'RTheo\ 
 
 THE 
 
 SECOND COMING OF THE LORD 
 
 OONSIDEKED IN BELATION TO THE VIEWS PROMULGATED 
 BY THE PLYMOUTH BRETHREN AND SO-CAJ.LED 
 
 EVANGELISTS. 
 
 By JOHN LAING, M.A., 
 
 Minister of Knox Church., Dundas^ Ont. 
 
 )><»X«- 
 
 P^ 
 
 TORONTO: 
 PKINTED BY C. BLACKETT ROBINSON. 
 
 1877. 
 
THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD. 
 
1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This tractate was prepared under the conviction that a popular 
 discussion of the doctrine of tho Second Coming is needed among 
 us, in order to meet the unhapi)y tendencies which often apjiear 
 in seasons of revived rehgious interest. Not unfrcquently, at 
 such times, earnest Christian men teach the doctrines here im- 
 pugned, and circulate tracts containing them, without any idea of 
 the error thus spread abroad and the danger incurred. 
 
 Although at present there is no controversy affecting the 
 wi'iter, or the people of h.s charge; nevertheless, he thought that 
 the subject might be profitably considjred at a time when heat of 
 spirit was wanting, and accordingly delivered this tractate as a 
 series of lectures on Sabbath evenings. The favourable reception 
 these lectures met with has led him to publish them. Several 
 friends, nevertheless, whose judgment he has learned to respect, 
 and who heard the lectures, have expressed the opinion that they 
 may be useful to others. With the fervent prayer that this may be 
 the result, to the glory of God, this defence of the truth is pre- 
 sented to the Churches of Christ. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Introduction 9 
 
 Statement of Views Controverted 16 
 
 1. The Comiug for the Saints aud their Ascent 16 
 
 2. The Eesurrection of Old Testament Saints and the 
 
 Faithful llemnant 16 
 
 3. The Apostasy of Christendom and Antichrist 17 
 
 4. The Cominj^ with the Saints for Judgment 18 
 
 5. The Judgment of Living Nations 18 
 
 6. The Sessional Judgment or Millennial Reign 18 
 
 7. The Destruction of Gog and Magog 19 
 
 8. The Resurrection and Judgment of the Wicked Dead. 20 
 
 The Theory Gradually Developed 20 
 
 1. Its Origin 22 
 
 2. How to be discussed 23 
 
 Definitions and Dogmas Considered 25 
 
 1. The Church 25 
 
 2. The Kingdom of God 40 
 
 8. The Coming of the Lord 49 
 
 4. The Judgment 56 
 
 5. The Resurrection 67 
 
 6. The MHlennium 79 
 
 Positive Statement of Scripture Teaching 83 
 
 Tendencies of Pre-Millennarianism 87 
 
 1. To produce Unbelief, and is Unspiritual 89 
 
 2. To subvert some Doctrines of the Gospel 93 
 
 3. To make void the Law of God 94 
 
 4. To produce Spiritual Pride and Schism 99 
 
 5. To destroy the Visible Church and Missionary Enter- 
 
 prise 102 
 
 Conclusion 107 
 
THE DOCTRINE OF THE 
 
 ^mU lowing 0{ (^m 
 
 The doctrine of the second coming is now meeting the 
 Church of God in a new form. The Millerite view of 
 the advent is a thing of the past. The remorseless 
 march of historical events has disproved those confident 
 vaticinations which fixed the end of tL^ world for A.D. 
 1843, 1866, or 1870. The year-day the', y— that is, that 
 a day in prophecy means a year — though still held by 
 some as applicable to unfulfilled predictions in particular 
 passages, has been weighed and found wanting in its 
 claim to be the key to unlock the mystery, and to fix 
 the times and seasons indicated in prophecy. Further 
 investigation has convinced such as are not too bUnded, 
 that the general tenor of Scripture, and not a few par- 
 ticular passages, cannot be made to harmonize with 
 the literalism which thirty years ago was so loudly as- 
 serted to be the only proper and reverent method of 
 interpreting Scripture. 
 
 Notwithstanding this change, erroneous doctrine re- 
 ga;^ing the coming of our Lord is being diligently 
 spread abroad, both by the living voice of men, who 
 have the appearance of being warm-hearted, earnest 
 
 Christians, and in tracts and pamphlets which are circul- 
 
 2 
 
10 The Doctrine of the 
 
 ated with the avowed design of aw akening Christendom 
 by the " Bridegroom cry," and saving such as believe 
 from impending judgments. 
 
 Not a few of the excellent men and women who are 
 connected with the so-called Evangelistic movement of 
 our day, have embraced the pre-millenarian view of the 
 coming of our Lord — that is, that the Lord will come be- 
 fore the Millenium — and not unfrequently that doctrine 
 is proclaimed, with more or less fulness, at Gospel 
 meetings, Bible readings, Conventions of Sabbath 
 Schoc^ teachers, and Conferences of Christian workers. 
 Presented a,t such times, and thus commended by being 
 associated with unquestioned piety, conspicuous zeal^ 
 and earnest Christian effort, the doctrine is quietly 
 making its way into our churches, and very many of 
 our best people are deeply exercised, when they find that 
 views which have come down to us from our fathers 
 are thus being undermined, and that a disquieting 
 uncertainty as to the truth of the traditional doctrines 
 of the Church of God is insensibly taking possession of 
 the minds of excellent Christians with whom they asso- 
 ciate, if not perplexing themselves. Is it true, such 
 persons ask (to use the illustration of the prince of 
 modern evangelists) — Is it true that Christians who 
 preach the Gospel are like men in the life-boat, whose 
 only business is to pick off as many as they can from 
 the foundering wreck, before a doomed world sinks into 
 the seething abyss of coming wrath and hopeless d,-.s- 
 truction? Is this God's sole purpose in the preaching 
 of the Gospel ? Is the conversion of the world a pious 
 dream ? 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 11 
 
 The history of the Church may teach us that this 
 desponding view is naturally connecced with the 
 disappointment felt by Christians, at the small success 
 which attends the preaching of the gospel. In the first 
 centuries, amid the persecutions whii \ the Church en- 
 dured, the unfaithfulness and worldly v'.onformity of a 
 large portion of it, and the wickedness, the horrors and 
 the desolation which spread like a black pall over the 
 Boman Empire, as it declined and fell to pieces before 
 its barbarian assailants, many serious souls fled into 
 monkish seclusion in the deserts, and despairing of the 
 world, for which there seemed no hope, they prayed for 
 Christ's coming, to destroy the monstrous wickedness of 
 men by fiery judgments. We see now that they were 
 mistaken. So in this our day there are some disgusted 
 and saddened by the abounding wickedness which the;^ 
 Gee both in the Church and the world, and by the ap- 
 parent increase of iniquity, who have given up in des- 
 pair, and as their only hope, look for Christ to take 
 them home, and to introduce an era of fiery judgment 
 for the destruction of the wicked and the establishment 
 of the kingdom of righteousness and peace. 
 
 Nor is this result to be wondered at We can sympa- 
 thise in measure with the disappointment which says : 
 Eighteen centuries have passed away since the Holy Ghost 
 was given, and yet only a small portion of mankind have 
 heard the glad tidings. The places where at first the 
 gospel flourished have fallen back to almost pagan ignor- 
 ance and wickedness. The Church has declined from 
 the pure faith and practice of apostolic times, and 
 has become thoroughly corrupt, obscuring and pervert- 
 
12 The Doctrine of the 
 
 ing the truth, and countenancing, if not fostering, 
 abominable wickedness. Even Protestantism, after 
 three hundred years' trial, seems to be a failure ; for ig- 
 norance and superstition prevail to a sad degree, and 
 unbelief, if not atheism, has taken the place of Christian- 
 ity, in the seats of learning and the centres of philosophic 
 and scientific pursuits. Missions to the heathen have 
 been in a great measure a failure ; after half a cen- 
 tury of missionary effort, the great mass of heathenism 
 has scarcely felt the influence of Christianity, and still 
 presents insuperable obstacles to the faith of Jesus. At 
 our own doors too, amid all the light of Christian civiliza- 
 tion, we see iniquity growing in boldness, enormity and ex- 
 tent. There is an epidemic of crime. The world, such 
 good people say, is becoming worse, not better, and 
 notwithstanding all that is being done, it is manifest 
 that the Gospel as now preached and the Church as 
 now existing and working, ".an never bring about an era 
 of universal truth and righteousness. 
 
 We say that we can so far sympathize with the 
 feeling engendered of despondent gloom which thus 
 finds utterance. That feeling should send us to the 
 Lord in earnest suppUcation for the laying bare of His 
 arm. But we are satisfied that the conclusion to which 
 these people of God have come through this feeling is 
 erroneous. The effort they make to show from Scrip- 
 ture that the Gospel, is not •' the power of God unto 
 salvation" for the nations and the world, as well as for 
 individuals, is to be deplored and resisted. 
 
 It is true that the world, regarded as the enemy of 
 God, is no better than it was eighteen hundred years 
 
Second Comfiing of Our Lord. 13 
 
 ago: it never will be ; but the world, meaning thereby 
 the whole race of man, is better to day than at any time 
 since our Lord walked the earth. There is a greater 
 number of true Christians than ever. The religion of 
 Jesus has a wider and more powerful influence upon 
 men generally than ever. There is a more intelligent 
 appreciation of the truth among Christians and more 
 devoted earnest effort than ever before. If, side by 
 side with the advance of Christianity, we have also a 
 corresponding advance of wickedness, it is only what 
 our Lord taught us to expect — tares among the wheat — 
 but notwithstanding, the wheat is ripening for the har- 
 vest. Time will not allow of a full answer to the sad 
 lamentations which imply despair as to the power of 
 the Holy Ghost and the efficacy of the Gospel. It 
 must suffice to have shown that this feeling of despon- 
 dency leads the pious earnest souls who suffer under it, 
 to cast about for some other hope, and some other way 
 of salvation for the world than the Gospel of the grace 
 of God. What, they ask, ought we to do ? And the 
 answer which they approve, seems to be : Separate 
 yourselves from the world, you are not of it ; you are 
 vessels of moicy, but the world is doomed to sink under the 
 wrath of God. Christ may come to-day to take you — 
 His Church — home, when you will be safe in heaven, 
 while the world is overwhelmed by judgments. There- 
 fore be sure of your own salvation, and seek to save as 
 many as you can, but have nothing to do with a perish- 
 ing world or its schemes of improvement and ameliora- 
 tion. Christ will soon come to take you out of it. This 
 is the hope for which you are to look. Do not expect 
 
14 The Doctrine of the 
 
 deatii, bui the Coming. Wait to be tfken out of a 
 World, which is soon to be visited with unheard of 
 tabulation and desolating judgment. 
 
 Of the practical consequences which flow from this 
 view of the coming of the Lord, we shall have some- 
 thing to say hereafter. We purpose now to consider 
 more fully the several doctrines which become necessary 
 in order to justify this hope and construct a consis- 
 tent theory of a I're-millenarian coming. 
 
 In preparing the following statement it has been 
 found that the changes and modifications, which the 
 doctrine has undergone during thirty years, are so great 
 that although a few leading principles remain, one can 
 scarcely recognize In the full blown theory of a Darby, 
 a Kelly, or a Trotter, the indefinite but earnest 
 longings of a Hewitson or a Bickersteth. Inexorable 
 logic forces the theorist on step by step. One false step 
 necessitates a second ; and when once the train has been 
 switched on to the wrong track, it only requires a good 
 head of steam and a stout heart to find one's self far 
 away from the main line on which the Church of God 
 has in times past been pursuing her journey home- 
 ward. Our purpose being to look at the doctrine as 
 now taught, we shall have recourse to tracts, pamphlets 
 and books, which are being freely circulated by the so- 
 called Evangelists and Brethren. The} claim, and 
 probably with justice, to be pre-eminently the preachers 
 of the Coming. It may not be true, as they assert, that 
 all that is good and mighty in the present Evangelical 
 movement throughout the world is to be traced to a 
 leaven of Plymouthism, which is secretly spreading it- 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 15 
 
 self in every English sper.king community ; but they 
 claim — and the honour we do not feel inclined to dis- 
 pute with them — to have roused sleeping Christendom 
 by the " Bridegroom cry ;" and certainly in their teach- 
 ing great stress is laid on the Hope of the Coming, while 
 among them the new doctrine has found its freest de- 
 velopment. Besides this, our object in preparing this 
 paper is practical, not speculative. Our wish is that 
 those who receive and peruse those tracts and pamph- 
 lets so profusely scattered abroad and sometimes thrust 
 into our hands, may understand the doctrine which 
 they contain. Hence we have judged it proper care- 
 fully to examine these documents. 
 
 On many points of doctrine our pre-millenarian 
 friends profess to agree with other Christians ; on other 
 points the divergence is so slight that it does not call 
 for notice ; but on still other points the divergence is 
 wide, and the difference of sentiment so pronounced, 
 that those who adojDt the new views feel constrained -' 
 to withdraw from the communion of all Evangelical 
 churches. And if, for a while, they hesitate to break 
 the holy bands of fellowship, by which they have from 
 birth been united to the church and dearly loved friends, 
 experience proves that at last separation must come. 
 Every bond must ruthlessly be torn asunder, they must 
 go out from among the churches to fellowship with the 
 Saints in the Assembly of the Brethren. It is this sad, 
 mournful result, which invariably accompanies the pro- 
 clamation and reception of the new Gospel of tJie Grace of 
 God^ that impels us to say what may appear to be 
 severe things, if perchance we may lead men to consider 
 
( 
 
 10 The Doctrine of the 
 
 well before they adopt views so irreconcilably hostile 
 to the received doctrine of the Churches. 
 
 The peculiar views, then, to which we refer, in so Jar 
 as they are new, and contrary to the received opinion in 
 the Church Catholic, may be stated somewhat as follows : 
 
 1. Our Lord's coming may take place at any moment, 
 and we should habitually be looking for Him. This 
 coming for the saints will probably be unseen, and 
 known only to the saints who are waiting for Him. 
 He will not come down to the earth, but into the air. 
 The dead in Christ, who have been saved through be- 
 lieving the "Gospel of the grace of God " between the day 
 of Pentecost and this coming, will be raised, and the saints 
 who are alive will be changed. These constitute the 
 Church, the Bride, and will be caught up together to 
 meet the Lord in the air. They will go into heaven, 
 where they will ajipear before the judgment seat of Christ, 
 have their good works appraised, and receive their due 
 rewards. But they will not come into judgment for 
 their evil deeds. The Marriage of Christ and His 
 Church will then take place in heaven. 
 
 2. At some time not definitely fixed, but after the 
 ascent of the Church, the Old Testament saints will be 
 raised from the dead and go into heaven ; and at a still 
 later point in this period, a number of saints who, after 
 the Church was caught up, repented and became wit- 
 nesses for God, and sufered marytrdom on that account, 
 will also be raised up and go into heaven. Thus, at the 
 end of this period there will be with the Tjord in heaven ; 
 (1.) The Church, now married to Him; (2.) Old Testa- 
 ment saints ; (8.) The risen martyrs — these three dis- 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 17 
 
 tinct classes — waiting for the Day of the manifestation of 
 the sons of God. 
 
 3. Meanwhile on earth, the removal of the Church ( 
 andof the jffo/,7/ G^/ios< along with it, permits the develop- \ 
 ment of evil and the Revelation of the wicked or law- j 
 less one. Christendom wholly apostatises, and the 
 so-called Churches are given over to delusion, to believe 
 a lie. Antichrist comes in his own name, and is re- 
 ceived by the churches ; which become subject to him, 
 the Prince of the revived Fourth or Roman kingdom. / 
 The Jews, still in unbelief, come hack to Palestine, rebuild 
 Jerusalem and the Temple, and establish sacrifice and 
 Jewish worship as of old. Some of them are converted, 
 witness for God, and preach the " gospel of the kingdom." 
 / These constitute the Faithful Remnant. After a time 
 Antichrist, the Prince of apostate Christendom, makes 
 a covenant with the Jews, allowing them to worship 
 according to the law of Moses. " In the midst of the 
 week," — that is, after three years and a half — he breaks 
 that covenant and turns to persecuting them. He sets I 
 himself in the Temple of God, as God, and requires all ] 
 men — the Jews, Christendom, and the Gentiles — to wor- \ 
 ship his image. Then comes the Great Tribulation, I 
 when Antichrist as the Beast, supported by the second 
 beast, or his prime minister ; who by miracles deceives 
 the people yet further, blasphemes God, makes war ou 
 the saints, and overcomes them. The faithful remnant 
 are persecuted and killed, and two of their number, (or 
 as some fancy, the two witnesses, Enoch or Moses, and 
 Elias), are slain in Jerusalem and lie unburied in the 
 street. After three days and a half (not years this time) 
 
( 
 
 18 The Doctrine of the 
 
 they come to life again and ascend to heaven. Antichrist 
 then goes to make war with the Lamb in heaven (!) 
 
 4. Immediately thereafter comes the Bay of the Son 
 of Man, the day of wrath, of vengeance, and of judg- 
 ment. The Lord is seen coming with His Saints. He 
 comes as a conquering king at the head of His saints 
 for an army, to war with his enemies and to take his king- 
 dom. A literal destruction of men in the flesh — of the 
 living nations — takes place. Christendom is destroyed 
 by the internecine strife of the liings of the earth, and 
 Antichrist by the breath of the King's mouth, and the 
 brightness of his coming. The two beasts are taken and 
 cast alive into a literal lake of fire burning with brim- 
 stone. The rest of the Lord's enemies, including the 
 kings of the earth, are literally slain with the sharp sword 
 that goes out of his mouth, and literal vultures gorge 
 themselves on the rotting carcases. This is the Revela- 
 tion of the Son of man, the Epiphany of the Coming ; 
 when he destroys the wicked and removes them from 
 His kingdom, which he now sets up on earth. 
 
 6. Then is the Judgment of the living nations. The 
 faithful remnant of the Tribulation period from among 
 the Jews, with such from among the Gentiles as treated 
 them kindly, are received into the kingdom. These form 
 the nucleus of the kingdom, and thus it is begun. The 
 rest of the nations depart from the King into ever- 
 lasting fire. Jesus reigns on earth. 
 
 6. Then Satan is literally seized and bound in the pit. 
 The Church, the Old Testament saints, and risen 
 Martyrs — all who had part in the First Kesurrection — 
 receive thrones and sit down witl' 'hrist to judge the 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 19 
 
 worlds and to rule over the nations that are left. This 
 is a sessional judgment, and it lasts for a thousand years. 
 This same period is otherwise called the Millenium. 
 Under the beneficent rule of King Jesus and his assessor?, 
 the saints, the Jews prosper, the ten tribes re-appear, 
 and are again established in Palestine — " so all Israelis 
 saved." The Gentile nations are subject to Israel, and 
 bring in their tribute to Jerusalem, as well as go up 
 every Sabbi h to Jerusalem to worship. This is the 
 Kingdom of Heaven which the God of heaven sets up. 
 David's son according to the flesh is the literal king of 
 men in the flesh ; his literal throne or chair of state is 
 in the literal Jerusalem; his literal kingdom is of this world 
 and embraces all living peoples. The Church, sitting on 
 thrones in the visible heavens over the earthly Jerusalem, 
 is united to earth, and these are the days of heaven . 
 upon earth. Obedient Jews and Gentiles do not die. ) 
 Only the wicked die, who are cut off from the kingdom 
 for their wickedness, as successive centuries of judgment 
 roll on. All the loyal subjects of the kingdom live on 
 for evermore in great earthly prosperity and unbroken 
 peace. 
 
 7. But Satan is again literally unchained, and goes 
 forth to deceive the Gentiles. Kebellion breaks out in 
 the kingdom, and the rebels are gathered together out 
 of the parts more remote from Jerusalem, where the 
 presence and power of the King are least felt. A rebel 
 host innumerable goes up against Palestine, and 
 assaults the holy city, but they are intercepted in their 
 career by fire from heaven which literally burns them 
 up. Then the devil is again seized and cast into the 
 
20 The Doctrine of the 
 
 literal lake of fire, where the living Antichrist and his 
 prime minister are tormented for ever and ever. 
 
 8. After all this a great white throne is set up, and 
 by some undefined agency the wicked Dead are Raised, 
 All the impenitent of Old Testament times, of the 
 Christian dispensation, of the tribulation era, and of the 
 Millenial age — all the unritjhteous, and they alone — come 
 forth from their graves and are judged. The books are 
 opened ; and as the record shows that their deeds were 
 evil, and the book of life does not contain their names, 
 they are cast into the lake of fire. Death and Hades (!) 
 too are cast into it. 
 
 9. No further change takes place. The heavens and 
 the earth have now been made new. Every enemy, even 
 death, has been subdued. The Church in heaven, 
 and the righteous nations on earth who never tasted of 
 death, continue to live in unending bliss, but eternally 
 distinct from each other. The kingdom is given over 
 to the Father, and God becomes all in all. 
 
 The above statement contains the chief points of the 
 new doctrine, connected together in their chronological 
 order. To very many the bare statement will bring 
 home the conviction of the absurdity of the whole theory, 
 and they will impatiently exclaim, '* enough of thid non- 
 sense." Others will call in question whether i have 
 understood the teaching of * ' the Brethren." I can assure 
 such that I am more fully informed than they are. They 
 may have listened to addresses delivered with great as- 
 surance, bible in hand, in which one or two points only 
 were asserted as God's truth, or they may have read 
 tracts, in which one or two points are cursorily treated 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 21 
 
 of, while their connection with other doctrines 
 is net examined. I have studied the whole theory 
 carefully part by part, and as a whole, and if those who 
 doubt my word will examine for themselves, they will 
 find that I am not far astray in my statement. The 
 Brethren, as usual, will probably denounce the state- 
 ment as incorrect — for that I am prepared — or they may 
 say that it is not held by them all or in every particular 
 by any one. But this is to equivocate. Every doctrine 
 I have mentioned, and others as strange and unscrip- 
 tural, may be found in the tracts which I have myself 
 received from the hands of br->thren, or at furthest at 
 second hand, but circulated by brethren ; and it is un- 
 pardonably false dealing, first to circulate a tract and 
 then to disclaim the doctrine it contains. I admit, how- 
 ever, that in many cases, both in addresses and tracts, 
 the language is so carefully guarded, the connections so 
 studiously observed, and the whole presentation so art- 
 fully spiced with pious reflections and inept illustra- 
 tions, that an ordinary reader will hear the addresses 
 and peruse the tracts, and will swallow down the un- 
 wholesome mixture without detecting or even suspecting 
 the pernicious leaven by which they are pervaded. 
 
 The theory is a product of time ; not at once but 
 piece-meal has it been constructed. It has been correct- 
 ed, enlarged, modified, as the exigencies of controversy 
 made necessary, or its promoters from time to time pro- 
 fessed to find further light. Nor is it yet completed ; 
 further changes and additions will come, if the doctrine 
 of the Coming, as held by the Brethren, is not abandon- 
 ed. The traditions of the Churches, no matter how 
 
22 The Doctrine of the 
 
 scriptural, must be upset ; and arduously do our friends 
 labor to accomplish their task. Docilely the disciples 
 sit at the feet of their leaders, giving them credit when 
 they claim to be taught by the Holy Ghost. Blindly 
 and without question they follow, they know not whither, 
 the few men of learning and ability who have adopted 
 these views. 
 
 Avowedly the theory rests on an inyenions collocation 
 and interpretation of difficult and dark passayesy chiefly of 
 un/uljilled prophecy. Great skill is required properly to 
 select and arrange the patches which form the 
 doctrinal Mosaic, and to commingle aright the 
 literal and allegorical meanings of texts which suit 
 the purpose. Subtle distinctions are framed where no 
 difference exists. The clear light of a plain simple 
 scripture is toned down, lest the doubtful inference 
 which is being drawn from a dark passage may pale 
 before it, and passages, which refuse to be inwrought 
 amid the patchwork, must be altogether thrown aside as 
 useless and having no place in the teaching intended 
 for the Church in the present age, but applicable only 
 to Jews, before the day of Pentecost, and after the com- 
 ing. To any one that knows his bible, it is astounding 
 to witness the way in which God's word is torn asunder, 
 mutilated, mangled, twisted, wrested, forced into the 
 most unnatural and arbitrary connections, mixed up, 
 tortured so as to force it to acknowledge the theory, or 
 silenced, lest it should protest against this thoroughly 
 human imagination. The promoters of the theory do 
 not hesitate to claim a kind of inspiration ; they say that 
 they have been taught this doctrine by the Holy Ghost. 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 23 
 
 They make a great display of their pocket bible, as they 
 deftly turn over the leaves and assert that they teach 
 nothing but the bible. Beware ! the bible in their hands 
 is not the bible as God gave it, as prophets and apostles 
 uttered their messages. It is a bible in a new Uffht, 
 themselves being witnesses, a light unknown to the 
 people of God in the past : a bible transposed and re- 
 arranged to suit the fancies of self-conceited men, and 
 made to speak a doctrine for which martyrs and con- 
 fessors would never have shed theii blood. No, verily, 
 men who adopt that theory in its spirit, must separate 
 themselves from the noble company of martyrs, and the 
 whole Church of Christ in the past ; they must come 
 out and claim for themselves, as they do, the exclusive 
 name of *' The Brethren," the Church, the alone Bride 
 of the Lamb. The claim and the separation must fol- 
 low if the theory is true. 
 
 To follow the theorists through their labyrinthine wan- 
 derings, examining their multifarious interpretations in 
 detail, and refuting their vain imaginings one by one, is 
 a task which no sane man would attempt. Earnestly 
 do we dissuade such as have not already been befooled 
 by the theory, from attempting to grope their ' /uj amid 
 its dark tortuous windings. They will iu^ atably be- 
 come lost ; and if they follow with implicit faith their 
 fanciful guides, will find themselves not emerging into 
 light, but abiding in darkness, where human wisdom 
 and self-sufficient pride maintain their baneful pre- 
 eminence. It would serve no good purpose to address 
 ourselves to those who have already made up their 
 minds and know, being taught supernaturally, that the 
 
24 The Doctrine of the 
 
 new doctrine is of God ; these are beyond the reach of 
 argument, and are ** wiser in their own eyes than seven 
 men that can render a reason." Of such, Spurgeon has 
 well said, pray to be delivered from inspired men and 
 women, whether it be an infallible Pope or a Plymouth 
 Assembly met in an upper room, with the Holy Ghost 
 for president. Without, however, seeking the recovery 
 of those who uill not see, or wearying such as desire 
 some light upon this interesting subject, we may, with- 
 in reasonable hmits, and we hope profitably, consider 
 the leading features of the new doctrine. 
 
 We propose then to examine the principles on which 
 this theory rests. If its fundamental positions can be 
 upset, then the ingenious fabric will of itself topple over, 
 and God's truth will stand forth vindicated in its beauty. 
 It can easily be shown that the whole theory rests upon 
 certain definitions ; and that these definitions are without 
 warrant from God's word, nay, are contrary to scrip- 
 ture, subvers^'ve of the faith once delivered to the saints, 
 and dangerous in their tendency. That these defini- 
 tions have obtained currency among Christians only 
 shows how imperfect is the acquaintance with Bible 
 truth, which obtains among the Christian people of our 
 day ; and how easily false doctrine can be introduced, if 
 nothing startling be said at first, and due regard be had 
 to avoiding offence, until the confidence of good and un- 
 suspecting people has been gained by proclaiming for 
 a time truth common to all Churches. By doing this the 
 self-constituted evangelist is able by-and-bye to undermine 
 the influence of the ministry, and to discredit it among 
 the people to such a degree, that when a faithful watch- 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 25 
 
 man raises his voice in warning, iie is not heeded, and 
 the good old way is forsaken and laughed at by the de- 
 ceived disciple ; who accepts another gospel from that 
 which he had received, which is not another gospel, but 
 something so entirely, fundamentally and essentially dif- 
 ferent, as to necessitate his withdrawal from thechirch of 
 God and his association with a few brethren who have 
 no visible or acknowledged bond of union or jBxed 
 creed. 
 
 The fallacious definitions on which the theory rests 
 refer : (1) to the Church ; (2) to the Kingdom of God ; 
 (8) to the personal Conmg of our Lord ; (4) to the 
 Judgment ; (5) to the Resurrection ; (6) to the Mil- 
 lenium. There are other erroneous definitions and 
 distinctions, subordinate in their relations, which we 
 may have to notice in the course of our discussion, but 
 the disproof of the pre-millenarian definition on the points 
 above indicated is all that is necessary to convince any 
 candid enquirer of ihe false and unscriptural character 
 of the theory as a whole. To this task we now address 
 ourselves ; and let us pray that it may be so done as to 
 be useful to us, and to bring glory to God. 
 
 I. THE CHURCH. 
 
 First then we shall enquire what is the Church of 
 God ? That our prf>-millenarian friends are fully aware 
 of thft fundamental importance of this question, and know 
 tha.t their views cannot be reconciled with those held by 
 Christians generally, will appear from the following ex- 
 tracts from the writings of one who speaks with 
 8 
 
[ 
 
 26 The Doctrine of the 
 
 authority. -^^ He is arguing against the forcible objection 
 to the theory, that ," when Christ comes, the Church 
 *' will be absolutely and numerically complete, admit- 
 •* ting of no subsequent accessions," and hence that this 
 theory makes no provision for the "lower departments 
 ** of the millennial kingdom," that is, the living nations 
 which are to be converted and saved after the coming — 
 and mark well the words, — '* The objection is based on 
 ** the assumption that the Church and all that are to be 
 '* SAVED are terms of identical signification. This," he 
 goes on to say " is a pure assumption. It has no doubt, 
 " like many others equally baseless, obtained a kind of 
 ''popular currenc]) which leads numbers who have never 
 ** examined the subject for themselves, to take for 
 " granted that by * the Church' is meant ' the whole 
 ** company of the saved from the beginning to the end 
 *' of time.' If this were true, the objection before us would 
 *' be unanswerable.'* 
 
 We see then how all important to the theory this 
 definition is. If the definition of the churches is true, 
 millenarianism is false. We accept the issue. It is 
 true, and the new doctrine is false. Before giving our 
 proof, we desire to note the unblushing self-sufficient 
 arrogance with which the doctrine of the Church uni- 
 versal is set aside. A doctrine which has occupied the 
 prayerful and intensest thought, and commanded the 
 assent of the wisest and best Christians in all the 
 churches during successive centuries, is without hesita- 
 tion jauntily pronounced *• baseless, and a pure assump- 
 
 * " Plain Papers onProplietic and other Subjects," by W. Trotter^ 
 London, 1873. 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 27 
 
 " tion, having a popular currency, and taken for granted 
 "by men who never examined the subject for themselves." 
 Can this cool, shameless self-confidence go farther ? 
 Has the deluded writer no knowledge of what martyrs 
 and confessors studied, believed in, and defended with 
 their lives ? Has he no respect for their deep convic- 
 tions ? 
 
 We can also see why it has become necessary now 
 in the latter half of the nineteenth century to find a new 
 definition of the Church. The old received doctrine is fatal 
 to the Plymouth view, hence the necessity ; the theory 
 must be saved, ^ ^refore to the rescue ; let us have a new 
 definition, which will leave room for a Coming prior to 
 the salvation of the whole elect of God. What 
 matter that the doctrine of the Church for eighteen 
 hundred years must perish, and that Gou's elect must 
 be split into sections; let the doctrine go. It was 
 held by men who never examined the subject ! but now 
 forsooth the Brethren have examined the subj ect /or i/t^m- 
 selves ; so let all men be liars, but let the Brethren be 
 true. 
 
 Notice how nicely the definition suits its purpose, 
 although it outrages the whole scope of Scripture. I 
 quote from the same author. * ' It was not till after the 
 " death and resurrection of Jesus that the Church began . 
 " In the purpose of God, it existed before all worlds. 
 " But as to its actual existence on earth the Church ivas 
 ''formed by the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of 
 *' Pentecost. Those who till then had been individual 
 *' believers, disciples of Christ, were by the descent of the 
 "Holy Spirit incorporated into one body; which has exist- 
 
28 The Doctrine of the 
 
 " ed ever since, and is the Church of God. It is the actual 
 "living anity with Christ, and with each other, of those 
 ** who since Christ's ascension, are formed into this 
 " unity by the presence of the Holy Ghost, come down 
 " from heaven. It has its existence on earth between the 
 ** day of Pentecost and the descent of the Lord Jesus into 
 " the air.'' 
 
 The Church is thus narrowed, that the theory may 
 not vanish. Old Testament Saints are ruled out of 
 the Church. Abraham. Moses, Samuel, David, the 
 penitent thief, have no place there. Those who shall be 
 converted after Christ takes his Bride home are also 
 shut out from it. And why ? That the brethren may 
 be justified in saying, that Christ may come at any time 
 for His Saints, who constitute the elect of the elect, with 
 a monopoly of the Holy Ghost and the special privilege 
 of claiming the Son of God as a husband. And they 
 shall be first in the kingdom of heaven, having a higher 
 place, a better heritage, a nobler privilege than Abel, 
 or Enoch, or Daniel, or John Baptist, or father 
 Abraham himself. There is no pride here 1 oh no. 
 Behold the humility of the Saints, for they are worthy. 
 
 But is this definition in accordance with Scripture ? 
 Is it true ? We hurl back the charge which the breth- 
 ren bring against the churches. Theirs is the pure as- 
 sumption, the baseless fancy ; contrary alike to the tenor 
 of God's word, to individual passages and to Christian 
 instinct. The definition is the sensuous imaginings of 
 self-sufficient men, whose carnal prejudice renders them 
 blind to the spiritual beauty of God's salvation and the 
 spiritual glory of His Son. 
 
Second Cor)iing of Our Lord. 29 
 
 It IS hard to prove a negative, yet "we can show that 
 the definition is utterhj fallacious and unscriptural. 
 
 As to the li'ord Church or Ecclesia, all will admit Kcciesia, 
 that it means (1) generally, an assembly; (2) techni- * aud4i.' 
 cally, an assembly of God's people ; an organized Rev. i. ii. 
 company of men and women who have been called '^xUiji! 
 out and separated through grace, by the Holy Spirit, 
 from the world. (3) The body of which Christ is the Epb. v. 25. 
 
 Acts XX. 2f' ' 
 
 head, and which consists of those whom Christ loves Heb. xii. 2^ 
 and for whom he gave himself. This body was pur- 
 chased with his own blood, and is the General Assembly | 
 and the Church of the first born. So Car there is no 
 room for difference of opinion. 
 
 Again, this very word, Ecclesia, is used to designate Acts vii.3f 
 God's people in Old Testament times. " In the Church compare. 
 
 ^ ^ -withHel I 
 
 I will sing praise to thee." Christ also speaks of a -j"-.J2. . 
 Jewish Ecclesia before the day of Pentecost, before which _i7. ^^ ^ 
 
 , Ex. xii. 19. 
 
 an offending brother was to be brought. And the cor- Lev. iv. is 
 
 _. ° _ _ ° . . Num. xb 
 
 responding words, Adah and Kahal, or congregation, is 20. 
 in the Old Testament the common appellation for God's 
 covenant people in their corporate aspect with their 
 divinely appointed officers, just as Ecclesia is the ap- 
 pellation for the covenant people in the New Testa- 
 ment in their corporate character. ' " 
 # Such is the Scripture usage of the words. They 
 are applied invariably in their technical sense to 
 God's people as organized either spi.*itually or visibly; 
 but never in a single instance are tiicy limited to the fraC' 
 tion of God's redeemed ones who live between the day of 
 Pentecost and the Coming. Nor can a shadow of warrant 
 be found for limiting the word, Church, so as to exclude 
 

 30 The Doctrine of the 
 
 .cts ii. 47 from it any one for whom Christ died and who is saved 
 by His spirit. 
 
 That there is a difference between the saint of the 
 Old Testament and that of the New Testament is as- 
 serted in Scriptmre. The Christian Church is far in 
 advance of the Jewish, and the individual Church mem- 
 
 tatt. xi.ii. ber enjoys higher privileges. The least in the kingdom 
 of heaven is greater than the great John Baptist. With- 
 out us Christians, Old Testament saints could not be 
 
 Ceb. xi. 40. made perfect. Christianity is Judaism fully developed. 
 In Christ the law and the prophets are fulfilled. But in 
 perfect harmony with this advance, the Apostle who 
 founded the Church among the Gentiles declares that 
 
 ct8. xxvi. in his doctrine ** he said nothing outside of what the pro- 
 ' ' "phets said was coming to pass, and Moses." The 
 
 Church of Moses and the prophets, is Christ's Church. 
 The God of Jew and Christian is the same God, their 
 Saviour is the same, their Sanctifier and guide the same ; 
 the faith that justifies the same ; the blood that cleanses 
 
 ai.iii.19-29 the same. The law that made the difference between 
 Jew and Gentile is done away, and the believing portion 
 of the Jews, together with believing Gentiles, now form 
 the Church of God. There are not two Churches but 
 one. 
 
 But we may shortly examine the passages adduced 
 in support of the idea that the Church began at 
 Pentecost, and will be complete at the coming of the 
 Lord for his saints. 
 
 )hniii.29. 1. Great stress is laid on the Church being called 
 
 ph"^32." a bride — a wife, and Christ a bridegroom — a hus- 
 
 ev. xix. 7. band. But how this figure, expressive of unity, 
 
Second Coaming of Our Lord. 31 
 
 and reciprocal love can limit the privilege which it 
 symbolizes to the period between Pentecost and the sec- 
 ond coming does not appear. Nay, a very slight ac- 
 quaintance with the figurative language of scripture 
 shows that Jehovah-Jesus, or the Son of God, before jer. m. 14 
 his incarnation was married to his covenant people ; iga.' liv. 5|il 
 calls himself husband and bridegroom ; claims the Hos;^ii. 19. 
 Jewish Church as betrothed, espoused, married to him, MaJ. iifu.H 
 and charges her with spiritual adultery when she for- i| 
 
 sakes him. Every figure expressive of endearment and ^| 
 
 special attachment, which is used in reference to Christ 
 and the New Testament Church is applied to Jehovah- 
 Jesus and the Old Testament Church. So far there- 
 fore is the use of these figures from showing that the 
 Christian Church is other than the Jewish, that they 
 prove the very opposite ; both are included in the Bride 
 of the Lamb, the wife of Jehovah- Jesus, whom he loves 
 with a special love, and redeems by his word and spirit. 
 The covenant people of old are as dear to their Saviour, 
 the Son of God, as those living under the Gospel dis- 
 pensation, and have an equal interest in his person and 
 his love, and in all the privileges secured by covenant 
 through his obedience and death. 
 
 2. We are next told that the Church of Christ is a viys- Eph. Ui; 
 tery which was unknown in former ages, and was for the 
 first time revealed to Christ's apostles by the Holy 
 Ghost. We turn to the passages in which this New 
 Testament mystery is spoken of, and by careful study 
 ascertain not, that '*the existence, calling and glory of .^ 
 
 *• the Church of God is the mystery;" but that the truth 
 that Jew and Gentile should be saved in the same way, 
 
e. 
 
 32 The Doctrine of the 
 
 ph. iii.3,G and form one Church in Christ, is the mystery. '* God 
 "by revelation made known (to Paul) the mystery, which 
 "in other ages was not made known unto the sons of 
 " men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and 
 "prophets by the Spirit; that the Gentiles should he 
 ^^ fellow heirs, and of the same bodi/, and partakers of his pro- 
 ill. iii. 17, " mise in Christ by the Gospel." The Jews had had for 
 ages the promise made to Abraham in covenant, and by 
 virtue of it, an inheritance which belonged to Israel as a 
 body. They thought that none but a circumcised per- 
 son — a Jew — could partake of these privileges. In this 
 h. ii. 14, t^^y were wrong. Christ came to take away the wall of 
 partition, to make both Jew and Gentile one, not by 
 setting up a new body, or giving a new promise, or ob- 
 taining a new inheritance ; but by putting the believing 
 h ii 12 Crfiii^il^j without his becoming a Jew, into the body of 
 •^- God's people or Church, and bestowing on him an interest 
 
 6 28*29^'^^ the Jewish promise and Jewish inheritance. The 
 covenant with Abraham is the covenant under which 
 God's people now are, and it is by the seed of Abraham 
 and unic'i with him that all New Testament blessings 
 are obtained. This doctrine was a mystery — that is 
 something unknown if it had not been revealed — and the 
 proclamation of it belonged peculiarly to Paul as the 
 apostle of the Gentiles. It was opposed by the Jews, 
 ■ who insisted on the observance of the law of Moses by 
 believing Gentiles as a condition of their partaking in 
 the promise and the inheritance, and maintained that 
 otherwise Gentiles were without the covenant and the 
 .ii. 39. body of God's people. Peter proclaimed this doctrine 
 or mystery on the day of Pentecost. " The promise," he 
 
^ 
 
 Second Coming of Our Lord. .S3 
 
 said, **is to you, and to your children, and to all that are 
 '* afar of." Again when Cornelius and his family were , 
 
 baptised by the Holy Ghost, the admission of Gentiles xi. 17, i8 
 to Jewish privileges was approved by the Jewish 
 believers. The doctrine was formulated at the great 
 council of Jerusalem, and e v^ery where it was proclaim- 
 ed, to the disgust of the legally-minded Jew, and to the ^^'^-oj^- • 
 comfort of every penitent Gentile. Gai.'v. i. v 
 
 In like manner in these passages: ''This, the mys- 
 " tery is great, but I speak of Christ and his Church ;" Eph. v. '2< 
 and " Great is the mystery ol Godliness, God manifest 1 Tim. ii^ 
 " in the flesh ;" the •• mystery " cannot, without criminal 
 wresting of God's Word, be made to mean the Church. 
 In the one passage it is the mystical union of Christ and 
 his Church that is the mystery, something we could not 
 have conjectured, dared not have thought possible, had 
 it not been told us. In the other it is the union of 
 Christ's divine and human nature that is the mystery, 
 underlying as it does all godliness. 
 
 3. A third passage is adduced to establish a distinc- 
 tion between the Church and the rest of mankind. 
 *' Giving none offence, neither to the Jews nor to the 1 cor. x. ;i 
 Gentiles, nor to the church of God." The argument is 
 this ; Here the Holy Ghost divides all mankind into 
 three classes, viz : the Jews, the Gentiles, and the ' 
 
 Church. Therefore no one can belong to any two of 
 these classes ; and consequently Jews cannot be of the 
 Church, and Gentiles cannot be of the Church. Breth- 
 ren or Christians are not Jews nor Gentiles, but some- 
 thing distinct and by themselves — God's Church. How 
 conclusive ! Let us now turn to the passage. The 
 
84 The Doctrine of the 
 
 apostle we find is speaking of certain practices by which 
 some might be offended and thus kept out of the Church, 
 or injured in their Christian Hfe. A beUeving Jew, a 
 brother^ might be offended by finding that he is to be de- 
 prived of certain privileges which he had heretofore en- 
 joyed ; for example, of the ordinance of circumcision or 
 of the feast of thanksgiving. Or the Gentile might be 
 offended by finding some restrictions forced upon him ; 
 as the observance of the new moon or a prohibition to 
 use pork. Or one already within the Church might be 
 offended by the adoption of some new regulation or rite 
 which seemed necessary to the brethren. What should 
 be done in these circumstances ? The answer is '• Give 
 no offence to any of them." Circumcise the Jewish child 
 B. xvi. 3. and let him attend the feast of tabernacles : let the Gen- 
 ^9. * ' tile work away on the new moon and eat pork : let 
 the Church-man have liberty and do not force conformity. 
 This is the spirit which the freedom of the Gospel requires. 
 And the apostle charges the Corinthians not to give of- 
 fence to any one, whether his prejudices arise from being 
 a Jew, or from being a Gentile, or from consgience as a 
 Christian. This and no more is the meaning of the text. 
 But how can that prove that the Church begins at Pen- 
 I tecost and continues on earth till the second coming, a 
 
 I body distinct from Jew and Gentile ? 
 
 I Besides, the idea of Jews and Gentiles not being 
 
 1 in the Church is opposed to express Scripture. Paul 
 
 ii. ii. 14. said to Peter years after Pentecost, *' Thou being 
 a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles ;" and 
 to the Ephesians, •* That ye walk not henceforth as 
 Ikh. iv.i7. other Gentiles." There were then Jewish christians 
 
 1 
 
 Ii 
 
I 
 
 Second Coming of Our Lord. 35 
 
 and Gentile Christians, but both in the Churoh. 
 
 All men are either Jews or Gentiles, and all men 
 
 are either in the Church or out of it. But a man 
 
 may be in the Church and still be a Jew, or in the 
 
 Church and still be a Gentile. The Church does not ^ 
 
 exclude Jews or Gentiles, but includes some of both. 
 
 Church membership puts Jew and Gentile on the same ^ 
 
 level of privilege, so that in Christ there is neither Jew Coi. iii.u. 
 nor Greek, just as in Him there is neither male nor 
 female, bond nor free. But as men continue men, and 
 women continue women, when they join the Church of 
 Christ ; and as slaves continue slaves, and freemen, free- m 
 
 men after they join the Church ; so Jews continue Jews, 
 and Gentiles, Gentiles. How absurd it would be to say 
 that all mankind are either men or women or Chris- 
 tians, meaning that Christians are not men or women ; 
 and that all men are either bond or free or Christians, 
 meaning that if they are Christians, they are neither ' 
 
 bond nor free, and yet that is the very argument of 
 Plymouthism. A man is either a Jew, or a Gentile, or 
 a church-man ; and if he is a church-man, he is not a ; 
 
 Jew or a Gentile. 
 
 But we are not satisfied with disproving the asser- 
 tion that the Church of God excludes Old Testament 
 saints ; we proceed to show that the theory is in direct 
 opposition to the Word of God, which teaches that the 
 Church under both dispensations is one and the same glori- 
 ous body, united by the Holy Spirit and faith to' Jehovah' 
 Jesus a^ its head. ' 
 
 In the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Komans Rom. xi, 
 the relation of the Jews and Gentiles to the Church is 
 
j 36 The Doctrine of the 
 
 ,ctBxxviii. formally discussed. Israel had been God's people, but 
 they had stumbled and fallen from their privilege. Yet 
 were they not utterly rejected, only through their fall 
 salvation is come to the Gentiles, and they will be re- 
 ceived again to the favor of God ; which event will be as 
 life from the dead. God's covenant people is then 
 likened to an olive tree, once flourishing with a holy 
 root and holy branches. Surely this is the Jewish 
 Church on the abiding stock of the promise made to 
 the seed of Abraham. Some branches are now broken 
 off, but the root remains ; and on that root there is 
 still a remnant of the branches. That is, the great 
 mass of the people of Israel are cut off from the 
 covenant of promise on account of their unbelief, but a 
 J ' remnant according to the election of grace continues in 
 
 'cts iii. 25; covenant through faith in Jesus. The converts on the 
 ^^ ■ * day of Pentecost were not separated from the covenant, 
 but continued in it. Thus the Old Testament Church 
 is not extinct. Next some branches are taken from a 
 wild olive agjd are graffed into the stock which has the 
 branches^ and they grow up among the natural branches. 
 That is, a multitude of Gentiles are by faith united to 
 Christ and put into his Church, and so become one with 
 the Old Testament Church, and share with the believ- 
 ing Jews the blessing of Abraham. We have now the 
 original holy root, bearing luxuriant branches, some na- 
 tural and by origin holy, others wild and by origin 
 unclean ; and now together they form but one tree, and 
 that the same tree as formerly, only there has been a 
 change among the branches ; some have been broken 
 off and others have been graffed in. That is, we have 
 
xxvl 
 
 Second Coming of Our Lord. 37 
 
 the original covenant people of God, embracing some 
 of the original holy Jews and others who were originally 
 unclean Gentiles, but all forming one Church, and that 
 Church the same as before ; only there has been a change 
 in its constituent membership, some of the Jews have 
 been cut off by unbelief, and some Gentiles have been 
 graffed in by faith. All the branches partake alike of 
 the root and fatness of the Olive. That is, all Christians, 
 Jews and Gentiles alike, receive supplies of grace and 
 privilege through their connection with the Church of Acts 
 Go', by the indwelling Spirit, and all united together 
 form the one tree, i. e., the one Church. 
 
 Nothing can more clearly teach that the Church of 
 God is formed on the covenant promise made to the Seed 
 of Abraham ; that all who have the faith of Abraham 
 are in the Church whether Jew or Gentile, there is no 
 difference ; that unbelief cuts off from, and faith unites to, 
 the Church of God ; and that the only way by which the 
 unbelieving Jews can be restored to the church privileges 
 which they have lost, is by believing on Jesus, the seed 
 of Abraham. In event of which, we are told, they 
 will be grafted in again, and form with the believing 
 Gentiles, the glorious Church of the future. 
 
 Other passages bear abundant witness to this funda- 
 mental doctrine of the unity of the Church in all ages. 
 The Gospel was preached to Abraham ; he saw Christ's jno. viii.4 
 day and was glad : he was justified by faith : they that '11,29.' ^ 
 are of faith are blessed with him, are his seed, and heirs johnx.ii 
 of the promise. Jesus says that he has other sheep not 
 cf the Jewish fold; these also he must bring; they 
 shall hear his voice, that is beUeve the Gospel call, and 
 
38 The Doctrine of the 
 
 make one flock as there is one shepherd, that is, one 
 Church, for which the one good shepherd gave his 
 life. 
 
 Once more, the Plymouth assertion, that the Holy 
 Ghost was not given unto men until the day of Pentecost, and 
 will be withdrawn again from earth when the Church is 
 taken up, alike does violence to Scripture and to the analogy 
 of Faith. It is strange how men, unless for a purpose, 
 can overlook the manifest distinction between a dispen- 
 sation of the Spirit and the work of the Spirit. The first 
 means a spiritual economy as contrasted with the 
 Jewish dispensation of symbolism, which our Lord 
 *2^^ ^^'^^* clearly asserts when he says, ** The hour cometh, when 
 " ye shall neither in this mountain (Gerizim) nor yet at 
 
 ** Jerusalem worship the Father But the hour com- 
 
 " eth, and noiv ist when the true wor3hippers shall wor- 
 " ship the Father in spirit and in truth," (not in cere- 
 monies and shadows). The second is the conversion 
 and sanctification of individual believers. The theory 
 which we oppose confounds'these two things, and asserts 
 } that because at Pentecost the spiritual dispensation be- 
 i gan, therefore the work of the Holy Ghost, as the Spirit 
 I of Grace, was unknowTi before that time. It also implies 
 "^ that souIe^ (though not of the Church), were saved in 
 times past without the gracious work of the Spirit as 
 now exercised; and that others will be so saved hereafter 
 when the Holy Ghost has been withdrawn from earth. 
 Thus it teaches conversion and salvation without the 
 gracious operation of the Holy Ghost. 
 11. 10 12. ^^ '^QTCQ an easy task to multiply passages which 
 ov.i.23. siiow that the saints of old were renewed by the 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 39 
 
 Spirit's work, and that the gifts of inspired men Zeoh. w. g;, 
 were associated with the impartation of the Holy Num. xi.i'i 
 
 Spirit of God; just as now, when men are saved 
 by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, and when all i Cor. xu. , 
 the gifts of the Church are said to be wrought by 
 one and the same Spirit. But it seems imnecessary 
 to do this. We shall only assert, what every Bible i- 
 
 student knows, that all God's people in every age had 
 the Spirit of God ; that, being dead in sin, by His opera- Bom. viii. 
 tion alone they were made alive, received grace, and Jer. xxxi. <. 
 were enabled to exercise faith in God's salvation as re- 
 vealed; and that everyone in all the ages who thus has 
 the spirit of God, is a son of God, one of the Church 
 for which Christ died, a partaker of the Holy Ghost 
 and an heir of the heavenly inheritance, quite as much 
 as the most eminent saint of this nineteenth century. 
 God's church is one grind unity, of which Jehovah- ; 
 
 Jesus is the head ; united to Him by faith and the abiding ; 
 
 of the Holy Ghost. It reaches from righteous Abel, 
 through Patriarchial, Mosaic, and Christian dispensa- 
 tions, down to the last man, who shall obey the Gospel I 
 
 call and enter by faith into the enjoyment of God's sal- 
 vation. Then, when complete, it shall be presented to 
 the Father to the praise of the glory of his grace, ac- 
 cepted in the Beloved. 
 
 Thus far the theory has been disproved ; and the op- 
 posite truth, viz. : the unity of God's people in all ages 
 ill the Church, has been demonstrated from Scripture. 
 The limited definition which excludes from the Church 1 
 all but believers between Pentecost and the second 
 coming, is therefore to be rejected and condemned. 
 
 1 
 
40 The Doctrine of the 
 
 There is not a single passage of scripture in which it is . 
 even apparently stated ; it is contrary to the plain 
 teaching of many texts ; aad it contravenes the funda- 
 mental doctrine of salvation tlirough faith, and by the 
 gracious operation of the Holy Ghost. The definition 
 is a purely human invention, devised for a purpose, to 
 bolster up a theory which rends God's Church iato 
 fragments, and exalts a small portion of the redeemed, 
 making the Christian brethren greatest in thekingdom 
 of heaven. We have done with this part of our subject, 
 and bidding an agreeable farewell to the man-devised, 
 narrowed Church of pre-millenarianism, we proceed to 
 examine the definitions it gives of 
 
 • II. THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 
 
 The general dominior and rule which God main- 
 tains over all his creatures, and over man in particular, 
 is not in dispute. We all admit that Jehovah reign- 
 eth, that the Lord ruleth in heaven, in earth, and in 
 the abyss ; that he is " the King eternal, immortal and 
 invisible, the only wise God." The new view which we 
 controvert is, that God has an earthly kinjdom, which is 
 not the Church, which is now in abeyance or in mystery, 
 but which will be again established or manifested, when our 
 Lord shall come as the Son op Man to take the kingdom and 
 reign in bodily ^iresence in Jerusalem, 
 
 This kingdom, we are told, formerly had an existence 
 in the nation of Israel. God reigned over Israel during 
 the administration of Moses, Joshua, the Judges and 
 the Kings of Judah and Israel. On account of the 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 41 
 
 wickedness of the nation, God literally removed his throne Ezek.xi.afl 
 from Jerusalem, sent the king into captiyity, and trans- i| 
 
 f erred the Kirigdom from the Une of David to Nebuch- Dan. ii. 37, ■ 
 adnezzar, king of Babylon, and his successors in empire. 
 From that time God's kingdom has been in abeyance, <% 
 
 and the ** times of the Gentiles " have been running : a 
 kind of historical episode, during which the kingdom is 
 held successively by the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, 
 Grecian, and Koman empires. The Eoman empire 
 still continues and is now supreme, rules over the na- 
 tions, (!) by God's appointment; and will continue thus 
 to rule till the Son of Man, as the Son of David comes, 
 the literal King of Israel in the flesh, receives the king- 
 dom, and by carnal war destroys his enemies. 
 
 We are also told, that eighteen hundred years 
 ago Jesus of Nazareth, tho true literal King of Israel 
 after the flesh, came to his people ; and that if they had 
 received Him, He would have set up the kingdom then 
 and reigned in person in Jerusa,lem. But the Jews re- 
 jected Him, saying; "We have no king but Caesar;" 
 and as a consequence the kingdom remains in abeyance, 
 existing only in mystery, hut not actually, and the 
 dominion continues with the Gentiles. We are further 
 told that when the Lord shall come with his saints, the 
 kingdom will reappear, and thvT Son of man, risen and 
 glorified, shall reign in Jerusalem on the literal throne 
 of David, over restored Israel in the flesh and the subject 
 Gentile nations which shall be alive on the earth at that 
 time. 
 
 According to this theory then, the kingdom of God 
 both was in the past and shall be in ihe future, but has 
 4 
 
42 Tlie Doctrine of the 
 
 no actual existence during the dispensation of grace. 
 The kingdom is the people of Israel dwelling as a nation 
 in Palestine, with Jerusalem for metropolis, and having 
 a living son of David in the flesh for king. The rule is 
 a human, natural rule ; the subjects are living men in 
 the flesh, who have been reduced to obedience by carnal 
 weapons and are governed on natural principles, by 
 natural instrumentalities and human agencies. It is as 
 the Son of man and the Son of David, not as the Son of 
 God, that Jesus claims the kingdom. It thus appears, 
 to quote again from Mr. Trotter's book, that according 
 to the theory " The Kingdom of Christ's glory as King 
 " is treated of in inseparable connection with Israel's 
 " restoration and supremacy, and with the blessing of all 
 '* nations ; in a word with the millennium." This defini- 
 tion, like the one we have already considered, ie an im- 
 perative necessity; without it the theory could not exist. 
 / Observe, if Christ is now king and reigns among men, 
 then there can be no coming until in the exercise of his 
 Kiagly might he has subdued all his enemies and 
 brought in the millennium of blessing. This doctrine is 
 fatal to the darling idol of the church coming with the 
 Lord to introduce the millennium and reign with Him. 
 Hence it is indispensable to have such a definition of 
 the kingdom framed as will admit of a coming for the 
 saints at some time before the millennium, so that they 
 may be ready to come with the Lord, at a later period, 
 when the kingdom shall appear, anu the millennial 
 reign shall begin. Let us now enquire how far ^ 
 definition of the theory agrees with scripture and coi^ 
 mon sense, or is repugnant to both. 
 
Second CoTninr/ of our Lord. 43 
 
 1. The idea of God transferring Ms kingdom to 
 Nebuchadnezzar and his Gentile successors, is without 
 scriptural foundation, and utterly absurb. Satan is the 
 prince of this world, and God permits him to exercise a Lukelv. 
 usurped dominion ; but it would outrapje all our Chris- 
 tian instincts to allege on that ground, that God had 
 transferred his rule to Satan. So to assert, that because 
 God's people for their sins were forsaken by Him, and 
 delivered up into the hands of their enemies, therefore, 
 God's kingdom was transferred to the Gentiles, is a 
 patent absurdity, God allows the world to oppress his ' 
 Church and punish her, but the sceptre has not passed 
 from His hand to that of his enemies. Neither Nebuch- 
 adnezzar's nor Nero's empire was God's kingdom. 
 
 Nor do the passages quoted in support give any coun- 
 tenance to the monstrous assertion. The prophet 
 
 E zekiel had a vision, in which he saw the Shechinah leave ^ , , 
 
 ' Ezek. xi 
 
 Jerusalem and rest on the mountain to the east of the 
 city. But it was not seen to leave the earth, or even 
 Palestine ; far less was it transferred to Babylon, or 
 taken up to heaven, as our theorists assert. Besides, it 
 is well to observe that the whole passage is a record of 
 a vision merely; it is not history. Hence the theory has 
 no historical basis on which to rest ; it rests on visions ; 
 and in iwp senses is visionary, a pure fiction. In the 
 other passage referred to, God is said to have given Dan. ii, i 
 Nebuchadnezzar " a kingdom, power, and strength, _ 
 
 and glory," just as elsewhere he is said " to set one 
 *• up, and put another down," and as by Him all kings Dan. ii. ! 
 rule But it is not said to be God's kingdom that was 
 given him. Now it is expressly foretold that the God 
 
44 The Doctrine of the 
 
 p. ii. 44. of heaven shall set up his kingdom, in the days of thosg 
 kings, including Nebuchadnezzar, and that it shall break 
 in pieces, and consume all those kingdoms. So that 
 the kingdom of God is not superseded by the kingdoms 
 of the Gentiles, nor to be manifested when they have 
 run their course, but is cotemporaneous with them, 
 and is to endure after them. The idea of transference ^ 
 
 j therefore is as unscriptural as absurb. It is a mere 
 
 j dream, grasped at to support a baseless theory. 
 
 mes of Again, the expression, " Times of the Gentiles," is ac- 
 
 tiies. ^^ cording to the theory, the ages during which the Gentiles 
 have the dominion, while God's kingdom is in abeyance, 
 viz., from the time of Nebuchadnezzar till our Lord's 
 coming ivith the Saints to establish the millennium. The 
 slightest investigation shows how unscriptural and ab- 
 surd this interpretation is. The expression occurs only 
 once, when Jesus, speaking of the destruction of Jerusa- 
 
 ikexxi.24 lem, says, " Jerusalem shall be trodden down of 
 " the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled." 
 
 IV. xi. 2. ^^ ^ parallel passage the apocalyptic seer had a reed 
 given him like unto a rod, and the angel stood saying 
 " Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, 
 " and them that worship therein. But the court which 
 ' ' is without the temple, leave out and measure it not, 
 " for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall 
 " they tread under foot forty and two months." This 
 is all that Scripture says of the '• Times of the Gentiles." 
 and a reference to Nebuchadnezzar and the Medes, is to 
 say the least, far-fetched; while the assertion that it 
 means that God's kingdom was in the hands of the 
 Gentiles during a i)eriod, seems perfect nonsense. 
 
] 
 
 Second Coming of our Lord. 45 
 
 Look at the passages, and say what are these Times ? 
 
 Times of Jerusalem being trodden down by the Gentiles, 
 
 i. e.y of enduring the desolation and ruin which the re- 
 
 jection of the Messiah brought down on the Jews in 
 
 terrible retribution. While thus they are times of 
 
 judgment to the Jews, they are to the Gentiles times 
 
 of blessing: ** Blindness in part is happened to Israel, Rom.xi.:| 
 
 " until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in; through ' ' ; 
 
 ** their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles . . . 
 
 " ... and their fall is the riches of the world." 
 
 They are times of the ingathering of Gentiles, when the 
 
 blessing of Abraham is enjoyed by them in covenant. 
 
 But what has all that to do with the transference of God's 
 
 kingdom to Nebuchadnezzar, or to his successors ? The 
 
 idea of God's kingdom being suspended for 2300 years 
 
 is mere fiction ; it would never have occurred to any one 
 
 except as a shift to make plausible the Plymouth theory 
 
 of the kin gdom . , , _ 
 
 2. We may now search and ascertain what the Word 
 of God teaches concerning the main features of the 
 kingdom ; and thus we shall see how far the kingdom of 
 the theory corresponds with, or differs from the king- 
 dom of the scripture. The kingdom of heaven or of 
 God — " the kingdom which the God of heaven sets up, Dan. il. 
 "and which shall never be destroyed," is connected ^'^•^' 
 with the coming of the Son of Man, and was establisned 
 by his incarnation and ascension, and the mission of his 
 Spirit. The following is the witness of scripture, * ' Behold Mai. iii. 
 " I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way 
 •* before me, and the Lord whom ye seek shall come sud- 
 "denly to his temple ; even the messenger of the coven- 
 
46 The Doctrine of the 
 
 " ant, whom ye delight in, behold he shall come, saith 
 •' the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his 
 •' coming ! Behold I send you Elijah the prophet, be- 
 " fore the coming of the great and dreadful day of the 
 " Lord." So spake the last of the prophets. Zachariah 
 takes up the long silent strain, and rejoicing over the 
 hke i 68 birth of that forerunner, sings, "Blessed be the Lord 
 " God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his 
 " people, and hath raised up. an horn of salvation for 
 "us in the house of his servant David, as he spake by 
 " the mouth of his holy prophets . . . that we 
 " should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand 
 " of those that hate us, ... . and thou child 
 " shalt be called the prophet of the Highest, for thou 
 ^ ** shalt go before the face of the Lord, to prepare his 
 
 ktt.xi. 14. " way." And our Lord says, " This was Elias which 
 was for to come." Hear then this prophet in the 
 jitt.iii.2,3 wilderness of Judea, *' The voice of one crying, prepare 
 "ye the way of the Lord; repent for the kingdom of 
 iirki.15. " Heaven is at hand.'' Jesus reiterates the good tidings, 
 j " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand." 
 
 Itt. V. 3, He preaches, " Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs 
 ^' ' " 15 (not shall be) the kingdom of heaven." He declares 
 that something more than a legal righteousness is re- 
 quired to enter it ; that those who possess that righteous- 
 miii.3,5 J^^ss are blessed in the present possession of the king- 
 ff 5T20." ^^^ » *^^* ^ ™^^ must be born again in order to see it 
 or enter it ; that while he spoke it was among the 
 people, and had come upon them, and that some " stand- 
 teix.27. " ing there " and listening to him should not ' taste of 
 '^ ^^' ■ " death' till they should ' see the kingdom of God come 
 
i 
 
 Second Coming of our Lord. 47 
 
 *'ivith power.' " The apostles also preached the Gospel Actsviii.isv 
 of the kingdom, as the good tidings of a blessing then 22;*xxvii 
 enjoyed by all who believed in Christ Jesus. 
 
 Surely it requires no argument to prove that the^e 
 sayings of the apostles and prophets, and still more of 
 our Lord himself, cannot be construed as teaching that 
 there was no kingdom of God actually existimj then, 
 but that it should continue in abeyance, and exist only 
 in mystery for at least 1800 years after the ascension. 
 A theory which teaches this, evidently contradicts God's 
 work. 
 
 Our pre-millenarian friends further insist that God's 
 kingdom is earthly , (*' among the earthlies, as the church 
 is " among the heavenlies," so they talk,) not heavenly ; 
 a reign over Israel according to the flesh and living Gen- 
 tiles, not over the spiritual Israel ; a natural kingdom 
 of this world, not spiritual, and above the world. Nay, 
 they delight in drawing a vivid contrast between the 
 " heavenly hope " of their so called Church, and the 
 ** earthly hope " of Israel restored in the millennial era. 
 Thus their kingdom in its nature is of this world and \ 
 
 carnal. But surely this is utterly opposed to the de- ^ 
 
 claration of Jesus, who standing before the Roman John xvii 
 
 * . 36 37 
 
 governor, avowed that he was then a king, but added, ' ' • 
 ** My kingdom is not of this world ; if my kingdom were • 
 
 " of this world, then would my servy.nts fight," (with \ 
 
 carnal weapons;) this kingdom "is not from hence," | 
 
 and is not to be established by natural in strum entality, ^ 
 but by witnessing for the truth. The apostle also ex- 
 plicitly says, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the iCor.xv.^i 
 ** kingdom of God;" and certainly that annihilates the 
 
 % 
 
48 The Doctrine of the 
 
 Millenarian fancy of Israel in the flesh, and living Gen- 
 tile nations forming the kingdom of God. 
 ■{itfatt. xxi. Once more, our Lord says, " The kingdom of God 
 " shall be taken from you (Jews), and be given to a na- 
 ** tion bringing forth the fruits thereof; and many shall 
 latt. viii. " come from the east and the west, and sit down with 
 *' Abraham in the kingdom of heaven, but the children of 
 ** the kingdom should be cast out." These passages show 
 conclusively that the Jews had the kingdom while Jesus 
 spoke, but were to be deprived of it through their un- 
 belief. They as conclusively disprove the theory, that 
 the Gentiles had then and have now the kingdom, and 
 that it will be restored to Israel at the millennium. 
 
 Time will not permit a full reference to the favorite 
 phrase, ** The kingdom in mystery." It certainly serves 
 to veil the subject in mist, and to hide from view ^he 
 glaring defects of the theory, and thus those who are be- 
 fogged by the " mystery " cannot see clearly; so far for 
 its mistiness. The phrase never occurs in scripture. The 
 only place where anything like it is found, speaks of 
 ark iv. 11. the "mystery of the kingdom," not the kingdom in 
 mystery. Properly interpreted, in that passage the 
 phrase means the secret things of the kingfdom which 
 ftt. xiii. were hid from others but revealed to the apostles. Nor 
 "' can the phrase be twisted to mean, *' the kingdom not 
 
 J actually existing, but in abeyance, or in mystery." As 
 
 & this pet phrase is unscriptural, so is the idea which the 
 
 theory attaches to it ; both are devices of men, calculated 
 I to bewilder and mislead from the plain teaching of God's 
 
 I word. 
 
 m "We need go no further on this point. We have 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 49 
 
 proved that the kingdom of the theory, which is still in 
 the future, and is over living man in the flesh, with its 
 earthliness and carnal glory, is not the kingdom which 
 Jesus established eighteen hundred years ago, whose 
 subjects are born again by the spirit of God, which is 
 even now the blessed possession of all who believe, both 
 Jew and Gentile, and of which there is to be no end. 
 Thus then we are brought to 
 
 III. THE COMING OF THE LOED. 
 
 On this point we are told that there is nothing to 
 prevent the Lord from coming to day; nay, this very 
 hour ; and that the scripture teaches His saints con- 
 tinually to expect Him as the early apostles and early , 
 christians did. Great use is made of this-** looking for 
 the Lord," and it is paraded as an evidence of peculiar \ 
 earnestness and pre-eminent spirituality. Weighing ) 
 the statement with care we cannot help asking : If 
 nothing prevents the Lord's coming, why in the name 
 of common sense, does He not come ? Something has 
 so far prevented and still is preventing the coming. It 
 cannot take place until the fulness of the time appoint- 
 ed by God. True, no man knows the day or the hour ; 
 and he is a fool who would attempt to set the time, as 
 in the past some have found to their shame. 
 
 The a'yove statement, besides being nonsensical, con- 
 tradicts the scripture; in as much as according to 
 scripture the apostles expected to die, and were not 
 looking daily for Christ's coming. Paul speaks of his Acts.xx.a 
 departure, meaning his death, as being at hand andKom.xiv. 
 looked for by him ; he had a desire to depart and to be 
 
50 The Doctrine of the 
 
 I Tim. iv. G with Christ ; was ready to be offered, and only wished 
 f ■ ■ ■ CO finish his course with joy, and to magnify the Lord by 
 
 his death as well as his life, 
 rohn. xxi. In like manner our Lord spoke "of the death by 
 Pet.i.14,15 " which Simon Peter was to glorify God ; and that apostle 
 " knew that shortly he must put off his tabernacle, and 
 " wished after his decease certain things to be remem- 
 rohnxxi.23 " bered." So also the apostle John took pains to cor- 
 rect a saying that had pone abroad among the brethren 
 to the effect that Chrisic would come before he died. 
 Tas. iv. 13, And James in his epistle when censuring the making 
 of unconditional arrangements for the future, tells us to 
 add, ** If the Lord rrill, we shall live and do this or 
 "that;" not in the affected language of some who profess 
 a love for Jesus warmer than others and a more ardent 
 desire for his coming, we shall do this or that, unless 
 the Lord come before the time. 
 
 Thus then it appears that the apostles expected 
 
 death, and the expectation of the coming held by the 
 
 Brethren has not a single text to warrant it. They 
 
 have fallen into the error of the Thessalonians, so 
 
 ! promptly corrected by the apostle when he told them 
 
 ; Thes. ii. 2 " not to be shaken in mind or troubled as that the day of 
 
 11 " the Lord was at hand or upon them ;" and charged 
 
 I them to " let no man deceive them by any means, " on 
 
 this subject. 
 
 That the Coming of our Lord is in the future, 
 and will be personal, Evangelical christians believe and 
 lOtB. i. 11. teach. " The same Jesus who was taken up from be- 
 latt. xxvi, *' fore the eyes of the gazing disciples into heaven, shall 
 lev*, i. 7. " so come in like manner again. He will come in per- 
 
 a: 
 
*- 
 
 Second Coming of our Lord. 51 i 
 
 " son in clouds, and every eye shall see Him" when He ^ 
 
 comes. This is the old doctrine, the uniform tradition 
 of tlie churches of Christ. But new doctrines have been 
 added which are to be rejected. Our theorists tell us of 
 two comings ; first a coming/or the saints, and then a ^ 
 
 coming mth the saints, with an interval of at least 
 seven years between. The proof for this double coming i Thes. iv.j^ 
 is an inference, to the effect : that, if at His appearing 
 the Lord is to bring the saints with Him, there must have 
 been a previous coming for them when they were caught i 
 
 up to be with Him. The new doctrine is set forth on 
 this point in a way more than ordinarily confused and 
 confounding. We are told that at the first coming 
 Christ comes as the Son of God and the bridegroom, 
 but at the second as the Son of Man and king ; tiiat , 
 
 the seventieth week of Daniel and the great tribulation Dan. ix. 27;, 
 are part of the interval between the comings ; that 
 the first coming is the appearing of the morning star, r<^v. xxii. 
 and the second the rising of the sun of righteousness, Moiliv.'a. . 
 with the darkest hour of the niglit between ; and that 
 the first coming will be invisible and only into the air, but 
 the second will be seen bv all men, and Jesus shall come i^Thes. iv. 
 to earth. This, and other such nonsense, is uttered to 
 enforce a distinction unknown to the word of God and 
 is taught with much assurance as the very truth of God. 
 To redargue every statement would be tedious, and of no 
 real service ; we shall only in a few words call atten- 
 tion to the fact, that the Son of God is not spoken of as Mark xiv. 
 coming except for the Incarnation* — when the second Luke xxii 
 
 69. 
 
 * 1 Thess. i. 10, is only an apparent exception to this statement, for 
 though "His" refers to God, the iitie "Son of God " does not occur. 
 
 i 
 
52 The Doctrine of the 
 
 coming is referred to He is called the Son of Man and 
 the Lord ; to the irrelevant insertion of the text from 
 Daniel into a passage from Thessalonians without a 
 shadow of warrant, and solely in order to make out a 
 theory; to the linking together of Revelation and Mala- 
 chi, putting the last first and the first last, to serve 
 a purpose, without regard to time or matter, and to 
 the deliberate assertion as God's truth of a thing not 
 found in scripture, while its contrary is, viz., that the 
 coming will be invisible and only into the air. The 
 whole statement has not a vestige of scripture to 
 justify it ; it is a piece of bold handling of the word of 
 God, and an ingenious fiction purposely devised by men 
 who are wise above what is written. It is the duty of 
 every reverent student of scripture to reject the theory 
 and reprobate such a method of interpretation. 
 
 Another distinction of vital importance to the theory 
 is that drawn between the coming of the Lord, and the 
 2Thess. ii. day of the Lord. We are told •* that the coming of our 
 1 ""^Cor. XV. " Lord and oi^r gathering together unto him," is a dis- 
 
 K ^* tinct event, separated by a considerable interval from 
 
 2 Thess. ii. " *^^ day 1 the Lord;" that during the interval by 
 8; i. 7-10. ^hich these events are separated, the judgment of the 
 saints, who have been caught up, and their marriage, 
 as the Church, with the Lamb, shall take place ; that the 
 Old Testament saints shall be raised from the dead, and 
 also such of the faithful remnant as suffered martyrdom 
 during the great tribulation which followed the ascent 
 of the Church with the Holy Ghost to heaven; that dur- 
 ing the same interval on earth the churches of Christ- 
 endom shall utterly apostatize, Antichrist be revealed, 
 
 i 
 
 ; 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 53 
 
 the Jews return to Palestine, rebuild Jerusalem, make 
 
 a covenant ■with Antichrist, and be persecuted by the | 
 
 beast for three and a half years. The coming, we are 2The88.i.io. ] 
 
 further told, is invisible, on the other hand the day is 
 
 the Revelation, the Epiphany, the " Brightness"' of the com- | 
 
 ing. Now it is well to notice that the only reason given j 
 
 for the above interval and distinction resolves itself into j 
 
 this ; there must be such an interval and distinction, or 
 
 the theory is wrong, which expects the Lord to come Kev. xx. 4. I 
 
 before the millennium. In other words the interval and • 
 
 I 
 
 distinction have been devisod to make plausible a pre- i 
 
 millennium advent. They are an absolute necessity to I; 
 
 the new doctrine ; for if the Lord does not come until 
 the day, the coming is post-millennial. 
 
 We shall now examine, if scripture can be so inter- 
 preted as to support the theory. In so doing we shall 
 make it appear that, according to the Word of God the 
 coming of the Lord and the day of the Lord are one, and 
 the same event ; and that there is no interval of time between 
 them. If this is done, the theory falls of itself, for the 
 props on which it rests are struck away. 
 
 When Jesus had foretold the approaching desolation Matt, xxiii.; 
 of Jerusalem, he ended by speaking of his coming. ^ 
 
 Going out of the city, he sat down with his disciples on 
 the Mount of Olives, and in answer to these questions, 
 *' When shall these things be ?" — the destruction of Matt. x\iv, 
 Jerusalem — "and what shall be the sign of the coming 
 *' and of the end of the age ? " he foretold his coming, J 
 
 as like the ** lightning coming out of the east and shin- Matt, xxiv 
 *'ing to the west " — that is, all pervading — *' as like to the '^' 
 ''days cf Noe," an event unexpected by the world; as at- 
 
 i 
 
64 The Doctrine of the 
 
 Matt. xxiv. tended with the punishment of the evil servant ; and as 
 
 37-39 • 44- . 
 
 50;36;&**in the clouds of heaven with power and great 
 
 1 ThesB. iv. glory." Here the very word {jmrousia) is used; and the 
 
 2 Thess. ii. event signified by that word, and elsewhere ass >ciated 
 ^' with "owr (the Church's) gathering together unto him," 
 
 — which, according to the theory, affects only the Church, 
 and is invisible, and for the saints, is represented as like 
 lightning — all pervading ; as coming on the world in its 
 sinful pleasures ; as associated with judgment and 
 punishment. How then can it be invisible, and only a 
 coming /or the saints, unseen and unfelt by the world ? 
 Again the ** Epiphany," which is according to the 
 theory, the same as the day of the Lord, when he comes 
 with his saints, and when the wicked living nations are 
 
 ^ Tim. iv.8. ^o be judged, is spoken of by Paul as the " blessed hope," 
 and the day in which he should receive the crown. Is 
 Paul then not to be one of the Church ? Is he not to 
 arise and be rewarded when Christ comes for the 
 saints ? And must he wait for his crown till all the 
 events of the interval have transpired, till the Epiphany, 
 
 I, when the Lord comes with the saints ? Surely the 
 
 I theory is at fault. 
 
 Further, the ** revelation," and the "appearing" 
 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ is everywhere spoken of 
 
 as the time when the Christian's hope shall be 
 
 Pet. i. 7, 13 realized, wuen we ''shall la found unto praise, and 
 
 '?"h""" 2 " iionour, and glory ; when we shall appear with him. 
 
 .. ** id ^lory ; shall be like him, for we shall see him as he 
 { These, ii. *^ "^ . ' 
 
 7,8. is.' But it is also the time *' when the Lord Jesus 
 ** shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels 
 '• in flaming fire, taking vengeance," etc. Scripture thus 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 55 
 
 teaches not tivo appearings, but one event, bringing glory 
 to the saint, and judgment to the sinner. The coming 
 and the appearing of the Lord are one. 
 
 Yet further : •• The day of the Lord " is spoken of as i Cor. v. 5, 
 a time of ** saving," of ** rejoicing " for the apostle and i Thess. ii.f 
 his converts ; strictly parallel with the cominfi of the i fhess v. 
 
 ' 2 3 
 
 Lord. At the same time the day is said '* to come as a 2 Pet. m. 10(» 
 thief in the night" for destruction, when ''the heavens hVie.' ' 
 " shall pass away with a great noise, the elements shall icor!'i!^*f''^ 
 " melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and all that Matrvii.'22. 
 " is therein, shall be burnt up." Passages to the same ^5c?* "" ^^_ 
 effect might be multiplied, but it is unnecessary. Every 
 candid reader must admit that there are not two days 
 referred to, one of blessing when Christ comes for the 
 saints, and another of judgment, when he comes idth 
 the saints, but one. God's Word knows but one day. \ 
 
 It teaches no intervening period such as the theory has 
 devised. 
 
 We find then that according to Scripture, the Com- 
 ing, the Epiphany, the Appearing, the Eevelation -of 
 Jesus Christ, and the Day of the Lord, are one and the 
 same event ; a time of joy, an object of hope for the 
 Christian, and a time of wrath and an object of fear to 
 the wicked. The fancied distinction disappears when 
 the light of God's word is brought to bear upon it ; and 
 the interpolated period of heavenly appraisals, marriages 
 and resurrections vanishes with it. These are dreams 
 which men may entertain, when they walk in the dark 
 light of pious imaginings, but which are dissipated when 
 men awake to walk in the light of God's word. Is it 
 not wonderful how good men have been deceived by the 
 
56 The Doctrine of the 
 
 » 
 
 phantom ? The explanation is easy : they have not 
 searched the word of God, but have believed others who 
 have constructed an ingenious theory which flatters the 
 pride of self-righteous sensuous men. 
 
 IV. THE JUDGMENT. 
 
 Not less fallacious and unscriptural are the defini- 
 tions and distinctions of the theory regarding judgment, 
 fohn V.24. !• The Church we are told is never to be judged, for the 
 j saints were judged when Jesus died, and there is now 
 
 aom. viii. 1 ** ^^ condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." 
 I The Church is only manifested, or appears in its corpor- 
 
 iCor. V. 10. ATE CAPACITY ! ! " bcforc the judgment seat, to have the 
 work of the individual saints appraised. This takes 
 place, we are told, in heaven after the assent of the 
 Church and before her marriage, whatever that may 
 mean. The Old Testament saints and the faithful 
 remnant also enjoy some such privileges of appraisal 
 and reward, but before they come ivith the Lord to in- 
 troduce the millennial kingdom. Surely it is sufficient 
 for the refutation of this vain imagining simply to state, 
 that when we ** appear before the judgment seat," it is 
 Cor V. 10. expressly stated to be in order that " every one may 
 " receive the things done in his body, according to that 
 he hath done, whether it be good or bad.'' To receive 
 according to our bad deeds cannot mean, to have our 
 good works appraised and rewarded. To teach this and 
 to exclude from this text the idea of sentence and retri- 
 bution, is to handle God's word deceitfully, and to take 
 from what is written therein ; and let those who do so 
 beware of the threatened consequence. Besides, there 
 
 (" 
 
1 
 
 Second Coming of Our Lord. 57 
 
 is not a single text that even hints at a judgment seat 
 in heaven, or a marriage there; or appraisal there. 
 These are each and all of them pure imaginings of 
 dreaming men, who, finding that scripture is against 
 their dreams, presumptuously wrest the texts and sup- 
 ply what they think must take place, where scripture is \i 
 silent. 
 
 2. We are next told, that when the " Son of Man shall 
 come in his glory, and all the Holy Angels with him, Matt. xxv. 
 then he shall sit on the throne of his glory," as King — 
 meaning that he was not king before this ; that when it 
 is said, "before him shall be gatnered ^^^ nations," it 
 means the living Gentiles ; not all Gentiles, only those 
 living at the end of the great tribulation, and not the j 
 
 Jews ; and that the ground of commendation or rejec- | 
 
 tion, " Inasmuch as ye did it, or did it not to the least Mat.xxv.45 
 of these, ye did or did it not unto me," has reference [ 
 
 to the manner in which the living Gentile nations had 
 treated the faithful Jewish remnant during the interval 
 between the coming/o?* and coming ivith the saints. In ' 
 
 order to do this consistently it is necessary to explain 
 the whole prophecy where the judgment scene occurs Matt, chpn 
 
 xxiv & XXV 
 
 as not referring to Christians. Mr. Kelly does not 
 hesitate to do this. He says, " Our Lord does not as 
 *' yet unfold here the portion of us Christians, but 
 " takes up the disciples where they were. They were 
 "believing godly Jews. . . . The disciples are : 
 
 "viewed in this chapter, not as the representatives of 
 " us Christians now, but of future godly Jews. The 
 " prophecy consists of three great parts. The Jewish 
 " remnant have their history thoroughly described ; then 
 4 
 
 ' m 
 
68 The Doctrine of the 
 
 *• comes the portion of Christians ; and afterwards that 
 •* of the Gentiles." That is to say, the first part from 
 chapter xxiv. 4, to end, is a prophecy of the experience of 
 the Godly Jews, who shall live after the Church has 
 been taken up to heaven; chapccr xxv., from the begin- 
 ning to verse 30, refers to the Church or Saints, between 
 Penetecost and the second coming ; and the remainder 
 of the chapter refers to the Gentile nations living when 
 the Lord shall come. 
 
 This is a bold step to take, but it must be taken or 
 the theory perishes. Time will not allow of a full an- 
 swer to this exposition ; it is enough to show in a few 
 particulars that it is utterly contrary to the rest of the 
 word of God; for the pious student will then know that 
 the plain common sense interpretation is the true one, 
 and will reject the new view. Observe then, that the 
 kexxi.32. parallel passages in Luke and Mark, put it beyond 
 tt^xxiv!' doubt that the destruction of Jerusalem, spoken of by 
 fg XX. Matthew, was that which took place under Titus, "be- 
 ifmav.17. " fo^^ ^^^® generation who saw Jesus had passed away," 
 rk^ xiii. jjq|. ^j^g assault of Antichrist, which, it is said, shall take 
 S^i."'"^' place between the comings ; that the gospel of the 
 Idngdom, which was to be preached in all the world be- 
 fore the end should come, is the same that Paul and 
 the other apostles preached, when they experienced the 
 fulfilment of the promise of Christ's presence with them, 
 as they stood before ** councils, rulers, and kings;" not 
 another gospel, different from the gospel of the grace 
 of God. Therefore the arbitrary assertion that chap- 
 ter xxiv. refers to a Jewish remnant in a future 
 age, when Jerusalem shall have been rebuilt, and the 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 59 ^ 
 
 Jews shall be persecuted as a believing remnant by ,, 
 
 Antichrist, is an impertinent, presumptuous adding to | 
 
 the word of God. It is further to be observed that in 
 
 the portion, which, according to the theory, refers only 
 
 to the church and treats of the coming of the bride- Matt, x: 
 
 groom, the ascent of the saints, the heavenly judgment ^~^^' 
 
 with awards, and the marriage of the church, we 
 
 have the judgment and condemnation of " the wicked .• 
 
 and slothful servant, and the casting of him into outer ' 
 
 darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of . 
 
 teeth." This is utterly inconsistent with the exposi- Matt, xi 
 
 • ''5-30 
 
 tioUf and fatal to it. For it cannot be supposed even by 
 a brother, that some hypocrite shall rise from the dead 
 when Christ comes for his saints, shall be caught up in 
 the air along with them, and be manifested before the , 
 
 judgment seat in heaven, only to be condemned and 
 cast into outer darkness. Mr. Kelly seems to have felt 
 the difficulty and very discreetly passes over it in his 
 commentary; 
 
 But there are even more serious objections to this 
 vicious attempt to pervert the teaching of our Lord. 
 What, we ask with indignant anxiety for God's truth, 
 what becomes of the blessed words of hope, '• Come ye Matt. x> 
 blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared ^^" 
 for you from the foundation of the world," if only 
 the few Gentile nations then living, who received the 
 faithful remnant during the tribulation, shall hear these 
 words addressed to them? and if the only kingdom 
 prepared^ is to live and prosper in this poor and dying 
 world subject and tributary to the Jews in Palestine ? 
 What becomes of the terrible words, which have so often 
 
60 The Doctrine of the 
 
 struck terror into every heart that has heard them, 
 !. XXV. *• Depart ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the 
 devil and his angels," if they only refer to the 
 Gentiles who shall live during the great tribulation, and 
 who shall reject, neglect and persecute this faithful 
 Jewish remnant ? Have rejectors of the Gospel of the 
 grace of God now living, nothing to do with these 
 threatenings ? Does everlasting fire mean only the 
 extinction of disobedient Gentile nations from the face 
 of the earth, when the Lord establishes a Jewish king- 
 dom ? And once more, what according to the theory 
 [ can be the import of the closing words of the prophecy, 
 
 ! ** these shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but 
 
 b. XXV. the righteous into life eternal ? " Can they mean that 
 the obedient Gentiles shall continue to live on forever on 
 this earth in great worldly prosperity under Messiah ; 
 and the disobedient Gentiles shall be destroyed by deso- 
 i lating judgments from the face of the earth ? 
 
 s Well may we pause, horror-struck, at such a mode of 
 
 ( dealing with God's word, which on the one hand robs 
 
 I Christians of their hope of a heavenly kingdom which 
 
 s xi. 16. God has prepared for them and eternal life, and gives it 
 to Gentiles on earth ; and on the other hand annuls the 
 terrors of the Lord by declaring everlasting fire and 
 everlasting punishment to mean the destruction of living 
 nations, but to have no reference to the punishment 
 after death of Gospel hearers who reject Jesus. It is 
 impossil le for any seriously minded person to look at 
 this exposition calmly, without rejecting it with abhor- 
 rence. Manifestly for a purpose do the theorists insert 
 *' living " before nations, and restrict the all; for a pur- 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 61 
 
 pose do they palter and trifle with eternal realities, and 
 with the hopes and fears of men. The purpose is to ^ 
 
 avoid the doctrine of a general judgment of both the Acta, x 
 righteous and the wicked, because that doctrine is fatal 
 to the darling idol of an invisible coming for the 
 saints and a marriage in heaven. 
 
 3, Third in order comes what, in the peculiar 
 momenclature of the brethren, is termed a Sessional judg- \ 
 
 ment. By this is meant the Rule of the Saints in the 
 heavenlies, sittimj as judges or assessors with Jesus, over Matt, x 
 the twelve tribes of Israel and subject Gentiles in the -Rev.xx 
 earthlies. This rule or judgment extends over the long 
 period of a thousand years. 
 
 Observe how this idea originated. A judgment for 
 all men is clearly taught in the Word of God. ** We," Acts x^ 
 Christians, the apostle tells us, as well as sinners, shall roiu. 3 
 stand before the throne of Christ ; in the day when God 
 shall judge the secrets of men; and *' that day is, when 
 the Lord shall be revealed in flaming fire, taking 2 Thee 
 vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey 
 not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ," i.e., gospel 
 hearers who reject the offer. Thus both christians and re- 
 jectors of the gospel are to be judged, and that at Christ's 
 appearing. Now mark, the theory has provided for a 
 special judgment of the saints in heaven (although it is no 
 judgment) ; but that event comes before the appearing 
 of Jesus Christ or the day of the theory. Then there will 
 be a second judgment when He comes to earth; but not 
 of saints, for they are already judged; nor of the wicked 
 dead, (rejectors of the Gospel, etc,,) for accor-ling to the 
 theory they are not to be raised for a thousand years 
 
 5 
 
62 The Doctrine of the 
 
 after the day when Christ is revealed ; hence the judg- 
 ment of that day cannot refer to them. Who then are to 
 be judged at the appearing ? Some kind of judgment 
 must be devised to begin with the day of the Lord, 
 which is neither a judgment of the saints at the coming, 
 nor a judgment of the wicked dead at the last day. 
 Hence this sessional judgment — a judgment of living 
 nations — a special expedient to meet the requirements 
 of scripture, which demands a judgment of all men, 
 quick and dead. The theory must have one judgment 
 of the saints in heaven, a second of living nations on the 
 earth, and after a thousand years a third, of the wicked 
 dead also upon the earth. Mark well how error leads 
 to error ; one human invention calls for another to sus- 
 tain it ; a fictitious judgment in heaven necessitates a 
 fictitious judgment on earth ; and a judgment solely of 
 the wicked, necessitates a judgment for those who are 
 not judged as saints, nor yet as wicked men raised from 
 the dead, — a judgment of the living — for otherwise part 
 of the human race would never be judged. 
 
 It is not necessary fully to discuss this point. The 
 passages quoted in support of the dogma admittedly 
 establish a reign or rule of the saints, of which we will 
 have more to say hereafter, and a judging of the twelve 
 t. xix. tribes of Israel; just as elsewhere it is said, "the saints 
 *r.vi.2,3. shall judge the world and angels." But to speak of the 
 reign of the saints for a thousand years as a judgment, 
 in the same sense as the apostle means, when he speaks 
 I. ii. 12, of " as many as have sinned without law, perishing 
 without law, (i.e. the Gentiles), and as many as have 
 sinned in the law, being judged by the law," {i.e. the 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 03 
 
 Jews), " in the day when God shall judge the secrets 
 of man," is to confound things that dififer. Our Lord 
 speaks of " a day of judgment when it will be more Matt.xi 
 tolerable for Tyre and Zidon than for Chor&zin, 
 Bethsaida," etc., and Jude foretells in the words of 
 Enoch that " the Lord cometh with ten thousand of his Jude u 
 saints, to execute judgment upon all," etc. It is past 
 comprehension how these and many parallel scripture 
 passages can be perverted po as to harmonize with the 
 idea of a sessional judgment of living nations, or a ruling 
 over them. Surely the day of the coming with the saints 
 is according to the theory before the millennium ; but in 
 that- day Gentile and Jew, Tyrian or Zidonian, inhab- ' 
 itant of Chorazin or Bethsaida, and the ungodly in the 
 day of Enoch alike shall be judged — shall perish or be 
 rewarded. This is manifestly something very different 
 from the destruction of living gentile nations, or their 
 blessed condition under th^ peaceful happy rule of the 
 Son of David, and his companion assessors. Surely 
 retributive vengeance is implied in the language both : 
 
 of our Lord and the apostles, and this is manifestly in- | 
 
 consistent with the prolonged government of men in 
 the flesh for thirty generations. We leave the bold in- 
 vention, so manifestly devised to bolster up a false theory; ' 
 and, if possible, to prevent men from seeing how in- 
 reconcilably opposed to scripture that theory is. A i 
 sessional judgment is a misnomer and a delusion. •] 
 
 4. Now we come to the last judgment, the judgment 
 of the wicked dead. Note, in passing, the varying mean- 
 ing which have been given to the word "judgment." 
 First, it is made to mean the manifestation of the Saints 
 
64 The Doctrine of the 
 
 before the seat of Christ in heaven, with the appraisal 
 and reward of their good deeds ; then, to mean the 
 plaguing, punishing, and destroying of living gentile 
 nations on earth ; next, a peaceful reign and happy rule 
 over Israel and tributary Gentiles on the earth for a 
 thousand years; and now, it means a judicial trial, fol- 
 lowed by punishment. What may not scripture be 
 made to say when thus deceitfully handled ? In the 
 four different meanings given to the word, and given as 
 the exigencies of the theory demand — the primary idea 
 of judging or discriminaUiKj does not once appear; and 
 in no two of them is the meaning the same. But to our 
 work. 
 
 According to the theory, ages have passed since 
 the Lord came to reign on the earth. Satan has been 
 lev. XX. 5 Ifit loose again, and has deceived the nations. Gog and 
 andseq. |||agog have compassed Jerusalem, and have been de- 
 I voured by fire from heaven, and the devil has been cast 
 
 into the lake of fire. All this has taken place among 
 living men, on the earth. The Jews still live on the 
 earth in Palestine, and the Lord and his saints still 
 reign over the kingdom in the heavenlies. There is no 
 word of any other coming of the Lord, no sound of a 
 trumpet, no voice of the Son of man coming m the 
 clouds. All these things occurred more than a thousand 
 V. XX. u. years ago. But lo ! "A great white throne is seen and 
 one sitting on it, from whose face the earth and the 
 heaven fled away, and there was no place found for 
 them;" and adds the Apocalyptic Seer, "I saw the 
 dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books 
 were opened ; and another book was opened, which is 
 
 I 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 
 
 65 
 
 the book of life; and the dead were judged out of 
 those things which were written in the books accord- ^^- ^^' ^^ 
 ing to their works. And whosoever was not found 
 written in the book of life was cast into the lake of 
 Are." This, we are told, is the judgment of the wicked 
 dead. The church generally in past times has regarded 
 this as a powerful description of the general judgment, 
 at the end of the world, parallel with *' the day of the iTUeso.v. 
 Lord, which comes like a thief in the night, in the 
 which the heavens shall pass away . . . the earth 
 also and the works that are therein shall be burnt u'^ ; 
 and it is commonly believed that these things will take 
 place when Christ comes the second time ; and that the 
 second coming, the end of the world, the last day, and 
 the general judgment are all strictly synchronous. Ac- 
 cording to the theory the church is in error; for the 
 Lord will have come more than a thousand years before 
 the wicked are judged ; the saints too will have been 
 judged ; and the living nations likewise. So that it be- 
 comes necessary now to limit the ** all the dead, small 
 and great " to the remnant not already raised ; and to 
 add to the word of God by inserting the word "wicked" 
 before dead. But why thus restrict and add to God's 
 word ? Answer : the theory requires it, therefore it 
 must be done. 
 
 But this will not justify such handling of God's 
 word. We have already shown that christians are 
 to be judged as well as others in that day ; and that Rom.xiv. 
 the day will be a time both of punishment and reward ; ^ ^^'^•'^•i^ 
 also that the world is to be judged then. We now add Acts xvil. 
 that when ** the Son of man comes with his holy angels 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 31. 
 
66 The Doctrine of the 
 
 Markviii.38 he will be ashamed of those who deny him and confess 
 those who confess him." This is certainly not to ap- 
 praise the deeds of the saints, and reward them more 
 than a thousand years before He condemns the rejectors 
 of the gospel. On the contrary, the solemn scene of 
 presenting his people faultless and receiving them to 
 Himself and of rejecting and destroying his enemies, is 
 one and the same event. Nor will the evasion that a 
 day may mean here, as in the first chapter of Genesis, a 
 long period avail. It ill becomes literalists who say that 
 a thousand years is to be taken Hterally, to assert that a 
 day is to be taken figuratively, simply because unless 
 thus taken, it will not fit tho theory ; while, by doing 
 this, events diverse in nature and widely separated in 
 time, are included in one period. There is no scrip- 
 ture warrant foi thus interpreting the word, 'day,' nor is 
 such use of the word needed, except to bolster up the 
 theory. 
 
 Further disproof of the fiction may be found in con- 
 siderations like the following : Caiaphas, who condemned 
 Jesus, and the soldiers who pierced him, will certainly 
 be found among the wickoa dead, who shall rise at the 
 Imt judgment; and yet it is expressly said that they 
 jlfatt. xxvi. ** shall see Him when He comes in the clouds of heaven,^* 
 Bev'. 1. 7. This according to the theory would be before the millen- 
 nium, and thus more than a thousand years before these 
 men were raised from the dead. Surely this is absurd. 
 Again God's word represents the sounding of the trumpet 
 ev. xi. 15. as introducing "the kingdom of our Lord and his 
 Christ, "(that is according to the theory, the ^ illennium) 
 Etev. xi. 18. and it is immediately added " Thou hast taken thy great 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 67 
 
 power and hast reigned, and the nations were angry 
 and thy wrath has come, and the time of the deady 
 that they should be judged," (not the living nations) 
 and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants 
 the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear 
 " His name, small and great, and shouldest destroy 
 " them that destroy the earth." If language can teach 
 it, this passage teaches beyond question that the setting 
 up of the kingdom, the sounding of the trumpet, the judg- 
 ing of the dead, the rewarding of the righteous, and 
 destruction of the wicked are strictly synchronous; all 
 take place at the same time. 
 
 Much more might be added, but every candid student 
 must be satisfied from what has been said, that the 
 fiction of four Judgments, stretching over a long period 
 of more than a thousand years, which deal with the 
 race of mankind piece-meal, is alike without scripture 
 foundation, opposed to scripture teaching, and invented 
 by men for the sole purpose of saving a pet theory which 
 flatters the pride of those who consider themselves the 
 greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 V. THE RESURRECTION. 
 
 We shall now enquire concerning the Resurrection 
 of the dead. According to the theory we have at differ- 
 ent times or stages (1) A resurrection of the New Testa- 
 ment saints or church at the coming of the Lord into the 
 air ; (2) The resurrection of the Old Testament saints 
 after them but before the day of the Lord ; (3) The 
 resurrection of the martyred remnant after they have 
 been beheaded during the great tribulation and before 
 
68 The Doctrine of the 
 
 the day of the Lord when He comes with them and the 
 other risen saints. (4) The resurrection of the wicked 
 dead more than a thousand years after the raising of 
 the saints. It will also be observed that, there is, accor- 
 ding to this theory, no resurrection of the Jews and Gentiles 
 tvho are on earth durinr/ the millennium. Perhaps it is be- 
 cause they never die, but live on for ever on the new 
 earth. And this must be the case, unless they are 
 changed while living and thus become possessed of 
 spiritual bodies. But the theory says nothing of any 
 living ones being changed, except the portion of the 
 church which is alive at the coming of the Lord. 
 
 Let us now test by the word of God the doctrine of 
 
 four resurrections, separated by long intervals of time. 
 
 1 Thess. IV. i^ jg certain that at the second coming, '* when the 
 
 i(k)r xv^52 Lord shall descend from heaven with a shout (summons) 
 
 with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of 
 
 God, 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. The dead 
 
 Phil. iii. 21. shall be raised incorruptible and we shall be changed." 
 
 This the scripture teaches. But when our theorists assert 
 
 that ow^y those who formed the church between Pentecost 
 
 and that day shall then arise and be changed, they 
 
 add to the word of God. No such restriction is found 
 
 in these passages or elsewhere. It is made solely for 
 
 the sake of the theory, which without it must perish. 
 
 John V. 28. All God's people shall hear the joyful summons and 
 
 Heb.xi.35. come forth to have part in **the better resurrection;" 
 
 and there is not a hint of any difference in time between 
 
 the resurrection of Old and New Testament saints. 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 6& 
 
 The resurrection of the faithful remnant at some later 
 time is aUke without foundation. It is simply an infer- 
 ence from the vision of John who saw " the ** souls" (not Rev. xx.4 
 bodies) of them that were beheaded for the witness of 
 Jesus, etc., and they lived and reigned with Christ a 
 thousand years." The inference is to this effect : if 
 John saw souh living and reigning, their bodies must 
 have been raised before Christ came with His saints : 
 and as these were beheaded because they would not 
 worship the beast, they must have died after the church 
 was caught up, and Antichrist as the beast was de- 
 veloped, and thus could not have risen when the church 
 rose : therefore there n.ast have been a resurrection of 
 the bodies of the faithful remnant sometime between 
 the ascent of the church and the millennial reign. This 
 inference is the sole ground for asserting the resurrection of a 
 faithful remnant. But, how seeing a vision can prove 
 that the vision will become a literal fact : or how souls 
 can mean bodies ; or living and reigning is equivalent to 
 rising from the dead, does not appoar. All these ad- 
 verse considerations h6wever have no weight with the 
 Brethren, the theory needs the inference, that is 
 enough; therefore it must be so. 
 
 Again, we are told, that these three resurrections con- 
 stitute the First Resurrectioji, which is spread over a Rev xx.5,6 
 period of at least seven years ; and that the three 
 classes of saints thus raised, live and reign with Christ 
 for a thousand years. When the thousand years are 
 finished, the rest of the dead — that is, the wicked dead — 
 rise. And this is the Second Resurrection. Let us now rov xx. s. 
 examine this passage with care. It is confessedly a 
 
70 The Doctrine of the 
 
 difi&cult passage. We dare not say that we are sure of 
 its full or exact meaning ; at the same time we can 
 show that the above interpretation is not tenable, and 
 is contrary to other passages concerning which there 
 can be no doubt. And here we must call attention to 
 a canon of interpretation which commends itself to 
 common seuse, and yet is continually violated by the 
 Plymouth doctrine. The canon is, that the darker and 
 more difficult passages are to be explained hy the more plain 
 and easy ; and not the more simple and easy hy the difficult 
 and dark. 
 
 ■Rev.xix. In the preceding chapter the Lord is represented 
 
 as coming at the head of His saints, a conqueror with 
 His army. The chapter closes with the slaying of His 
 enemies. Our friends say that this is a literal slaying 
 
 Matt. XXV. of men in the flesh— of the living nations — *' in the day 
 of the Lord," and that literal vultures gorge themselves 
 
 Bev. XX. 12. on the carcases of the slain. Next in chapter twen- 
 tieth, Satan is seen to be bound and cast into the 
 abyss, ..xiut up, with a seal put on him till the thousand 
 / years should be fulfilled. Our friends, not observing that 
 
 this is merely a vision and not a prediction, insist that 
 the passage teaches that Satan will literally be confined 
 with material chains, in a material pit, and under a mate- 
 rial seal for a literal thousand years. The theory must hold 
 the literal view; for to admit a figurative or spiritual bind- 
 ing, and a figurative or spiritual millennium, would be 
 suicidal, as the whole is said to occur among living 
 nations. Next then, we have literal thrones set in the 
 literal heavens, where dwellers on the earth can see 
 them. The saintc who fought under the Lord and 
 
IV. 
 
 Second Coming of Our Lord. 71 
 
 overthrew the Hving enemies now sit down upon these 
 chairs of state, and begin the sessional judgment over ii| 
 
 the living nations. These reigning saints are said to !« 
 
 have enjoyed the First Resurrection ; some of them, at ''i 
 
 least seven years before. But now it is said *• This is the i,!. 
 
 First Eesurrection, blessed and holy is he that hath - • < • 
 part in the first resurrection; on such the second ,i 
 
 death hath no powor, but they shall be priests of God ' 
 
 and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand 
 years." , 
 
 We ask, what is the First Resurrection ? Is it being 3 
 
 raised by the Archangel's trump seven years before 
 when the bride went to heaven ? Or is it reigning for j Thcss. 
 a thousand years ? If the former, it cannot be the latter; j^ll\ xx. 4. 
 and cannot refer to Old Testament saints or the 
 faithful remnant. If the latter, there is no proof of a 
 bodily resurrection at all. Either alternative upsets 
 the theory. 
 
 Again we ask, why should the resurrection of the 
 wicked be called the Second resurrection? The ex- 
 pression is not found in the bible. There is not a 
 single text of scripture that teaches two resurrections 
 separated in time, or speaks of a second resurrection. 
 The doctrine is a pure fiction. There is a second death, 
 but no second resurrection; the idea is unknown to 
 God's word. 
 
 We may now make a remark or two expository of 
 this dark passage. A candid and unprejudiced reader 
 will be satisfied that we have first a vision of conquest Kev. xix. 
 
 11-21 
 
 ending in the victory of King Jesus over all his enemies. 
 
 Then, we have a vision of Satan being put under re- Rev. xx 1. 
 
j 72 The Doctrine of the 
 
 I 
 
 ban. vii.27. straint. Thirdly, we have a vision of the saints regnant, 
 I followed by explanatory remarks. Lastly, we have a 
 
 ■iRev. XX. 11. vision of a throne of judgment and of the resurrection 
 of the dead. Thus we have four visions, which ivere 
 seen in the above order. But to assert that the things 
 seen are to be realized in literal fact ; that the coming 
 events of which they are revelations to a seer, are 
 consecutively to follow each other in the same order — 
 to assert that here we hpve history written before hand 
 in chronological order — is a pure assumption. Yet un- 
 less this is assumed, the theory has no base on which 
 to rest. 
 
 Again, a literal fulfilment of these visions in history 
 is absurd nonsense. Attempt to carry it out, and it 
 will at once appear. The man Jesus literally, with a 
 Rev.xix.i3, sharp sword coming out of his mouth, with which he 
 Bev!xix. 13, should smite the nations! literally wearing a vesture 
 ^^' dipped in blood ! Spiritual bodies of risen saints riding 
 
 on white horses, a brigade of cavalry ! An angel liter- 
 Xev.xix.i7, ^lly cryiiig to the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven I 
 Rev'. XX. i. Literal vultures feeding on the flesh of slain men ! A 
 literal key for the abyss, and a literal chain wherewith 
 Rev. XX. 12. to bind a spirit ! Literal books opened for judgment! 
 These are a few things which must convince the reader 
 that he is dealing with figurative and symbolic language. 
 If any one will insist on them being taken literally, we 
 will give such an one up as hopelessly blinded. He who 
 expects the Lord, when he comes ivit! liis saints to judge 
 living nations in wrath, to have a sharp sword in his 
 mouth, and to lead to the charge ris< saints in white 
 linen, is not amenable to reason; we must let him alone 
 
Second Comlnr/ of our Lord. 7*5 
 
 in his delusion. Evou the brethren, however, admit 
 that in some things the passage is not to be taken liter- 
 ally and treated as plain history in prose. Still they 
 insist on a literal thousand years ; for if it is not found 
 in this vision, it is not spoken of elsewhere. They also 
 insist on a literal First resurrection ; for if it is not to be 
 found here, it is to be found no where else. To allow 
 that these prophetic visions are to be interpreted as 
 other prophecies are, would be fatal to the theory ; for 
 apart from this dark vision so full of manifesfh/ symhoUc 
 features, there is not a text in tJie trhole Bible that appears 
 to speak of saints risiiaf before t/ie " rest of t/ie deiul.'' 
 Therefore « vision of souls reigning must be held to mean 
 a RESURRECTION OF BODIES ; and the souls of them that 
 were beheaded, etc., must be held to mean the bodies of the 
 Church of Old Testament Saints, and of the Faithful lu'ui- 
 nant. No wonder that our friends hold to this dark '' 
 
 passage with a death grip ; it is the keystone of the 
 theory ; take it away and behold a ruin. 
 
 To show yet further how utterly indefensible the 
 interpretation is, we have but to compare the passage 
 where John *' saw under the altar the souls of them that R^/. xio. 
 were slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony 
 which they held, who cried with a loud voice." On 
 the principles of the theory this would teach that these 
 martyrs were raised then ; but the passage in which it 
 is to be found belongs to the Tribulation era according 
 to the theory, hence it is given up there. But surely if 
 a vision of souls there does not imply resurrection, a vision 
 of souls elsewhere does not necessarily imply it. Whether 
 then any other consistent interpretation can be found 
 5 
 
74 The Doctrine of the 
 
 or not, this of the Brethren at least must be rejected as 
 absurd. 
 
 |j 2. Other passages are adduced to help out the- 
 
 theory ; and smce it is impossible to find the doctrine in 
 any one passage, it is hoped by putting into juxtaposi- 
 tion passages which are widely separated in the word 
 of God — by connecting in one sentence two or three texts 
 which, as God has given them treat of entirely different 
 subjects — the doctrine may have a semblance of scrip- 
 
 Thess.iv. ture evidence. Thus, " when the Saints are caught up; 
 
 lev. XX. 5. the dead in Christ shall rise first, but the rest of the 
 
 ^.'ii.'ifi tlead live not till the thousand years are finished : the 
 Saints live and reign — they that are Christ's at his 
 coming; at that time, Thy (Daniel's) people shall be 
 delivered, {i.e., the Jews shall be restored to the 
 Millennial kingdom), and then shall the righteous 
 ,tt.xiii.43 shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their father. 
 This is the First Resurrection. When the thousand 
 years are expired Satan shall be loosed, Gog and 
 Magog shall be destroyed, then the great white throne 
 
 I shall be seen ; and the rest of the dead, i.e., the wick- 
 
 ed dead, shall rise. This is the Second Resurrection." 
 The doctrine looks plausible, as here stated; and if 
 scripture had predicted these things thus chronologi- 
 cally arra,nged, and used the expression *' Second Resur- 
 rection," there would be proof in point. But the theory- 
 is found wanting, and stamped as human, when the 
 arrangement is seen to be a device of man's. The apos- 
 tle does not say in Thessalonians that the dead in Christ 
 shall rise first, as compared with the rest of the dead, 
 but first, as before the changing of the living. There is. 
 
 V. XX. 5. 
 ev. XX. 7. 
 
 BV. XX. 13. 
 
 less. IV 
 
Sc'coikI Conning of our Lord. 75 
 
 not in the passage the sUghtest reference to the wicked 
 dead; and to impertinently thrust a vifiion from Revela- 
 tion, that belongs to an entirely different class of sub- 
 jects, into the epistle to the Thessalonians, whichisr/or/- 
 matic, is a criminal abuse of God's Word. But if the 
 resurrection of the wicked is not referred to in that pas- i Thess.r 
 sage, or in the epistle to the Corinthians, still less is i cor. xv.;j 
 there in them a shadow of ground for interpolating a 
 thousand years between two resurrections. Nor does 
 Daniel say a word about a thousand years intervening ; 
 he says, " The multitude of them that sleep in the dust 
 of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and 
 some to shame and everlasting contempt. Then they 
 that be wise shall shine, '^ etc. As though the shining Dan. xii. 2, 
 forth of the wise was to follow the resurrection of both 
 classes referred to in the previous verse ; not to follow 
 one and precede the other as the Brethren teach. 
 Every passage is against the theory ; and no combina- 
 tion of nothings can make something. By no legerde- 
 main can six passages, each of which says nothing of 
 two resurrections separated in time, be so arranged as 
 to prove what is not found in any one. The attempt is 
 a trick which deceives many, and imposes upon the man 
 himself who practises it; and though Brethren may 
 have succeeded in convincing themselves that the fiction 
 is revealed in scripture, candid enquirers will reject it 
 as an unwarranted fancy based on an abuse of scripture. 
 3. "We are prepared however to go yet further by 
 way of disproof. The apostle Paul tells i 'hat he, in 
 common with all Jews " had hope towardb God that 
 there should be a resurrection of the dead, both of the Acts, xxi\ 
 
 15. 
 
 I 
 
70 The Doctrine of the 
 
 just and of the unjust;" not two distinct resnrrrections, 
 but one of both classes at the same time. Martha also 
 
 bnxi. 21. *' knew that her brother would rise again in the resur- 
 rection at the last clay." This must have been the 
 resurrection of the juut — of Old Testament Saints — and 
 she knew that it would be at the last ihn/, not a thousand 
 
 tinv. 28. years before it. Our Lord Himself taught that "the 
 hum' is coming in the which all that arc in the (/rarcs," 
 (including Old Testament saints) " shall hear the voice 
 of the Son of Man, and shall come forth, thry that 
 have done good unto a resurrection of life, and they 
 that have done evil unto a resurrection of judgment," 
 
 m vi. 40. and that those who believe on Him He " will raise up 
 at the la<it dai/.'' Surely these texts imply, only one 
 resurrection ; that believers shall rise at the last day, 
 and not a thousand years before the world ends ; and 
 that bofh good and bad — all in the grave — shall obey the 
 summons of the Son of Man at the same time. Rever- 
 ence for the Saviour and the respect due to Him as a 
 teacher, ought to restrain the flights of carnal fancy, and 
 prevent men from teaching that our Lord meant to be un- 
 derstood in such passages as teaching that when His voice 
 shall be heard and shall wake the dead, only saints con- 
 verted between Pentecost and the coming shall obey the 
 call ; that Old Testament saints shall slumber on for a 
 while, but come forth at a later period ; and that after 
 more than a thousand years have passed, without another 
 call or trumpet blast, the wicked dead shall tardily come 
 forth for judgment. The idea is preposterous that a 
 summons uttered by the Son of Man centuries before 
 they had a being, should raise the wicked who Hved and 
 
Second Cominr/ of our Lord. 77 
 
 died during the Millennial era ; and it is charging the 
 blessed Master with folly to say that by an honr He meant 
 a period of more than a thousand years' duration ; or 
 that by ^/// that are in their graves coming forth at His call 
 He meant two resurrections separated by a millennium. \ 
 
 Verily though one rose from the dead, men who deal with | 
 
 God's truth thus deceitfully in order to bolster up a 
 theory, would not be convinced. Verily such men err, 
 not knowing the scripture. When they assert that 
 "the dead, small and great, who stand before God" for Rev. xx. 
 judgment are only the wicked dead, they add to God's 
 word : when they assert that only had deeds come into 
 judgment they take from God's Word: when they 
 assert, that when the book of life is opened there shall 
 not be found therein the name of one person then 
 standing before God, they charge the Judge with folly 
 or hypocrisy in opening that book ; when they assert 
 that all the righteous were raised a thousand years be- 
 fore this solemn judgment scene, their assertion is with- 
 out a single text to sustain it ; and when they presum- 
 tuously aihrm that the millions of the human race 
 which were born during the millennium and formed the 
 kingdom, shall never die, but at the time of the judg- 
 ment of the wicked dead shall be changed, they con • 
 tradict the teaching of Scripture " that it is appointed 
 unto men, once to die and after that the judgment," Heb.x.: 
 and proclaim a human dogma for which they have not a 
 shadow of Scripture proof. And yet it is clear that 
 without these baseless assumptions and daring perver- 
 sions of God's truth the theory cannot stand ; for on 
 them it rests. 
 
78 The Docfri,)eofthe 
 
 The expression *' First Resurrection," is confessedly 
 a difficult one. In order to afford more light on it, we 
 may here slightly digress from our plan, and very shortly 
 give a statement which we think furnishes a satisfactory 
 exegesis of the passage where it occurs. The careful 
 reader will notice that while in Scripture a second Re- 
 V. XX. 0, surrection is never mentioned a second Death is. Al- 
 i*' ''^^'^" so that the second death follows the last judgment. 
 
 We know the fundamental doctrine of Revelation 
 
 ra. V. 12. " ^^i^t death hath passed on all men, for all have sinned ; 
 
 S.'h'^h^ in Adam all die : and we are dead in trespasses and 
 
 sins ; for death is the wa,' t^s of sin." This then is the 
 
 first (leiith, that came u; du all men in the day that 
 
 n. ii. 17. Adam sinned. Then we have a resurrection from this 
 
 h. ii. 1. death; you " hatli He made alive who were dead in 
 
 m.vi.'^'-s trespasses and sins;" we rise with Christ to a new 
 
 mS"i. lif^' Now beyond question, blessed is he that hath part 
 
 in xf. '25, -jj ^j^i^ resurrection : for he hath eternal life : and shall 
 
 never die nor come into condemnation ; shall be raised 
 
 again at the last day ; and shall be owned find rewarded 
 
 by Christ at his coming. //' thlft in tire rcfuirrcction from 
 
 the first (huith, is it not the First Besurrection 1 Then 
 
 there is as^coy/r/ 'Death. The first death was eternal 
 
 separation from God ; only its extremity was delayed 
 
 by the interposition of Redemptive grace in the patient 
 
 n ii. :$6. long-suffering of God. But when the judge shall come 
 
 Lfi^'s,!)! ^^^ Pf^ss doom on the wicked rejectors of grace and the 
 
 lies. i. 9. workers of iniquity, \hQ second death will o:cur. Such 
 
 ;t!^xiii^^ sinners die the second death, when mercy is clean gone, 
 
 ''^^" and delayed vengeance is executed, in eternal exclusion 
 
 from the comfortable presence of God, where shall be 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 79 
 
 weeping aii'l wailing and gnashing of teeth. From this 
 second death there is no Second resurrection ; whereas 
 on those who by the grace of God have part in the 
 First resurrection this second Death hath no power. 
 Thus scripture teaches two deaths, and a first resur- 
 rtction which saves from the second death, in perfect 
 liarmony with the doctrine of a general resurrection 
 from the dead, and a general judgment at the last day. 
 We may now leave the resurrections of the theory, 
 four in number, and occurring at different times during 
 more than a thousand years. We have found the doc- 
 trine to be both without Scripture foundation, and con- 
 trary to Scripture. And we have seen that the difficult 
 and dark passage on which solely the theory rests, is 
 not susceptible of the interpretations put upon it by the 
 Brethren, and may be satisfactorily interpreted in an- 
 other way, and in harmony with the rest of Scripture. 
 We now make a few remarks upon the last point. 
 
 VI. THE MILLENNIUM. 
 
 There is no need of saying much on this doctrine as 
 it stands or falls with the others which have been dis- 
 posed of. 
 
 The Church holds that there is a dorious future be- ^i^ch.xt 
 
 " . Is a. 1x11. 
 
 fore our world, when righteousness shall be in the Dan.vil 
 
 . , '■'ev, XX 
 
 ascendant, that a time will come when the saints shall r^ta.ixx 
 possess the kingdom, and shall live and reign with 
 Clirist, while God's enemies shall feign submission and 
 own the lordship of Jesus. Both Old and New Testa- 
 ments speak of the glory of this happy era. In the Apo- 
 calypse we find a tJiousand years specified as the pe. "^ 
 
80 The Doctrine of the 
 
 during which this blessed state of things shall continue. 
 Hence the Millennium, ?.<'., the thousand years, has come 
 to be spoken of as the hope of the Church. So far as 
 this goes w^ have no quarrel with our brethren. 
 
 But as to the nature of this Millennium, and the 
 mea^ns by which it is to be introduced there is some di- 
 vergence of opinion. We have seen that the Brethren 
 teach that the Millennium is the j^crsonal reiun of Christ 
 with his risen saints on the earth and over livinfj nati s, 
 Jews and Gentiles ; that during the millennium there is 
 to be a natural state of things, in no way differing from 
 the experience of men now living, only the saints will 
 be enthroned above the earth while they rule ; also that 
 this kingdom is to be introduced by judgments which 
 desolate the earth, and by the bodily presence of Jesus 
 and his risen saints ; that the Holy Ghost shall be 
 withdrawn from the earth at least seven years before 
 the millennium begins, and that the dispensation of grace 
 will be ended when He is withdravvn. Thus the dis- 
 pensation of grace ends before the kingdom of God be- 
 gins. 
 
 All this requires and is consistent with two comings, 
 one for the saints and a second at least seven years aftei 
 with the saints , with the idea of two resurrections or 
 more, one at the coming of the saints, and the other a 
 thousand years after ; with the idea of three or more 
 judgments, one in heaven, a jecond on earth lasting 
 for a thousand years, and a third at some still more re- 
 mote period, of the wicked dead ; with the idea of 
 conversx^n and holiness without the presence of the 
 Holy Ghost, or the agency of the church. In a word, 
 
Second Coining of oar Lord. 81 
 
 the millennium of the theory is a fair specimen of the 
 whole, and ia with much ingenuity made to fit in with 
 the rest. But if there is only one coming — the coming 
 spoken of in Scripture, and that coming is identical 
 with the day of the Lord ; if there is only one Kesurrec- 
 tion from the dead spoken of — a general resurrection ; 
 only one judgment, — a general judgment ; only one way 
 of salvation, viz., by union to Christ through the 
 operation of the Holy Ghost ; and we have shown above 
 that such is the rendering of Scripture : it necessarily fol- 
 lows that the millennium of the theory is without foun- 
 dation in Scripture, — nay, opposed to its teaching. 
 
 We may add two considerations which tend further 
 to disprove the theory. The thousand y^ars of the bind- 
 itijj of Siitan cannot be understood literally as to the 
 binding ; the vision is beyors:! qnGstion to be interpre- 
 ted symbolically. Why then not interpret the time also 
 bj mboUcally ? A thousand is used as a general number 
 and denotes a long time; but who would dream of in- 
 terpreting literally Peter's statement, " one day is with 2 pet. m. 
 '' the Lord as a thousand years, and a tliousand years is 
 as one day ? ' And yet this the theory insists upon, pg ^0.4. 
 while with glaring inconsistency it malces Daniel's week 
 mean seven years, and otlierwise arbitrarily disposes of 
 times ?jnd numbers. Surely it is more consistent to 
 understand the binding of Satan as symboHc of the 
 prevalence of righteousness on the earth during a period, 
 indefinitely long, before tiie last grand apostasy, and 
 the destruction of all wickedness at the appearing of 
 the Son of man as judge. 
 
 2. Jesus has ascended on high, and *' the heavens 
 
82 Tlie Doctrine of the 
 
 ictsiii.3i. Kinst receive Him until the times of the restitution of 
 ;ill things ; then He shall come and make all things 
 new, in the new heavens and the new earth in which 
 Pct.i|j.i:t. dwelleth righteousness." Duriiuj his ahsevce He has 
 [at. xxviii.' SGut tlic Holy Gliost ; and hn the spirit He is present in 
 j ' and with His Church until the end of the age. But at 
 
 the end of the age " the Son of man shall send forth 
 [at.xiii.4i. His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom 
 all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, 
 and shall cast them into a furnace of fire." From 
 these passages it is evident that the Holy Ghost will re- 
 main with the church, and on this earth, until the Son 
 of Man comes ; that when he comes the judgment of 
 the wicked will take place ; and that the kingdom will be 
 in existence hpforc His coming, and so cannot be intro- 
 duced h]i it. 
 
 Yet further it has been shown that the kingdom is 
 now in existence ; that Jesus is reigning by His Spirit, 
 that His kingdom is not of the world ; and that it shall 
 continue for ever. Now all this is incompatible with a 
 kingdom of this world, to succeed that which now 
 exists, and to be established without the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Thus then we leave the millennial dream of an earth- 
 ly kingdom of Jesus over men in the flesh. It has no 
 scripture to support it, and is opposed alike to the letter 
 of God's word, and to the spiritual nittin-o of Messiah's 
 mission and work. A millennium of glory and blessed- 
 ness our world will see ; but it will not be one of mere 
 earthly glory or carnal enjoyment. It will be the happy 
 result of the Holy Spirit's mighty working through the 
 Gospel of God's grace among the nations. 
 
Second Coniing of our Lord. 83 
 
 And now our self imposed task is so far accomplish- 
 ed. We have examined the definitions of Pre-millen- 
 arian doctrine as to the Church, the Kingdom, the Com- 
 ing, the Judgment, the Resurrection and the Millennium. 
 We have weighed them ; we have found them wanting ; 
 and we reject the whole ingenious and fanciful theory 
 that has been constructed upon them, declaring it con- 
 trary to scripture properly interpreted. We have still 
 to shew the dangerous and hurtful tendencies of the 
 doctrine — a doctrine, which many regard with favour, 
 while others deem it harmless. Before doing so, how- 
 ever, it may be well to give succinctly a positive state- 
 ment of the doctrine held by the church as over against 
 the errors which we have been examining. 
 
 VII. POSITIVE STATEMENT. 
 
 That in speaking of events s^ill future but predict- 
 ed, there is room for difference of opinion is at once 
 conceded. We lay no claim to a perfect knowledge of 
 unfulfilled prophecy, or to the possession of a key which 
 will unlock every mystery ; ive are not infallible, nor are 
 we so guided by the Holy Spirit as to be incapable of 
 error. There are things which we have to learn, nor 
 do we refuse to be taught. Still we are satisfied with 
 the Eschatology commonly taught in the Reformed 
 churches, and believe that '.n its leading features it ac- 
 cords with scripture. The doctrine of scripture is a 
 unity — truth is but one — ^and therefore we feel bound 
 to reject whatever contradicts well established truths.. 
 Holding ourselves perfectly free to receive light on any 
 question which is still only in part revealed and to prove 
 
84 The Doctrine of the 
 
 all things, we nevertheless see good reason to hold fast 
 by the faith delivered to the Saints in past ages, and as 
 handed down by our fathers in the Westminister 
 standards. 
 1^1 Tim. i. 17; God is ** the king eternal, immortal and invisible ;" to 
 
 • vi. 15. 
 
 Dan. iv.3. Him of right bolongs the dominion, and to Him men 
 Rom.viii!?" owe a dutiful subjection. When man sinned, he rebelled 
 Ifrjuke'iv.o." against God, and Satan usurped the kingdom. Since 
 Eph. i'i. 2. that time Satan has been the "god of this world," and 
 I the Prince of the power of the air. Bedemption is the 
 
 Col. i. 13. deliverance of man and the world from the thraldom of 
 
 •Toliii i '") 
 
 Heb.ii.l4. Satan, and the effects of the fall by the power of 
 
 Rom.viii.":3, God; and it involves the destruction of the works of 
 ' "' ■ the devil. This Eedemption God accomplishes in 
 Jesus Christ, and by the operation of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 pen. lii. 15. The first promise of the redemption was that "the 
 Seed of the woman should bruise the head of the 
 serpent." Under tlie patriarchal dispensation there 
 
 Sen. iv. 20; were worshippers of the true God, who were known as 
 
 vi.2; v.2t. 
 
 the " Sons of God." But God made a covenant with 
 Abraham, saying that " in his seed all the families of 
 L>en.xii.3. the earth should be blessed." When the descendants 
 \mos iii.'i. ' of Abraham became a nation, He made a national 
 covenant with them, and gave them a law by which 
 they were separated from the rest of mankind, a holy 
 3x.xix. (!. people, "a kuKjdom of priests," and the repository of 
 blessing for the nations. This covenant and law 
 were temporary — imposed until the seed should come 
 leb. viii. 7, — and were to be superseded by a better covenant, 
 ^oiin i. 17. and the Gospel dispensation of grace and truth. At 
 I ^^' ' length in the fulnebs of time God's Son became incar- 
 
Second Coining of our Lord. 85 
 
 nate as the Tjord Jesus Christ, the Mediator of the new 
 covenant. By His sufferings and death He '* bruised i^"ke xxiv. 
 the head of the serpent, made an end ot sins, brought i)"'"- ix. 24. 
 in eternal life." He rose from the dead and ascended , 
 
 on high, invested with ** all power." There He must Mat. xxviii.' 
 reign " until all His enemies are put under His feet." 1 cor. xv.'2r>. 
 
 To accomplish this, he has sent the Holy Spirit, as 
 " power from on high " to his church, commissioning it Acts i. 8. 
 
 , .,.., Mat. xxviii. 
 
 " ' j^)reach the gospel among all nations, disciphng them i«- 
 
 and making them obedient to the faith." Since that JobuxViii. 
 
 hour when power was given, the kingdom of God has Acts xxviii. 
 
 been coming with an advancing power, and the king- Luke x. is. 
 
 dom of Satan has been waning. There is a ceaseless 
 
 conflict going on in this world between Christ with His 
 
 sacramental host, and Satan with the powers of dark- Eph.vi. 12. 
 
 ness. The world power so far has been wielded by 
 
 Satan, to the persecution of Christ's church, and the 
 
 retardation of the victory of grace. The two kingdoms 
 
 stand side by side, and the battle rages, wherever the 
 
 Holy Spirit in the church assails Satan's kingdom with 
 
 the sword of the word. So it will continue until 
 
 the nations become subject to King Jesus, and '* every Rev. xi.is. 
 
 knee bow to Him, and' every tongue confess that he is ^'^^^i-^-io. 
 
 Lord." Then a blessed reign of righteousness will 
 
 obtain throughout all the world, when the saints of the iga. ii. 3,4. 
 
 most high shall have the dominion. Thereafter a fresh ^^%1'iq^' ^' 
 
 outbreak of malignant wickedness will take place, and '^^^^ ^^^' 
 
 sin will culminate in the last desperate effort of Satan 
 
 to regain his usurped dominion. It will be in vain, for 
 
 King Jesus will come in person with saints and angels Matt. xxv. 
 
 to execute judgment on His enemies, and finally deliver ^ ao.M^w. 
 
8G The Doctrine of the 
 
 ! Jiis redeemed. Then the last enemy, death, shall be 
 
 1 destroyed ; the dead shall be raised ; the living shall be 
 
 changed ; the Sons of God shall be manifested ; the 
 
 bev. XX. 11 creature shall be redeemed from corruption ; and the 
 
 i to end. 
 
 jZ Pet. iii. 12, judgment of all men shall proceed. Amid great physical 
 L iintt. XXV. changes a new heaven and a new earth shall app'^ar. The 
 
 ^ 4(5, 
 
 Di Cor. XV.24. present «i/e shall end, a, d eternity begin. All things 
 Kc shall be restored. The Kiiifidom. shall be re-established, 
 
 ux. and shall be given up unto the Father, and God shall be 
 
 E| all in all. Thus the kingdom which had been dis- 
 
 I turbed by sin, shall be restored by Jesus Christ, through 
 
 Co the operation of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 H€ During all this period of conflict, in every dispensa- 
 
 Rc tion, God has a covenant people for whom Jesus died, 
 
 I ! saved by faith, and partakers of the holy Ghost. This 
 
 lev. i. 11. is ^^^^ Church. This church is the instrumentality 
 Ge/JlJ; 1^23.^" which God uses for teaching, enlightening, and regene- 
 irib xir"23^ rating the world. It is his organized kingdom on earth, 
 ' and lives through the ages. Individual believers in 
 
 ^0 successive ages die, and go to be with Christ ; there they 
 
 I await the consummation, the day of the redemption of 
 
 I the body, when Jesus returns to earth, and with the 
 
 "^'^Thes.iv.iG archangel's trumpet-blast wakes the deadc Then all 
 ^hos.v. 23^^o sleep in Jesus God brings with Him, the dead 
 Sh.vl"27. are raie 3d, the living are changed, and the completed 
 ■ Bride — the whole number of God's elect — are openly 
 
 3s! 
 
 ia 
 
 acknowledged and acquitted, and go into life eternal. 
 As for God's unrepentant enemies, they are judged, con- 
 
 rhes.i.9. demned and destroyed from the presence of the Lord 
 
 av. XX. 15. .7 
 
 ^e and the glory of his power, which is the second death. 
 
 pi! The above statement contains nothing beyond the 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 87 
 
 doctrines which are generally received by Christians. 
 This vie V of Scripture is characterized by a unity and 
 sinii)licit>' of plan which links together the different dis- 
 pensations in their several stages of development, and 
 which at oncc commends it to the judgment of the bible 
 student. There is no forcing of scripture required to sus- 
 tain it, although it is necessary to interpret sci-ipture not 
 with a carnal sensuous literahiess, but spiriliially, and 
 in many cases figuratively, as was evidently intended. 
 And while every candid man will admit that in some 
 passages " are things hard to be understood," in deal- 
 ing with such dark and difficult passages, it is certainly 
 more reverent and safe to interpret them consistently 
 with the clear and unmistakable teachings of the word, 
 or to let them alone, than to give them a fanciful, half 
 literal, half figurative, meaning; and on that meaning to 
 construct a theory which is clearly repugnant to the 
 letter of many passages, tind to the the tenor of scrip- 
 ture as a whole. 
 
 VIILTHE TENDENCIES OF PRE-MILLEN- 
 
 ARIANISM. 
 
 No error is harmless. The tendency of all departure 
 from truth is to depart more widely. Errors in doc- 
 trine lead to errors in practice ; and all experience shows 
 i/Lat as corruption of the moral nature leads to the re- 
 jection of truths which condemn vice, so perversion of 
 the intellect leads to looseness of morals, and impurity 
 of life. We iiave no hesitation in asserting that Anti- 
 monianism — that is disregard for law — in doctrine, 
 laads naturally to licentiousness, and to utter disregard 
 
88 The Doctrine of the 
 
 of the law of God and man in practice. We also regret 
 deeply to have to say that the tendency to Auti- 
 :nonianism is clearly traceable in the new views on 
 which we have been animadverting, and we fear that 
 the morality of many has not been improved by their 
 adopting these views. Nevertheless we are far from 
 believing, and we do not wish to be understood as as- 
 serting that in every case those who hold these views 
 have gone all the length in doctrinal error to which the 
 views naturally and logically lead ; or that our pre-mil- 
 lenarian brethren have all acted the unchristian and 
 uncharitable part, or approve of that licence, which are 
 the legitimate outcome of the tiieory. Far from this, 
 we are satisfied that many have thoughtlessly been led 
 by the apparent earnestness, guileless simplicity, and 
 warmth of the teachers, to say that these men are more 
 Christ-like than ordinary Christians, and therefore their 
 doctrine is more likely to be Christ's doctrine ; and so 
 they have embraced it. Others can scarcely be said 
 to know these new views, or to have begun to study the 
 questions involved, and have made no great progress 
 in the new departure. While others still, being under the 
 influence of vital godliness, are by virtue of their constant 
 communion with God, meanwhile kept through spiritual 
 instinct from the natural evil consequences of their 
 erroneous views. 
 
 We gladly admit that some who favor the pre- 
 millenarian theory are excellent men, and learned com- 
 mentators; and we rejoice to state that for the most 
 part these stop short of the absurdities and uncharitable- 
 ness of Plymouthism, and are free from the practices of 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 89 
 
 Antimonianism. We also gladly acknowledge to the 
 glory of God, that men holding these views more or less 
 pronouncedly, have been owned of God in their efforts to 
 save souls. But we emphatically contend that the high 
 Christian character and success of such men is not to be 
 attributed to these views. These characters, fo-. med oft- 
 times after the old type, are what they are by the grace of 
 God apart from their mistaken hope ; and their gospel is 
 the power of God unto salvation, not on account of the 
 so called '* Bridegroom cry," but on account of a dying 
 and risen Jesus fully offered 'to sinners. Any pre- 
 eminent excellence which they possess, they share with 
 other children of God ; and that not on account of, 
 but in spit'3 of their peculiar views. Indeed it will 
 be found that the influences of the churches, which they 
 now decry and strive to destroy, and the gospel thay 
 learned there, have made them what they are by the 
 grace of God. With these remarks, to avoid misconception 
 and needless offence, we proceed to show that the ten- 
 dency of the views in question is dangerous to the indi- 
 vidual, and highly injurious to true godlinesb, and 
 to the church of Christ. 
 
 1. The method of interpretation bij which the theory 
 is advocated tends to produce unbelief. We shall not 
 dwell at length on the arbitrary collocation of pas^ ages 
 culled from various parts o^ the Bible, and skilfully 
 arranged so as to teach doctrines nowhere found in 
 scripture as God gave it. We have already called at- 
 tention to this ; and we now only add, that there is not a 
 doctrine, no matter how erroneous or absurd, that may 
 not in that way be advocated. When thuG treated, the 
 6 
 
90 The Doctrine of the 
 
 Bible becomes a book without moaning — an instrument 
 which gives no certain sound, but will utter any tune 
 that the player pleases — and consequently it ceases to 
 be an infallible standard of truth. This method of 
 treatment has led many to say, ' you may teach anything 
 from the Bible ; so, in order to certainty, wo must have 
 an inspired interpreter, one in whom the Holy Ghost 
 dwells.' As the church of Rome claims to be infallible, 
 and the repository of the Holy Ghost, many that they 
 may end their doubts, have gone over to Rome, sur- 
 rendered their private judgment, and professedly believe 
 what the church teaches, accepting her interpretation 
 of the word of God as authoritative. In like manner, 
 those who have observed most carefully the new 
 teachers, will have noticed that they also claim for 
 those whom thcij judge to be ** the Church ' of Christ, 
 the sole possession of the Holy Ghost and spiritual dis- 
 cernment ; while they deny to other Christians who 
 differ from them, these privileges. Eome and Plymouth- 
 ism in this agree : both alike deny that the Scripture is 
 to be understood in the sense which it seems to plain 
 men to bear ; and hold that certain men are infallibly 
 taught by the Holy Ghost, viz., the Pope and the Saints, 
 whose teaching is implicitly to be received. 
 
 The method of interpretation which we oppose also tends 
 to carnal and sensuous views of divine thinys, and is esseii- 
 tially unspiritual. According to the theory, the recipiert 
 of covenant privilege to whom the promises «.re made, 
 is the descendant of Abraham accco\ding to the flesh, 
 the seed by nature ; not Abraham's seed by faith : the 
 king to come, is an earthly king, a carnyl Messiah : 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord, 91 
 
 the kingdom is an earthly kingdom, to be inherited by 
 living men, *' by flesh and blood ;" the bliss in reversion 
 for the faithful is worldly bliss, not heavenly. Much 
 more is taught of the same carnal sensuous character. 
 
 We hesitate to ask what is meant by a marriage 
 of Christ with his church in heaven. The idea of any 
 other than a spiritual marriage is so gross, and utterly 
 repugnant to christian sentiment, that we cannot even 
 suppose our brethren to hold that a literal marriage is 
 meant among those ** children of the resurrection who 
 shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and 
 the resurrection of the dead, and who shall neither Lukexx. 
 marry nor be given in marriage." And yet, according 
 to the carnal literal method of interpretation, we know 
 not what else to make of a marriage which is not 
 spiritual, and is something beyond and in addition to 
 the union which already exists between Christ and His 
 people, and is then to be perfected. This carnal sen- 
 suous method of interpretation, led to Jewish unbelief, 
 and still keeps that people blinded. They insist, as the 
 Brethren do, on Israel according to the fiesh inheriting 
 the earthly Canaan ; on an earthly king, a son of David 
 in the flesh, to save them by carnal weapons. Their in- \ 
 
 terpretation of scripture is the Pre-millencrian inter- 
 pretation ; and because Jesus came — a king indeed, — but 
 not with carnal glory and worldly insignia, they rejected 
 him andrejecfchim still. To tell us thatthe|Eling will here- 
 after thus come in carnal glory and worldly pomp, and 
 establish an earthly kingdom, is to preach the very j 
 
 doctrine which blinded Jewish eyes,- and led them in j 
 
 unbelief to crucify their Messiah. On these principles i 
 
92 The Doctrine of the 
 
 the Messiah has not come, Jesus is not king, and scrip- 
 ture has not been fulfilled. Nay further, on these 
 principles the unbelieving remnant of the Jews are 
 right; «/iey will inherit the promise to Abraham, who 
 continue to reject Jesus Christ until he comes to judge 
 the gentiles. 
 
 Christianity has as its peculiar distinguishing feature, 
 SpiHtuality. Its glory is to " worship in spirit and in 
 truth." A crucified, risen, and ascended Jesus, whom 
 having not seen we love, is the only way to God, and 
 " He is able to save to the uttermost, seeing that he 
 ever liveth to make intercession for us." The ses- 
 sion of Jesus at the right hand of God, and his appear- 
 ing there for us is a principal i)art of his priestly 
 office. But the theory brings Christ down from heaven 
 and ends his high-priestly work; insists on a personal 
 presence of Jesus which is not spiritual : on a marriage 
 of saints with risen bodies which is not spiritual : on 
 an earthly dominion which is not spiritual : on carnal 
 and temporal rewards during a future state of existence 
 on earth ; not heavenly rewards, for spiritual beings, in a 
 new state of existence. Indeed, it is just here that the 
 peculiar charm of Pre-millenarianism is to be found. 
 Men feel the power of fleshly, worldly motives, and 
 sensuous descriptions, but have difficulty in grasping 
 spiritual realities which are shadowed forth under the 
 figurative descriptions, used in Scripture to give us some 
 idea of what passes all experience and thought of man. 
 Under this carnal and sensuous influence they adopt **the 
 hope of the coming," and the bodily presence of Jesus, 
 saying, that this will be far better than the present 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 93 
 
 orphan state in his absence. Nevertheless this is op- 
 posed to the spirituaHty of the Christian religion ; and 
 is directly contrary to Jesus' statement that it is better John xvi 
 for us that he should go away in body, so that he might j| 
 
 be present in spirit; and, that having the spirit we | 
 
 should not be orphans, but have Himself with us in a johnxiv, 
 higher and fuller manner than when he was present 19/ 
 in the flesh. 
 
 2. The theory tends to the subversion of some doctrines 
 of the Gosjjel. We shall notice two points, both of which | 
 
 have been touched upon in our discussion. ! 
 
 The theory teaches that men were saved before the \ 
 Holy Ghost was given, and that others will be saved ' 
 after the Holy Ghost has been withdrawn from earth. 
 The Church and Holy Ghost ascend we are told into 
 heaven with Jesus. But others are saved after that 
 event. Conversions of a certain kind go on on earth, 
 when there is no church there to preach, and no Holy 
 Ghost to quicken. Christ died for the Church, and 
 those who constitute it were saved by his blood, and 
 purchased. Others were saved too; but they were not 
 in the same sense purchased with that blood, and are 
 not of the number chosen in Christ Jesus from before 
 the foundation of the world. 
 
 The tendency of all such distinctions manifestly is 
 to produce a belief in two or more ways of attaining 
 bliss hereafter ; and to overthrow the fundamental 
 truths, " no man cometh to the father but by Christ," 
 and " except a man be born of water and the spirit he 
 cannot enter into the kingdom of God." 
 
 Then the doctrine that hereafter there are only two 
 
94 The Doctrine of the 
 
 states, viz., an everlasting heaven and hell — a state of 
 bliss, and a state of woe, — is subverted by the theory. 
 According to it, there are three eternal states : there is 
 a heaven for the Church ; an earthly bliss for the Jews 
 and Gentiles of the millennial age ; and a lake of fire for 
 the wicked, who are finally condemned and die the 
 second death. We are told, that the everlasting fire 
 prepared for the devil and his angeJis, and everlasting 
 punishment, are for living nations, and the eternal 
 life for living nations ; not for men after the resurrec- 
 tion. Who then can tell whether these awful words 
 are to be understood as teaching a proper eternity ? In 
 this connection it is worthy of note that the tendency to 
 regard with favour tlio annihilationist and restorationist 
 theories is strong among those who have adopted Pre- 
 millenarian views, and that dissatisfaction with the 
 eschatology of the Reformed confessions is often asso- 
 ciated with Pre-millenarian leanings. Naturally so, for 
 the doctrine of salvation, after the Holy Ghost has been 
 withdr^Lwu, in some other way than that by which the 
 Church is saved, viz., through the gospel of God's grace, 
 and the gracious work of the Holy Ghost, fosters natur- 
 ally, if it does not suggest, the hope that some other 
 way will be found for restoring the finally impenitent, 
 when the gospel of the grace of God is no longer pro- 
 claimed, and the eternal age has begun. 
 
 8. A third feature of these views fraught with 
 danger is, that they tend to make void the law of Ood, and 
 to issue in Antinomian licence. A distinction is drawn 
 by our friends between the gospel of the grace of Ood ; 
 as preached between the day of Psnteoost and Christ's 
 
Second Coining of Our Lord. 95 
 
 I 
 
 'I! 
 
 coming, and the (jospel of the Kingdom which was 
 preached by John Baptist and others before Pentecost, 
 and will be preached again after the church and Holy 
 Ohost have gone intoheaven. We shall not pause to show 
 that the distinction is worthless, but simply state in Acta. 
 
 24 25. '•' 
 
 passing, that in the only passsage where the former ' * jj 
 phrase occurs, the apostle says that the " ministry 
 which he had received of the Lord Jesus was to 
 testify the gospel of the grace of God," and in the 
 very next verse he says, that he, after Pentecost had 
 
 I!' 
 
 i 
 
 preached thg kingdom at Ephesus to Gentiles. In the Acts xxt 
 last addresses recorded of him in the Acts, he is also said 
 to have preached the kingdom of Ood at Rome. Now Paul 
 always preached the same thing, viz., the gospel of Christ. 
 Hence we rightly infer that preaching the kingdom, and 
 preaching the gospel, were the same thing; and that 
 there are not two gospels, one of God's grace, and the % 
 
 other of God's kingdom, but one, viz., the gospel of 
 Christ. What we have to do with now is the tendencv 
 of this distinction, and ii will at once appear to any 
 thoughtful mind that the tendency is towards danger- 
 ous error. f 
 
 The gospel of the grace of God is represented as 
 being ** Believe and you are saved," the gospel of the 
 kingdom is "Eepent, and you will be blessed in an 
 " earthly kingdom." 
 
 He who obeys the gospel of God's grace, we are 
 told, believes that Jesus died for his sins : is forgiven, 
 receives the Holy Ghost, is saved, and knows he will 
 never be judged ; is one of the church, will ascend with 
 Jjsus when he comes for the saints, will be married to 
 
96 The Doctrine of the 
 
 him in the heavenHes, and will reign with him over the 
 earth. He that obeys the gospel of the kingdom : re- 
 pents, obeys the law of God, is benefited in a lower 
 sense by Jesus, but does not receive the Holy Ghost, 
 will be judged, does not belong to the church, shall not 
 be married to Jesus, and will remain in the earthlies. 
 The gospel of grace is said to require faith, and to 
 confer heavenly blessing ; the gospel of the kingdom to 
 require a turning to God, and a law-obedience, and 
 to confer earthly blessing. The gospel of grace is being 
 now preached, and those who obey, become saints ; the 
 gospel of the kingdom will be preached after Christ 
 has come for his saints, will be accompanied by a res- 
 toration of the law of Moses, the Jewish covenant, and 
 the temple with its sacrificial and ritual service, and 
 those who obey that gospel and keep the law will in- 
 herit the earth. Surely this is another gospel than 
 that which Paul preached. This is to proclaim another 
 way to eternal happiness, and a lower salvation than 
 that obtained through union to Christ by the Holy Ghost. 
 This is to re-establish man's own righteousness and law- 
 obedience, as the ground of acceptance. This is to ab- 
 rogate, after Christ comes for his saints, justification by 
 faith, and to proclaim justification by law fulfilling. 
 
 Nor is this by any means all. In thus presenting 
 the gospel, in the present age men are told, you have 
 21. only to believe. Bepentance toward God is not insisted on 
 along with faith in Jesus Christ ; nor, according to the 
 new doctrine, is it needed in order to salvation. Only 
 believe. Men ought not to fray for forgiveness, but to 
 believe that they are forgiven, because Christ bore the 
 
iiil 
 
 Second Coining of Our Lord. 97 yi 
 
 ' — ' ' ' lOj 
 
 punishment due to them ; and as they were in Christ j 
 
 before the foundation of the world, so all their sins li| 
 
 were laid on him, and were forgiven more than eighteen '!! 
 
 hundred years ago, even the sins which they may here- '{il 
 
 after commit. Only let a man believe this and he is jll! 
 
 saved. 
 
 We have seen how, in order to carry out this idea of 
 distinction between Jew and Christian, the twenty- 
 fourth and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew's gospel 
 must be torn asunder, part being applied to the Jewish 
 remnant between the two comings, part to the Christian |i 
 
 church, and part to Ihe living Gentile nations. In like 
 manner, the sermon on the mount, in the fifth, sixth 
 and seventh chapters of Matthew must be interpreted 
 as not applicable to christians. The blessings therein 
 contained are not for the Church, but for those who are 
 of the " kingdom of heaven, and who inherit the earth." Matt, v. 3.5, 
 
 Matt V 20 !• 
 
 The Church is not the salt of the earth or the light of to emi. « | 
 the world, but witnesses for God sojourning for a time. jj 
 
 The morality inculcated by Jesus is not for Christians if 
 
 but for the Jewish remnant. The directions for prayer 
 are not for saints, but for Jews. Saints should not pray Matt. vi. ? 
 " thy kingdom come," or ** thy will be done on eaith," 
 but "come Lord Jesus, and destroy this wicked 
 world." Saints should not pray " Forgive us our M^tt. vii, 
 debts," for they are already all forgiven. The prohi- ^'^^• 
 bition to judge is not applicable to saints, for they are i 
 
 to judge the world. The revealed law is no longer 
 binding on them, for they have the law of love to guide 
 them, are free from law as the law is not for the righteous ; 
 and it is no longer they that sin, when they break the 
 
98 The Doctrine of the 
 
 commaudments, but sin that dwelleth in them ; they 
 have been made free from the law of sin and death. 
 Thus step follows step. God's law is not established by 
 the new views, but made void. The Old Testament 
 scriptures with the decalogue, are given up as a rule of 
 life, the gospels also. They were for Jews, not for the 
 Church. Only part of the Acts of the Apostles, and the 
 Epistles are acknowledged to be binding on the church. 
 The saints are free, as the children of God, alike from 
 law and commandment, their sole duty is to walk in 
 love, themselves being judges as to what love requires. 
 Scripture warns us against teachers who promise 
 Peter ii. 19 "liberty while they themselves are the servants of cor- 
 ude 4. ^* ^" ruption ; who say they have no sin, and deceive them- 
 sel 3S, not having the truth in them, ungodly men 
 who turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness." 
 And all experience, from the Apostles' days till now, 
 shows the need of testing well the claim of exemption 
 from law. Among German Antinomians, and Hyper- 
 evangelists of our own day, the same tendency has been 
 manifested. Men abuse the doctrine of sovereign grace 
 and unconditional election ; and under the influence of 
 a narrow, uncharitable presumptuous assurance, arro- 
 gate to themselves exclusively the blessings of salvation j 
 while too often in practice they manifest a singular dis- 
 regard to the claims of truth, righteousness, purity of 
 life, and Christian charity. 
 
 It may suffice thus to have shown the direct ten- 
 dency of the views which we controvert, towards anti- 
 nomianism in doctrine, and lasciviousness in practice. 
 Few comparatively who hold these views may have fol- 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 99 
 
 lowed them out to their legitimate issues in practice ; 
 not however less evident is the tendency. 
 
 Other consequences might be noticed affecting the 
 relation of children to the church, the salvation of in- 
 fants, and their baptism, but we pass on to observe : 
 
 4. The doctrine of the Church held hij the Brethren, 
 tends to produce spiritual pride, and strife amouff God's 
 children, and to rend asunder and destroij the visible church. 
 We can appeal to the experience of every neighbour- 
 hood that has had its peace disturbed by the Brethren. 
 All the churches now know to their cost how Brethren- 
 ism comes into a community. While men are sleep- 
 ing and not dreaming of an enemy sowing tares, two 
 self constituted evangelists make their appearance, no 
 one knows whence, and begin to preach at the street 
 corners, inviting tlie'r audience to some hall that they 
 may hear the gospel of the grace of God (as if they had 
 never heard it before), and circulating tracts, and 
 leaflets with texts of scripture printed on them. A 
 good impression is produced, christians of all the 
 churches rejoice to hear the gospel thus proclaimed. 
 They admire the men, who appear to be serious and 
 earnest, and to know their bible so well. The most 
 fastidious can find nothing amiss in the warm, and it 
 may be powerful, presentation of saving gospel truth. 
 Earnest christians take the evange'*Hs by the hand, 
 and into their houses, they bid them God- speed, and 
 help to increase the interest awakened. At first our 
 churches were open to these Evangelists, and ministers 
 sat beside them, an'' countenanced the apparently 
 good work, while serious christians aided in the enquiry 
 
100 The Doctrine of the 
 
 meetings. But what follows ? After the ear of the 
 community is fairly gained, and some converts have 
 been made, a sentence or two is dropped, not in accord 
 with ordinary evangelical doctrine, some neiv view, 
 connected with the ** Bridegroom cry." This is kindly 
 called in question, straightway behold a chp4,nge. Im- 
 patient of interference or remonstrance from men who, 
 they do not hesitate to say, have not the spirit, and do 
 not know the truth, but are hirelings leading the people 
 down to hell, our evangelists begin a bitter controversy 
 on points of doctrine, and church government, which 
 ends in drawing away some good people from the church 
 or churches which have favoured the movement, in 
 stirring up dissension and strife among neighbours, 
 and in families, if not in scattering altogether the once 
 flourishing churches. And this deplorable result is 
 gloried in. It is said to be the Lord's work ; the 
 opposition the preachers meet with is persecution for 
 the Lord's sake ; it is their glory. It is declared to be 
 the duty of the saints to come out from the so-called 
 churches, and separate themselves from the evil. A small 
 assembly of saints is organized in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, without a man-made ministry, over which the 
 Holy Ghost is to preside. The proselytes meet to break 
 bread and carry on a warfare on the churches of 
 Christendom. Meanwhile they drink in the new milk 
 and grow thereby, until they are satisfied that all the 
 churches are in error. They adopt a new creed, so 
 entirely different from the tradition of the churches, 
 that they can no longer "fellowship" with them or 
 join in their worship. Children cannot pray with their 
 
Second Comvng of Our Lord. 101 
 
 fathers, nor wives with their husbands. So churches 
 and famihes are rent in twain, and all we are told for 
 the glory of God. Is this severe ? It is simple history, 
 true, undeniably, deplorably true. 
 
 Much as we lament that these things have been 
 done and are still being done, we aver that on the prin- 
 ciples of the theory it cannot be otherwise. Surely the 
 tree that must bear such bitter fruit, judged by its fruit, 
 cannot be planted by the God of peace. For let us 
 look into the matter more narrowly. If the church be 
 what the theory defines it to be, then without question 
 there can Lc no Visible church on earth, and all organ- 
 ized churches are in error. If these saints alone have 
 the Holy Ghost, then undoubtedly none but they can 
 pray or praise in the Holy Ghost, and public worship 
 or common prayer is an impossibility. If they alone 
 are taught of God, then pmy christian who differs from 
 them must be in error. If the Holy Ghost presides in 
 their assembly, and all that is there done has His 
 sanction and authority, then they are right in judging, 
 and justified in refusing to hold fellowship with all who 
 do not believe as they do. If the churches, though they 
 may contain individual saints, are mere human institu- 
 tions, and their ministry and ordinances have not the 
 sanction of God's Spirit, then are they anti-christian, 
 and saints should separate themselves. If the church 
 is to be separate from the world, not in spirit only, but 
 carnally and literally, then it is right for saints to have 
 no family connection or social intercourse with any but 
 saints. If the saints can try the spirits and know who 
 are the children of God, then there is no excuse on these 
 
102 The Doctrine of the 
 
 princi]jles for having an impure church, and it is right 
 to cast out any brother who is judged to be not a 
 saint. 
 
 Self-righteous pride cannot fail to spring up on 
 these principles ; censorious judging becomes a duty, 
 and separation from the churches inevitable, although 
 the churches may be willing to bear with the saint, 
 and allow him all liberty of action. The theory necessi- 
 tates separation from all organizations known as churches. 
 For eighteen hundred years we must believe the church 
 has been in error. Now at the Bride-groom cry, the 
 Church has started into existence, and is looking for her 
 Lord, and all who hold that hope must condemn the 
 church of martyrs, confessors, and reformers, declare that 
 noble company deceived, and leave as anti-christian those 
 organizations which have for centuries shed light on 
 earth's darkness, saved souls, resisted wickedness, 
 spread abroad the gospel ; yea, even have given birth, 
 through their ministers, to that new sect which now ar- 
 rogates to itself the claim to be the Brethren, the 
 Saints, the Bride of the Lamb, at the same time that 
 unnaturally it disowns its parentage. 
 
 5. The doctrine of the theory^ as it is fatal to a visible 
 church organization^ renders impossible combined effort by 
 christians, and if acted upon ivould quickly make an end of 
 all missionary enterprises. That individuals holding the 
 theory are full of zeal we admit. But that zeal is ex- 
 pended almost exclusively among professed christians 
 in endeavouring to propagate the new views, and to 
 separate the saints from the churches. If in this the 
 Brethren were successful, what then would they do ? 
 
Second Coming of Our Lord. 103 
 
 Send missionaries to the heathen ? Who would send ? 
 Men might tjo professedly under an impulse from the 
 Holy Ghost; but there is no church, as at Antioch, to Actsxiu. 3 
 L.y ^.".nds on them and send them. For mark, if this 
 be done by an assfmhhj of saints, that assembly then 
 acts as an organized body, and is just a visible church, 
 in no essential thing differing from a particular Con- 
 gregational or Presbyterian church ; and the laying on 
 of hands after fasting and prayer, in no essential differs 
 from ordination and mission, as practiced in sending 
 missionaries to the heatlien. So that such acts on the 
 part of an assembly would contravene the theory ; thus I 
 
 the theory would be disproved. j 
 
 But a vital question, as regards missionary work { 
 
 among the nations that sit in darkness, is, " What is 1 
 
 the commission given by our ascended Lord to His xi 
 
 church on earth ? " Commonly, it is regarded as being, 'u 
 
 " Giving them power to disciple all the nations," and Matt.xxvii 
 the end aimed at ' ' Unto obedience of faith in all the Rom i. 5. I! 
 nations; until every enemy is subdued; and every 10,11.' ' 
 knee bows to the name of Jesus of those in heaven 
 and in earth, and of those under the earth, and every 
 tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord;" when at 
 last the shout shall be [heard, "the kingdom of this Rev. xi. 15 
 world is become our Lord's, and his Christ's, and he 
 shall reign forever.'* It was when, less than a hundred 
 years ago, the churches came to realize this their high 
 mission, to set this glorious aim before them, and to | 
 
 seek its accomplishment, that the wondrous missionary 
 era dawned upon the world, which now by its great 
 achievements incites the hope, nerves the arm. 
 
104 The Doctrine of the 
 
 anu stimulates the liberality of the best men and women 
 in every land. To this holy ambition we owe our Bible 
 Societies, our Missionary Societies, our Church Mis- 
 sions, our Schools and educational appliances, and in a 
 word all our christian activity. We aim at winning 
 back the world, both nominally christian and infidel, to 
 God, by proclaiming the gospel of his grace; and we 
 hope to overcome by the word of testimony and the 
 blood of the Lamb. And God has already signally 
 blessed the enterprise. Now every church owns its 
 obligation, and Christians are found working and giving 
 as they are able, towards fulfilling the grand apostolic 
 commission; while from north, south, east and west, 
 the prayer ascends, * Lord, how long ? Thy kingdom 
 come.' 
 
 Now, according to the theory, all this is wrong. Mr. 
 Trctter states it thus: "The service really assigned 
 
 "to us in God's word is The work of warning the 
 
 " world of approaching judgment, seeking to deliver 
 " souls therefrom by turning them to Christ, and seek- 
 *' ing to keep curselves, and stir up our brethren also 
 "to keep themselves, separate in spirit from the world, 
 "in the steady patient expectation of our Lord's 
 "appearing." Thus the church has only to witness 
 among the nations, not to disciple them ; to save the 
 few elect ones and at the same time ensure the condem- 
 nation, and increase the guilt of the great mass of 
 gospel hearers, but not to win back the world for 
 God. It is her duty to be zealous with a fiery zeal in de- 
 stroying the churches while she waits for the Lord to 
 take her home. But there is no hope for the nations. 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 105 
 
 This is the time not to bless Gentilds, but to gather in 
 the elect, and prepare the earth for judgment. On 
 these principles missions are a grand mistake. The 
 church should not seek to ma'e the world better or 
 happier. She should satisfy lerself within narrow 
 limits, and selfishly feed upon the hope, and pray for 
 her heavenly marriage. The sooner she is taken out of 
 the world the better for the- Gentiles and the Jews. 
 She is not the salt of the earth, nor a light to lighten 
 the Gentiles. While she remains she only keeps back 
 the day of mercy. Judgments may follow her removal, 
 but the sooner these judgments come the better ; for 
 they are mercy in disguise. When the short week of 
 tribulation is over, and not till then, a day of mercy 
 for restored Jew, and living Gentile will dawn. The 
 hope of the world is not the gospel, but wrath followed 
 by a millennial state that needs no gospel, no Holy 
 Ghost, no love; w.iich is to be ushered in by terrors, and 
 fiery judgment. The gospel cannot benefit the world, 
 and hearing it will only increase men's misery. Why 
 then should it be preached at all ? 
 
 The practice of che Brethren, alas, too closely con- 
 forms to this theory. Ihey will not aid other christians 
 in preparing and circulating God's word, though they 
 avail themselves of what the churches have done, and 
 freely spend money on their own polemic literature. 
 They will not co-operate in Bible work, or missionary 
 operations, or assist m any organization of a philan- 
 thropic nature. They do not care to see the world im- 
 proved or the social state of man ameliorated. All re- 
 forms in eaucation or measures to improve society are 
 7 
 
106 The Doctrine of the 
 
 ignored. The clmrcli, the saints, can have no fellow- 
 ship with men of the world in such mistaken enter- 
 prises, for these things do not helong to the heavenlies. 
 Theirs is to sit alone, and pray the Lord to come and 
 take them home ; to labour for the conversion of indi- 
 viduals, and the subversion of the churches, and to 
 hasten the coming wrath upon God's enemies. 
 
 We shall go no further in illustrating the danger- 
 ous tendencies of the new doctrines which we have 
 felt ourselves called upon to controvert. What we have 
 said will convince any one who is not already blinded 
 by pre-millenarian prejudice, that the new views are not 
 harmless notions of good though weak men, but that they 
 are fraught witli danger ; and that those who teach 
 them should not be bid good speed, but opposed and 
 corrected. We may be sure that a theory which compels 
 as a logical consequence, those who adopt it, to reject 
 or disbelieve fundamental truths ; which so differs from 
 the doctrine of the whole Church of God for eighteen 
 hundred years as to necessitate a breaking off from it ; 
 which nroduces uncharitable censoriousnessand spiritual 
 pride; which destroys the peace of families, produces 
 strife among neighbours, and rends the church of 
 God — is a heresy in the scripture sense of the word. 
 Let men examine carefully, lest unwittingly they adopt 
 the first principles on which this theory rests, and be 
 on their guard, lest being deceived by the speech and 
 appearance of good men who are themselves deluded, 
 they unconsciously take the first step in departing from 
 th« faith once delivered to the saints, and the s^ stem of 
 truth which God has given us in his own word. One 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. 107 
 
 false s^ep will necessitate another ; and the more thor- 
 oughly conscientious, logical and earnest a man is, 
 the greater the danger of his finally adopting the ex- 
 treme views of Brethrenism; for it is a carefully con- 
 structed system of error. 
 
 And now, the task we have undertaken is finished ; 
 we have done with the controversial discussion of 
 our subject and the unmasking of what we believe to 
 be dangerous error. But we may not forget that the 
 subject of the Lord's coming has a practical aspect, and 
 possesses for each one of us the deepest interest, because 
 fraught with eternal consequences. We need no addi- 
 tions of human fancy, no proclamation of impending 
 earthly judgments to give a sanction of terror to the 
 call of the gospel. It is enough to know " Behold the Rom^xiTi.S 
 judge standeth before the door ; the night is far spent, f petavfj, 
 the day is at hand ; the Lord is at hand ; and the end 
 of all things is at hand." Amid the din of this busy 
 sinful world we may, if we hearken, hear the coming 
 foot-fall. The solemn reah'ties of that day should im- 
 press us even now, so that we may seek to be prepared 
 for the Lord's appearing and his glory, in that day. 
 
 That day of wrath, that dreadful day 
 When heaven and earth shall pass away. 
 What power shall be the sinner's stay ? 
 How shall we meet that dreadful day ? 
 When, shrivelling like a parched scroll, 
 The flaming heavens together roll ; 
 When louder yet, and yet more dread 
 Sounds the high trump that wakes the dead. 
 Oh, on thai day, that wrathful day 
 When man to judgment wakes from clay. 
 
108 The Doctrine of the 
 
 Be THOU the trembling sinner's stay, 
 Though heaven and earth shall pass away. 
 
 The same Jesus, who once sojourned in Nazareth' 1 
 died in Jerusalem, shall come again to earth, and every 
 eye shall see him. Not now emptied of his glory, 
 humbled, poor, weak, despised, put to shame, spit upon, 
 crucified ; but in his own glory, and his father's glory, 
 and all the holy angels with him. He shall appear in 
 ineffable splendor, clothed with irresistible might, to save 
 his people, and to take vengeance on his enemies. 
 
 Each one of us shall see him. The archangel's 
 trump shall peal forth ; high heaven shall ring again 
 with the summons, and the grave's deepest caverns 
 shall echo to the call. The dead shall awake and shall 
 come forth to meet the Lord, the Judge. Oh what a 
 meeting ! as from catacombs, and caverned mountain 
 sides, from valleys of slaughter and peaceful cemeteries, 
 from depths of ocean, and long desolated wildernesses, 
 earth casts forth her teeming millions ; while the sun 
 is darkened, the moon turned into blood, the stars fall 
 from the heavens, and the foundations of the world are 
 overturned amidst the wreck of dissolving nature ! 
 
 We shall see the Son of God seated on the great 
 white throne. Shall that glorious face appear to our 
 joyous though trembling gaze radiant with holiness, and 
 fullof grace ? Shall we see the wounds on head and side, 
 in hands and feet, still speaking of love unutterable ? 
 Shall we be drawn towards Him with grateful loving 
 confidence, to find shelter beneath the throne, and to 
 lift up our heads with joy because our redemption has 
 come ? Oh blessed glorious hope ! Or shall that glori- 
 
Second Coniinq of our Lord. 109 
 
 ous countenance ajpear to us gloomy with wrath, 
 and dark with holy vengeance ? Shall the blaze of 
 ^ 'ness, and the severity of justice, and the terror of 
 despised and outraged love, fill us with dismay and 
 forebodings of eternal woe ? Shall we seek to flee 
 from the face of him who sits upon the throne ? Shall 
 the Lamb slain for us, appear as a ravening lion rising in 
 his fury ? Shall the blood which once spoke peace, 
 threaten us with vengeance and wrath to the uttermost ? 
 Oh the supreme misery of those who in their anguish 
 shall then call upon the rocks and hills to fall upon them 
 and hide them; alas, in vain ! 
 
 "Every eye shall see Him, and they also who pierced 
 Him, and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because 
 of Him." Alas, for the soldiers who drove home the 
 nails that fixed him on the cross, and who gashed his 
 side with the spear ! Alas, for Pilate who gave him up, 
 and the ruffians who wreathed his head with thorns, 
 tore his back with the scourge, and buffeted his blessed 
 cheek ! Alas, for the murderers who cried out crucify 
 him, and the mob that yelled forth, His blood be on us 
 and on our children ! Alas, for Annas and Caiaphas, 
 who condemned the innocent, and Judas who betrayed his 
 Lord ! Alas, alas, for these chief of sinners in that 
 day I But alas too, for those gospel hearers, who crucify 
 him afresh, and put him to an open shame ; who tread 
 under foot the law of God, and count the blood of the 
 covenant an unholy thing ; who spurn his love, make 
 light of his salvation, refuse to own him as Lord, and 
 do despite to the spirit of grace ! The'y too shall wail 
 as they look on him in that day, when long-suffering 
 
110 The Doctrine of the 
 
 forbearance shall be turned to vengeance, and pleading 
 mercy to wrath. 
 
 Each one of us shall then ''give account jf himself 
 to God." Let us not fancy some human assize, with its 
 long painful processes, tedious investigations, conflicting 
 testimonies, imperfect administration and doubtful 
 issues. These pertain not to Christ's judgment seat. 
 Short and swift the trial ; full and true the testimony ; 
 fair and just the verdict ; executed with the perfection 
 of God. Self-accused, self-condemned, speechless, the 
 impenitent sinner will stand ; or acknowledged and 
 acquitted by the judge, as justified by grace, each one of 
 us will appear. The ministers of wrath can make no 
 mistake as they read stamped indelibly on each self- 
 condemned countenance, pale with remorse and horror, 
 the sentence of wrath, and separate them for destruction. 
 Nay, the dark abode of endless woe seems preferable to 
 the glare of holiness and blaze of justice. Hell becomes 
 a refuge when it hides from the Judge's frown. 
 
 " Come ye blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom 
 prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 
 The blessed welcome is spoken, and the righteous go in- 
 to life eternal. " Depart ye cursed into everlasting 
 fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." The 
 sentence of doom is uttered, ** and these go away into 
 eternal punishment." '* He that is unjust let him be 
 unjust still ; and he that is righteous let him be 
 righteous still : and he that is holy let him be holy 
 stm." 
 
 These are the solemn realities with which we have 
 to do. Oh, in view of them how vain this passing world 
 
Second Coming of our Lord. Ill 
 
 with its evanescent joys and i)etty sorrows ! How 
 secondary every other question to tliat of having an in- 
 terest in Jesus and a place among them that are sancti- 
 fied ! How all important to give earnest heed to the 
 things that have heen spoken. Oh let us beware, lest hav- 
 ing known the truth, any one should rest short of attain- 
 ing to eternal life ; lest having defended the truth in 
 controversy, we should fail to be sanctified by it, and 
 should be found at Christ's appearing without hope — 
 lost. " May the very God of peace sanctify you wholly ; 
 and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body 
 be preserved harmless unto the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ."