must be regarded as figurative and symbolical. Just as the Lord Jesus came to the earth the first time in person so will He come the second time. Our Redeemer is to return bodily and visibly. The language of Holy Writ gives as much reason for believing in a literal and personal return of Christ as it did for His First Advent. “Occupy till I come.” “If I will that he tarry till I come.” “Ye do shew the Lord’s death till He come.” “Ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven.” These are representative passages, and no one reading them for the first time without theological bias would ever think that they meant anything else than a literal, personal Advent. And yet the plain language of the Word has been twisted and distorted and made to teach almost anything and everything other than its obvious signification. We shall not weary our readers by examining and refuting at length every forced and fanciful interpretation which has been indulged in by various commentators, such a task is unnecessary and would be unprofitable. Those theories which have gained the most adherents may be grouped into three classes.
First; there is a class of commentators who regard the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost as the fulfillment of Christ’s promise to return. This view is based upon our Lord’s Word in
Second; another class of commentators regard the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman armies in A. D. 70 as the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise to come back to the earth and, untenable as this theory is, strange to say, it has met with a very wide acceptation among Christian theologians. This theory is based upon a careless exposition of Note that in Matthew and Mark it is the Sign of the Coming of the Son of Man and of the End of the Age which is in view; while in
Third; another class of commentators regard the death of the believer as the fulfillment of our Lord’s promise to come back again and receive His own unto Himself. This error has already been refuted in an earlier chapter so that nothing further needs now to be said concerning it.
In
We come now to a point concerning which it behooves believers, particularly young believers and beginners in the study of prophecy, to be quite clear upon. Like the other two great Facts which we have reviewed—the First Advent of our Lord to this earth and His going away, and the presence now of the Holy Spirit upon this earth—this third great fact of the Redeemer’s Return also has a double bearing, a bearing upon the Church and a bearing upon the world. The Second Coming of Christ will occur in two stages. Just as a man living in New York might take a railroad journey to California, and while enroute break his journey at Chicago, so Christ will break His journey from heaven to earth. He is now in heaven; He will return to the earth. His ultimate destination is the Mount of Olives (
The two stages in the Return of Christ are clearly distinguished in the New Testament. We now call attention to some of the leading differences between them. 1. The first stage will be in grace, the second will be in judgment. 2. The first stage will reach no farther than the air, the second will reach to the earth itself. 3. The first stage is when the Redeemer returns to catch up the saints unto Himself, the second is when He returns to the earth to rule it with a rod of iron. 4. The first stage will be secret, unseen by the world, the second will be public and seen by every eye. 5. The first stage is Christ returning as “The Morning Star” (
These two stages in the Redeemer’s Return are in strict accord with the order of events which transpired at His First Advent. At the first coming of the Lord Jesus there was a secret or private manifestation of Himself, and subsequently a public revelation. The newly-born Saviour was actually seen by very few. The shepherds in the field, the wise men from the East, Anna and Simeon in the temple saw the Redeemer in the days of His infancy, but Herod and Pilate, the scribes and the Pharisees—the unbelieving civic and religious heads—saw Him not! After His return from Egypt on the death of Herod, He retired to Nazareth and it was not until an interval of nearly thirty years had passed that He was publicly manifested. Thus will it be at His second coming. First there will be the secret manifestation (in the air) unto His own people, and then after an interval of seven years or more He will be publicly revealed to the world.
In the Old Testament there are numerous references to the Second Coming of Christ, references both direct and typical, but in every instance it was His return to the earth which was in view. The secret coming of Christ into the air, to catch up the saints to Himself, was an event quite unknown to the Old Testament prophets, an event kept secret until revealed by God to the apostle Paul who, when writing to the Corinthians upon this particular aspect of our subject, said, “Behold, I show you a mystery In Scripture the word “mystery” signifies “a previously hidden truth, now Divinely revealed, but in which a supernatural element still remains despite the revelation.”—Dr. Scofield.
Many of the Old Testament characters were remarkable types of Christ: In Adam we see Christ’s headship; in Abel, Christ put to death by His own brethren according to the flesh; in Enoch, Christ’s ascension to heaven; in Noah, Christ providing a “refuse” for His own; in Melchizedek, Christ’s Kingship; in Abraham, Christ’s Nazariteship; in Isaac, Christ the willing Sacrifice; in Jacob, Christ toiling for a “bride;” in Moses, Christ the faithful Servant; in Aaron, Christ the great High Priest; in Joshua, Christ conducting His people into their inheritance. And so we might continue right through the Old Testament.
Foremost among the typical personages of the Old Testament is Joseph. In almost every detail of his life we see Christ typified. The son of his father’s love, yet the object of his brethren’s bitter hatred. His very name meaning “adding” as Christ is adding to the inhabitants of Heaven by the seed which issues from His travail. Sent by his father to inquire after his brethren’s welfare, he is despised and rejected by them. They plot against his life and sell him into the hands of strangers. While yet in his youth he was carried down into Egypt. In Egypt he entered into the degradation of slavery and rendered faithful service to his master. He was sorely tempted yet sinned not, but though innocent he was falsely accused and cast into prison. While in prison—the place of shame—he was associated with two others, one of whom—the butler—heard from his lips a message of cheer telling of his restoration to the king’s favor, the other—the baker—receiving the sentence of death. So, when the Lord Jesus hung upon the Cross—the place of shame—two malefactors were crucified with Him one of whom heard from His lips a message of cheer telling of his restoration to God’s favor, while the other died in his sins. Surely such perfect typification of Christ, such numerous points of analogy are not so many co-incidences, but are a Divine delineation of the person and work of the Redeemer—a picture drawn by the hand of the Holy Spirit Himself! If then the type is perfect, if the picture be complete, ought we not to look for something in it which foreshadowed our Lord’s exaltation and coming glory? Assuredly. Nor do we look in vain—The sequel to Joseph’s humiliation clearly pointed forward to the Return of our Lord to this earth in power and majesty.
Above, we followed the typical history of Joseph to the point where he, through no fault of his own, was sentenced to suffer the shame of being cast into an Egyptian prison. But at this point of Joseph’s life there was a dramatic change. Joseph’s history did not terminate in shame and suffering but in power and glory. From the dungeon he was exalted to Egypt’s throne! And, mark, his sovereignty was foretold years before he entered into the enjoyment of it. As a boy he dreamed of seeing the other sheaves all bowing down before his, which signified that his brethren would yet pay homage to him. So the prophetic Scriptures bear witness to the coming sovereignty of our Lord over this earth many centuries before He actually takes the scepter in His hands. After his exaltation to the Throne of Egypt Joseph’s sovereignty was publicly recognized and acknowledged, for all men were compelled to “bow the knee” before him (
In the glorious reign of Solomon which followed the checkered career of David we have another striking type of the position which the Redeemer shall occupy during the Millennium. This is one of the composite types of Scripture. There are a number such where two or more objects or persons were necessary in order to give a complete picture. For example: in the great Levitical offerings (
In many particulars David typified the humiliation of his “greater son.” He was born in Bethlehem of Judea. He is described as “of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon,” thus reminding us of Him who “increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man,” and who to the believer is the Fairest among ten thousand and the altogether Lovely One. By occupation he was a “shepherd,” and during his shepherd life he repeatedly entered into conflict with wild beasts. He was preeminently a man of prayer and is the only one in all Scripture termed a “man after God’s own heart.” He was the one who slew Goliath—the opposer of God’s people, and type of Satan, foreshadowing the conflict between the Serpent and the woman’s Seed who, by His death, delivered God’s people from the toils of their great Enemy. When his arch-enemy Saul was in his power he acted in great mercy by sparing his life, just as in Gethsemane our blessed Lord refused to summon the angels to destroy His foes and as on the Cross He prayed for the forgiveness of His murderers. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, suffering chiefly from those of His own household.
After David came Solomon who foreshadowed the glory and the millennial reign of Christ. The word “Solomon” means “Peaceable” and thus his name suggests the Kingdom of Christ over which He shall rule as the “Prince of Peace.” He was “anointed” some time before he was crowned: so the Lord Jesus was “anointed with the Holy Spirit” (
The order of events on the Day of Atonement are described in
First, Aaron washed in water and then attired himself in the holy linen garments. It is to be noted that Aaron was provided with two sets of garments—those which were “for glory and for beauty” (
Second, Aaron offered “a bullock of the sin-offering” to “make an atonement for himself and for his house”(vs.
Third, Aaron took two goats and presented them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle where he cast lots upon them—“one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for the scapegoat” (vss.
Fourth, the goat of the sin-offering was killed and its blood brought within the veil and sprinkled both upon and before the mercy-seat. (vs.
Fifth, after making atonement for the holy place and the alter—showing there is that, even in our communion with and worship of God, which needs cleansing- Aaron laid both his hands on the head of the second, live, goat, and confessed over him “all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, and putting them upon the head of the goat” and sending him away into the wilderness, into “a land not inhabited” (vss.
Sixth, after atonement had been effected, the high priest came out of the Holy of Holies, attired himself in his robes of beauty and glory returned to the waiting Congregation in the outer court (vss.
We refer now to the incident of Christ walking over the water to the aid of His storm-tossed disciples, the dispensational significance of which has already been pointed out by several writers.
Immediately after our Lord had fed the five thousand, He retired into a mountain while His disciples went down unto the sea, and entering into a ship, they essayed to journey to Capernaum. But as they rowed “the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.” It was dark, and Jesus was not come to them, and all the progress they had made after hours of hard rowing was “twenty-five or thirty furlongs.” Then it was that Jesus drew nigh, and with a gracious “It is I; be not afraid” He stilled their fears. The statement that follows is a remarkable one—“Then they willingly received Him into the ship: and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went”(
Christ on the mount, praying, points to His present position on high where He is interceding for us at the right hand of God. The restless, tossing sea, aptly figures the world’s unrest in its opposition to God. The ship in the midst of the sea represents the Church which is in the world but not of it. The storm beating down upon the ship caused by the “great wind” that blew, prefigures the attacks and assaults upon the Church by the “Prince of the power of the air,” seeking to destroy it during the time of Christ’s absence. The rowing of the disciples and their failure to make headway against the storm, shows the powerlessness of the Church to improve the world as such. Nineteen centuries of Gospel preaching and Christian witnessing have failed to effect any real change in the world at large. The unrest of the world still continues, its hostility while not so open is yet just as real, and Christ is “hated” as bitterly as ever. The Church may pull at its oars, but it cannot still the sea—the storm will not be hushed until the Lord Jesus appears! All that the disciples could do was to keep the ship from sinking, and in that they were successful. There again our type is perfect. The world may be hostile to the Church and Satan may fling his angry winds and waves against it but, as its Founder declared, His church is built upon the Rock and “the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it,” and blessed be God they have not. After almost two thousand years of human and Satanic opposition, after every conceivable weapon has been employed to encompass its destruction, Christ’s Church still survives. And in the midst of the storm; at the darkest hour, in the fourth watch, Christ came to the deliverance of His disciples. So it will be at His Second Advent: He will come back to and for the Church which He ransomed with His own blood. He came to His disciples and, be it noted, He appeared not with a word of reproach but with a message of cheer—“It is I; be not afraid.” Thus will it be at the Redeemer’s Return: He will descent from heaven with a shout of welcome, bringing joy and gladness to the hearts of His own. Observe the blessed sequel—“and immediately the ship was at the land whither they went.” The typical meaning of this is obvious: when our Lord comes back again the Church’s conflicts will be over, its journey is then completed, its voyage ended, its destined harbor is safely reached. “Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
The Transfiguration of Christ is perhaps as familiar as any of the leading events recorded in the four Gospels, yet is it less understood than the other great crises in His blessed life. The purpose and meaning of the Transfiguration is defined in the closing verse of
The above verse is the closing one of
“And after six days”—“about an eight days after” (Luke). Every detail in the description of this remarkable event is worthy of our closest study. A careless and flippant reader might ask, “Why are we told that our Lord was transfigured just six days after He had given His promise to the disciples?—What does it matter to us whether it was six or sixteen days?” But the reverent student of Holy Scripture has learnt that everything in God’s Word has a meaning and value. “Six days after,” then it was a seventh-day scene, a Sabbatical scene, in a word—a Millennial scene. Some students will differ from us upon this point, but we record it as our belief that the above words furnish Scriptural verification of a view which was commonly held by the ancients, by the Rabbis and by the Church “Fathers,” namely, that in line with the statement found in
“And his face did shine as the sun, and His rainment was white as the light” (
“And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elijah talking with Him” (vs.
“While He yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud which said, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him” (vs.
“And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only” (vs.
The hour when the Transfiguration occurred is significant. From Luke’s account we gather that it happened at night, for we read, “But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep” (
The Transfiguration also revealed the blessedness of that time when Christ shall set up His millennial Kingdom. “Lord, it is good for us to be here” (vss.
Striking indeed was the vision vouchsafed to the three favored disciples. Remarkably full was that manifestation of the glory of Messiah’s coming Kingdom. But, the sequel to the Transfiguration was equally wonderful in its typical signification, and was needed to complete this spectacular setting forth of the Redeemer’s Return to the earth.
“And when they were come to the multitude, there came to Him a certain man, kneeling down to Him, and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic, and sore vexed: for oftentimes he falleth into the fire, and oft into the water.** And Jesus rebuked the demon: and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour” (vss.
Thus we see that the Fact of the Redeemer’s Return not only occupies a prominent position in the didactic instruction of the Church Epistles, but that it was also the subject of Old Testament prophecy and typology, was pictorially illustrated in the miracles recorded in the Gospels, and received a spectacular setting forth in the wonderful scene which was enacted upon the Mount of Transfiguration.
Having shown the Necessity of Christ’s Return, having dwelt upon the Hope of His appearing, having pondered some of the bearings and types of the Fact of His Second Advent, we are now ready to discuss the Time of His Return and to consider the question—When is our Lord coming back again? By the “Time” of the Redeemer’s Return we do not mean the date, but the position which this great event occupies in God’s dispensational programme. Concerning this phase of our subject there is wide difference of opinion. Two positions have been taken and the advocates of each appeal to the Scriptures in support of their conflicting views. These two positions are known as Pre-millennialism and Post-millennialism. The word “millennium” means a thousand years, and “pre” means before and “post” means after. One school of theologians believe and teach that the Lord Jesus will return before the Millennium, another school insist that He will not come back again until the close of the Millennium, in fact not until the end of the world, the end of time itself. As the point at issue between these schools is of great importance and as this book may fall into the hands of a number of people who are bewildered by this contradictory testimony and who are anxious to know what the Scriptures really say upon the matter, we have decided to devote a separate chapter to an examination of the question—Will Christ return before or after the Millennium?
When is our Lord coming back again? In seeking a satisfactory and authoritative answer to this question our first need is a candid mind, and unprejudiced heart, a teachable spirit. It is impossible for us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord while we cling to our own pre-conceptions. The initial requirement in every student of Holy Scripture is that he shall bow to the authority of the Word and submissively receive at its face value all that God has revealed. We need to approach the Sacred Volume in the attitude of learners, willing to have our own ideas of Truth corrected, and prepared to have our beliefs formed and moulded by the teaching of Holy Writ. Such as assertion may perhaps appear a platitude, yet we are fully assured that it is a timely reminder. One of the main hindrances which prevents many of God’s children apprehending Divine Truth is that they read the Bible through the eyes of others; they read it with opinions already firmly formed, they read it with prejudicial interest. This is largely true with reference to the subject of our present inquiry. People have been taught by some “Doctor of Divinity,” or Seminary professor that the world is growing better, that the Gospel will eventually win all men to Christ, and that the Millennium is to be ushered in by the efforts of the church. It is difficult for those who have been taught thus to set aside the effects of such teaching and come to the study of the Bible to find out exactly what it says concerning these things. Yet we must do so if we would learn God’s mind on the matter. It is “What saith the Scriptures?” not What does our church teach? not What does our Creed or Catechism say? not What did my godly parents tell me? but—What saith the Scriptures? We repeat, in seeking an answer to the question—When will our Lord return? Before or after the Millennium? we need to approach the Bible with an open mind, willing to be instructed by the One who inspired it, and coming to it in the spirit of the child Samuel saying, “Speak, Lord, for Thy servant heareth.”
What is the Time of our Lord’s Return? As stated above, two general answers are returned to this question. One class of theologians argue that our Lord will not come back again until after the Millennium; another class declare that He will return before the Millennium. In order to be fair to each of these schools we will first give a brief description of their respective positions.
Post-millennialists teach that the great purpose of the Divine incarnation was that the Lord Jesus through His death and resurrection should found and establish a spiritual Kingdom. They tell us that the Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a material and visible Kingdom on the earth were mistaken. They insist that the only Kingdom Christ has or will ever have is an unseen, spiritual and heavenly Kingdom, the subjects of which are the members of His Church, in whose hearts Christ now rules. They declare that the Redeemer is even now reigning, reigning as King over this earth and that he will continue thus to reign, unseen, until He has overcome all enmity and opposition and won His very enemies unto Himself. The instrument by which He is to achieve this glorious victory is the church, and the church, we are told, is here to civilize as well as evangelize the earth. Post-millennialists teach that while the Church is an institution and organization separate from the State yet is it interested in the welfare of the State and that it is the duty of Christ’s followers to take part in politics and see to it that the best men securable are elected to office and that they must be encouraged to frame and enforce laws which make for civic and social righteousness.
In present-day conditions post-millennarians see the fulfilling of their hopes and the promise of a speedy success crowning their efforts. They regard the multiplication of educational advantages, the discoveries and inventions of modern science, the improvements in hygienic and sanitary conditions, the growing demand for nation-wide prohibition, the increasing number of hospitals and agencies to relieve suffering, the modern trend toward interdenominationalism and religious unionism, as so many heralds of the near approach of the Millennium. They believe that the utilization and perfecting of such agencies will usher in the Golden Age, an age of world peace and prosperity, an age when all will know the Lord from the least to the greatest. It is not until the close of this Millennium that they look for Christ to return: then it is they expect Him to come back and “wind up” all things, judge the human race and settle the eternal destiny of every individual of it. Post-millenarians believe in a general resurrection and a general judgment at the end of time. Such a brief and in general is the position and belief held by post-millennialists. We turn now to
At every point the teaching of pre-millennarians is diametrically opposed to that of the post-millennialists. Pre-millenarians regard the Jewish expectation of a literal, visible, material Kingdom as being set up on the earth by their Messiah as a hope authorized by the Word of God because clearly revealed and expressly foretold by the Old Testament prophets. They believe this Messianic Kingdom is now in abeyance but will yet be established. They do not hold that Christ is now reigning as King, on the contrary, they look upon Him as at present exercising His high-priesthood, and they do not expect Him to enter into the office of His kingship until He returns to the earth and sits upon the throne of His father David.
Pre-millennialists do not believe that it is the mission of the Church to civilize the world, but instead, they are deeply impressed that the great duty and business of the Church is to evangelize the nations. While recognizing that civilization is a bi-product of evangelism, yet they insist that their marching orders are contained in Christ’s mandate—Go, preach the Gospel to every creature. Believing this, and realizing that a full obedience to their Lord’s command will require all their strength, time and talents, they (or, at least, an increasing number of them) look upon politics, social-reform movements, humanitarian efforts, etc. as outside of their own jurisdiction, as something which is an integral part of that world from which their Master was cast out, the “friendship” of which is expressly declared to be “Enmity with God” (
Pre-millennialists do not believe there can be any Millennium until Christ returns to the earth, takes its government upon His shoulder, and reigns in power over it. They do not believe that there can be any real improvement in moral and spiritual conditions down here while Satan is free, and realizing the utter impotency of man to cope with his powerful Enemy they recognize that the only hope for this poor world is the Second Advent of Christ to earth and His removal of Satan from it. They believe that before this can happen Christ will first come for His Church and instead of interposing a thousand years between the present and this blessed event, they are looking for Him to return at any moment. Such in brief and in general is the belief and position of pre-millennialism.
Now it is very evident that both of these positions cannot be sound and tenable, that one of them must be false and unscriptural. Post-millennialism and pre-millennialism cannot both be right, one of them is most certainly wrong. Which of them is in error? Again we would urge upon our readers the need of drawing near to God and praying Him for a teachable spirit and asking Him to enable them to approach the examination of this issue with an unprejudiced mind and an open heart.
Post-millennialists teach that the only Kingdom over which Christ will ever reign is a spiritual and celestial one. They say that those Jews who expected their Messiah to set up a visible and material Kingdom on the earth were mistaken, that they erred in the interpretation of their prophetic Scriptures and cherished a carnal and unworthy hope. Let us examine this assertion in the light of God’s Word. In
The above is not a single prophecy but a compound one. It is made up of five separate items. Mary, the “virgin,” was to conceive and bring forth a son; her son’s name was to be called “Jesus;” Jesus was to become great and recognized as the Son of God; the Lord promised to give unto Him the “throne of David,” and over the “House of Jacob” He was to reign for ever. Utterly unlikely as it appeared to human wisdom at the time, part of this prophecy has already been fulfilled—literally fulfilled. There was a literal birth, Mary’s son was literally named “Jesus,” and a literal “greatness” has become His portion; by what sleight of hand then can the exegetical knife be run through this prophecy and a literal reign over the “House of Jacob” be denied?
Post-millennialists teach that Christ is reigning as King to-day and that He will continue to reign thus, unseen, until He has subdued and won all His enemies. But the first part of this assertion is altogether lacking in scriptural authority. Nowhere in the New Testament are we told that Christ has already begun His Kingly reign, and nowhere in the Epistles is He denominated the “King of the Church.” It is true that Christ is now seated upon a “throne,” but not upon His own Throne. Christ is seated on the Throne of His Father, but His own Throne and the Father’s Throne are clearly distinguished in Scripture—To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My Throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His Throne” (
Post-millennialists teach that the world is to be conquered by the Church. Their favorite slogan is “The world for Christ.” It is supposed that in order to capture the world the Church must make concessions to and compromises with the world. Post-millennialists insist that it is the bounden duty of all Christians to help forward every movement which makes for civic and social righteousness. But of such it may be said, yea, it has been said by the Holy Spirit Himself—“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (
Post-millennialists teach that the Gospel is yet to convert the world and that before Christ returns to earth all men will know Him from the least unto the greatest. A captivating concept surely, but upon what is it based? Certainly not upon the declarations of the New Testament. We are commanded to preach the Gospel to every creature, but nowhere is there a promise that the time will come when every creature will believe the Gospel. The Lord Jesus taught that “As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be” (
Post-millennialists teach that our Lord will not return until the close of the Millennium and that then there will be a general resurrection of the dead, followed by a general judgment, at which every member of the human race will stand before the great Judge to have his eternal destiny decided. Such a conception is anti-scriptural in every part of it. In the nineteenth chapter of Revelation we see Heaven opened and the Lord Jesus coming forth seated on a white horse and with Him are the “armies which are in heaven.” Accompanied by His saints the King of Kings and Lord of lords returns to this earth as is evident from the next verse, for there we are told that He shall “smite the nations and rule them with a rod of iron.” In
Pre-millennialists, as their name indicates, are looking for their Redeemer to return before the Millennium begins, looking for Him to introduce and usher in the Millennium itself. To them a Millennium without Christ is unthinkable. From their cradles they have been taught to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven,” and they cannot conceive of a Kingdom without a King. The Millennium is the time when men’s desire for a Golden Age will be realized, but that Golden Age cannot dawn until the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings. The Millennium is the time when the sword shall be made into a plough-share and the spear into the prunning-hook, when for a thousand years there shall be no war, but earth-wide peace will only be made possible by the return and personal presence of the Prince of Peace.
Pre-millenialists believe that in the Millennium Christ will set up on the earth a visible, material Kingdom, that He will occupy the literal throne of David and reign from Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. They base their belief upon many plain declarations in Scripture to that effect. Isaiah predicted it—“And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the Kings of the earth upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together, as prisoners are gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many days shall they be visited. Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously.” Ezekiel foretold it—“And He said unto me, Son of man, the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, and My holy name, shall the House of Israel no more defile by their admonitions that they have committed” (
Pre-millenialists believe that the Messianic reign and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus are yet future. They believe that Christ Himself so taught. In the Parable of the Nobleman, He declared, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom," and to return. And it came to pass, that when He was returned, having received the kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading” (
Pre-millennialists believe that it is God’s purpose in this Age to take out of the nations “a people for His name” (
The post-millennial position rests largely upon a mis-translation. In
God’s Word makes known the exact conditions which are to obtain here immediately preceding the Redeemer’s Return. The Holy Spirit has given a number of graphic portrayals of the world as it will exist when our Lord comes back to it. One of these pictures is to be found in
Another passage which describes the conditions which are to prevail on earth at the time of our Lord’s Return is found in
Again, in
Putting together the above pictures we learn that in the days which precede Christ’s Second Advent the earth will be filled with proud idolaters, with those that know not God and obey not the Gospel, and with those who mock and scoff at the prospect of a speedily returning Redeemer. Further; we learn that the actual return of Christ is introduced not by Gospel successes but by Divine judgments. Thus we say that the condition of the world when our Lord comes back to it proves that His Second Advent occurs not at the close of an era of Millennial blessedness, but at the end of a dispensation wherein God has dealt with infinite long-sufferance with a race of rebels, and that at His coming He takes “vengeance” on His enemies ere setting up His Messianic Kingdom.
In
The chapter opens with the well-known Parable of the Sower who went forth to sow. It pictures the broad-cast sowing of the good Seed by the Saviour Himself, and in His interpretation of the parable we learn that the “Seed” is the Word of God. The parable sets before us the beginning of the Christian dispensation and makes known to us the manner and extent of the reception of the Redeemer’s mission and message. It gives us the ratio of the Gospel’s success and forewarns us that all men are not going to receive God’s Word, that the majority will not, that only a fractional minority will. It shows us that the proclamation of the Word is to encounter Satanic opposition, yea, that the world, the flesh, and the Devil, will combine in their efforts to prevent it bringing forth fruit.
The result of the sowing is plainly stated. Three castings out of four were fruitless! Most of the seed fell upon barren ground. The greater part of the field which, in our Lord’s interpretation, we learn is “the world,” completely failed to bring forth any increase. Some of the seed fell by the wayside and the fowls of the air picked it up; some fell upon the rocks and the sun burnt it up; some fell among thorns and it was choked. Only one fourth of it fell upon “good ground” and even there the fruitage varied and decreased in its yield from a hundred-fold to thirty-fold (see vs.
Now what light does the above parable throw upon our present inquiry? I throws a clear light and in its light we discover the fallacy of the post-millennial position. There is no hint whatever in this parable that a time was to come when the whole of the field would be covered with waving wheat, instead, the only possible inference which can be drawn from it flatly repudiates such a conception. Who would dare to suggest that the Divine Sower Himself, the “Lord of the harvest” would be followed by other sowers who should prove more successful than He? The results of our Lord’s own sowing were prophetic of the history of the entire Christian dispensation. In no period of this Age has the whole field—the world—been receptive to the Seed, in no period have more than a fractional minority received the Word and brought forth fruit unto perfection. In every generation, from the time when our Lord walked the earth in the days of His flesh until now, the emissaries of Satan and the cares and riches of the world have combined to choke and make unfruitful the Word of God. From this parable then it is impossible to deduce any promise of a world ultimately converted by the Gospel.
The second of the parables found in
Part of this parable began to be fulfilled in the days when the New Testament was written. In the false teachers who harassed the early disciples we may see the mingling of the tares with the wheat. The “children of the Wicked One” were the Judaizers who entered in among the churches of Galatia and who taught that salvation could not be secured by faith alone, that Circumcision was also necessary. The “tares” may be seen in Hymeneus and Philetus of whom we read, “who concerning the Truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some” (
Again we ask, What light does this parable throw upon the point now under discussion? And once more the answer is, much every way. In our Lord’s declaration that the tares should grow together with the wheat until the time of harvest, which He expressly declares is the end of the age, we discover how preposterous, erroneous, and unscriptural is the teaching that the Gospel will yet win the world to Christ. At the time of harvest the world is still a mixed field, and this fact cuts away all ground for supposing that before our Lord returns the tares will be all rooted up or changed into wheat. Instead of the tares being transformed into wheat before the Millennium is ushered in, we are told that at the time of harvest the tares are bound into bunches and afterward cast into the fire—a very different picture that from the children of the Wicked One being reconciled to God! In the words “Let both grow together till the harvest” two solemn facts are revealed—first, Satan shall continue to hinder the success of the Gospel without interruption till the end of the age; and second, the Christian profession once corrupted shall continue thus to the close of the dispensation. And thus it has proven. Finally, be it observed, that in the casting of the tares—the children of the Wicked One—into the furnace of fire, we learn once more that the Age closes not with the universal reception of the Gospel but with Divine judgment upon the wicked!
The third parable of
The position which this parable occupies in the series is one of the keys to its interpretation. The first parable is concerned with the beginning of this dispensation, the time when our Lord was here upon the earth. The second deals, prophetically, with conditions that obtained in the lifetime of the apostles, showing us the false teachers—the children of the Wicked One—who crept in among God’s people in their day. This third parable then looks forward to a later period and presents a prophetic picture which saw its materialization in the fourth century of our era. The growth of the little mustard-seed into a great tree represents the development of the Christian profession from an insignificant commencement into a system of imposing proportions. In the fourth century A. D., Christianity was popularized by Constantine who adopted it as the State religion and compelled more than a million of his subjects to be baptized at the point of the sword. The parable of the Tares shows us Christianity corrupted by the insidious introduction of the children of the Wicked One among the children of God: the parable of the mustard-seed forecasted the growth and spread of a corrupted Christianity. This assertion of ours may easily be verified by the details of the parable itself.
The mustard-seed developed into a great tree—an abnormal thing in itself, nay, a monstrosity - so the popularization of Christianity in the days of Constantine produced an unnatural and ungainly system which was foreign to its spirit and nature. Observe that the “fowls of the air” came and lodged in the branches of the great tree. In the first parable of the series the Lord Himself tells us that the birds of the air represent the emissaries of Satan. The great tree then, stands for a nominal and national Christianity, a monstrous, world-system, that which in our day is the aggregate of the so-called “Christian nations.” In a word, the great tree symbolizes Christendom which in
Further confirmation of our assertion above, that the great tree which issued from the mustard-seed represents the abnormal growth of a corrupted Christianity is furnished in
To sum up our comments upon this parable. Instead of lending favor to the position of post-millennialism, its teaching—viewed in the light of
We turn now to the fourth parable of
What then is the meaning of the parable of the Leaven? We answer that just as the former one brings before us the external development of a corrupted Christianity, so this one shows us the internal working of corruption within the Christian profession. The third parable brings us, historically, to the time of Constantine; the fourth carries us forward to the time of the rise and growth of the Roman Catholic Church. The “woman” in our parable figures the “mother of harlots and abominations of the earth” (
To say that this parable teaches that the Gospel is to win the whole world to Christ is to put light for darkness and is to make error equal truth. If the leaven represents the Gospel, the woman the church, and the meal the entire human race, then we have to confess that our Lord erred in His judgment and entirely over-estimated the power of the Gospel to find a response in the hearts of men, for after eighteen centuries of Gospel preaching we cannot point to a single country where all its subjects make even a profession of Christianity; nay, the world over, we cannot find a single city, town, or hamlet where everyone of its inhabitants is a believer in the Lord Jesus. No; this parable shows us the secret working of a putrefying element which spreads nought but corruption,—Can then the Millennium be introduced by the universal diffusion of a corrupted Christianity!
In these four parables we discover the methods used by Satan to hinder the work of true Christianity. At the beginning he sought to oppose by catching away the Seed, which method was pursued throughout the first century when the Devil endeavored to exterminate and annihilate the Word of God by means of the sword and the bonfire. In the second parable we see him changing his tactics aiming to destroy Christianity by mingling his own children among the people of God. In the third we see how by a master-stroke of the Enemy the Christian profession was Paganized and as the result the world was won over by dazzling the eyes of men with a gorgeous ritual, with imposing architecture, and with the sanction and approval of the Roman Emperors themselves. In the fourth we discover how he succeeded in corrupting the doctrines and practices of Christianity by introducing into its midst a foreign and putrefying element which has resulted in the leavening of the entire mass.
We shall not tarry long with the last three parables of this series. There is nothing at all in them, any more than in those already considered, which confirms and establishes the post-millennial teaching. A treasure buried in the field (which is “the world”) can scarcely figure the universal success of the Gospel. A “pearl”—which is an object taken out of the “sea” (symbol of the nations) is no picture of a world won to Christ. While the Drag-net—the last of the series—enclosing as it does “every kind” of fish, the “bad” as well as the good, surely refutes the assertion that at the close of time Christ will return to find all men reconciled to Himself.
The Olivet Discourse of our Lord is recorded in
As we read the verses which record our Lord’s reply to the questions of His disciples we find that instead of Him painting a picture in bright and attractive colors, He portrayed a set of conditions which were pathetic and tragic in their bearing and nature. Instead of intimating that things on earth would improve during the time of His absence, He showed that they would get worse and worse. Instead of promising an era of peace and prosperity, He predicted a time of blood-shed and famine. Instead of telling the disciples that truth would be universally diffused and received, He forewarned them of the coming of false prophets who should deceive many. Instead of teaching that His followers would grow more zealous and faithful to Him, He announced that because iniquity should abound the love of many would “wax cold.” Instead of saying that He should come back here to be received with an open-armed welcome, He predicted that on His return “all the tribes of the earth shall mourn.” It is true that He said, “This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations,” yet a little further down in the same chapter He very plainly intimated that it should meet with an almost universal rejection - “For as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be,” proves this.
It is therefore well nigh impossible for us to imagine anything more directly opposed to the post-millennial theory than what we find here in this address of our Lord’s. It would appear from His utterances as if He, with omniscient vision, foresaw the very teaching which is so common in our day and that He designedly and deliberately anticipated and repudiated it. In verses
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition” (
The “Man of Sin” is the Antichrist who at the very close of this Age will oppose and exalt himself “above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God” (
To sum up the teaching of
We must quote once more a passage that has already engaged our attention in another connection, namely, the Parable of the Nobleman. Before quoting from it, however, we would first observe that this parable was uttered by our Lord in order to correct a mistaken notion that was being entertained by certain of His auditors: “And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought the kingdom of God should immediately appear” (
“He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom and to return. ** And it came to pass, that when He was returned having received the Kingdom, then He commanded these servants to be called unto Him, to whom He had given the money, that He might know how much every man had gained by trading” (
“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the Times of Refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the Times of Restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began” (
The “Times of Restitution” is defined in the very passage where this expression occurs, defined in the previous words “the Times of Refreshing” which shall come from the presence of the Lord.” Note particularly that these “Times of Restitution” cannot come until Christ Himself comes back again. This is expressly affirmed in the words “Whom the heaven must receive until.” Observe it does not say “Whom the heaven must receive or retain during the Times of Restitution,” still less “until the end of the Times of Restitution”—which it most certainly would say were the teaching of post-millennialism true—but “until the Times of Restitution,” that is, until those times arrive. When these “Times” come then shall the Lord arrive. When these “Times” come then shall the Lord return, and when He returns then shall come “Times of Refreshment” for His people on earth.
Observe, further, that we are told, these “Times of Restitution” were spoken of by all God’s holy prophets. Of what “Times of Restitution” then did the Old Testament prophets speak? We answer, of Millennial “Times,” when all nations of the earth shall be brought beneath the sway of Messiah’s scepter. The Old Testament prophets uniformly connect the Times of “Restitution” with the Coming of Christ to the earth and they certainly knew of no Kingdom being brought in by the efforts of the Church. The able declaration of Peter then proves two things: First, that until the Times of Restitution the Heaven must retain our Lord; second, that as soon as these “Times” arrive, Christ shall assuredly return. Hence, there can be no Millennium until Christ comes back again to the earth, but as soon as He does come back again the Millennium will be inaugurated.
Under this head we shall seek to prove briefly three things—that Israel as a nation will be restored, that Israel’s restoration occurs at the Return of Christ, that Israel’s restoration will result in great blessing to the whole world.
That Israel as a nation will be actually and literally restored is declared again and again in the Word of God. We quote now but two prophecies from among scores of similar ones:—“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; But, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the House of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land”(
That Israel’s restoration synchronized with our Lord’s Return to the earth may be seen from the following Scriptures:—“And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God; we have waited for Him; and He will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for Him, we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation” (
That Israel’s restoration results in great blessing to the whole world may be seen from the following quotations—“And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men” (
The difference in belief between post and pre-millennialists concerning this point is as great as the difference between light and darkness. Post-millennialists believe that Christ will not return until the end of time and that then He will come to judge the human race. As to what is going to happen at the end of time Scripture does not leave us in ignorance. Says the apostle Peter, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up” (
“The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now” (vs.
Here then is the answer to our question—What is the time of the Redeemer’s Return? He shall return before the Millennium. He shall come back to usher in the Millennium and set up His Messianic Kingdom, restore Israel, and deliver a groaning creation. As to how near His pre-millennial coming may be we leave for consideration in the next two chapters.
In the previous chapter we sought to do nothing more than prove that our Redeemer would return before the Millennium, the date of His return, either the approximate or the precise date, we did not touch upon. Nowhere in the Bible is the actual time of the Second Advent made known, instead, it is presented as an event which may occur at any hour; or, in other words, the Fact of the Saviour’s appearing is invariably set forth in the language of Imminency. When we say that the Redeemer’s Return is an imminent event, we do not mean it will occur immediately, but that He may come back in our own lifetime, that He may come back this year; yet, we cannot say that He will do so. The Fact of the Second Advent is certain because expressly revealed in Holy Writ; the Date of the Second Advent is uncertain because it has not been made known by God. Here then we have a truth, which is simple to grasp, yet one which is of fundamental importance and great practical value. The majority of the errors and heresies which have gathered around this subject are directly traceable to the ignoring of this elementary consideration. For example: if the Lord’s people had given due heed to the fact that Scripture presents the Second Coming of Christ as something which may happen at any hour, then the post-millennial teaching that our Lord will not come back again for more than a thousand years, would never have obtained the hearing and acceptance which it has received. Furthermore; if the wondrous truth that our Redeemer might return today once took firm hold on our hearts, it would revolutionize our lives and provide us with a spiritual dynamic which is incalculable in its reach and incomparable in its value. Without expatiating any further upon the general bearings of this aspect of our theme, let us not proceed to show that—
In the Olivet discourse, where the Master replied to the inquires of His disciples concerning the Sign of His Coming and of the End of the Age, He said—“Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. But know this, that if the good man of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up. Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over His household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you, That He shall make him ruler over all His goods. But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” ( The above Scripture refers primarily to our Lord’s Return to the earth, as is evident from the fact that He here styles Himself “The Son of Man;” yet, like all prophecy it has at least a double bearing and therefore may properly be applied to His secret Coming to the air.
An analysis of the above passage reveals the following important truths. First; the “hour” of our Lord’s Return is unknown to His people. Second; because we know not the exact time of His appearing, we must be in an attitude of constant expectation and watchfulness. Third; the Lord will return unexpectedly, even in such an hour as His own people “think not.” Fourth; the faithful and wise servant is he who shall give meat in due season to those of the Lord’s household during the time of Christ’s absence, and the one who is found so occupied at the time of His appearing shall be richly rewarded. Fifth; the one who shall say in his heart “My Lord delayeth His coming” is an “evil servant,” and such an one shall receive a portion of shame and suffering at our Lord’s Return.
The Parable of the Ten Virgins intimates that the Lord Jesus desired His people to maintain an attitude of constant readiness for the appearing of the Bridegroom. At the beginning of the parable He pictures all of the “virgins” taking their lamps and going forth to “meet” Him. The interpretation of this part of the parable is very simple. In the early days after our Lord’s departure from the earth, His followers detached themselves from all worldly interests and set their affections on Christ—His return being their one hope and great desire. But while the Bridegroom tarried the expectation of His appearing disappeared, and spiritual sloth and sleep was the inevitable consequence, and this condition prevailed until the midnight cry arose—“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him.” The effect of this cry is seen in the arousing of both the wise and the foolish virgins. The need of preparation and watchfulness is disclosed in the doom that overtook those who had no oil in their vessels. The practical application of the whole parable was made by the Lord Himself—“Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh.” (
At the close of St. Mark’s account of the Olivet discourse he records at greater length than does St. Matthew our Lord’s command to His disciples to watch for His return—“Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the Master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock crowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly He find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch” (
On another occasion the Lord said to His disciples, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning: and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when He will return from the wedding: that when He cometh and knocketh, they may open unto Him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that He shall gird Himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants” (
“For even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed. In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back. ** I tell you in that night there shall be two men in one bed: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left. Two women shall be girding together: the one shall be taken and the other left” (
“And take heed to yourselves, least at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth. 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” (
Just here we must take note of an objection that is brought against the position we are now advocating, namely, In view of the fact that in the above quotations it is clear that our Lord taught His disciples to look for His Return in their own lifetime, how can we harmonize this with His teaching in
When we examine the parables of
The first parable need not here detain us, for, the Sowing of the Seed was done by Christ Himself while He was here in person on the earth. Concerning the parable of the Tares it is sufficient to say that within the lifetime of the apostles themselves, long before the end of the first century was reached, Satan had succeeded in covertly introducing his children among the people of God. It is true the parable teaches that the wheat and the tares were to grow together until the harvest and that the harvest would not be until the end of the age, but there is nothing in the parable which intimated that a protracted interval lay between the sowing and the harvest, nay, there was nothing in it which discouraged the belief that the crop might hasten rapidly and the harvest occur in the lifetime of the apostles themselves.
The third parable foretold that the little mustard-seed was to become a great tree and, as we say, it was the growth of Christianity (previously corrupted) which was thus symbolized. But let it be carefully noted that nothing at all was said in the parable as to how great the “tree” was to become. Furthermore, we know that even in the days of the apostles Christianity had made marvelous progress and had spread through extensive regions. At the time our Lord uttered the parable His followers were but a mere handful and there is nothing to indicate that up to the hour of His ascension His flock was anything more than a “little” one. But contrast the conditions that we read of in the Book of Acts. Mark the three thousand which were converted on the day of Pentecost. Take note of such expressions as, “And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (
One other Scripture needs to be noted in this connection ere we turn to our next point. It has often been objected by post-millennialists that in view of our Lord’s declaration “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (
Having thus, we trust, satisfactorily, disposed of the most plausible and forcible objection which can be brought against the pre-millennial and imminent Return of our Lord, let us now consider.
“Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (
“And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly”(
“I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; That in everything ye are enriched by Him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you; So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ”(
“Let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the Day approaching”(
So real was the hope of the Redeemer’s Return to the heart of the apostle Paul and so imminent did this event appear to him that we find he included himself among those who might not fall asleep but be among the living saints when the Assembling Shout should be heard. Said he, “Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (
The apostle Paul was not alone in this regard: we find that the other apostles also regarded the Return of our Lord as something which might occur at any time. The apostle James wrote, “Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh”(
At first sight it may appear strange that our Lord has not made known to us the precise date of His appearing. He has caused many details concerning the Blessed Hope to be recorded in the Word. He has made known many things which are to transpire at His second advent, and in view of the fact that so much has been revealed it may strike us as peculiar that the very point upon which human curiosity most desires enlightenment should have been left undefined. We need hardly say that it was not ignorance on our Lord’s part which caused Him to leave the hour of His second coming un-determined, though some of His enemies have dared to charge this against Him, basing their evil indictment upon
Again; this question needs to be pondered in the light of the Unity of Christ’s church. The tendency with all of us is to regard believers as so many detached individuals, instead of viewing the saints as “one body” (
The Return of our Lord might not have been revealed at all, but in that case a most powerful dynamic to godly living would have been withheld from the church. The Imminency of the Redeemer’s second advent was revealed as an incentive to watchfulness and preparedness. If then the fact of our Lord’s return had not been presented in the New Testament as something which might occur at any time, but, instead, had been expressly postponed and fixed to happen in some particular and distant century, then all believers who lived in the centuries preceding that one would have been robbed of the comfort which is to be found in the assurance that Christ may return at any hour and would have lost the purifying effects which such a prospect is calculated to produce. As it has been well remarked, “It is not that He desires each succeeding generation to believe that He will certainly return in their time, for He does not desire our faith and our practice to be founded on an error, as, in that case, the faith and practice of all generations except the last would be. But it is a necessary element of the doctrine concerning the second coming of Christ, that it should be possible at any time, that no generation should consider it improbable in theirs” (Archbishop Trench).
Here then is the simple but sufficient answer to our question. The second coming of Christ is presented in the language of imminency because of the far-reaching effects it is designed to exert on those who lay hold of the promise, “Surely I come quickly.” The imminent return of the Redeemer is a practical hope. It is the commanding motive of the New Testament. The Holy Spirit has linked it with every precept and practice of Christian character and conduct. As another has so well expressed it: “It arms admonitions, it points appeals, it strengthens arguments, it enforces commands, it intensifies entreaties, it arouses courage, it rebukes fear, it quickens affection, it kindles hope, it inflames zeal, it separates from the world, it consecrates to God, it drys tears, it conquers death” (Brookes). To amplify this statement in detail—
The hope of our Lord’s second advent produces loyalty and faithfulness to Christ.“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his Lord shall make ruler over His household, to give them their portion of meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing. Of a truth, I say unto you, that He will make him ruler over all that He hath. But and if that servant say in his heart, My Lord delayeth His coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The Lord of that Servant will come in a day when he looketh not for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers” (
The Return of our Lord is presented as a motive to brotherly love- “And the Lord made you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: To the end He may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints” (
The perennial hope of Christ’s second advent is used as a call to a godly walk- “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (
The return of our Lord is designed to comfort bereaved hearts—“For I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (go before) them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words”(
The promise of the Redeemer’s return is calculated to develop the grace of patience—“Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh” (
The hope of our Lord’s return is the antidote for worry- “Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand, In nothing be anxious”(
The prospect of a speedily returning Saviour is employed to stimulate sobriety and vigilance- “Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light”(
Ere closing this chapter one other question claims our attention—
At first sight perhaps this inquiry might appear almost irreverent and some may feel inclined to remind us that “secret things belong unto the Lord.” In response we would say, It is not in any spirit of idle curiosity nor is it to indulge an inquisitive speculation that we take up this question, but simply because we believe that a humble examination of it will prove profitable to our souls, inasmuch as the answer to our inquiry demonstrates the wisdom and grace of Him with whom we have to do.
Of old, the mother of Sisera cried concerning her son, “Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?” (
Why then such delay? Why has the millennial era of blessedness been thus postponed? Why has not the Redeemer returned to enter into His blood-bought inheritance long ere this? Stupendous questions surely. Questions which sometime or other exercise the hearts of all the saints of God. Is it possible to discover a satisfactory answer? A complete answer—No; for now we “know in part.” But an answer—yes, an answer that will at least enable us to see, even though it be through a glass darkly, something of the meaning of our Lord’s delay. Why this protracted interval since the time of His departure? Why has He not returned long ere this? We answer—
First, because God would give man full opportunity to develop his schemes and thereby demonstrate the world’s need of a competent Ruler.
Man cannot complain that God has not allowed him full opportunity to experiment and test his own plans. Man has been permitted to do his utmost in ruling and regenerating the world. God, as it were, has put the reins of government into his hands, and withdrawn for a season. Why? To show whether man was sufficient for these things. To show whether or not man was capable of governing himself. To show whether man was competent to grapple successfully with the powers of evil which war upon his soul.
Throughout the ages man’s efforts have been directed toward ruling and regenerating the world. Man has been given full scope. With what results? With the result that the incurable hatred of the human heart to God and the utter depravity of human nature have been fully displayed. How has man used the freedom, the opportunities, the privileges, the talents with which his Maker has endowed him? To what profit has he turned them? Have they been used with the purpose of glorifying God or of deifying himself? To ask the question is quite enough. Loud have been man’s boasts. Lofty have been his claims. Pretentious has vauntings. Such terms as improvement, advancement, enlightenment, evolution, civilization, have been his favorite slogans. But the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, and the folly of the world’s wisdom and the vanity of man’s claims are now displayed before our eyes. What has “civilization” effected? With all our so-called enlightenment and progress unto what have we attained? Let the records of our Law-courts tell us. Let the columns of the daily newspapers make response. Let the economic political and moral conditions of the day make answer. Let the world war with all its inhumanities, its barbarities, its fiendish atrocities, give reply. And mark, it cannot be said that these things are due to man’s ignorance and inexperience. Man is not just starting out to make history. We are now living in the twentieth century of the Christian era. Man then cannot complain that God has not given him plenty of time to mature his plans. No; God has given ample time, time enough to show that he is an utter failure, time enough to demonstrate that he is totally incapable of governing himself, time enough to prove that if relief comes at all it must come from outside himself.
Here then is the first part of our answer. Christ’s return has been delayed in order to provide opportunity for man’s plans to fully develop. God waits till harvest-time. He has been waiting for the harvest time of man’s schemes and efforts. He has been waiting patiently with sickle in hand, and as soon as the crops of human industry have fully matured, the word will go forth—“Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe”(
Why has not our Lord returned long ere this?—We answer—
Second, in order that God might fully display His long-sufferance.
“But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (
Why has not the Lord returned ere this? We answer—
Third, in order that God might fully test the faith of His own people.
This has ever been His way. Why those years of waiting before Abraham received Isaac? Why that protracted bondage in Egypt, when the chosen groaned beneath the burdens imposed on them by their cruel taskmasters? Why those four centuries of silence between the ministries of Malachi and John the Baptist? Why a four thousand years interval from the giving of the promise of the woman’s Seed until its realization? Why?—to test the faith of His people, to demonstrate the reality of their confidence in Him. So in this dispensation. Why has our Lord tarried so long in the Father’s house? Why these eighteen centuries for His church to journey through the wilderness of the world? Why is it that the first, the second, and the third “watch” has passed and yet our Lord has not come? Why did God permit the Blessed Hope to be recovered almost a hundred years ago, and still the Bridegroom tarries? Why this earnest expectation on the part of His own for three generations past and even now the heavens are silent? Why tarry the wheels of His chariot? Why?—because God would fully test the faith of His people. Why is He pleased to do this? To the praise of the glory of His grace. Perhaps to demonstrate to the angels, to whom we are “made a spectacle”(
As we have shown in the last chapter, the apostles and their converts looked for Christ to return in their own lifetime. They did not affirm that He would but they believed that He might. But eighteen centuries have passed since then and yet He has not come. The question therefore arises, What evidence is there that the second advent of our Lord is now nigh at hand—that is, nigh as judged even by human measurement of time? May there not be another eighteen centuries which must yet run their weary course before the Sun of righteousness arises with healing in His wings? Have we any means for ascertaining the approximate period when our Lord may be expected to appear? Have we any good ground for believing that another long interval will not yet elapse before the Saviour comes back again?
In connection with other great events which God has brought about in human affairs, fair warning has been given to announce their approach. The Flood-judgment, the length of sojourn and the deliverance of the children of Israel from Egypt, and the time of our Lord’s first advent, may be cited as illustrations. Thus, before each of the marked interpositions of God in the past, plain intimation of their approach was given. Has then the time—the approximate time—of the great consummating event of all events been left shrouded in such secrecy that it is impossible for us to know anything about it until it arrives? Nay verily. The inspired language of Holy Writ declares—“But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the Day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others, but let us watch and be sober” (
God does not desire His people to remain in ignorance concerning the period when His Son shall return. Just as of old, He said concerning the impending destruction of Sodom “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” so has God graciously taken the Church into His counsels and revealed to us a “part of His ways” at least. We do not know the day or the hour, we are unable to determine the precise year when the Redeemer shall return, but we do know that His coming is now near at hand. We know it from the testimony of God’s living oracles. He has not left us in darkness, but has placed in our hands the more sure Word of Prophecy “whereunto we do well that we take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn and the day star arise in our hearts.” The prophets of Old Testament times are commended because that they “searched what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow”(
As we study the Old Testament Scriptures we discover that a number of “Signs” were given to herald the first advent of Christ. There were conditions to be realized and certain events which would come to pass, and as these conditions were met and as these events occurred those who “looked for redemption in Jerusalem” (
As we have said, the Old testament Scriptures foretold certain things concerning the Lord when He should appear: fore-announced Signs were to characterize the times of His advent. But the Jews failed to discern these Signs and the Saviour reproached them for their failure. Said He, “When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowering. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the Signs of the Times?” (
While it is true that the great majority of the Jews who lived during the days of our Lord’s first advent failed to discern the Signs of the Times and in consequence did not profit by the announcements of their prophets, nevertheless, there were a few who were “waiting for the Consolation of Israel” (
In While this prophecy has primary reference to Daniel’s people, the Jews, and so far as they are concerned will receive its accomplishment in the “godly remnant” of the Tribulation period, yet like all prophecy, this also has a double fulfillment and therefore has a secondary application to the Church of God today.
As is well known, the book of Daniel is largely composed of prophecies, prophecies which refer frequently to the closing days of the Times of the Gentiles. The Scripture now before us makes known seven fats, namely—first, that the contents of Daniel’s prophecies were to be “shut up” and “sealed;” second, that the book of Daniel should not remain a “sealed” book for ever; third, that at “the Time of the End” it should be unsealed, for it was to be “shut up” only “to” and “till” the Time of the End; fourth, that at the Time of the End there should be a “running to and fro,” in other words, there should be a revival of interest in the prophetic word, an earnest inquiry and seeking for light; fifth, that as the result of this revival of interest in and study of the prophetic word “knowledge shall be increased;” sixth, as the consequence of this “increase of knowledge” many would be “purified, and made white, and tried;” seventh, that notwithstanding this, the wicked would “do wickedly” and none of them would “understand,” thus are we told in this last item that the understanding of the Word of God is a matter of spiritual discernment and not a question of intellectual acumen: if it were the latter then the wicked might understand as readily as the righteous (compare
Daniel was informed that the things he had seen and the communications which he had heard were not to be turned to use for the present. All was to be as a sealed book until a distant day, in fact would be “shut up” until the Time of the End. How accurately and literally this part of our prediction has been fulfilled may best be seen by reviewing the writings of theologians and commentators who lived prior to the last century. For the most part the prophecies of Daniel have been utterly neglected until recently, and where attempts were made to open up its contents the wildest theories were indulged and the most absurd interpretations were adopted. There was no spiritual understanding. The book was “shut up!” But the book of Daniel was not to be shut up for ever. God had some wise purpose in making these disclosures to His prophet, He had some good reason in making known to Daniel the trend and end of the various world empires.
At the Time of the End the contents of the book of Daniel were to be opened and unsealed, for many would “run to and fro” and knowledge would be “increased.” How plainly has this mark of the end been manifesting itself during the past century! Though, the masses still turn from prophecy as from a sealed book, yet what a stir and study has it awakened in many earnest minds! “Many” have turned to the word of prophecy (witness the great number of books now written on the subject) and given their most sedulous attention to the understanding of its contents. Particularly has this been the case with the book of Daniel itself. Large numbers of God’s people have been moved to inquire concerning the things recorded therein and have spared no pains or cost to obtain a knowledge of them, and under the blessing of God and the guidance of His Spirit light upon this book is steadily increasing and its mysterious hieroglyphics are becoming clearer and plainer as the fulfillment of its predictions draws nearer. Expositors of this important book may differ in details but in the main they are agreed and their leading conclusions are the same.
The result of this earnest and widespread study of prophecy is seen in the increased devotion and consecration of God’s people—“many shall be purified and made white.” Side by side with increasing light on prophecy has come a deepened sense of responsibility toward the lost. It is a striking fact that the remarkable growth in Foreign Missions of last century synchronized with the widespread turning to the prophetic Word. Until the beginning of the nineteenth century the heathen were, with rare exceptions, utterly neglected, so also was it with the book of Daniel. On the other hand, it strict accord with Daniel’s prophecy, side by side with the increase of prophetic light and its purifying effects on the people of God, we find the “wicked doing wickedly” and that none of them “understand”—i.e., that the wicked are in utter ignorance of the terrible times (referred to in Daniel) which lie just ahead of them.
One of the most marked and blessed results of the widespread inquiry and enlightenment upon the subject of prophecy has been the recovery and revival of the Blessed Hope. We believe it is to this that Daniel’s prophecy (in its present-day application) refers when it says “but the wise shall understand.” The “wise” are those who are governed by God’s Word and whose thoughts are formed by the teaching of Holy Writ, for “The entrance of Thy words giveth light” (
Parallel with the prophecy of Daniel is the teaching of Christ in the parable of the Bridegroom and the virgins. This parable sets forth the several attitudes of the Lord’s people, in different periods of this Dispensation, with reference to their expectation of the Redeemer’s Return and was uttered in response to the disciples questions (recorded at the beginning of the previous chapter) “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the age?” At the beginning of the Christian era all His followers were waiting for the Lord’s appearing. Then followed a mixed condition—part were wise and part were foolish. Then, while the Bridegroom tarried, “they all slumbered and slept.” The Blessed Hope was lost and the church lapsed into a condition of spiritual apathy. But this sleep was to be broken. It was foretold that at the midnight hour a cry should be made—“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet Him” (
The parable of the Bridegroom and the virgins corresponds very closely with the prophecy of
One other Scripture which confirms us in saying that one of the Signs which heralds the Return of Christ is the midnight Cry, is to be found in
To return to Daniel’s prophecy. “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased”(
“And knowledge shall be increased.” What advances have been made in the educational realm! Facilities which hitherto were available to only a privileged class are now open to the children of the artisan and common laborer. Illiteracy will soon be a thing of the past. By the multiplication of schools, colleges and universities “knowledge” has been marvelously increased. Another agency for increasing knowledge is the press. “The public press, with its ceaseless streams of news and information, covers the earth with its ever increasing circulation, like falling leaves from some mighty tree of knowledge. And of the making of many books, there is truly no end” (Blackstone).
Witness the remarkable increase of scientific knowledge. Contrast our present-day knowledge of astronomy, archeology, zoology, physiology, psychology, with what was known about them even one hundred years ago. How wonderfully man has harnessed to his service the forces of Nature! Things never dreamed of by our grandparents are now actualities, and many of them mere common places. What discoveries have been made! What inventions have been perfected! What triumphs have been achieved on land and sea, in the air and under the waters! How the discovery and utilization of electricity has revolutionized every department of our life! Truly, scientific knowledge has been increased.
The above parable corresponds very closely with the first three found in
To review and sum up: From
The question has often been raised and is still hotly disputed as to whether the world is getting better or worse. Are conditions in general more propitious or more iniquitous? From one viewpoint conditions are improving, from another they are deteriorating. Good and evil are now both of them rapidly coming to a head. This is exactly what our Lord foretold in the parable of the Tares—“Let both grow together until the harvest” (
Of old, the question was asked, “Watchman what of the night!” and the answer from the lonely watcher upon his lofty tower was “The morning cometh, and also the night” (
“And also the night.” The Night which shall draw down the curtain upon “man’s day.” The Night of the world’s judgment, when “the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people” (
“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” (
The “falling away” which
The “falling away” has had an awful exemplification in the “Higher Criticism” movement, a movement which originated with atheists but has operated within the professing Church. The “Higher Critics” are men who deny the supernatural element in the Scriptures, who undermine their authority and belittle their value. They are rationalists whose minds are blinded by the god of this world, whose they are and whom they serve. No censure of them can possibly be too severe. The inspired apostle referred to them when he said, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction” (
The “falling away” is evidenced on every hand. Not only are many of our Seminaries cesspools of spiritual corruption, not only are hundreds of our pulpits now filled by traitors to the cause they profess to champion, not only is every cardinal doctrine of the faith attacked and denied by the very ones paid to defend them, but the evil effects of such teaching from our religious leaders has influenced multitudes of souls committed to their care. The man in the pew, following the lead of his teachers, has lost faith in the Bible as a Divine revelation, and in consequence, no longer submits to its authority. Hence it is that there is such a “falling away” in the number of genuine conversions—we say “genuine” conversions because there are multitudes of those who come forward to shake some popular preacher by the hand, multitudes of card-signers, “trail-hitters” etc., etc. Hence it is that there has been such a sad and such a wide-spread “falling away” from the old time family worship. Hence it is that we now witness such a lamentable “falling away” from the mid-week prayer-meeting. Hence it is that there is such an awful “falling away” from the observance of the Holy Sabbath. Hence it is that there is such a fearful “falling away” from the moral standards of former days. Hence it is that there is now such an ever-growing “falling away” from Sunday School attendance all over the land. Yes, the “falling away” has commenced and is already far advanced.
The “falling away” is also to be seen in the many false systems of recent development. We may cite as illustrations the “New Theology” formulated and popularized by R. J. Campbell; “Christian Science” (so called) with its repudiation of sin and the vicarious Sacrifice of Christ; “Russellism” with its horrible blasphemies upon the person of our Lord and its erroneous and soul-destroying heresy of the “second chance;” “Spiritualism” with its intercourse with demons who impersonate the dead. Formerly, three-fourths of the votaries of these anti-Christian systems were outwardly attached to the Truth, inasmuch as they were members of evangelical denominations. The same “falling away” may be seen in the rapid decay of Protestantism and the silent but sure growth of Roman Catholicism.
The “falling away” which characterizes our day was referred to by the apostle when he said, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (
In Revelation two and three we have seven Epistles addressed to the seven churches in Asia. These Epistles—in keeping with the nature of the book in which they are found—are prophetic in their scope. They record the sentences of the Divine Judge who appears in the midst of these churches (see These Epistles to the seven churches in Asia (
The first of these Epistles is addressed to the church at Ephesus and is recorded in
In the second Epistle addressed to the church in Smyrna and recorded in
In the Epistle to the third church—Pergamos (
In the fourth Epistle—to Thyatira (
In the fifth Epistle addressed to the church in Sardis (
In the sixth Epistle addressed to the church in Philadelphia (
We turn now to consider at a little more length the seventh Epistle, addressed to the church of the Laodiceans (
The word Laodicea means “the rule of the laity or people.” It is the people’s church, not Christ’s for notice He is outside (vs.
Another characteristic of Laodicea is the spirit of boosting—“Thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing” (vs.
Now observe particularly that this “Laodicean” Epistle is the final one of the series. It sets before us the last state of the professing church on earth. In keeping with this note the time-mark here. The Lord speaks of “supping” (vs.
This prophecy is found in
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy.” “Men shall be lovers of their own selves”—two things, closely connected, are referred to: selfishness and egotism. Self-lovers! Was there ever a time when there was so much self-seeking and self-pleasing, and so little self-sacrifice by professing Christians? “Covetous”—money-lovers. What fortunes are now amassed by those who claim to be not their own but bought with a price! Our average church-member is as greedy and grasping as the worldling. “Boasters”—intellectual boasting—laying claim to the possession of a wisdom and scholarship unknown to our forefathers; ecclesiastical boasting, evidenced in denominational pride; and what is most obnoxious of all, spiritual boasting—the profession of superior piety, the advertising of a “victorious life,” “baptism of the Spirit,” “sinless perfection,” etc. “Proud”—proud of their culture, liberality and broadmindedness. How different from the One who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me: for I am meek and lowly in heart.”“Blasphemers”—Christian Scientists (?), Russellites, Higher Critics, etc. “Disobedient to parents.” When was this deplorable sign of insubordination so rife as it is today? Instead of parents ruling their children, children now rule their parents, and, of course, the parents are to blame. This failure to exercise parental authority, this rebellion in the young which will brook no restraint, is the certain forerunner of the downfall of the State, fostering, as it does, the spirit of lawlessness. “Unthankful”—temporal blessings received as a matter of course without any recognition of their Giver. God’s providential mercies unappreciated. Returning of thanks at mealtime, almost entirely a thing of the past. “Unholy” which has reference to the utter absence of separation from the world: the disappearance of the Nazarite spirit.
Behold further characteristics of the Perilous Times—“without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good. Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God” (
“But, it may be asked, “have not these things always been true of men in general?” Perhaps so, more or less, though never to the same extent as now. But these verses do not describe “general conditions,” they depict Christendom as it exists in the “last days.” This is clear from the next verse—“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away” (vs.
“For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts” (vs.
Now mark that what we have been considering above is a part of a Divinely drawn picture describing the Perilous Times of the “last days.” How clear it is that the Perilous Times are now upon us, Times that are “perilous” to the souls of God’s people, “perilous” to the spread of the Gospel, “perilous” to the whole of Christendom. How evident it is to those who have eyes to see that we have already entered into the “last days.” And how dark are the immediate prospects for the world!
Take note of one other item in this striking prophecy—“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (
“I will overturn, overturn, overturn it, and it shall be no more, until He come whose right it is” (
This demand for reform is not merely local, it is not confined to some cotery of enthusiasts. It is worldwide. It is enveloping the earth. It has swept over Europe and across this continent, and has now reached the lethargic East. In Turkey and Egypt, in Japan and China, in Mesopotamia and India, in Asia and Africa, peoples who have been stagnant for centuries are now aroused, and the cry is going forth—Down with the old regime; Down with ancient institutions. Down with everything which brooks restraint. Never before were such conflicting forces at work. Never before were the foundations of society so seriously threatened. “I will shake all nations”—surely the appointed time for this is now here. “I will overturn, overturn, overturn”—truly this is exactly what God is doing today. Revolution is in the air, but those who are able to read the Signs of the Times can see that revolution is moving rapidly toward dissolution, the dissolution of the old order. Closely connected with the overturning of ancient institutions we may consider—
“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them with fear, and for looking after those things which are coming to pass on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken” (
First, “Distress of nations.” How well these words describe the well-nigh universal groaning and anguish of mankind! “Distress” is now no longer confined to any one people but is international and earth-wide in its reach. The “distress” and suffering caused by the exorbitant cost of living when it is becoming more and more difficult to secure even the bare necessaries of life. The “distress” occasioned by increasing taxation and the accumulation of national debts which must prove intolerable burdens for future generations to bear. The “distress” caused by shortage of fuel and food-stuffs so that one half of the world is living upon short rations. The “distress” of bereavement which is now in millions of homes which mourn the loss of loved ones slain in battle.
Second, “with perplexity.” Statesmen unable to discover any way out of present difficulties. Men of Solomonic astuteness at their wits’ end, fearful of what they see approaching and powerless to hinder and prevent it. Problems between capital and labor becoming more acute and insoluble. Situations arising which the wisest of our statesmen, despite all our boasted enlightenment and progress, are unable to cope with successfully. “Perplexity” by reason of political corruption, economic agitations, and revolutionary troubles.
Third, “the sea and the waves roaring.” In Scripture, the sea is used to figure the peoples of the earth which, away from God, know no rest. Like the sea, the masses today are in a seething turmoil. Everywhere there is fermentation and dissatisfaction. When were human politics so confused, so contradictory, so threatening as they are now? When was law so utterly impotent to restrain the violent passions of men? Every day brings new indications of disquietude and convulsion. Every government on earth is being shaken to its very foundations. Mark the political changes which almost weekly take place in the great world powers. The time for listless indifference is gone. No longer may we quietly fold our hands and take our ease. There is among the nations a spirit of restlessness, insubordination, anarchy; a consuming desire to overthrow every established system which has made for law and order; a spirit and desire which is too deeply rooted, too furious, too general, to be long withstood. It is something more than a passing tumult or the frenzy of an hour. Every day it is gathering strength and ere long it will burst every bound that legislation can devise. The waves of human passion are rising higher, and higher and threaten to swamp the landmarks of the ancients and take possession of the whole earth.
Fourth, “Men’s hearts failing them with fear, and for looking for those things which are coming on the earth.” We live in a day of unprecedented agitation and unparalleled tribulation. Conditions on earth have now reached such a pass that no human skill an steer clear of the mighty maelstrom which is rapidly drawing all nations within its awful whirl. Human society is becoming panic-stricken. Heart failure both physically and morally is seizing thousands of victims. Little wonder that suicides are increasing at such an alarming rate. Men’s hearts are “failing them.” And well they may. Confidence between man and man has disappeared. Friendships have become barren formalities, little more than selfish conveniences. Human compassion is no more. Conscience is dead, and men are giving up in hopeless despair as they discern still worse evils presaged by present-day conditions. Feverish eyes are moving to and fro in dread expectation of the approaching total collapse of civilization.
Fifth, “the powers of heaven shall be shaken.” In Scripture the powers of nature are frequently used symbolically. “Mountains” figure “Kingdoms” (
What is the message voiced by these universal conditions? What do they say to the children of God? The answer to these questions is found in the same passage where these things are described—“And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh”(
“Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth eaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the laborers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabbath. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter. Ye have condemned and killed the just; and He doth not resist you. Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and the latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the Judge standeth before the door” (
Observe that the above passage makes express reference to “the last days” (vs.
What human wisdom could have delineated so faithfully the present conflict between capital and labor! What mortal mind could have foretold, almost two thousand years beforehand, the amazing and heart-rending situation that is now before our eyes. Who but men “moved by the Holy Spirit” could have foreseen the recent rise of multi-millionaires, the accumulation and concentration of three fourths of the wealth of the world in the hands of scarcely one hundred men, the hoarded riches of the capitalist and monopolist, the extravagant and voluptuous living of the wealthy, the suffering which should be brought upon the laborer by the rapacity of his merciless employer! How remarkable is this prophecy in view of our twentieth century trusts and syndicates which corner the markets, hoard up raw materials, and rob the masses by fixing extortionate prices! And what is the significance of these things? They are another proof that the end of the age is reached. They are further intimation that the “last days” are upon us. The cries of the distressed poor have reached heaven, and the Divine Judge is just about to come to the deliverance of His people and deal in vengeance with those who have robbed them. The Lord’s people are not to resist and fight: the command is “Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned.” Believers are here urged to stablish their hearts and be patient, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” We turn now to consider.
The Jew has been termed the mystery and miracle of history. Terrible have been the privations and persecutions which he has suffered and yet has he survived them all. For two thousand years Israel has been a homeless wanderer among the nations and yet has he preserved his individuality. Sore have been the Divine judgments inflicted upon him and yet God has not made a full end of Jacob’s children.
In other chapters we have called attention to some of the numerous prophecies in both the Old and New Testaments which announce the revival of Israel, their return to Palestine, and their restoration to God’s favor, and ere pointing out the manner in which some of these predictions are beginning to receive their fulfillment, we would quote just one other. In
That the Fig-tree has begun to put forth leaves is evident to all who are acquainted with the leading events of the day. God is once more placing the Jew before the eyes of the men as those by whom He has blessed the world in the past and through whom He has purposed to bless it in the future. In a most noticeable manner the Jew is today commanding the attention of both the church and the world. Until the last fifty years the Jew had no place on our missionary program, but now we behold “Missions to the Jews” springing up in many lands. Others besides Christians are interested: the future of Palestine is being carefully pondered by all the leading diplomats. In every realm the Jew is pushing to the front. More and more his rights and claims are being recognized, and as he is allowed to enjoy common privileges he is making his mark in all the leading professions and arts: many of our most influential positions are now filled by the descendants of Abraham, and it is well known that they control the fiances of the world.
Perhaps the most significant and portentous episode in Israel’s history since their dispersion was the formation of the “Zionist Society.” The Zionist movement has for its aim the return of the Jews to Palestine, and for its ultimate object the purchase of the Holy Land. During the past twenty years this movement has spread with startling rapidity. “All over the earth societies have been formed, bodies have been legally incorporated, and vast sums of money subscribed. Children are being taught that the day of Israel is at hand, and are speeding the ancient word “Zion” from lip to lip” (Haldeman). At the time the War began, there were upwards of 100,000 Jews who had returned to the land of their fathers. Colonies had been established everywhere and soil which had lain idle for centuries was once more tilled and sown by the offspring of David. “The land, as foretold by Jeremiah, is being bought and sold at the very gates of Jerusalem. The Jew is already the preeminent factor in the once holy city. He controls its business and is the present guaranty of its prosperity. His synagogues are rising within the shadow of the Mohammedan mosques. His lamentations for the city of the ancient splendors, and his prayer for the restoration of the former glory, and the swift descent of an avenging Messiah, resound every Friday beneath the moss covered stones of Solomon’s walls, where thousands turn their faces and weep as they contemplate the past, reciting the penitential Psalms, and whose same tear-wet faces shine as they sing of the day when Zion shall be as a garden planted of the Lord, and when the holy hill of the great solemnities shall be the place for the soles of the feet of Him who is their promised King” (Haldeman). If all this became possible under the Turkish government who shall say what shall come to pass if, as now appears most probable, Palestine should become a British or American protectorate! Yes, the rejuvenation of the Jews and their return to Palestine is one of the most striking Signs of the Times. It tells us that the Times of the Gentiles are rapidly drawing to a close. The budding of the Fig-tree evidences that Israel’s summer is nigh at hand and that their Messiah is even at the doors. Let us next consider—
We are well aware that in broaching this point we shall probably evoke the criticism of honored brethren and be charged with “setting a date” for the Return of our Lord. Nevertheless, we feel constrained to set down our honest convictions, only asking our readers to examine in the light of Holy Writ what we now advance tentatively and not dogmatically.
In ancient times it was commonly held by Jewish rabbis before our Lord’s first advent, and by many of the most eminent of the church fathers afterwards, that the Creation week of Genesis one defined the limits of earth’s history. Before we proceed with our argument we shall first quote from three who lived in the second and third centuries, not that we appeal to them as authorities, but simply to show that the view was commonly held in the century which immediately followed the apostles and before the Blessed Hope was lost.
In the thirteenth chapter of the apocryphal Epistle of Barnabas, written about 150 A.D., we read—“God made in six days the works of His hands, and He finished them the seventh day, and He rested the seventh day and sanctified it. Consider, my children, what this signifies: He finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this: that in six thousand years the Lord will bring all things to an end. For with Him one day is a thousand years, as Himself testifieth. Therefore, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years—Shall all things be accomplished. And what is that He saith, And He rested the seventh day? He meaneth this: that when His Son shall come, and abolish the season of the wicked one, and judge the ungodly, and shall change the sun, moon and stars, then He shall gloriously rest in that seventh day. ** Behold, He will then truly sanctify it with blessed rest, when we (having received the righteous promise, when iniquity shall be no more, all things being renewed by the Lord) shall be able to sanctify it, being ourselves first made holy.”
Next we quote from the writings of the distinguished Irenaeus who was a disciple of Polycarp, who, in turn, was a disciple of John the apostle. It has been said that “for learning, steadfastness and zeal, he was amongst the most renowned of the early fathers.” Consider then his testimony—“In whatever number of days the world was created, in the same number of thousands of years it will come to its consummation. God, on the sixth day, finished the works which He made; and God rested on the seventh day from all His works. This is a history of the past and a prophecy of the future; for a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.” Similarly, Cyprian, bishop of Carthage, who was martyred in the year 258, wrote—“In the Divine arrangement of the world, seven days were at first employed, and in them seven thousand years were included.”
It may be objected to the above quotations that they are merely the opinions and speculations of fallible men, and that their views find no warrant in the Word of God. It is true that they were the beliefs of eminent saints, beliefs which were shared by many of God’s people in ancient times, and it is also true that this appeal to antiquity is no proof of the authenticity of the view we now advocate; but to say that it is has no warrant in God’s Word is more than we are prepared to admit, yea, as we shall seek to show there is not a little in the Scriptures which seems to countenance and confirm it.
First, we would appeal to the Septenary system of the sacred calendar of Israel. Here we cannot do better than quote from the late Dr. Johnson—“Through the whole Scripture, both of the Old and New Testaments, there is a striking typical representation of some great and important Sabbath, as a great septenary that has not yet taken place, and which evidently appears to be the Millenarian Septenary, as the great Sabbath of the whole earth. God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it. In the Decalogue this peculiar distinguishment of the seventh day, or weekly sabbath, was most solemnly renewed. Every seventh year was appointed a sabbatical year. And the commencement of the year of jubilee which was every fiftieth year, was to be fixed by the running of a septenary of sabbatical years. “Thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years, and the space of the seven sabbaths of years shall be unto thee forty and nine years” (
Second; God is a God of order. In Scripture, in creation and in history, we find innumerable evidences that God works according to a mathematical plan. Numerical design is stamped upon all His handiwork. This fact is so freely recognized that we need not pause to illustrate. What we would now ask is, Is it likely that in His great dispensational plan He has departed from His general rule? We cannot believe it. But we are not left to bare conjecture. That part of God’s age plan which is already before us gives plain intimation that He who knows the end from the beginning and has “framed the ages” (
Third; we would here call attention to a statement made in connection with the resurrection of Lazarus. In
If further proof be required to show that our Lord will be absent from the earth “two days” (two thousand years) we have another typical hint in
Fourth; in
Fifth; as we have pointed out in an earlier chapter, the Transfiguration upon the holy mount was a seventh day scene. Matthew says, “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them” (
Sixth; the Millennium is distinctly termed “a Sabbath-keeping”—
Seventh, whatever may be thought of what we have advanced above, personally, we know of nothing whatever in Scripture which contradicts it. It is true that
“In six days the Lord made heaven and earth.”
“On the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
“One day is with the Lord as a thousand years.”
“There remaineth therefore a keeping of Sabbath to the people of God.” (Quoted from “The Last Times” by J. A. Seiss).
What then is the practical value of this computation? This, that it furnishes us with another proof that the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. No doubt there is Divine design about the present confusion in human chronology. It is impossible for us to ascertain with certainty the precise year of grace in which we are now living. But it is almost certain, as certain as any human calculation can be, that the year 5900 A.M. was passed considerably more than a decade ago, and therefore less than a century is now required to complete the sixth millennium. The end of the sixth day is nigh at hand, and as we know that the Tribulation period which follows the Rapture will last at least seven years and probably much longer, then the descent of Christ into the air to catch up His saints to Himself is that much nearer still. Let it be distinctly understood that the period of “two days” when our Lord is absent, has to do with His absence from the earth and that His coming back to the earth at the close of the 6000 years to usher in the Millennium follows some years after the first stage of His second advent, so that in no sense are we “fixing a date” for the coming of Christ for His saints—the date of that event is absolutely “hidden in God.” Yet, as we say, we know that the approximate time this must be very near, because at the close of the present century (and how far this century has progressed we cannot say for certain) the Millennium itself will begin, and before that arrives there is the Tribulation period which may last forty or even seventy years. Consider now—
That there will be a close analogy between the first and second Advents of our Lord is intimated by two Scriptures which contain a similar expression. In
The coming of Christ to this earth was not some sudden, isolated, unexpected event. The advent of our blessed Lord, and with it the dawn of Christianity, marked a climax and a consummation. The world was prepared through long processes for the coming of the one and the preaching of the other. From Paradise to Bethlehem the centuries were preparing for the appearing of Emmanuel. As the processes of creation prepared the earth for man, so all history prepared the way for the birth of the Saviour. The Holy Scriptures focus the preparation in one race, but all peoples shared in the process. Outside of the elect, God was at work, and all streams converged to one center.
If we look closely at the character of the age when Christ was born, we may, in some measure at least, understand the “fullness” of which
The century immediately preceding our Lord’s advent was probably the most remarkable in all history. Everything was in a state of transition. Old things were passing away and there seemed little prospect that they would give birth to a better and brighter future. The fruit of the ancient order was rotting upon the tree without yielding the seeds of a new order. And yet there were strange rumors of coming relief afloat, and singular hopes stirred the hearts of men that some Great One was to appear and renovate the world. But to particularize—
The world had reached its climacteric of sin.
History has given a faithful record of the terrible moral conditions which obtained among men in the century which immediately preceded our Lord’s appearing. At Rome, which was then the metropolis of the world, the Court of Caesar was steeped in luxury and licentiousness. To provide amusement for his senators, six hundred gladiators fought a hand to hand conflict in the public theater. Not to be outdone, Pompey turned five hundred lions into the arena to engage an equal number of his braves, and delicate ladies (?) sat applauding and gloating over the flow of blood that followed. At this period children were the property of the State, to be disposed of as was deemed best for the public interests. Weak and sickly infants were looked upon as a useless encumbrance and generally suffered an early and cruel death. The aged and infirm were often banished to an island of the Tiber, there to starve out their few remaining days. Marriage, if such this holy institution could then be called, was wholly a matter of sensual caprice. Divorces were so common and frequent that it became the custom for women to count them by the number of rings worn on their fingers. Almost two-thirds of the population of the entire civilized (?) world were computed to have been slaves. Those who were in this unhappy situation were treated with the utmost cruelty. Their masters had absolute power over them and were permitted to scourge or put them to death at pleasure. This right was exercised in the most merciless manner. When punished capitally slaves were generally crucified. So wretched was the lot of mankind that the sanest of the philosophers of that time calmly advocated suicide as the best way of escape from the miseries of life.
Conditions in Greece were even worse. Sensual indulgence and every species of cruelty were carried to the highest pitch. Eating, or we should say, gluttony, became the chief occupation, everything being ransacked to gratify the appetite. Fornication was indulged without restraint. Parents were at liberty to expose their children to perish with cold and hunger or to be eaten up by wild beasts. Such exposure was frequently practiced and passed without punishment or censure. Wars were carried on with the utmost ferocity. If any of the vanquished escaped death slavery of the most abject kind was the only prospect before them and in consequence death was considered preferable to capture. The nature of their conflicts then can well be imagined. The Greeks commonly sacrificed their captives at the tombs of their heroes. With what truth then did the Scriptures declare that, “the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty”!
We say then, the world had reached its climacteric of sin. Often-times a disease cannot be treated until it ‘comes to a head.’ In view of the above conditions surely the world was ready for the appearing of the Great Physician, and surely we can now discover a deeper meaning in the words, “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth His Son.”
The world had reached its consummation of Want.
It had been predicted of old that the Messiah should be “the Desire of all nations,” and to this end there must be a complete exposure of the failure of all human plans of deliverance. This time had fully come when Christ was born. Never before had the abject misery and need of men been so apparent and so extensive. Philosophy had lost its power to satisfy men, and the old religions were dead.
The Greeks and Romans, stood at the head of the nations at the time our Lord appeared on the earth, and the religious state of these people in that age is too well known to require any lengthy description from us. Without exception all were idolaters. The fundamental truth of the Unity of God was held by the Jews alone. Among the heathen, Polytheism and Pantheism were the popular concepts. Innumerable deities were worshipped and to these deities were attributed the most abominable characteristics. Pagan worshipers represented their gods as guilty of drunkenness, thefts, quarrels and incest. Mercury was a thief; Bacchus a drunkard; Venus was a harlot; and Saturn murdered his own children. The worship of their devotees entirely correspond with the characters their gods bore. Human sacrifices were frequently offered upon their altars.
Among the Romans, infidelity and atheism were rampant. The altars were forsaken and the temples were deserted. The general skepticism of his countrymen seems to have been voiced by the bitter words of Pilate—“What is truth?”
Judaism was also fully ripe for the accomplishment of ancient prophecy. Sadduceeism had leavened the ruling classes and afflicted the whole nation with rationalism. Phariseeism, which represented the ideas and ideals of the popular party, was too often only formal and hypocritical, and at best was cold and hard “binding heavy burdens” and laying on men’s shoulders a load which they refused to touch with their fingers (
History repeats itself. As it was in connection with the first advent so it is concerning the second. Just as there was a definite and unmistakable movement in all history preparing the way for the Dispensation of Grace, so is there a similar one going on now making ready the world for the Millennium. Just as the world’s urgent need was fully demonstrated before the Saviour appeared among men, so shall it also be ere He comes back as the Prince of Peace to take the government upon His shoulder. And to those who have “understanding of the times,” to those whose eyes are not blinded by the glare of a false and foolish optimism, it is evident that the “fullness of times” is rapidly drawing nigh, yea, that it is already almost upon us.
History is repeating itself. Conditions in the world today more closely resemble those which obtained just before the first coming of Christ, than have those of any other generation since then. Today the same luxury and licentiousness; the same skepticism and credulity; the same coldness and formality among those who profess to be God’s people; the same lack of natural affection toward children and disrespect for the aged; the same military spirit and lust for blood, followed now by the enslaving of the conquered—deportation of the Belgians. The need of the world for a competent and righteous Ruler was never so apparent as now. The “Dispensation of the fullness of times” must be at hand. As all History prepared the world for our Lord’s first advent, so it is now “making straight His way” for His second coming, when He shall be seen not in a manger but on a throne of Glory; not as the victim, but as the Victor.
But we must restrain our pen and conclude in few words. We have examined many Scriptures, we have listened to the evidence of numerous witnesses, we have compared sundry and independent lines of prophecy, and we have found that they harmonize in their testimony, that they are mutually corroborative, that each sustains the truthfulness of the others, that singly and unitedly they affirm with voice loud and clear “the Coming of the Lord draweth nigh!” Never before did the Church of God gaze upon such a constellation of Signs attesting the near approach of the Redeemer, as it does today. Never before was there such unmistakable demonstration that this Gospel age is rapidly drawing to a close. Never before was there such reason for the sinner to heed that word “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; Call ye upon Him while He is near.” And never before was there such urgent need for believers to obey that admonition—“Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning: and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord”(
We come now to a phase of our subject which has given rise to much controversy. Sad it is that the “Blessed Hope” should have been an occasion for contention. But, just as men have divided into different camps over every fundamental doctrine of Scripture, so have sides been taken in regard to various points which bear upon our Lord’s Return. Alas! “What is man?” Surely “an enemy hath done this.” One of the points upon which Bible teachers and students are divided is that of the scope of the Rapture. Some have taught that at our Lord’s descent into the air all of His saints will be caught up to meet Him; while others insist that only a small part of the Church will be removed from the earth at that time—that part which is obedient, faithful, spiritual. Thus, translation to heaven at the second coming of Christ is made a matter of merit and reward.
What saith the Scriptures? Do they teach a partial or a total rapture of the Church which is Christ’s body? Do they declare that all believers will be removed from earth at the time our Lord descends from His Father’s throne, or, that only a few of them will? Clearly, they cannot teach both, and surely a matter of such moment is not left indeterminable. We cannot believe that a question of such importance is left an open one. Yet, we are not unmindful of the fact that the advocates of each position referred to above, appeal to the Word in support of their views. But just here we would ask, Are the Scriptures pressed into service really relevant to the point at issue, and will they actually bear the interpretation which is given them?
What saith the Scriptures? and particularly, What is the explicit teaching the the Church Epistles? If we are seeking to find the inspired answer to the question, Will the whole Church or only a part of it, escape the judgments of the Great Tribulation? then, surely, it is to the Church Epistles we must turn for information. We are not here arguing that there are no Scriptures which treat of the first stage of Christ’ second coming outside of the Church Epistles, for doubtless there are—for example
To one who is a beginner in the study of Dispensational truth and is unacquainted with human writings upon the second coming of Christ, the teaching of the Church Epistles on this subject appears to be simple and harmonious. Those passages which deal at greatest length with the return of our Lord and the taking of His people to be with Himself, seem to set forth no limitations in regard to the number of the saints which shall be translated. Such expressions as, “The dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (
What then saith the Scriptures and what is the testimony of the Church Epistles? The present writer believes there can be only one answer to this question, namely, that every member of Christ’s body will be raptured at the time our great Head comes to conduct His blood-bought people to His Father’s House. We believe this, not only because a number of Scriptures expressly affirm it, but also because some of the great basic principles which underlie both the Gospel, and what is known as “Church truth,” demand this conclusion and repudiate the other alternative. We would now humbly submit to the prayerful and careful attention of our readers some of the grounds for our belief in a total rather than in a partial rapture of the Church which, in faithfulness to our apprehension of God’s Truth on this subject, we must denominate the partial-rapture theory.
The advocates of the partial-rapture theory declare that only those who are intelligently and eagerly looking for the Lord will be caught up at His return. They affirm that none save those who are walking worthily and who are faithful to the end will be taken to be with the Lord when He descends into the air, and that only such, will, subsequently, “reign” with Him during the millennial era. They teach that all un-spiritual believers will be left behind on earth to suffer the judgments of the Great Tribulation. As a consequence, not a few of the Lord’s people have been harassed and distressed, fearful lest they should be among the number who are rejected by the Lord at His coming. We are told that none but those who attain some high standard of spirituality will be raptured, but when we ask for a precise definition of this standard none can enlighten us; when we inquire, How faithful and how worthy we must be in order to be among the select company who shall be taken to the Father’s House, none can give us a satisfactory reply. Hence, instead of the Return of our Lord being a blessed hope it becomes a source of bewilderment and anxiety.
It appears to the writer that there is one Scripture which simply and satisfactorily disposes of every objection which can be brought against the affirmation that the entire Body of Christ will be raptured at the appearing of our great Head. We refer to
Again we say, let us settle it once for all that we are living in the Dispensation of Grace (
Our salvation will not be complete until the Return of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the New Testament “salvation” is threefold in its scope—past, present, and future; and it is threefold in its character—from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin, and from the presence of sin. The penalty of sin is “death” (separation from God), and we are delivered from it because our Substitute died for us on the Cross—“Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (
We have thus shown that our salvation will not be consummated until the Return of our blessed Saviour, that not until then shall we be completely “conformed” to the image of God’s Son (
We do not charge the advocates of the partial-rapture theory with intentionally doing this, nay we are fully satisfied that most if not all of them would shrink back in horror from wittingly committing such a sin. Yet, we do say that this is the logical and actual outcome of their teaching. A long drawn-out argument is not needed to prove this after what we have said above under the first two heads. If the Rapture is the consummation of the application of our salvation then anything which makes that salvation, or any part thereof, dependent upon anything in or from us, necessarily attacks the Finished Work of Christ upon which alone our salvation rests.
As we have already said, the Rapture is the time when Christ returns to conduct His blood-bought people to the Father’s House (
The picture that is presented in
We have said above that
The “mystery of lawlessness” (in contrast to “the mystery of godliness,” i.e. “God manifest in the flesh”—
Here then is a simple but conclusive argument which all should be able to grasp. Passing by the question of—How would it be possible for the Holy Spirit to be “taken our of the way” while many of those whom He indwells are left behind on the earth—we would point out the obvious fact that no part of the Church can be left behind on earth at the Return of Christ into the air, or, otherwise, there would still be a hindrance to the consummating of the Mystery of Lawlessness. It is true that during the Tribulation period there will be a godly “Jewish remnant” upon earth, but they will not hinder the final development of “the mystery of lawlessness” and the appearing of the Man of Sin and that for two reasons. First, this “remnant” will not come to the fore with their testimony until some time after the “Son of Perdition” is revealed (quite a number of Scriptures would have to be quoted to prove our assertion, but note the exact point at which the “two witnesses” of
We repeat, at the Rapture and during the Tribulation period everything on earth will be morally and spiritually rotten. Even God’s judgments at that time will have no other effect than to cause earth’s-dwellers to “blaspheme God” (
One of the most blessed, most remarkable and most far reaching utterances which fell from our Lord’s lips while He tabernacled among men is that recorded in
In the above verses an unequivocal assertion is made which requires no great learning to understand. Every believer has been justified by God Himself, justified eternally, justified “from all things” (
To those that believe perhaps the most precious and amazing truth in all God’s Word is Christ’s Love for His own. Unlike human love, His love knows no change. Unlike human love, nothing can separate us from His love—“Who (or “what”) shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For Thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (
The time when our Lord’s Love will be fully exhibited and publicly displayed (before all Heaven’s inhabitants) is that time when He shall rise up from the Father’s Throne where He is now seated. Then it will be that he shall descend from heaven with a “shout.” What will occasion this “shout”? What is it that He is descending for? Is it that He may return to the earth and take its government upon His shoulder? Is it that He may be coronated the King of kings? Is it that He may vanquish His blatant enemies? Is it that He may bind that old Serpent the Devil? No; important as these may be, there is something else which must take the precedence; there is something else which lies much nearer to His blessed heart. He descend to receive to Himself His blood-bought people. Why? Because He loves them. He comes for that Church which He loved and for which He gave Himself in order “that He might present it (not a part of it) to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing: but that it should be holy and without blemish” (
We shall not now attempt to argue at length what is a matter of common observation. One of the favorite devices of the Enemy is to get the believer occupied with something other than Christ who is “Our Hope.” And, let us say it with emphasis, Satan cares not what that “something” may be, providing it shuts out our blessed Lord. This is his favorite device for the sinner. While ever the sinner is taken up with his own works of righteousness, the Finished Work of Christ is excluded from his vision. So it is with the believer. We are bidden to “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God” (
The life-task of the believer—blessed privilege—was defined by the Lord Himself in that word to Martha, “But one thing is needful” (
The leading advocates of the partial-rapture theory teach that all believers who fail to come to the standard necessary for participation in the Rapture will not only be left behind on earth to suffer the judgments of the Great Tribulation but that such will have no part or place in the Millennial kingdom, and therefore that they will not be raised from the dead until after the thousand years. The present argument will not apply against those who hold to a modified view, of a resurrection of the left-behind believers at the close of the Tribulation period.
Again. During the Tribulation period there will be on earth a Jewish remnant who will cry unto God in the language of the Imprecatory Psalms. These Jews, harassed by the Anti-christ and persecuted by his followers, will cry—“Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth” (
The truth is that partial-rapturist’s confound entrance into the Kingdom with position of honor in it. All believers who belong to this Dispensation will partake of the blessedness of the Millennial era and will reign with Christ throughout it, but all will not be on the same level. Special positions of honor will be allotted to those who have qualified themselves for such (
In
In
In
In
How could there be? Scripture cannot contradict itself. If the Pauline Epistles explicitly teach and expressly affirm that “all shall be changed in a moment,” that “they that are Christ’s at His coming shall be raised from the dead, that “we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ” and that when our lord returns to the earth to be glorified in His saints He shall be “admired in all them that believe” then these same Church Epistles cannot teach that a part of the Church only shall be taken to be with the Lord, that merely a favored selection from among His people shall be conducted by Him to the Father’s House, and that the remainder shall be left behind on the earth to suffer the judgments of the Great Tribulation or be left in their graves until the close of the Millennium. Even though there should be certain passages which seem to teach or imply a partial rapture we know that it cannot be so, and that is is we who fail to expound these passages in harmony with those which positively teach a total rapture of the Church.
It is a fundamental principle of Scriptural interpretation that whenever God’s Word speaks plainly and emphatically on any subject that obscure passages which treat of the same theme must be explained in accord with those passages about which there is no dubiety. For example, when we hear our Lord saying “My sheep shall never perish” etc. then we know that in such passages as those of
“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead” (
In
Further. In
But further still. Death did not retain Christ. He rose again, and in the reckoning of God I rose too, for all believers were identified (reckoned one with) with Christ in His resurrection, so that it is written, “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins (spiritually, and therefore, judicially), hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ” (
Every believer in Christ has “died to sin,” died judicially not experimentally, died in the sight of God because he was “crucified with Christ.” Here then is where faith comes in. God says I am“dead to sin” (
Returning now to
“If by any means I might attain unto the out-resurrection from among the dead” (
Note the apostle speaks of “the prize of the high calling” which is quite distinct from the “high-calling” itself. The “high-calling of God in Christ Jesus” is the judicial position which is occupied by every believer. It is to this the apostle referred when he said, “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation(the “high-calling”) wherewith ye are called”(
What will take place when our Lord comes back again to receive His blood-bought people unto Himself? What will be His portion and what will be their portion in that happy day? What will be the results of Christ’s second advent insofar as they affect the Church? We say “the Church,” though it would be more accurate to speak of the saints, for Old Testament believers equally with the New Testament believers, will share in the wondrous blessings and glories of that glad occasion. How then will the Redeemer’s return affect the redeemed? We leave for consideration in our next chapter the question of the worldward results of Christ’s second advent. For the present, we confine ourselves to the results, Chruchward, of the Saviour’s appearing. What will these be? What will be the order of events? Surely these questions are of entrancing interest and profound importance. And blessed be God, they are not left unanswered. It is true that the Holy Scriptures were not written to gratify an idle curiosity, and that many questions which engage our minds are passed over in silence; nevertheless, upon everything that concerns our vital interests sufficient has been revealed to satisfy every trusting heart.
Were we to attempt an exhaustive reply to the questions asked above, we should be carried far beyond the limits of a comparatively brief chapter. All we shall now essay will be to present to our readers an outline which sets forth the most prominent features of this phase of our subject as they are unfolded in the Word of God. Seven items will engage our attention, namely:—The descent from Heaven of the Lord Himself, The Resurrection of the sleeping saints, the Translation of living believers, the Transformation of every saint into the image of our glorified Saviour, the Examination and Rewarding of our works, the Presentation of the Church by Christ unto Himself, and the Manifestation of the Church with Christ in glory. May the One who has been given to take of the things of Christ and shew them unto us, illumine our understandings and draw out our hearts in adoring worship.
The one Scripture which sets forth more fully than any other the order of events which shall occur at the Redeemer’s return for His saints, is found in
“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.” The Lord Himself—who had compassion on the multitude, shed tears at the graveside of Lazarus, and wept over Jerusalem; who healed the sick, cleansed the leper, and restored the dead to life; who stilled the angry waves, cast out demons, and emancipated the captives of Satan; who was despised and rejected of men, condemned to a malefactor’s death, and was crucified on the accursed tree; who rose again on the third day, ascended to heaven, and took His place at the right hand of the Majesty on high; who has been given the Name which is above every name, at which Name every knee shall yet bow, “of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” Yes “this same Jesus” shall descend from heaven with a shout.
Forty days after our Crucified Saviour had risen from the tomb, He ascended into Heaven “far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come,” and took His seat upon the Father’s Throne. There He has remained throughout this dispensation waiting, patiently waiting for the promised harvest. As He declared, “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit” (
For nineteen long centuries has the Christ of God waited for the fruit of His travail. As the apostle James says, “Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it” (
“The Lord Himself shall descend.” Unspeakably precious is this word to the hearts of His own. Christ is coming in person to effect the object which He has in view. The joy of welcoming His blood-bought people must be exclusively His own. Angels cannot be commissioned to perform it, as will be the case when He gathers His scattered people Israel (see
“And the dead in Christ shall rise first.” This is the second blessed event which shall occur at the Redeemer’s return—the sleeping saints will be awakened and raised. This brings us to a branch of our subject upon which there is much ignorance and confusion in Christendom generally. The idea which popularly obtains is that of a general resurrection at the end of time. So deeply rooted is this belief and so widely is it held that to declare there will be two resurrections—one of saints and another of sinners, the two being separated by a thousand years—is to be regarded as a setter forth of strange ideas and extravagant fancies. Nevertheless, the teaching of Scripture upon this point is exceedingly plain and explicit. Probably many of those who will read these pages are already clear upon this distinction, but the sake of those who are not we must briefly outline the teaching of God’s Word upon this subject, first quoting, however, from one whose writings have been justly esteemed by Christians of every shade of thought.
John Bunyan who was certainly a close student of the Divine Oracles wrote, “Now when the saints that sleep shall be raised thus incorruptible, powerful, glorious and spiritual; and also those that then shall be found alive, made like them; then forthwith, before the unjust are raised, the saints shall appear before the judgment-seat of the Lord Jesus Christ, there to give an account to their Lord the Judge of all things they have done; and to receive a reward for their good according to their labor. They shall rise, I say, before the wicked, they being themselves the proper “children of the resurrection,” that is, those that must have all the glory of it, both as to preeminency, and sweetness; and, therefore, they are said, when they rise, to rise from the dead; that is, in their rising, they leave the reprobate world behind them. And it must be so, because also the saints will have done their account, and be set upon the throne with Christ as kings and priests with Him to judge the world, when the wicked world are raised.”
But without citing human testimony any further, let us turn to the teaching of Christ and the inspired writings of His apostles. On one occasion the Lord said, “But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed if there is to be but one resurrection—a general resurrection of all the dead—then why did our Lord make the above distinction and qualification of “the resurrection of the just”? Again, in
The testimony of the apostolic Epistles is in strict harmony with the teaching of our Lord recorded in the four Gospels. In
One other Scripture yet remains to be considered, namely
“Then we which are alive and remain (on the earth) shall be caught up together with them (the resurrected ones) in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” In connection with this statement we would call attention to another Scripture which at first sight appears to have no bearing upon it at all. We refer to the words of our Lord recorded in
It is often said, “There are many things in this life which are uncertain, but one thing is sure: we must all die; we must all pay nature’s debt.” Nothing is more common than to hear such affirmations as these which set death before the believer as his inevitable prospect. Such assertions are regarded as axiomatic. Frequently they are repeated from the pulpit. But not so do the Scriptures teach. The Word of God distinctly declares, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (
The prospect which God’s Word sets before every believer is the imminent return of Christ. Not a dread anticipation of death, but “looking for the Saviour” is to be our daily occupation. Translation to Heaven and not the grave is our goal. That is why it is termed “that blessed hope,” and that is why we are said to be “begotten again unto a living hope”—a living hope in a dying scene. This hope was active in the hearts of the first-century saints. The Thessalonians had “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.” They were waiting for Christ not death. Observe that in our text the apostle includes himself among the number of those who might be alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s second advent—“Then we (not “ye”) which are alive and remain shall be caught up;” and again, “We shall not all sleep.” The beloved apostle was not looking the “the king of terrors” but for “the King of Glory.”
A striking illustration and type of the removal to heaven of those believers which shall be on the earth at the time of our Lord’s return is found in the rapture of Enoch, “By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him” (
“To meet the Lord in the air. Why should the Church meet the Lord in “the air,” rather than on the earth? We would suggest a twofold reason. First, Because the Church is heavenly not earthly. It is heavenly in its origin (
“And so shall we ever be with the Lord,” which, as we have seen corresponds with His own blessed promise, “That where I am there ye may be also.” Wondrous privilege! Marvelous prospect! Truly, such love “passeth knowledge.” The place which is due to the Son is the same place which shall be accorded the sons. We are made “joint heirs with Christ.” His inheritance and blessedness shall be shared with His redeemed. He shall come Himself to conduct us to His place! But are we, shall we be, fit, to dwell in such a realm? The answer to this question leads us to consider,
In the beginning, man was made in the image and likeness of God, but sin came in and as the consequence that image has been defaced and that likeness marred. Has then the purpose of Jehovah been thwarted? Not so: “The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever” (
In
Physical transformation is not all that awaits the believer. At our Lord’s return there will be a mental, moral and spiritual transformation too. In
“We shall be like Him.” Who dare limit this exceeding great and precious promise? “Like Him” physically, for our vile body shall then be “fashioned like unto His glorious body.” “Like Him” mentally! Today we are very unlike Him mentally: our minds now are often harassed with evil thoughts, they are clouded and darkened by the effects of the Fall, and are subject to many limitations; but when Christ appears that which is “perfect” shall come and then, no longer shall we see through a glass darkly and know in part, but we shall know as we are known. We shall be “like Him” morally and spiritually. Sin will be erased from our beings; every trace and effect of the Fall shall be eradicated from our persons. Then will God’s predestinating purpose be fully realized. Then shall we be completely “conformed to the image of His Son.” Blessed transformation! Glorious prospect! We shall be like Him.
“Behold, I come quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (
But are we not told in
In the second place, the purpose of the appearing of believers “before the Bema of Christ” is not to test their title and fitness for Heaven, but in order that their works may be examined and their service rewarded. A Scripture which throws much light upon this is to be found in
When the Lord returns, every servant will be called upon to give an account of his stewardship. Notice will be taken of how our talents were employed and how our time was redeemed. The whole life of the believer will be examined in detail in the light of the Throne and his deeds measured by the Divine standard. Words spoken now and actions performed in this world, will then be weighed in the Balances of the Sanctuary. Things will then be seen in their true colors and labeled at their real worth by the impartial hand of the Omniscient Christ.
The difference between the two classes of materials mentioned in the above Scripture points to a most solemn truth. “Gold, silver, precious stones are of intrinsic value, whereas “wood, hay, stubble” are a natural growth. In Scripture “gold” symbolizes the Divine nature, “silver” Divine redemption, and “precious stones” the Divine glory. Those works of the believer which have issued from the Divine nature within us, are based upon Christ’s redemption, and have been performed for God’s glory, will receive reward; but those which were wrought by those who felt they must do something, those performed in the energy of the flesh, those done merely for self-aggrandisement will all be burned up. What a conflagration there will be in that day! What surprises there will be at the Bema of Christ! An hundred-dollar subscription, given to get a name, will be ashes in that day; while a dime given to help the poor for the Lord’s sake will receive an imperishable reward.
No work done out of love for Christ will lose its reward. “For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward His name, in that ye have ministered to the saints” (
The subject of rewards is a wide one and we can only deal briefly with it here. Four crowns are mentioned in the New Testament: the Incorruptible crown (
The prospect of our manifestation before the Bema of Christ is both joyous and solemn. It is “joyous” because it is then that everything will come out into the light and all misunderstandings will be cleared up; because everything which will not endure the Divine test will be “burned up;” and because every work which was done with an eye single to God’s glory will receive commendation from our blessed Lord Himself. It is “solemn” because then it will be seen how much of our work was nothing but “wood, hay, and stubble;” because we shall then discover how sadly we had failed to “redeem the time;” and because we shall “suffer loss.” Ah! my brethren it behooves us to live in the light of that day now so near at hand. Let our chief ambition be that all we say and do shall meet with the approval of our Lord at the Bema. Yes, the contemplation of the Bema is solemn and searching. He who has lived in selfish ease and carnal gratification will be the loser throughout all eternity. But he who has “denied himself” out of love for and gratitude to the Saviour, shall yet hear His “Well done” and enter into His joy.
When every saint of God shall have been made like Christ, made “like Him” physically, mentally, morally and spiritually, and after each individual’s life and works have been examined before the Bema, then is the Church publicly presented and
Another Scripture which tells of the presentation of the Church is to be found in
Closely connected with the public Presentation of the Church is,
The last time the world saw the Lord Jesus He was alone—all alone in death. But when He returns to this earth He will not be alone. His saints will accompany Him. He is the “Firstborn among many brethren” (
“The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with Him, that we may also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (
These are the Results of the Redeemer’s Return as they affect the Church—results in part for the half hath not been told. The Lord Himself descends from Heaven with a shout, awakening the sleeping saints and translating them together with living believers, to meet Him in the air. Then, all are conformed to the image of God’s Son and made “like Him.” Next, the saints appear before the Bema that their works may be examined and their service rewarded. Finally, as Christ prepares to return to the earth, He sets the Church, now glorious within and without, alongside of Himself, and as He appears before the eyes of the world the Church appears with Him, to be the object of never-ending wonderment and admiration as it is seen what great things the Lord hath wrought for those who were by nature children of wrath and deserving of nought but eternal condemnation. In view of such a prospect must we not long for God to hasten the glad day of our Lord’s return, and are we not compelled to cry “Even so, Come, Lord Jesus”!
In the last chapter we considered seven of the Churchward Results of the Redeemer’s Return. We saw that the One who left His disciples almost nineteen centuries ago, is coming back again, that the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout; that this Shout will be heard by all the saints whether alive on the earth or asleep in their graves, and that at the time He gives this Shout our Lord will exert a miraculous “drawing” power which shall “catch up” His people unto Himself so that they meet Him in the air, after which they come before the Bema in order that their works may be examined and their service rewarded; subsequently, after an interval of seven years or more, the Lord returns to the earth accompanied by His people in glory. It is concerning the Interval which follows the Rapture and some of the things which shall occur during this period of time which are now to engage our attention. What is to take place on earth after the Church has been removed from it? What are the conditions that will obtain in this world during the interval which divides the two stages in the second advent of Christ? What is the course of events which shall culminate in the Return of the Redeemer to the Mount of Olives to usher in the long-promised Millennium? The Scriptures which make answer to these questions are exceedingly numerous and our chief difficulty is to select and classify.
What will occur on earth after the saints have been removed? In seeking to summarize the predictions which bear upon this time, we shall confine ourselves again to seven of the most prominent items, namely, the Consternation of the world at the removal of the Church, the Hopeless condition of those left behind, God’s dealings with the earth in judgment, the character and career of the Antichrist, the situation of the Jews during this period, the Battle of Armageddon, and the Return of Christ to the earth itself. Before we study these seriatim, a further word or two is necessary to prepare the reader for what follows.
The length of time which separates between the secret coming of Christ to the air for the purpose of catching up His people and His subsequent and public return to the earth itself is not clearly defined in Scripture. It is certain, however, that this interval will last at least seven years and if, as the writer believes and an increasing number of prophetic students conclude, a goodly proportion of the Jews are to return to Palestine, if their Temple in Jerusalem is to be re-built, if Babylon is to be restored until it becomes again the metropolis of the world, then it will last much longer, possibly seventy years in all. For the sake of convenience we shall refer to this interval as the Tribulation period, though to be strictly accurate the “great Tribulation” is but three and a half years in length, the final three and a half years before the Lord Jesus returns to the earth.
Anyone who has given himself at all seriously to the study of Prophecy will immediately recognize the difficulty of seeking to arrange in chronological order the things which are shortly coming to pass. Concerning the exact sequence of details we cannot be absolutely dogmatic, but so far as the general outline is in question that is plain. With these explanatory remarks let us now turn directly to the subject before us. And,
One can better imagine than describe the awe-inspiring effect upon the world which will be occasioned by the secret removal of the Church. We say “secret removal” for we know of nothing in Scripture which intimates that our Lord’s Shout shall be heard by any save His own people, and judging from the analogies furnished by the cases of the translation of Enoch and Elijah nothing will be known of the Church’s rapture until after it has occurred. That the world will not witness the catching up of believers to meet their Saviour in the air seems to be further borne out by the fact that their translation and transformation will be so swiftly accomplished that it is all said to occur “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye.” We take it then that the removal of the Church will be both sudden and secret.
Some day in the near future, how near none can say, but probably in the lifetime of the present generation, the world will awaken to find that a most startling phenomenon has occurred. A large number of their fellow-men and women will have mysteriously disappeared, leaving no traces behind them! In many a home there will be more than one vacant chair. In many an office and store there will be vacant stools. From every walk of life there will be taken those who “Chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season: esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of the world: for they had respect unto the recompense of the reward” (
What will happen when Christendom awakens to the solemn fact that the real Church, the Church of God, has been removed from this earth and taken to be with the Lord? Again we say, it is not difficult for our imagination to supply the answer. But we are not left to the exercise of our imagination; the Holy Scriptures contain a plain and full reply to our inquiry. The Word of God intimates that following the Rapture of the saints many of the left-behind ones will earnestly seek the salvation of their souls. Multitudes of men and women will, for the first time in their lives, all upon the name of the Lord and cry unto Him for mercy. But their cry will not be heard. Their seeking will be in vain, because they have delayed the all-important matter of their salvation until it is too late. The door of mercy will then be closed, for the Day of Salvation will have ended. Often had these left-behind ones been warned, but in vain. Servants of God had faithfully set before them their imperative need of fleeing from the wrath to come; knowing the terror of the Lord, they had sought to persuade their unsaved hearers to be reconciled to God, only to be laughed at for their pains. And now the tables will be turned. God will laugh at them, laugh at their calamity and mock at their fear. Listen to the solemn declaration of Holy Writ—“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; But ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then they shall call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: They would none of My counsel: they despised all My reproof. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.” (
Parallel with this solemn declaration is the Old Testament Scriptures we find our Lord Himself testified, “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able when once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye being to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying Lord, Lord, open unto us; and He shall answer and say unto you, I know ye not whence ye are” (
The interval of time which separates the removal of the Church from the earth to the return of Christ to it, is variously designated in the Word of God. It is spoken of as “the day of vengeance” (
Yes, my reader, you are living in a world which is stained with the blood of God’s own Son, and which in the sight of Heaven now lies beneath the guilt of that terrible crime, a crime which each new generation since then has perpetuated by “Crucifying to themselves the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame” (
No less than thirteen chapters—
“And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creators say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny” (
“And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword; and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth” (
“And I beheld when he opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; and the stars of heaven fell upon the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places” (
A similar picture of the Divine judgments which will be inflicted at this time is furnished by the prophet Isaiah, “Behold the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate. And He shall utterly destroy the sinners out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of His fierce anger” (
What shall be the effect of all this? Let us return to
Above, we have reviewed only down to the end of the sixth “Seal” judgment. There is a seventh which is itself divided into the seven “Trumpet” judgments, the seventh of which is again divided, divided into the seven “Vial” judgments. Little does the world dream of what is coming upon it. The present war with all its horrors gives but a faint conception of what will shortly come to pass on this earth. Not only will peace be entirely removed from the earth, not only will all Nature be convulsed by the outpouring of God’s wrath, but the Bottomless Pit will be opened and out of it shall issue two hundred millions of supernatural locusts, having tails like scorpions and stings in their tails, and for five months they will “torment” those who have not been destroyed by the previous plagues. The torment inflicted by these infernal creatures will be so unendurable, that we are told “And in those days shall men seek death.” But mark the still more awful sequel—“and shall not find it: and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them”(
Who is the Anti-christ?
Varied and wild have been the answers to this question. In pre-christian times there were many who regarded Antiochus Epiphanes as the one whom Daniel and the other prophets described. At the beginning of this dispensation Nero was looked upon as the predicted Man of Sin. After the Reformation the Papacy was selected as the fulfiller of the prophecies given through the Patmos seer. And in our day there have been those who consider the Kaiser to be the Son of Perdition. It cannot be denied that each of these infamous characters have manifested various characteristics which will yet be fully displayed by the Anti-christ, yet, they none of them match complete the delineation of the Man of Sin which is given in the prophetic word. There is one Scripture which is quite sufficient to prove that none of those mentioned above are the Anti-christ, a Scripture, moreover, which makes it certain that he has not yet been revealed, and cannot be revealed until after the Rapture of the Church. We refer to
Who is the Anit-christ? Having shown who cannot have been the Anti-christ, let us now consider the positive answer to our question. In the first place, he will be a man, a real man, just as truly man as the Son of God was the Son of Man. The Anti-christ is termed “The Man of Sin” (
There are at least three Scriptures which prove the super-human character of the Anti-christ. The first is found in
The second Scripture which proves that the Anti-christ will be super-human, the offspring of Satan, is found in
Who is the Anti-christ? He will be a man, a Jew, a supernatural being, the “Seed” of the Serpent, the Son of Perdition. Where is he today? It is possible that even now he may be on the earth, though personally we hardly think this is likely. But if he is not yet born then the unequivocal answer is, He is in the Abyss or Bottomless Pit (
Who was Judas Iscariot? He was the one by whom the Lord of Glory was betrayed. He was a “man” (
Now let us see how Scripture connects the Anti-christ with Judas and shows that they are one and the same person. In the first place, as we have already pointed out, the first reference to “the Beast” (the Anti-christ) in the Revelation is It is further to be noted that the Anti-christ is twice termed “Death and Hades” (
Who is the Anti-christ? We have dwelt upon his mysterious person, and we would now call attention to a number of passages in Scriptures (which the reader will do--will to look up and prayerfully study) in which he is variously denominated and described. He is the “bloody and deceitful man” of
As can be well imagined the Scriptures draw a sharp contrast between Christ and the pseudo Christ. It is remarkable how complete the antithesis is. We give a twelve-fold contrast between their various designations. The one is called the Christ (
Not only do the Scriptures point a complete contrast between Christ and the Anti-christ in their several names and titles but the same is true in regard to their respective characters and careers. Christ came down from heaven (
The remarkable career of the Anti-christ is sketched in a number of different Scriptures, some of which we shall now briefly consider. In
In
To quote now from
In
In
One other Scripture must suffice. In
The last quoted Scripture is a case in point where it is difficult to distinguish between the kingdom and its king, the empire and its emperor. The “beast” which is here seen rising out of the “sea” symbolizes the revival and restoration of the old Roman Empire and corresponds with Daniel’s fourth beast. In Scripture the “sea” figures the restless nations away from God. See “Appendix” P. 397.
We do not now attempt a full interpretation of the symbolical description of the Anti-christ contained in what is said above of the first Beast, a hint here and there is all we shall essay. The Anti-christ will combine in his personality the characteristics of the leopard (beauty and subtlety) of the bear (strength and cruelty), and of the lion (boldness and ferocity). He will be vested with full power and authority from Satan as the Lord Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit. He will compel the admiration of the whole world and will be universally worshipped. He will be a warrior of international renown and none will be able to resist his terrible power. But his career will be cut short: after his rise to full power only forty-two months, or three and a half years, will be allowed him by God.
Putting together the various Scriptures at which we have little more than glanced, we learn that the Anti-christ will be a supernatural being—the Son of Perdition; that he will be revealed subsequent to the departure of the Holy Spirit from the earth (which occurs at the Rapture of the saints); that he will be the greatest soul-destroyer that has ever trod this earth. He will be the Super-Man for whom the world is already looking. He will personify all the godless culture of the last days, and will be endowed with a supernatural wisdom. He will be the consummation of vileness—“the Wicked One;” he will be the personification of evil—“the Man of Sin;” he will be the incarnation of the Devil—“the Son of Perdition.” He will pose as the Christ of God and will substantiate his claims by performing wonderful miracles. He will be welcomed and cordially received by all Christendom. He will utterly deceive the majority of the Jews who will hail him as their long-expected Messiah. He will rule over a restored Roman Empire thus travestying Christ who, in the Millennium, will sit as a priest upon His throne. He will be a warrior of world-wide renown, a statesman of unrivaled skill, a man of transcendent genius, before whom the exploits of Caesar, Charlemagne and Napoleon will appear trifling. Kings will be his toys and thrones his playthings. Toward the close of his reign he will throw off his mask, no longer assuming to be the real Christ, but standing forth in his own colors he will deny both God the Father and God the Son, will seek to exterminate the Jews and everything else which bears witness to the living God; will set up his own image in the rebuilt Temple at Jerusalem, and under pain of death will compel all to worship it and receive his mark upon their bodies. But he will meet with summary judgment at the end, as we shall yet see. We turn now to consider,
As we have seen in earlier chapters, the declarations of Holy Writ make it very clear that Israel will yet be restored to God’s favor and be rehabilitated in Palestine. But before that glad time arrives, the Jews have to pass through a season of sore trouble and affliction, during which God severely chastises them for their sins and punishes them for the rejection and crucifixion of their Messiah. Fearful indeed have been the past experiences of “the nation of the weary feet” but a darker path than ever yet lies before them. Their cruel bondage in Egypt, their captivity in Babylon, and their grievous handling by Titus, were but faint foreshadowings of what they shall yet be called upon to undergo. In
It has also been pointed out that considerable numbers of the Jews have recently turned their faces Zionward and returned to the land of their fathers, but before the revelation and rise of the Anti-christ to temporal power, many others will also have returned to Palestine. This is clear from
A small minority of the Jews (typified by the three “Hebrew children” in the days of Nebuchadnezzar), a godly remnant, will refuse to receive the Beast and worship his image and, in consequence, will be subjected to fierce persecution. This pious “remnant” forms the subject of numerous Old Testament prophecies. We single out but one—“In that day (the Tribulation period) shalt thou not be ashamed for all thy doings, wherein thou hast transgressed against Me: for then I will take away out of the midst of thee them that rejoice in thy pride, and thou shalt no more be haughty because of My holy mountain. I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies (profess allegiance to The Lie): for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid”(
It is during the Tribulation period that Elijah the prophet returns to the earth and
The Battle of Armageddon! What extravagant speculations have been indulged concerning it! What unscriptural theories have been entertained respecting it! To begin with; this appears from the term employed. Nowhere in the Bible do we read of “The Battle of Armageddon.” The Scriptural expression is “The Battle of that great day of God Almighty” (
The Battle of that great day of God Almighty will terminate the most blatant movement of all in the impious career of the Anti-christ. After he has thrown off the mask, denied both the Father and the Son and openly defied Heaven, he will seek to exterminate everything which either directly or indirectly witnesses to God. His first effort in this direction is brought before us in
But to go back a little. Unknown to himself, it is the Lord, who shall cause the Anti-christ to assemble his forces in Palestine where they shall both meet their just doom. But at first the evil project of the Beast will appear to succeed. He besieges Jerusalem and captures it—“Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished: and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city” (
If to-day the presence of the Lord on earth is urgently needed, how much greater will be this need at the close of the Tribulation period! The Anti-christ in full power, openly blaspheming and blatantly defying God! All the world worshipping this Son of Perdition and branded with his mark on their foreheads or in their hands as token of their allegiance to him! The godly remnant of the Jews in the very last extremity and crying, “Keep not Thou silence, O God: hold not Thy peace, and be not still O God. For, lo, Thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Thy people, and consulted against Thy hidden ones (the remnant in the “secret place” of
A full length picture of our returning Lord is found in
Our Lord comes seated upon a “white horse.”
The Greek word intimates a-war-horse or “charger.” Note its color. In Scripture, colors are used emblematically. Here, “white” is the fitting emblem of the Rider’s spotless purity and unsullied holiness. Everything in the passage we are now examining is in marked contrast to our Lord’s first Advent. Then He was seen, meek and lowly, seated upon the back of an ass. But now He is coming back to the earth for a different work from that which He performed when He was here before. He returns now for the purpose of subduing wickedness, to destroy evil doers, to overthrow Anti-christ and to remove Satan from these scenes. Hence, in keeping with His mission, He appears seated upon a white war-charger! “Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, O most Mighty, with Thy glory and Thy majesty. And in Thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness and righteousness; and Thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies; whereby the people fall under Thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the scepter of Thy Kingdom is a right scepter” (
He Comes as the “Faithful and True.”
This is in vivid contrast from the abounding unfaithfulness of men. He comes now faithful to His promises and true to His threatenings. To-day, men may single out those parts of His teachings which accord with their own sentiments, and reject and deny His solemn threatenings of judgment against the unbelieving; but, in that day, it shall be seen that He is Faithful and True to every word He uttered, whether of promise or of threatening.
He comes back again as “Judge.”
Here we have another striking contrast. When he was here before, wicked men dared to arraign Him. He was brought before the judgment-bar of Caiaphas, Pilate, and Herod. But now the tables shall be turned. He Himself shall be the Judge. God hath “appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained” (
He comes to make war!
Ah! once our blessed Lord ministered to the needy, fed the hungering multitude, healed the sick, gave peace to the burdened conscience. Beforetime, He invited the heavy-laden to come to Him for rest. But here all is changed. Now He comes seated upon a war-charger, and with the express purpose of making war. At the Red Sea, where Jehovah destroyed Pharaoh, and his hosts, Israel sang “The Lord is a Man of War” (
“And His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew, but He Himself. And He was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God” (
He comes with flashing and flaming eyes.
When He was upon earth before, those eyes had oft-times shone with tenderness, as when the children were attracted to Him; had glowed with compassion, as when a single look upon guilty Peter melted his heart and caused him to go out and weep bitterly; yea, they had been filled with tears, as when He stood by the graveside of Lazarus and when He wept over the Jerusalem which had rejected Him. But here they flash and flame like fire. Now shall they be seen as the eyes of One who is thoroughly aroused with holy indignation. But not only do those flaming eyes express His anger, they also show forth His omniscience. Those flaming eyes shall pierce through every veil of hypocrisy and scorch into the very soul of His enemies. They will act as a veritable searchlight, penetrating to the thoughts and intents of the heart.
He comes with head decked with many crowns.
This, again, is in vivid contrast to the days of old. Once that holy brow was covered with sweat of agony so intense that it was as it were great drops of blood. Once that head was crowned with thorns—the symbol of the Curse. But here it shall be crowned with glory and honor. He comes forth now, not as the lowly Sufferer, but as the victorious Conquer vested with complete authority. “Many crowns” observe, for in that day He shall be King not only of the Jews, but King of the Gentiles as well—King of kings. All the world shall then be compelled to bow before Him and submit to His universal sovereignty.
He comes with a Name known to none save Himself.
In Scripture names express nature—what a person or thing is. So here. Christ has a name which no creature can fathom. That is to say, His Person is incomprehensible; there are mysterious depths in Him which no finite mind can grasp.
He comes with a vesture dipped in blood.
At first sight this seems to suggest a comparison rather than a contrast, but the verses which follow show that it is another of those sharp antitheses with which this passage abounds. Once His raiment had been crimsoned by the flowing of His own blood, but now, alas! it is from the blood of others. He was lifted up that men might shed His blood, but now He descends that He might shed their blood.
He comes, denominated the Word of God.
We are told this so that there may be no possibility of mistaking Him. This title serves to identify Him and connects the two Advents. He is here designated by His Eternal and Divine name. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (
“And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron; and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords” (
He comes to smite the nations with a Sword that goeth out of His mouth.
Here again we have another contrast. When He was here before, He spoke words of blessing and cheer: He came not to judge the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. But now all is changed. The “Sword” which proceedeth out of His mouth is the Word of God (
He comes to rule the nations with a Rod of Iron.
How different this is to the popular conception of the “Gentle Jesus”! Human sentimentality has pictured our blessed Lord as being so tender that He will never find in His heart to punish sin and slay the workers of iniquity. For the most part, the world today hears from the pulpit only a one-sided presentation of the character of God—that side which is most agreeable to man in his fallen condition. But God is not only Love, He is Light; not only is He Merciful; He is Holy and Righteous. Because He is holy He cannot ignore sin, yea, “He can by no means clear the guilty.” The claims of His Throne must be maintained, even though a thousand worlds be destroyed. Long has God dealt with our race in wondrous grace and infinite patience, and evilly have men repaid Him. But when Christ returns to the earth, the Dispensation of grace will have ended and He comes back, no longer inviting voluntary allegiance, but to compel obedience. The insignia of the returning Lord shall be the Iron Rod. Iron was the symbol and emblem of the Roman Empire, and stood for restless power, rigid rule, and indomitable government. History shows us what it meant to be crushed beneath “the iron heel of the Romans.” And “iron,” the Iron Rod and rule, will be the fitting emblem of Christ’s government in that day when He returns to crush the head of the Serpent, subdue His enemies and put down all opposition.
He comes to tread the Winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
This is the fulfillment of the prophetic word of Isaiah—“Who is this that goeth from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore are Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like Him that treadeth the winepress? I have troden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me: for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come.** And I will tread down the people in Mine anger, and make them drunk in My fury, and I will bring down their strength to the earth” (
He comes followed by “armies.”
“And the armies which were in Heaven followed Him upon white horses clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (
He comes to overthrow the Anti-christ and his legions.
The issue of this battle, the Battle of that great day of God Almighty (popularly but unscripturally called “Armageddon”) is never in doubt. Its issue is fore-announced. A call is given to the fowls of the air to devour the carcasses of the slain before the battle begins—“And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God; That ye may eat the flesh of Kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great” (
“And I saw the Beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him that sat on the horse, and against His army. And the Beast was taken, and with him the False Prophet that wrought miracles before him, and with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the Beast, and them that worshipped his image. Those both were cast alive into the Lake of Fire burning with brimstone. And the remnant were slain with the sword of Him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of His mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh” ( During the Millennium Satan is secured in the Bottomless Pit.
It should now be evident to every unprejudiced reader that there are two distinct stages in the Second Coming of Christ:—His coming to the air, and His coming to the earth; His coming for the saints, and His coming with the saints. The first great purpose before Him in connection with His return is to receive His people unto Himself. Just as of old God translated Enoch to Heaven before He sent the Deluge upon the ungodly, so will the Church be removed from this earth before the vials of His wrath are poured out upon it. The second great purpose before the Lord Jesus will be to return to the earth itself, there to set up His Kingdom and reign in righteousness, and it is the nature, the scope, the blessedness, and the duration of this Kingdom-reign which is now to engage our attention.
In popular parlance the era of the Messiah’s reign is referred to as the “Millennium” which is a compound word signifying a thousand years. From the remotest antiquity men have longed for and talked of a Golden Age, of an age in which righteousness and peace should prevail, and oppression and war should cease. Poets have sung of it, politicians have dreamed about it, and inspired prophets have described it. This era of blessedness is variously denominated in the Scriptures. It is termed “the Regeneration” (
There are more Scriptures which treat of the Millennium or Kingdom-age than perhaps any other one subject in the Bible. The difficulty is to classify them all. For purpose of simplification we shall now consider the Millennium under seven heads, namely, the Millennium in relation to Satan, to Christ, to the Church, to Israel, to the World, to Creation, and to Sin.
In our last chapter we saw that Christ descends from Heaven to find an organized effort to prevent him coming back to the earth. Under the leadership of Anti-christ, the kings of the earth with their armies assemble together at Armageddon with the express purpose of making war upon the Lamb (
There can be no thousand years of righteousness and peace on earth while the great Enemy of God and man is at large. Post-millenarians, who expect the Kingdom to be brought in by the preaching of the Gospel and the activities of the Church, and Peace-idealists and Social-reformers who look for a Golden Age to be brought about by legislation and civilization, all leave out of their schemes and considerations one dominating factor, namely, the Devil. Behind all anti-christian systems back of all the inveterate opposition to the Gospel, beneath all the evil and wickedness which stalks rampant through the earth, is that old Serpent, the Devil. And nothing finite can remove him. Nothing human can disturb him. None on earth can bind him. Man is incompetent to cope with his mighty adversary. Legislation cannot reach him, and the Church is powerless to rid the world of his awful presence. The only One who is mightier than he, is God—the Almighty, and there can be no Golden Age, until the Son of God Himself returns in person and removes and imprisons the Arch-Foe.
The removal of Satan from this earth is described in We believe this “angel” to be the Lord Jesus Himself—the uncreated Angel of the Covenant (
At last the “roaring lion” (
It has been divinely ordained that our Lord should fill three great offices—the Prophetic, the Priestly, and the Kingly. As Prophet, He acts as God’s Spokesman: revealing God’s mind, communicating God’s will, unveiling God’s heart. As Priest, He acts as Mediator between God and men, and by means of His atoning sacrifice He reconciles believers to God, represents His peoples’ interests before God, interceding for them and pleading their cause. As King, He will reign over men, enforcing God’s laws, and upholding on earth the claims of His Throne. It is of Christ as King we shall now speak.
Toward the close of David’s reign, the word of the Lord came to Nathan, bidding him go to the king and, among other things, tell him, “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy Seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish His Kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will establish the throne of His Kingdom for ever” (
Just before our Lord was born, an angel appeared unto Mary and said, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: and He shall reign over the House of Jacob for ever: and of His Kingdom there shall be no end” (
Sometime during our Lord’s infancy certain wise men, who were led by a star, came to Jerusalem (the royal city), asking, “Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” (
It was announced then, in Old Testament prophecy, and confirmed by the angel to Mary, that our Lord should occupy the throne of David. In order to the fulfillment of this our Lord, according to the flesh, sprang from one who was a lineal descendant of David, and therefore, He was born “King of the Jews.” But as we have seen, Israel rejected their King and crucified Him. And what we now desire to emphasize is, that, Jesus Christ has never yet assumed the Kingship! On the contrary, He taught His disciples to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” Furthermore, He said, “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for Himself a Kingdom, and to return.** And it came to pass that when He was returned, having received the Kingdom” etc. (
When Adam was created God said, “Let us make man in our image, and let them have dominion.” At the beginning, earth’s scepter was committed into the hands of man (see
In the fifth chapter of the Apocalypse a remarkable scene is brought before us. The beloved apostle sees a book—“written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals”—in the right hand of Him that sat on the Throne. Then he hears an angel saying, “Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” Next we are told, “And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.” Many have been the conjectures concerning this mysterious “book,” but by comparing Scripture with Scripture we think there can be no doubt as to what is here in view. In
Another Scripture which throws light upon the Millennium in relation to Christ is
As we have seen in previous chapters, it is at the first stage of Christ’s second coming that the Church is removed from earth. At the Redeemer’s descent from Heaven, the Church, like Enoch and Elijah, is miraculously caught up, caught up to meet the Lord in the air and evermore shall it be with its glorious Head. Therefore, when the Saviour returns to the earth, the Church will accompany Him. This is clear from
Exactly what part the Church will play during the Millennium it is not easy to say. Few details are revealed. A moment’s reflection will show why this is the case. It is in the Old Testament that the Millennium receives the fullest consideration, whereas the Church is the subject of New Testament revelation. Moreover, we must remember that the Millennium is the time when God’s Kingdom is revealed on earth, whereas the Church is a Heavenly creation, and has a heavenly citizenship and destiny (
In the Parable of the Pounds we have a Scripture which sets forth one aspect of the reward which shall be enjoyed by the faithful in that day. “And He (Christ) said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou has been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities” (
Again; it is during the Millennium that the unity of the Church—in contradistinction to the innumerable sects in Christendom which now divide believers—will be fully manifested, and our Lord’s prayer of
“And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In that same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land” (
A remarkable statement is found in
In
Now, it is evident that the nation of Israel has been preserved for a purpose, and what that purpose is, God’s Word makes known. A marvelous future yet awaits these descendants of Abraham. Jerusalem is not trodden down of the Gentiles, but it is only to continue thus “Until the Times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (
The restoration of Israel occupies a most prominent place in the Scriptures of truth and three things should be particularly noted in connection therewith. First, the restoration of Israel cannot take place until after the Church has been removed from the earth. Second, the restoration of the entire nation will be a gradual one. Third, restored Israel will occupy a much more exalted and glorious position than any it has held in the past, not excepting the reign of Solomon. The first of these three statements is based upon
In
The restoration of the Ten Tribes is brought before us in
With the restored and re-united twelve tribes God will make a new covenant—“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which My covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the Lord, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (
Early in the Millennium Jerusalem will be rebuilt: “Thus saith the Lord; Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob’s tents, and have mercy on his dwelling places; and the city shall be builded upon her own little hill, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof” (
During the Millennium the land of Palestine will be apportioned equally among the Twelve Tribes—see
Many are the passages which describe Israel’s millennial glory and blessedness. The last six chapters of Isaiah are occupied more or less with this theme, and from them we quote a few portions. After speaking of the Redeemer’s return to Zion (
Not only will Israel enjoy glorious blessings themselves, but, in the Millennium, they shall be a blessing to “all families of the earth” (
We turn now to consider,
The Millennium will be the time, when, instead of Satan being the world’s “Prince,” the Christ of God shall be its King. The form of His government will be theocratic not democratic—“And the Lord shall be King over all the earth” (
Perhaps at this point it would be well if we endeavored to meet a difficulty which many inquirers experience in connection with the Millennium. It may be stated thus. If the saints are all caught up to meet the Lord at His descent into the air, and the wicked are all destroyed during the Tribulation period, who will be left to inhabit the earth during the Kingdom age? The answer is simple. It is a mistake to suppose that all who are left behind at the Rapture will be subsequently destroyed by God’s judgments. It is true that “the slain of the Lord will be many,” yet the earth will not be entirely depopulated. This is evident from
The seat of Christ’s government will be Jerusalem, the royal city, “And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the House of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths, for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem” (
The character of Messiah’s government is brought before us in
We turn now to some of the results of Christ’s government. During the Millennium our Lord will rule as “The Prince of Peace.” For the first time since the flood, the earth will be completely delivered from the horrors of war. Then it will be seen that “He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth” (
During the Millennium there shall also be universal blessing. An exceedingly sublime picture of the conditions that will then obtain is to be found in
At the beginning of the Millennium there shall be a universal worship of Christ—“And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts” (
What a glorious time the Millennium will be for our poor sin-cursed earth! Universal righteousness, universal peace, universal blessing, and universal worship! Surely we have reason to pray “Thy kingdom come.” And now,
The blessings which will be brought to the world upon the establishment of the Messianic Kingdom will not be confined to the human family but will be extended to all creation.
As we have shown in earlier chapters, the Curse which was pronounced by God upon the ground in the day of Adam’s fall, and which resulted in a creation that has groaned and travailed ever since, is yet to be revoked. Creation is not to remain in bondage for ever. God has set a hope before it, a hope, which like ours, centers in the personal return of Christ. “For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope; that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (
One striking effect of Creation’s deliverance from its present bondage is described in
Not the least of the beneficent changes introduced during the Millennium will be the restoration of the animal kingdom to its Edenic state. The present ferocity of the wild beast is abnormal and due to the fall of man. It is very clear from
By comparing Scripture with Scripture it would appear that, during the Millennium, there will be no earthquakes, no tornadoes, no storms at sea, but all Nature will be at rest and share in the general blessing which the personal presence of Christ shall bring. And yet, there will be droughts and plagues upon the rebellious and disobedient (see
In spite of the fact that Satan will have been removed from the earth, and that Christ reigns in person over it, yet conditions here will not be perfect even in the Millennium.
Unregenerate human nature will remain unchanged. Sin will still be present, though much of its outward manifestation will be restrained. Discontent and wickedness will not be eradicated from the hearts of men, but will be kept beneath the surface by means of the Iron Rod. Multitudes will yield to Christ nothing but a “feigned obedience” (
At the close of the Millennium Satan will be temporarily released from his prison in order to test humanity: “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went upon the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city” (
The final revolt of man under the leadership of the Devil will meet with swift judgment—“And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them” (
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire.” Unsaved reader, what an awful prospect is thing! The day of reckoning fast hastens on. God is yet going to call you to account and take full satisfaction to His justice. Long have you defied Him, but soon He will put forth His power and deal with you in judgment. What He has threatened that will He most surely perform. The Lake of Fire! Eternal suffering! Tormented day and night for ever and ever! Such a portion will be unendurable, and yet it will have to be a endured by every Christ-rejector, and endured for ever and ever. “Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and will do it” (
Following the great white Throne judgment and the casting of the host into the Lake of Fire, Christ will deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, “when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. And when all things be subdued unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him that put all things under Him, that God may be all in all” (
As we take up our pen to write these closing paragraphs, we do so conscious that we have merely skimmed, here and there, the surface of a vast ocean of truth. Though upwards of five hundred Scriptures have been referred to in these pages, yet, hundreds more could have been cited in support of the positions which we have advanced. An exhaustive classification and examination of all the passages which are connected, directly or indirectly, with the subject of the Redeemer’s Return, would necessitate many volumes rather than one. Our opponents greatly err who suppose that pre-millennialism rests upon a few doubtful and obscure passages. The texts upon which we rely are neither few nor ambiguous, and their testimony is neither scanty nor uncertain. No other doctrine of Scripture can produce a larger, more distinct, and more vigorous testimony in its favor. The Coming and Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ is a theme which pervades the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is the central burden of prophecy. It is the grand solution to the mystery of Divine Providence. It is the one great hope of the Church, of Israel, and of creation.
The personal return of the Lord Jesus Christ to set up His Kingdom on the earth and reign over it in power and glory is no novelty of a feverish age, no hasty conjecture caught up at random without consideration and unsupported by reliable evidence. It is no fable of romance, but sober, Scriptural reality, though far beyond what fancy ever painted. It is no creation of a disordered mind, but the Golden Milestone of Scripture to which all lines of prophecy are rapidly converging. It is no pet theory of certain religious fanatics, but the approaching Climax of all history. It is no mere dream of idealists, but the promised consummation and glorious issue of all the confusion and change, the sin and sorrow, the disease and death which have desolated the earth for six thousand years. It is the divinely ordained Remedy for those deep and manifold evils under which humanity now groans and which men are so earnestly, yet vainly, seeking to cure.
Had we followed the inclinations of our own heart, we should have devoted a chapter to the history of Millennarianism. We might have quoted from the early Church “fathers” and shown that during the first three centuries of the Christian era it prevailed universally, its only opponents being the Gnostics. We might have referred to the writings of the Reformers, and shown how they one and all looked for the imminent coming of Christ. We might have inserted citations from modern authors whose piety and scholarship are unquestioned. But we had no desire to buttress our position by human authority even of the most ancient and honorable kind. Let not our faith stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Unless our theses can be unequivocally maintained from Holy Scripture, it were vain to call in human witnesses however numerous or however venerable.
The saddest thing of all in connection with our subject is that Christian theologians have divided into opposite camps. And yet it need not surprise us that the Second Coming of Christ is a controverted doctrine—what doctrine of Scripture is not? Nevertheless, it is the bounden duty of every lover of the Lord’s appearing to pray earnestly that it may please God to lead out a greater number of His children into the light, and that there may be a more harmonious and united testimony borne to this most important of all truths. We fervently trust that one result of our humble labors will be that many who read these pages will go forth crying “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him.” That the masses will give neither heed nor credit to the alarm is only to be expected. When Lot warned his sons-in-law of the impending doom of Sodom “he seemed as one that mocked”(
Brethren, the end of the Age is upon us. All over the world, reflecting minds are discerning the fact that we are on the very eve of another of those far-reaching crises which make the history of our race. Their sense of justice tells them that the unbridled lust, the increasing oppression, the unparalleled bloodshed, have defied Heaven long enough and that the Judge of all the earth must soon rise in His wrath to make “a short work” (
The sands in the hour glass of this Day of Salvation have almost run out. The Signs of the Times demonstrate it. “But,” it may be asked, “Have not other ages, as well as the present, been crowded with signs of distress?” Undoubtedly. We read, “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there anything whereof it may be said, See, this is new? It hath been already of old time” (
“But,” it may be asked again, “Why is it that so few of our religious leaders and teachers are heralding the approach of Christ?” The answer is, Because many of them are blind themselves—“blind leaders of the blind.” As the Word declares, they are “ever learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (
Unless men had been strangely blinded, the analogy of the past ought to have corrected the blind optimism of which we have just spoken. Every previous dispensation has ended in human failure and Divine judgment! The Edenic dispensation saw the fall of man and his expulsion from the garden of Eden. At the close of the Noahic dispensation “God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth” (
Unspeakably sad have been, and still are, the pernicious effects of the post-millennial teaching. Instead of listening to the voice of Divine truth many of the profest followers of the Lamb have heeded the siren voices of the earth which have drawn them into entangling alliances with the world, deceiving them as to their prospects here and persuading them to substitute carnal policy for spiritual energy and time-serving expendiencies for self-denying faith. O that the children of God would hold themselves aloof from the world’s plans of social amelioration and political aggrandisement, and take up their cross and follow their despised and rejected Lord, remembering that “the friendship of the world is enmity with God” (
“But ye, brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief” (
At the door! What a prospect! To look at the present frailty, suffering, and groaning of our vile bodies, and then to anticipate the moment when they shall be fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body; to read the histories and biographies of the apostles, of the early Christian martyrs, of the spiritual giants of the Reformation, of the choicest saints of the ages, and then to anticipate the time when we shall meet them, converse with them, and gather together around our blessed Lord; to anticipate that glad hour when everlasting joy shall be upon our heads and when sorrow and sighing shall flee away; when the joy of meeting shall be spoiled by no fear of separation, and the beauty of holiness shall be defiled by no stain of sin—this is a hope which may well endure all trials and stay the heart in these days of tragedy and anguish. Amidst the increasing darkness and gathering storms of these last days, we do not stand bewildered and dejected. But, with the blessed promise “Surely, I come quickly” ringing in our ears, love responds, “Come out of Thy royal chambers, O Prince of all the kings of the earth; put on the robes of Thy imperial majesty; reach forth Thy hand and grasp the scepter of universal sovereignty, for the voice of Thy Church calls for Thee, and all creation sighs to be renewed.”
2. “All the world” wonders after the first Beast,
3. The first Beast is “worshipped”
4. The first Beast has a mouth “speaking great things”
5. The first Beast makes war upon the saints
From these five points of analogy it seems clear that the first Beast of
In the fifth place, that the second “Beast” is not“the Man of Sin” appears from the fact that the second Beast causeth the earth to worship the first Beast (
Again,; it has been generally recognized by prophetic students that our Lord referred to the Anti-christ when He said, “I am come in My Father’s name, and ye receive Me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye wlll receive” (
If it should be objected that the second Beast is represented as working miracles (
Finally; the second Beast is clearly subordinate to the first Beast. But would the Jews receive as their Messiah and King one who was himself the vassal of a Roman? Was not this the very reason why the Jews of old rejected the Lord Jesus, i.e., Because He was subject to Caesar and because He refused to deliver the Jews from the Romans!
In the sixth place, as we have seen, in
In the seventh place, it is generally agreed among those students of prophecy who belong to the Futurist school that the rider upon the four horses of
Finally, we wish to call attention to the employment of the definite article in connection with the two “Beasts” of
Genesis
2 2:3 3:15 3:15 3:15 3:15 3:15 3:15 3:17 3:18 5:24 6:12 6:12 6:13 12:3 13:14 13:15 15:17 15:18 15:18 19:14 22:15 22:16 41:42 48:16 49:10 49:18
Exodus
3:2 10:26 12:12 15:3 24:7 28:2 40:34 40:36 40:37
Leviticus
1 16 16:2 16:6 16:7 16:8 16:14 16:15 16:15 16:21 16:22 16:23 16:23 16:24 16:24 23:10 25:8
Deuteronomy
18:18 26:18 26:19 27:1-3 27:8-10 28:1 28:13 32:8
Judges
1:9 1:14 1:14 4 5:28 14 14 14:15 21 21:25 24
2 Samuel
1 Kings
1:38 1:38 1:39 4:21 4:24 4:25 8:7 8:10 8:63 10:23 10:23 11:5-7
1 Chronicles
Job
Psalms
2 2:4 5:6 8:4-8 10 10:18 18:44 22:16-18 22:27 22:28 33:11 37 37:1 37:10 43 44 45:3-6 46:9 55 55:20 55:21 59:13 69:24-26 72 72:8-11 72:9 74 74:10 76:10 80 83:1-5 83:1-5 83:13-15 83:17 91 91:1 98:1-3 101:5-8 104:11 104:15 110:1 110:2 110:7 119 126:6 132:11 132:11 149 149:7-9
Proverbs
Ecclesiastes
Song of Solomon
Isaiah
1:6 2 2 2:3 2:4 2:17 4:2 4:5 9:6 9:6 9:6 9:7 9:7 10:20 10:21 11:3-5 11:4 11:6-9 11:9 13:9-13 14 14:1 14:2 14:12-15 14:19 14:27 21:11 21:12 25:9 27:6 27:6 28:18 28:18 28:18 28:18 30:10 30:26 32:1 35:1 35:1 35:4-10 35:5-10 40:3 40:5 41:17-20 42:7 46:9 46:10 52:14 53:3 53:3 53:4 53:5 53:6 53:7 53:10 53:11 55:6 59:20 59:20 59:21 59:21 60 60:1 60:2 60:3 60:9-12 60:14 60:15 60:20 60:21 61:2 61:3-6 62:1 62:2-4 63:1-6 66:19
Jeremiah
12:4 16:14-16 23:5-8 23:5-8 23:6 25:31 30:4-7 30:7 30:7 30:18 30:23 30:24 31:31-45 31:38-40 32:6-15 32:37-40 51:25
Ezekiel
8:18 11:23 21:25 21:27 22:14 28:14 34 34:11-15 37:21-28 37:21-28 39:17-22 40 41 43 43:2 43:7 46 47 48
Daniel
2:35 4 4 4:10-14 7 7 7:7 7:8 7:13 7:14 7:20 7:20-27 7:24 7:25 7:26 8 8 8:9-12 8:11 9:24-27 9:24-27 9:27 9:27 9:27 11:21 11:36 11:36 11:36 11:36 11:36-45 11:37 11:37 11:40-42 11:44 12 12 12:1 12:4 12:4 12:9 12:10
Hosea
Joel
1:18 2:27 2:28 2:32 3:1 3:2 3:9-17 3:13-17
Micah
4:3 4:11 4:12 5 5:2 5:7 5:7 5:8-10
Nahum
Habakkuk
Zephaniah
Haggai
Zechariah
2:10-12 3:11-13 6:12 6:12-15 6:13 8:3 8:23 9:9 9:10 9:16 9:17 11:16 11:17 11:17 12:3 12:4 12:9 12:10 12:10 12:11 13:7 14 14:1 14:1 14:1-6 14:2 14:2 14:2 14:3 14:4 14:4 14:6-9 14:9 14:9 14:12 14:13 14:16 14:16 14:16 14:16 14:18 14:19
Malachi
3:1 3:1 4:1 4:2 4:2 4:2 4:3 4:5 4:5 4:5 4:6
Matthew
2:2 2:2 4:8 4:8 4:9 6:9 6:10 6:23 7:29 10:5-7 10:27 12:29 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13:10-15 13:23 13:25 13:30 13:33 13:38 13:39 13:39 13:39 13:39 13:44 13:46 15:24 16 16 16 16:2 16:3 16:11 16:16 17 17:1 17:2 17:2 17:4 17:8 17:14 17:15 17:18 19:28 19:28 20:2 20:16 21:19 22:29 23:4 23:39 24 24 24 24 24 24 24:3 24:3 24:9-13 24:14 24:15 24:21 24:21 24:22 24:23-25 24:27 24:27 24:28 24:28 24:29 24:29 24:29 24:30 24:30 24:31 24:32 24:33 24:37 24:37 24:42-51 24:44 25 25 25 25:5 25:6 25:6 25:11 25:12 25:13 25:19 25:23 25:31 25:31 25:31 25:31 25:31-46 25:32 26:24 26:57 26:64 27:25 27:66
Mark
1:13 1:24 4 7:13 10:38 10:39 12:7 13 13 13:19 13:20 13:32 13:32 13:33-37
Luke
1:30-33 1:30-33 2:7 2:25 2:38 4:5 4:6 4:14 4:16 4:18 8:11 9:28 9:29 9:32 10:20 10:42 12:32 12:35-38 12:36 12:37 12:42-46 13:16 13:24 13:25 17:28-30 17:30-35 17:31 18:8 19:11 19:12 19:12 19:12 19:12 19:12-15 19:12-15 19:15 19:15 19:17 19:17 20:34 20:35 21 21 21 21:20 21:24 21:24 21:25 21:25-28 21:26 21:28 21:28 21:34-36 22:53 24:50 24:51 24:51
John
1:1 1:3 1:10 1:11 1:11 1:17 1:34 1:51 2:1 2:14-16 3:5 3:5 3:6 3:6 3:13 3:16 3:36 4 4:43 4:45 5:21 5:24 5:24 5:24 5:24-26 5:28 5:29 5:30 5:43 5:43 5:43 6:15-21 6:38 6:39 6:40 6:44 6:70 6:70 8:44 8:44 8:44 10:3 10:11 11 11:6 11:6 11:7 11:17 11:51 11:52 12:24 12:31 12:32 12:49 13:1 14 14 14 14 14 14:1 14:1-3 14:1-3 14:1-3 14:1-3 14:1-3 14:1-3 14:2 14:3 14:3 14:3 14:3 14:6 14:6 14:10 14:18 14:26 15:15 15:25 16 16:7 16:8-11 16:13 16:13 16:30 17:4 17:12 17:12 17:20-22 17:22 17:23 18 19:15 19:15 19:21
Acts
1:7 1:10 1:11 1:11 1:15 1:25 2:1-4 2:3 2:16 2:20 2:23 3 3:18 3:19 3:19-21 3:19-21 3:21 5:14 8:5 8:6 8:12 10:38 11:20-24 13:39 13:48 15 15:14 15:14 15:14-16 15:14-17 15:14-17 15:16 15:16 15:16 17:23 17:31 19:10 20:32
Romans
1:28 3:24 5:1 5:12 5:20 6:2 6:2 6:3 6:10 6:11 6:11 6:11 6:12 6:13 6:14 7:24 8:1 8:1 8:1 8:1 8:7 8:10 8:11 8:11-13 8:16-18 8:17 8:18 8:18-21 8:18-24 8:19 8:19-21 8:22 8:22 8:23 8:23 8:24 8:24 8:25 8:25 8:29 8:29 8:29 8:30 8:30 8:35 8:35-37 9:28 10:3 11 11 11 11:5 11:11 11:11 11:12 11:15 11:15 11:25 11:26 11:26 11:26 11:29 12:5 12:14 12:19 13:11 13:11 13:12 13:12 16:20
1 Corinthians
1:4-7 1:4-8 1:21 1:30 2:13 3 3:11-15 3:13-15 4:3 4:9 5:7 5:8 6:2 9:22 9:25 10:20 11:26 12:13 13:13 14:34 15:19 15:21-23 15:22 15:23 15:23 15:24 15:24 15:24 15:25 15:26 15:28 15:42-44 15:43 15:48 15:51 15:51 15:51 15:51 15:51 15:51 15:52 15:52 15:52 15:52
2 Corinthians
3:15 3:16 4:2 4:4 5:1-3 5:8 5:10 5:10 5:10 5:10 5:20 5:21 11:13 12:9
Galatians
2:20 2:20 3:16 4:4 4:4 4:4 4:4 5:5
Ephesians
1:3 1:6 1:10 1:10 1:14 1:18 2:1 2:4 2:8 2:9 2:14 2:21 3:2 4:1 4:4 4:4 4:4-6 4:13 4:13 4:30 4:32 5:25-27 5:27 5:27
Philippians
1:6 2:8 3 3 3:10 3:11 3:11 3:18 3:19 3:19 3:20 3:20 3:20 3:20 3:20 3:20 3:21 3:21 3:21 3:21 4:5 4:6
Colossians
1:5 1:5 1:6 1:12 1:12 1:23 2:8 3:1 3:1 3:3 3:4 3:4 3:4 3:4 3:5 3:11 3:14 3:30
1 Thessalonians
1:9 1:9 1:10 1:10 1:10 2:19 3:12 3:13 3:13 4 4 4:13 4:13-18 4:13-18 4:14 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:16 4:17 4:17 4:17 4:17 4:17 4:17 4:18 5:1-6 5:1-6 5:1-7 5:3 5:3 5:4 5:15 5:23
2 Thessalonians
1:6-2:12 1:7 1:7-9 1:7-9 1:10 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:3 2:4 2:4 2:4 2:4 2:4 2:4 2:4 2:5-7 2:7 2:7 2:7 2:7-12 2:8 2:8 2:8 2:8 2:8 2:9 2:9 2:10-12 2:11 2:11 2:12 2:12 2:16 2:16 2:16 2:16
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
1:9 2:17 2:18 3 3:1 3:1 3:4 3:5 3:6 3:7 3:13 3:13 3:13 3:16 4 4:1 4:3 4:4 4:6-8 4:8 4:8
Titus
2:11-13 2:11-13 2:13 2:13 2:13 2:14
Hebrews
1:2 3:1 3:6 3:6 4:9 4:12 4:16 6 6:6 6:10 6:11 6:18 6:19 6:19 9:26 9:28 9:28 9:28 9:28 9:28 10 10:12 10:13 10:14 10:24 10:25 10:25 10:29 10:37 10:37 10:37 11:5 11:5 11:25 11:26 11:35 12:2 12:2 13:13
James
4:4 4:4 5:1 5:1 5:1-9 5:3 5:3 5:4 5:4 5:4 5:5 5:6 5:7 5:7 5:7 5:8 5:8 5:8 5:8
1 Peter
1:3 1:3 1:3 1:3-4 1:4 1:4 1:7 1:8 1:9 1:11 1:13 1:13 2:5 2:23 2:24 2:24 2:24 3:15 4:7 5:4 5:4 5:8 5:8 5:13
2 Peter
1:16-18 1:19 2:1 2:1 2:2 2:3 2:4 3 3:3 3:3 3:3 3:3 3:4 3:4 3:4 3:4 3:5 3:8 3:8 3:8 3:8 3:9 3:10
1 John
2:18 2:22 2:28 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:2 3:3 3:3 3:3 4:3 5:19
2 John
Jude
Revelation
0-0 1:9 1:9 1:11 1:13-20 1:15 1:20 2:1-7 2:2 2:4 2:5 2:5 2:6 2:6 2:6 2:8-11 2:9 2:10 2:12-17 2:15 2:16 2:18-29 2:20 2:20 2:21 2:25 2:26 2:27 3:1 3:1-6 3:2 3:3 3:3 3:4 3:7-13 3:8 3:8 3:10 3:11 3:14-22 3:15 3:16 3:16 3:17 3:17 3:17 3:20 3:20 3:21 3:21 3:21 3:21 4:1 5 5 5 5:5 5:9 5:10 5:12 6 6 6 6 6 6:4 6:5 6:6 6:8 6:8 6:8 6:8 6:9 6:10 6:10 6:11 6:12-14 6:15-17 7 7 7:2 7:3 8:3 9:1 9:6 9:11 10:1 10:1 11 11 11:7 11:7 11:7 11:7 11:7 11:15 11:15 12 12 12:1 12:1-6 12:4 12:6 12:6 12:7-9 12:9 12:10 12:10 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13:1 13:1-8 13:1-8 13:2-8 13:3 13:4 13:4 13:4 13:5 13:6 13:7 13:12 13:12-15 13:13 13:13 13:13 13:14 13:15 13:15 13:16 13:18 14:14-20 14:15 14:15 14:20 15 16:9-11 16:11 16:14 16:16 17 17:3 17:5 17:5 17:8 17:8 17:8 17:8 17:9 17:11 17:11 17:11 17:12 17:12 17:12 17:14 17:14 17:14 17:16 18 19 19 19 19 19 19:11 19:11 19:11 19:12 19:13 19:14 19:14 19:14 19:15 19:16 19:16 19:17 19:18 19:19 19:19 19:19-21 19:20 19:20 19:20 19:20 19:20 20 20 20 20:1-3 20:1-3 20:2 20:2 20:3 20:3 20:4 20:4 20:4 20:4-6 20:6 20:7-9 20:9 20:10 20:10 20:10 20:15 21:1-5 22:12 22:16 22:20 22:20 22:20 22:20 22:20 22:20