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MESSIAH'S SECOND ADVENT

B Stu^^ in iE0cbatoIofl?

CAIvVIN GOODSPEED, D.l.., I,L.D.,

Pro/em>r of Si/Ktetiiatw Theology and Apologetics in
McManter University, Toronto, Ont.

«* m ■■-

TORONTO

WILLIAM BRIGGS

1900

AgricuUure, ' ' *'■"" """""'■''l"'. " the Ue,.urt,„i.„t ot

PREFACE.

ie year
iient of

I WISH especially to aeknowlo(l<re my obUcra-
tion to Dr. David Brown's work, entitled " The
Second Advent." It is but just to myself to
state, however, that I had formed the general
plan of my treatment, and had published an
outline of the argument, before it was my pi-ivi-
lege to consult his masterly treatise.

C. G.

CONTENTS.

(IIAI IKil

Intr()(lucti<»ni ....
I. The KoHurrectioii (»f tho Dead
II. Tho Geneml Judgment .

III. The Views Compared

IV. No Probation After Christ Comes
V. Rev. 20 : 4-(;, and Resurrection from tijo Dea

VI. The Kingdom
VII. The Kingdoin~{C(>ntiniie(l)
VIII. The Kmgdom—{Cnnd>ided) .
IX. The Ever-Imminent Coming of Our Lord
X. The Ever-Imminent Coming of Our Lord
{Condinled) .....
XL Tho Power of His Coming
XII. Tho Ljist Day

X in. The Progress of the Go-spol .

XIV. The Millennium

XV. Some Evils of Pro-millennialism .
Index to Scripture Texts

PAOK

. 7

- 10

. 11

. 28

- 48

d 50-

- ?)0

. 01-

100

. 101-

111

. 112-

138

. 130-172

. 173

200

. 201

210

. 211-

210

. 220 252

. 253-264

. 265-284

. 285-288

INTRODUCTION.

TiiKUE is to bo a period duiing which righteousness
is to ])revail on the earth as never before, and called
the Millennium because spoken of in llev. 20: 4-0 as
continuing for a thousand years. Our Lord is to
come in p(!rson a second time to the world, in close
connection with this transcendent era in the history
of tlie Church.

These statements are accepted by the whole Cliris-
tian world with but few exceptions. There is great
diversity of opinion, however, as to the nature and
duration of the millennial period, and Christendom is
sharply divided on the (juestion of the relation of our
Lord's second coming to this grand epoch. Pre-mil-
lennialists believe that He is to come before the
millennium to usher it in by the assertion of His per-
sonal power, and to reign with His people on the
earth until its close. Post-millennialists hold that He
is not to appear until the close of this period, when
He will come in connection with the tremendous
scenes of the " resurrection of the just and unjust,"
and to "judge quick and dead."

Pre-millennialists generally have a very profound

INTItoDircTION.

conviction of the importance of tlu'ir Hpocial view iifl
to tl»e coiiiin;^ of tlic lionl, and pn'ss it with ;^r«'at
onor^jjy ami |)erHist(a»cy. It is nuuie a chief .suhject of
tlieir preaching from the pulpit and of toHtimony in
social H«»rviceH. (ireat conferenceH are held, year after
year, in wliich the beHt talent ainon;; them is laid
under contrihution to press it with mi«;ht :in<l main.
Institutions are maintained in which this hclief is the
central feature of the teachin<^. A superabundant
literature is hcin^ scattered everywhere — throu^jh the
mails, hy travelling agents, from door to door, and in
other ways. In churches, however few there be who
hold the pre-milleiuiial view, they feel not only at
liberty, but under obligation, to press it upon the
attention of those who do not share it with them.

On the other hand, Post-millennialists do not feel
called upon to give their view special emphasis in
preaching or testimony. Indeed, they are tempted to
give the whole subject of the second coming of our
Lord less attention than it deserves, because of the
over-emphasis they conceive is given it by their pro-
millennial brethren; much less are there conventions
and other general means for pressing the post-millen-
nial view and combating the opposing one. Neither
is there an abundant literature on this side of the
subject to be scattered broadcast, even were any dis-
posed to take the trouble. Those who wish to secure
something on the post-millennial side of the question,
so far from having it thrust upon them, find it diffi-
cult to obtain it when sought for. Thus Christian
people are at the mercy, so to speak, of our pre-mil-

INTHODrcTloV.

Ifiiniiil rrinuI.M, except oh they are able, unaided, to
resist the champions of the pre-iiiiMeimial view liy
an in(l»'pen<hMit stiidy ol* tlie Word of (iod. The silence
of Post-inilienniaHsts is really Ix'in;^ niisco!istrue<l. It
is hein;; whispered tlmt little is said and spoken on
their side of the subject because they are conscious
that they have no valid argun»entH in support of their
view.

Und • these circunistancos it is little wonder that
the pre-millt'rniial view has made considerable pm-
;jress. It is really surprisin;^ that a larj^er proportion
of Christians have not accepted it. Unless, therefore,
we ref^ard the issue between the pre- and post-millen-
nial views as of so little moment that it is a matter of
practical indifference which is held, it is hi^^h time
the (/hristian public were put in possession of a clear
and candid statement of the grounds of the post- mil-
lennial belief. As I proceed! hope to make it plain
that this issue is not an unimportant one ; but that
the pre-millennial view involves a whole system of
interpretation, a distinct conception of the nature of
Christ's kingdom and rule, a peculiar idea o^" the pur-
pose of the preachin<ij of the Gospel and tlie work of
the Spirit, and a num]>er of other features which are
most serious in themselves and far-reaching in their
tendencies and lo<jical outcome.

At the recjuest of a number of brethren I have con-
sented to write something on this subject. It is only
because I am convinced the interests of truth demand
some more adequate discussion of this (juestion that I
undertake the duty, as I have a growing reluctance

INTRODUCTION.

to antagonize the views of estimable brethren, some
of whom I number among my very dear friends.

It will be impossible in the present treatise to go
into minute details. I shall examine the question
along the line of the plainest New Testament teach-
ing in reference to the plainest New Testament prin-
ciples, seeking to interpret the obscure by what is
clear and not the reverse

C. G.

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

The first essential feature of the pre-inillennial
view to be examined has reference to the resurrection
of the dead. Its advocates hold that the righteous
dead alone are raised, and the living righteous changed,
at the coming of the Lord, which they declare is at
the beginning of the millennium. The wicked dead,
they believe, remain in their graves until after this
period and the great uprising of wickedness which
follows it (Rev. 20 : 7-10). The post-millennial view,
on the other hand, is that both the righteous and the
wicked dead are to be raised at the coming of the
Lord, which is thought to take place after the millen-
nium. Our first question then is : .

1. Do the Scriptures teach that the great period
represented by the thousand years and the final up-
rising of wickedness of Rev. 20 : 4-11 intervenes
between the resurrection of the righteous and the
resurrection of the wicked ? Or do they declare that
there is but a single resurrection including both the
just and the unjust ?

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

Let it be clearly understood that it is essential to
the pre-millennial view that the former of these posi-
tions be established from the Word of God. There is
no one who doubts that the resurrection of the wicked
is after the millennium, at the end of all probation and
of the earthly history of our race in the tlesh. If
the resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked
constitutes a single grand event, then this general
resurrection and the coming of the Lord, which is
indissolubly associated with the resurrection of the
righteous, according to pre-millennial as well as
post-millennial views, must be after the millennium.
It is only as the resurrection of these two great
classes is torn asunder by the interjection of this vast
period that the pre-millennial view can stand. Here
is a direct issue. Let us reverently consult the
Word of God upon the question.

First : How are we to understand John 5 : 28, 29 :
" Marvel not at this (His giving spiritual life to the
spiritually dead, v. 25) : for the hour cometh in which
all that are in the tombs shall hear his voice and
shall couiQ forth : they that have done good unto the
resurrection of life, and they that have done ill to the
resurrection of judgment " ?

Does this not appear to be as plain a declaration of
a single and general resurrection of the dead, both
righteous and wicked, as could well be given ? It in-
cludes " all that are in the tombs." There is but a single
" voice " or summons of the Son of God for all, both
bad and good. This single summons all alike hear
and all alike obey and "come forth." Up to this

THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD.

point all is common for botli clasHcs. It is only the
de.stinies which confront the two clasHcs a.s they
ecjually obey the summons and come forth, which are
in contrast as tremendous as the difference between
tluun in moral character. Language could scarcely be
more specific. Can we conceive our Lord would have
spoken in this explicit way of there being a single
resurrection for both classes to their opposite destinies
had He known that a great stretch of one thousand
years, which many think to represent a year for a
day, or 365,000 years, with time for the last great
growth and struggle of evil added, was to intervene
between the resurrection of the righteous and the
resurrection of the wicked ? However it might be
with an ordinary uneventful period of this duration,
would not the intervention of such a period — the
must stupendous in the history of the race and the
climax of the ages — be too great to be ignored ?
Would it not have separated these resurrections so
clearly and well-nigh boundlessly that He could not
have represented them as a single transaction — a
conmion " coming forth " in response to the same call ?
The resurrection would have been two separate and
distinct events which it would have been impossible
to bring together in this way and speak of as one.

It is no reply to this to refer to v. 25, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God
and they that hear shall live," where our Lord is
speaking of spiritual resurrection, and to argue that
the "hour" here spoken of is a long period which has

A STT^DY IN ESrTTATOI.OnV.

already coutimiod for nearly two tliousaiKl years, and
that, thoroforc, this " hour " of physical resurrection
of V. 28 may !)0 a long period likewise.

In the ti"st place, it is anythin<^ but certain that the
" hour" of V. 25 is meant to cover the whole period in
which men are to receive spiritual quickening^. For
instance, had a man said in 177(), " The hour is coming
and now is, when the United States shall be indepen-
dent, ' the word " hour " in that connection would not
have been supposed to cover all the period in which
they were to remain independent, but would have had
exclusive reference to its beginning. Why should the
word "hour" in the identical expression, "The hour
is cominir and now is when the dead shall hear tlie
voice of the Son of God," etc., be interpreted to cover
more than the beginning of the period of spiritual
quickening ?

But allowing that 'hour" in v, 25 does refer to
this whole period, this " hour " of spiritual quickening
is a period throughout which this quickening con-
tinues unbroken by any time in which it does not
have place. So also of the " day " of salvation ; it is
a period during the whole of which salvation is to be
had. There is not a moment of it wherein sal-'ation
is not to be obtained. The same is true in every case
in which an hour or day is used for a long period,
unless John 5 : 28 is an exception. That of which it is
said to be the day or hour, as marking the great char-
acteristic feature of the period covered by the word
"day" or "hour," is true of every moment of the
period. Can we imagine that the whole period from

THE RESUHRECTION OF THE DEAD.

tlu! first coiniiiix of our Lord until th(; ond would have
been called the " hour" of spiritual <|ui('keuin<jf or the
"day" of salvation were there to luive been but a
very brief — perhaps only momentary — display of
(juickenin<if and savin<( power at its beginning and at
its close, and lon<^ ages lying between when neither
was to be had ?

Now, what are the facts in reference to this *' hour "
of physical resurrection in John 5 : 28, 20, according to
the pre- millennial view i Is this supposed to be an
unbroken period throughout which men's bodies con-
tinue to be raised from the dead, and of whicli, there-
fore, this physical resurrection is the abiding charac-
teristic ? Wy no means. The resurrection of the dead
is not thought by Pre-millennialists any more than
by us, to be a long-drawn process covering a mil-
lennium of years. All believe it to take place '* in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye," as Paul declares
in 1 Cor. 15 : 51, 52. But our pre-millennial brethren
hold that instantaneous resurrection is predicable of
the righteous only. Succeeding this electric shock of
quickening power is the long-stretching millennium —
the most transcendent era in the history of God's peo-
ple. Like the period from the resurrection of Christ
until that of the righteous, during these centuries
there are to be none raised from the dead. It is only
at its close that there is to be another flash of resur-
rection might, as the v/icked dead are called forth to
receive their final doom.

Can we believe, in defiance of all scripture usage
elsewhere in reference to what is said to be tlie chief

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOfSY.

tharactoristic of poriods <leai^iiate(l by the word
" (lay " or " liotir," that our Lord liad ho Httle regard
for the Ion^-strctchin«ij and tran.sccndent period be-
tween these lightnin<^-like fhishes of (juickeninf^
power, as to if^nore it alto^j^ether, and speak of the
whole period as the " hour " in which *hose " who are
in the tombs shall hear his voice," ev.n representinjjf
the resurrection as bat a sinj^le transaction in which
there shall be a simultai •- ■ coining forth of both
ri<;hteous and wicke(^ \n n jonse id the same call ?
Are we not forced to bt e''e that John 5 : 27-29 means
just what it says, and that both righteous and wicked
are raised in the same resurrection ? *

We must also remember tl it we have references to
the summons to the deat' in other descriptions of the
resurrection. In 1 Cor. 15 : 51, 52 we read, " Behold,
I show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep but we
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall
sound and the dead shall be raised," etc. Also, in
1 Thess. 4: 16, "For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch-
angel, and the trump of God ; and the dead in Christ
shall rise first," etc.-f*

* Reference will he made further on to the view that there is a
specialresurrection of the tribulation saints.

t This passage is sometimes thoughtlessly quoted as though it
declared the righteous dead were to be raised before the wicked
dea;!. We have only to read the preceding verse and the one that
follows, to see that the (question was wliether the living saints, at
the appearing of Christ, should have precedence over the righteous
dead. " No," says Paul, "the righteous dead shall rise first and
then with the living saints shall be caught up," etc

THE UESUUHEfTION OF THE DEAD.

3 word

rej;ar«l

io<l be-

ikening

of tlio

vlio are

Honting

I which

of both

lie call ?

} means

wicked

ences to
IS of the
Beliold,
but we
nnkling
et shall
Also, in
descend
le arch-
Christ

tliere is a

though it
le wicked

one that
saints, at
righteous

first and

So fur as w«' know, all iwv agnuid tliat the "voice"
of Jolin 5 : 28, 29 and the " shout" and the " trump "
of these j)assa;^«}s n fer to the sann; startling sunnnons
which shall call forth the dead. Jn I Cor. lo: 52 it
is called the " last trump." If there were to be a call
for the righteous at the beginning of the millennium
and aTiother at the close for the wicked, we cannot
untlerstand how this in 1 Cor. 15: ')2, which Prc-mil-
lennialists <leclare is of the righteous at the beginning
of the resurrection, could be called the " last." It
would be the first, unless it is to continue during all
the millennial period until the wicked rise at its close,
which no one believes. No : there is but a single
summons. It is called the last, because it comes at
the end of the world. In Corinthians, as the apostle
is speaking only of believers, they alone are men-
tioned as responding to it. In John 5 : 28, 29, where
our Lord has reference to both classes, both are said
to be raised in response to the same summons, which,
in Corinthians, Paul calls the " last trump." Thus it
is seen there is but a single and general resurrection
of all, and it is at the end of all things.

So, from whatever standpoint we view this passage,
it seems impossible, without the greatest violence, or
even with the greatest violence, to make it square
with the pre-millennial theory of two distinct resur-
rections, separated by an immense and grand period.
If, however, there be but a single resurrection in-
cluding both good and bad, this view will be ac-
knowledged by its friends to be without foundation,
land the alternative post-millennial belief in a single
2

A STI^DY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

rcHiirroctioii at the close of tlie inillcmiiiiin will he
eHtal)li.slu;(i.

Tlio roHurrectioii of l»oth the rij^litisou.s aii<l the
wicked is admitted by all t«) he mentioned in Acts
24: 15, whore Paul declares it to be the teaching of
the prophets tliat " there shall be a resurrection both
of the just and unjust."

This declaration seems, also, to be perfectly explicit.
It is a single resurrection in which both the unjust
and the just are to share. The language covdd not
have been better chosen to make any other meaning
impossible, l^iul does not say there sliall be resur-
rections of the just and unjust, neither does he say
there shall be a resurrection of the just and a resur-
rection of tlie unjust, which would have left room for
a separate resurrection of each class. But the words
"a resurrection both of the just and unjust" leave
no room for a distinct resurrection of eacli class, sep-
arated poles-wide apart, by the intervention of a
period covering the grandest triumphs and the most
terrific struggle of the Church's history. It seems
simply incredible that the apostle could have used
this language had he known that such was to be. If
one is prepared to accept the plainest meaning of
language, this passage shuts him in to a single resur-
rection, but one including both the righteous and the
wicked, and therefore, in the most perfect accord with
John 5 : 28, 29.

Let us also refer to a passage in the Old Testament
which has the plainest bearing upon the question be-
fore us. Daniel 12:2 declares, " And many of them

TIIK UKsrUUECTION (»F THE DEAD.

will 1

an«l tlie

in Acts

.chiiij^ of

,ion botli

explicit,
e unjust
ouM not
nieanin*^
be resur-
;h he Hay
i a re.sur-
rooni for
he words
ist" leave
asH, sep-
ion of a
he most
t seems
ive used
o be. If
aning of
le resur-
and the
ord with

jstament
stion be-
of them

Ihni sleep in th(^ <hist of tlie earth shall awake, some
to everlastiii;.^ Iif<', and some to shame and evei'last-
in;^ conti'rnpt."

This passatjje refers to the resurrection of the body,
for it is "of those who slee}) in the dust of the earth."
It is also a resurrection of both rij^hteous and wicked:
for it is to the contrasted destinies of "(everlasting
life" and " shanu? and evieriastin^ contempt." It is a
single resiirrection of both these classes, for both
clas.ses to<:jethcr constitute the " many " who are to
awak<', anil they are to awake at the single definite
time mentioned in the prophecy.

It is also said that, allowing this to be a single
resurrection of botli classes, it is not a resurrection of
all the dead. It is claimed that the expression, "many
of them that sleep," implies that part of them that
sleep are not raised.

But the expression " many " in Scripture is often
used for "all." For instance : Paul in Gal. :i : 27, "For
as many of you as were baptized into Christ did put
on Christ," did not mean that only a part of the Gala-
tian believers had been baptized.

In any case, supposing the resurrection to be partial,
it is a simultaneous resurrection of both righteous
and wicked, which is as much at variance with the
pre- millennial idea as is a general resurrection of the
two great classes.

Besides, the Word of God explicitly denies the
j resurrection of either class in sections, as the inter-
Ipretation of Dan. 12 : 2 as referring to a part only of
[the righteous and of the wicked, would make neces-

A sTt'DY IN EsrfiAToror.Y.

Hary ; for, as all tlni doaii nrv. to ri.s««, if tluji't! is one?
partial rcsunvction, it imiHt Ik* Muccoedcd })y another
of the Hainc kind of tho.st' who remain. Now Paul in
1 Cor. 15: 2.'i, speaking of the; n'surreotion of CliriHt
and HiH ])eop]o, .says, "Hut eaeh in his own order,
('hrint the firstfruits, then they that are ClhriHtH, at
l\is couiinj^." Il«'re I'aul .sayH all who are Christ's
are to rise at His comin;^. There is then only one
resurrection of the ri;;hteous and that of all. Tin;
resurrection, then, of Dan. 12: 2 must be of all the
rit^hteous, since it ia of some of them, an<l it is there
declared that the resurrection of the wicked is simul-
taneous with that of the ri^^hteous — a {general resur-
rection of both classes.

It is also generally admitted that our Lord, in .fohn
6 : 28, 29, borrows the lan^ua^^e of Dan. 12:2. Dani(d
says, " Many that sleep." Our Lord says, " All that
are in the tombs." If our Lord liere does borrow the
lanf^uage of Dan. 12:2, He interprets the " many" of
Daniel to mean '* all," and we must do likewise, and
the two passages are mutually confirmatory in their
teacliings.

Others propose to sot aside the force of Dan. 12:2
by the translation of IVegelles, made in the interest
of the pre-millennial theory : " Many from among the
sleepers of the dust of the earth shall awake, these
shall be unto everlasting life : but those (the rest of
the sleepers) shall be unto shame and everlasting con-
tempt."

So far as we are aware, no commentator has given
this interpretation even a mention.

■i

M ;

TIIK IlKsrnUKfTinN OK TIIK DKAD.

It is also Hlj^!»ifirant tluit tho first vtTw? introducing
this HtutciiM'tit slioiil<l c«)rn'Mpon«l so clost'ly with livv.
20 : 7-10, wliich ilcscrihos tlu; tiino of trouble previous
t(» tlu^ rcHurri'Ctiou and jud^jinmt of vs. 11-15.
TluTo is a period of uiicxanipled trilmlation f<»r the
ri<dit«'ous in each case. When tlii^ troul>le was at tlio
"•reatcst, in each case, th(5 tlulivurance came, and tho
delivoranco iH followed l»y a renurrection. In each
eas(! "the book" in which the names of the saints are
said to be written, is mentioned. The two passages
Hi.'em to refer to tlie san>e time and the same event.
So far as it is ma<h' phiin that llev. 20: 11-15 refers
to a «;eneral resurrection, therefore Dan. 12:2 speaks
also of a resurrection of all.

Wo need consider at len{.{th in this connection only
Rev. 20: 11-15: "And I saw a great white throne
and him that sat upon it, from whose face tlie earth
and the lieaven fle(l away: antl there was found n(j
place for tl»em : And 1 saw the dead, the j^reat and
the Hiiiall, .standin;^ before the throne: and books
were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life : and the dead were jud<^ed out of the
things which were written in the books, accordin<( to
their works. And tho sea gave up the dead which
were in it: and death and Hades gave up the dead
wliich were in them : and they were judged every
man according to tlieir works. And death and Hades
were cayt into the lake of fire. This is the second
(leath, even tho lake of fire. And if any was not
found written in the book of life, he was cast into the
lake of fire."

A STriiV \S rscilATnr.OiJY.

I'n>-iiiill(MiiiiiiliNtM and I^)Ht-l^ilKMllliHliNtN aj^rcc tlirit
thiM |niHMa;j(' rolors to a literal, pliyHical n'Miirrrction
ni' i\w (U>m\. 'Iho Un'iuvr, hovvoviT, aro C()in|M'llo<l to
• '.^licvc it a (loNcriptioii ol' tlu' ro.surn'ctioii of tho
w'i('k<'«l (U'lvl aloiu'. It jh only in tluH way that tlicir
intorprutatioti of tlni previous part of tliin cliapter,
V8. 4-7, ah of a pliy.sical ri'.suirectioM of tliu i'i;;lit«'oUH,
ca!i Im' niaiiitjkiiit!(l or tlicir general pOHition In* saved
from overthrow.

Ihit the hiri;^ua^e of tlie passage seeiim very phiiii.
'Phi! whole description is of such surpassinj^ t^ramh'nr
tliat we could scarcely tlunk it had reference to th«)
wi('k(Ml alone, especially, as in the rest of the New
'restanient, chief prominence and emphaniH is ^iven to
the resurrection of tlu; rij^hteouH. Notice also th*!
expressions used: " 'I'he dead." "The deatl, the ^reat
and tlie snuill." ('an tlie wonls, "I saw the tlead,"
mean the rest of the d<;ad, after tlu; ri^Iiteous dea<l
had been raised:* Can "the (h^id, the great and
small," mean anything less than all the dead ;* The
inspired writer uses the expression "small and threat"
in four other passages, and in each passage it means
all classes of those mentioned. Chap. 11 : 18, "Them
that fear tiiy name, the small and the great," and
chap. 19:5, " All ye his servants, ye that fear him, the
small and the great," include all classes of God's ser-
vants who fear Him. Chap. 18: IG, "And he causeth
all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor,
and the free and tlie bond ; " chap. 19 : 18, " The tlesh
of all men, both free and bond, and small and great."
Neither can there be any doubt in these two passages

Hi,:!!

TIIK llHSiruur.CTIoN' OV THE DEAD.

tlirtt "MiiiJill hihI ^^iviit" iticIu«l«?H nil thoHO HpooiflotI, hh
\v«'II ii.M " rich ami |)<M>r," * IhhkI ami froo." How can
wv hclicvc, then, that in Hcv. 20: 12, "An<l I hhw the
i|«>a<l, the ^rcat aii<l th<; HUiall, Ntamliti;; hcForc thu
throno," " jjrcat ami .sniall " ri't'or.s only to one «'iaHH of
the dead, that of the wicke<l, rather than to ail the
(lead, ri;;httM)U.s as well, as John's usa^e of tlu^ cxpres-
sion as well jus its very nieaninj^ re(|iiires i* Ha*! the
writer meant to (le.si<^nate the (lea<l, j^reat ami Ninall,
a.s the iniri;^ht<!oUH only, would he not have saMl h(» f-

Notice also other expreHsions : **Tho aea j^ave up
the (h'ttti which were in it," "death and Hades
;^'ave up the dead which were in them," not the
wicked dead, but " the dead " a.s a .single great class,
including all ! What a strange pertinency in these
expressions, if the wicked were iill of the dead that
remained in their graves !

Uut the most conclusive considorations remain.
There is no ilisputo that all who share in the judg-
ment here des('ribe«l in such grand terms have also
shared in the resurrection which precedes it. If lK)th
righteous and wicked are described here as ju<lged
together, then both these classes are also declared to
have been raised in the resurrection here |)ortraycd.
The answer to the (luestion, "Are the righteous he^'o
judged :* " will be the answer to the (juestion, " Were
the righteous then raised from the dead ?" And can
we escape the conclusion that both righteous and
wicked are here ju<lged ;* When " the dead, the great
and the small," stood before the throne, " books were
opened : and another book was opened, which is the

1 IL V\, P"

mm'.

\ 1

: 1 h

1 i!

iiil!^

'^'ill'i

ill I

212

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

Those of the Pre-millennialiHts wlio do not commit
themselves to the doctrine of a coming for, and a com-
ing with, His people, believe this "day" to include 1,2,3,
7, 9, 10, 11, 12. 13, 14 of the above. Post-millennial-
ists believe this day includes the coming of the Lord,
the resurrection of good and bad, the judgment of all,
their reward and punishments respectively, and the
last conflagration. Let us refer to all the passages in
which these terms are used, and see whether there
is any allusion in thtm to the restoration and con-
version of the Jews, the personal reign of Christ over
a hoi}' people upon the earth, a great uprising of the
wicked and their attack upon the saints while He is
with them in personal presence and power, which all
classes of Pre-millennialists believe included in that
day. Almost all believe, also, that during the millen-
nial part of this " day," the work of salvation which
has made little progress prior to our Lord's coming,
will then, in connection with the labors of the Jews
who are to be converted at its beginning, sweep over
the earth in glorious might, until all men are brought
to the feet of Jesus in devoted subjection and adoring
love.

But what do the Scriptures say that day contains ?

The dead are to be raised on that " last day " (John
6:39, 40,44, 54; 11:24).

That day shall be the great day of searching judg-
ment. Men shall be then judged by the word of
Christ (John 12 : 48), the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 2 : IG),
must give account for every idle word (Matt. 12 : 30),
will have the emptiness of mere formal service exposed

TFFE RESUIIUECTION OF THE DEAD.

ka, espc-
then to
life had
and all
reigning
this eaHo
for none
jfore the
ti of the
ividently
fore the
language
is repre-
10 are to
otice the
ritten in
fire." It
n in the
;," as our
) be, but,
anguage
al mean-
re found
ed there

ut of the
those in
Being
ritten in
ceording
ley were

rewarded according to their works — the degree of con-

doiniiation being measured according to the coinpara-

i i ve evil of their deeds. They were Judged. A general

decision, which must be condemnatory or approving,

was passed upon them, involving the presence of both

[classes before the throne. The language is in most

exact harmony with a judgment of both righteous and

[wicked, each one according to his works, whether good

lor evil. How it can be made to harmonize with a

■judgment of the wicked only, where there is nothing

d)ut condenniation for evil works, seems hard to

imagine.

80 we find that the plain implication of almost every

[clause of this passage shuts us in to a single resurrec-

jtion and judgment, including both the righteous and

[the wicked. Well may Mr. Hill, a pre-millennial

[writer, declare : "If it were lawful to consider it, as

ft has been in past ages considered, a description

)f a simultaneous and universal judgment of all that

have ever lived, it would not be easy to find words

more comprehensive than these, ' the dead, small and

;reat, stand before God,'" etc.* Indeed, there is

scarcely any passage on whose interpretation exegetes

lave been more agreed. It is significant that Dr.

Jordonf admits that this passage refers to a resur-

[•ection of both classes, but assumes it to be of righteous

)eople who die during the millennium. This view,

Committing those who hold it to the reign of death

^ver a class of the righteous after the coming of the

• " Lent. Lectures," p. 294. t '' Ecce Venit," p. 273.

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOaY.

Lord, will, we arc sure, appear to moat readers to
involve more serious difficulty than that from which
it would relieve the pre-millennial view. In any case
the evidence thus afforded, that this passage ref<!rs
to a resurrection and jud<(iiient of both classes, is
exceedingly strong.

We have finished our examination of the four great
passages bearing most directly upon the first (juestion
at issue between Pre- and Post-millennialists — whether
there is a single resurrection including both the just
and the unjust, or whether there are two separate
resurrections, that of the righteous before the millen-
nium, and that of the wicked not until after this long
and grand period. They all seem to declare, in lan-
guage which could scarcely be more plain and explicit,
for the former view. As these four are the only pas-
sages in which the resurrection of the wicked as well
as of the righteous is directly referred to, their obvious
agreement in the teaching of a simultaneous resurrec-
tion of the just and the unjust furnishes the very
strongest argument against the pre-millennial view.
We shall consider, in their place, Rev. 20 : 4-6, and
one or two other passages which Pre-millennialists
claim support their belief in two separate resurrec-
tions of the dead. We shall only in this place repeat
what Dr. D. Brown says in view of the admission of
Mr. Hill given above, but w^ho still clung to Rev.
20 : 4-6 as proof of the soundness of the pre-millen-
nial position : " He explains a passage about which
there has been more unanimity in all ages than on

il 1;

1 f'l !

THE UESURUECTION OF THE DEAD.

almost niiy other portion of Scripture by a passage on
whicli tlierc lias been more diversity tlian, perliaps,
abnost any paHsa<^e of God's Word."* How much less
()u;^^ht we to allow any special interpretation of this
obscure passa<.je to override the plainest meaning of
the four plainest portions of Scripture bearing upon
the (juestion.

* " Tilt) Second Advent," p. 2U0.

A STUDY IN ES<'HAT()r,()GY.

CHAPTER II.

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT.

PliE-MlLLENNTALlSTS hold that the righteous, so far
as they are judged, are judged uh well as raised from
the dead at the introduction of the millennium ; but
thatthe wicked dead are not judged until after its close.
They interject, therefore, the period represented by the
one thousand years and the last struggle with evil of
Rev. 20 : 4-10, between the judgment of the righteous
and the wicked. They also separate the second com-
ing of the Lord from the judgment of the wicked by
the same lengthy period, and deny a general judgment
of the just and the unjust, in the same way as they
deny a general resurrection of both classes of the
dead. Post-milleunialists affirm that there is a single
judgment of the righteous and of the wicked, and that
the wicked as well as the righteous are judged at
Christ's coming, and not a long period after.

It must also be borne in mind that as both Pre-
and Post-millennialists agree that the judgment of
both righteous and wicked takes place in immediate
connection with their resurrection from the dead, the
evidence as to a general resurrection and that as to a
general judgment must agree, and mutually supple-
ment and strengthen each other.

THE (iF'AKIlAI- .TrnriMEXT.

What, then, is tlu! twichin^]r of Scripture on the
(|iu'sti()n of a general ju<l«^nient of rij^liteous and
wicked (

First, let the reader turn to Matt. 25 : 31-49, and

read it attentively. All agree that this coming of

the Son of man in His glory, accompanied by the

[angelic hosts, is His second personal coming. Neither

is there any dispute as to the time when the judgment

described takes place. It is "then," " when the Son

iof man shall come," etc., that the nations shall be

Igathered, and the separation and judgment shall occur.

There is also an agreement that it is but a single

Ijudgnu^nt. " All the nations " shall be gathered liefore

JHim as He sits on " the throne of his glory " (vs. 31,

J32). After they are all .so gathered the separation takes

jplace (v. 33). " Then " (v. 34), whil^ He still remains

seated upon His throne, as soon as they are separated,

[e addresses those on His right hand in words

weighted with infinite blessing, " Come, ye blessed of

iiy Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from

^he foundation of the world," and proceeds to give the

grounds of His judgment (vs. 35-40). " Then," as

loon as the judgment of the righteous is completed,

Ind while He still remains seated on the throne, He

[roceeds to pass the terrible sentence on those upon

is left hand, " Depart from me, ye cursed, into the

bernal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,"

be. (v. 41). If words can make anything plain, this

a single judgment in two successive acts, not two

^parate judgments, sundered by an immense period

supreme moment, So plain is this teaching of a

218

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

pro-inilleniiial view makes tl.j resurrection and judg-
ment of the rigliteous and of the wicked occur in
two distinct ages, the wicked being raised and judged
in the age or world to come.

Does not all the plain teaching of the New Testa-
ment give the opposite impression :* In this case,
especially, we do not see how it is possible to force
the pre-millennial interpretation of Rev. 20: 4-11
upon the rest of the New Testament without bringing
these verses into such Hat contradiction with the
teaching of the passages which refer to the day
variously designated " the last day," " the day of
judgment," etc., as to endanger the inspiration of
either Rev. 20: 4-11, or of all the passages with
which it is brought into conflict. Will anyone venture
to assume, in order to escape the difficulty, that " the
day of judgment," " the day of the Lord," etc., do not
refer to the same period as that covered by " the last
day " ? But this would require great hardihood. It
would be necessary to maintain that " the day of
judgment" and "the last day" were not the same
period, although the same grand events are said to
take place in them both. It would also require him
to defy the consensus of Christian scholarship.*

Or will anyone say that the millennial age belongs
to the present age as distinguished from the age to
come ? But this would be to give up the central
doctrine of Pre-miilennialism, and take the heart out

* E.g., see Cremer, Thayer, Robinson, " Lex. New Test. Greek,'
art. day {/'//icpa).

Li'-'!

THE GENERAL JUDGMENT.

liow any of tlio non-ChriHtian iiation.s could in any
crtHO ho tittinj^ly a<Mr(!HH(Ml, "Come, yo blcsHod of my
Kiitlicr, inherit the kinj^dom prepared for you from
(he foundation of the worhl." This surely means
that they were .saved, and a8 tliey are " non-Chris-
tian " it means that tliey liave been saved either with-
out tlie (Jospel or while rejecting it, a doctrine we are
sure few Pre-miUennialists will care to accept. lUit
ullow that they are of the Chi'istian nations, and are
saved and worthy of this .salvation, then w^e may well
in(|uire, why were they not changed and caught up
to meet the Lord in the air with the rest of the
righteous ? Why do only a part of the saved who
are alive at His coming receive this full ecpiipment
for the resurrection life ? There is no hint in Scrip-
ture of any such distinction among the .saved. The
passages just referred to declare that all the living
, righteous .shallbe changed. In brief,those to whom our
[Loi'd addresses His gracious words, if they are not a
|cla.ssof the wicked, which is absurd, must have shared
in the general change of the righteous into the resur-
[rection body. This attempted interpretation, which
is assumed with as great confidence as want of dis-
crimination, breaks down at every point.

The other view most commonly held by Pre-mil-
lennialists is that this is a judgment of two classes of
jiving nations, and not a judgment of individuals.

As well might it be urged, from Matt. 28 : 19, " Make

[isciples of all the nations," that men are to be dis-

ppled by wholesale, and not the individual men and

romen of all nations. "All nations" here means all

.12

A STlinV IN KS(IIAT()I/)(3Y.

mot). Aiiti liow cat) iiatioiis liavo .such a final aixl
<;l()ri()iiH or tiMril)l(! Ht'iitenco j)roii<»uiK'i'(l upon thcni '.
It iH to he HUppoHcd tliat inoie antl more, as tlie a«jfeH
go by, will the ri^jhtcouH and tho wicked niin^^lo to-
gether among the nations. It must follow, then, that
the good in nations predominantly had, or that have
treated the .Jews badly, will endure the eternal curse
and punishment " prc^pared for the devil and his
angels," while the wicked in nations pnulominantly
good, or who have favored the Jews, will enter into
the eternal blessedness prepared for them forsooth
from the foundation of the world. This is a revolu-
tion of our ideas of the judgment, surely. It asks us
to believe that the judgment, instead of righting all
wrong, will but intensify the wrong to many, and
make it final and irremediable.

If this is a judgment of nations as nations and not
of individuals, the representation of their having a
collociuy with the judge, and of their visiting the
sick, etc., seems hard to explain. Some would under-
stand it to refer to mere temporal and national re-
wards and punishments ; but this explanation is
utterly at variance with the expressions, " Enter the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world," and " Depart, ye cursed, unto the everlasting
fire," etc. The judgment is final. If this is a judg-
ment of the nations, therefore, it follows that there is
to be a final judgment in which " each one shall " not
" give an account of himself to God," and in which
Christ shall not " render to every man according to
his deeds ; " but in which the destiny of many shall

THE (IKNEUAL .lUDtJMENT.

iml and
II them ;*
tl»o aj^cH
in^^le to-
len, that
iiat have
lal curse
and his
uinantly
liter into
forHOoth
[I revolu-
b asks us
htinjij all
any, and

i and not
having a
ting the
id under-
ional re-
lation is
nter tVie
on of the
erlasting
s a judg-
t there is
hall " not
in which
ording to
any shall

ho decided according to the prevailing conduct ol' mil-
lions, or as their government has treated the Jews, all
in the flattest contradiction to Rom. 14: 12, Matt.
10: -27, etc.
Others make vague and confused conjectures.*
Dr. Gordon has no settled view of the pa-ssage.-j*
The generally accepted pre-millennial explanation
of tlie ground of this judgment is scarcely le.ss ohjec-
tional)l(^ The " brethren " of tlie Lord spoken of in
V. 40 are regarded as the Jews, and all the living
nations are to have their eternal destiny determined
hy the way they have treated these Jews. Reference
is made to oel 3:11 aq., in proof; but all these nations
(see 8 : 2-8) are the enemies of the Lord's people, and
cannot represent the sheep as well as the goats of
Matt. 25 : 31 f^cj., even if it has a reference to a final
judgment at all. Can we believe that the action of
all living nations toward the Jews is what will deter-
mine their eternal destiny when our Lord comes ?

As all attempts to force this passage into harmony
with the pre-millennial view involve such contradic-
tions — may we not almost say absurdities ? — we seem
to be shut in to the interpretation which almost all
icxegetes in all ages have adopted as the one lying
[upon its face, that such a Pre-millennialist as Mr.
Bilks declares " the Church has universally applied it
[to the decision of the final state of mankind "I — that

•Brookes, "Maranatha," p. 488; Blackstone, "Jesus is Com-
ing." p. 68.

f'Ecce Venit,"p. 269.
:|: •• Lent. Lect. for 1843," No. vii.
3

A HTITPY IN ESrilATOr.nOY.

it is a Hiil>liiiu' «l(»Hcripti«)r> of the ^^curnil jinl;;iiMMit of
all iM(>ii at tlu! coming of tlif Lonl. Any ohscurity
aHHoc'iatrd with it in iinporttnl into its interpretation
l>y exalting the mere Hettin<j^ of th«' j^ratul seene into
CHHential features ; ns, for instance, wliere " my breth-
ren " (v. 40) is nuuh^ to represent some third distinct
and separate chiss.

Notice also the bearing of this passajjje on anotlier
feature of the pre-milleiuiial thory — that the saints,
raised from the dead and chan^^ed, have been ('au<,djt
up to meet tlie Lord, and accompany Ifim as He de-
scends, and sliare with Him in this assumed jud«^ment
of the (|uick or livinj:^ nations. Now v. 81 does not
say " when tlie Son of man sliall come in liis <^lory "
nndall His risen an<l chanj^ed saints with Him, but "all
the anjreis with him." Is it not sijxniHcant that tlie
very class Pre-millennialists suppose will have the
chief place next to the JudjL(e in this grand transac-
tion are ignored altogether ;* Could this be, were this
pre-millenuial conception the true one '

But the prevalent pre-millennial interpretation of
this passage as a judgment of all the living nations
seems absolutely irreconcilable with other features
of their view. It is declared with glowing emphasis
that the Gospel is to have its grandest triumphs
after our Lord comes, and that it is vain for us to
hope for great progress in saving the world until
after He has appeared. The Jews are to be con-
verted, and are then to be the great missionaries
through whom marvels of saving power are to be
wrought. Now, if the living nations were all judged,

THE OENKIIAI. JITOnMEN'T.

an<l l)()tli cluNst'N H))))()iiit<><l to their ctrnwil (icstiiiy,
wlH'Mct' comi! tliosn nmltitiidos of uiirij^htcouM people
who ar«! t») he converted throu;^di tliis »i;;ency Jiftcr
this very judtjment which hus coMHi^^iied ail tho
wickuil to the i'verlastin*; fire prepared I'or the devil
ami his angels <* Does the expression " all the natioim,"
lifter all, inclu<le only a part of the nations f Or
jift(!r they are all (gathered, do some of them remain
uiijud^^ed f Our pre-millennial friends hold that the
.lews are not inelude<l in the nations; hut where are
the people to eo!ne from to whom they are to <;o when
they themselves are hroujj^ht to Christ i* There seems
no way of reconciling these contra<lietory features of
pre-milleinual inter[)retation and belief.

2 Thesa. 1 : (i-IO, " If so be that it is a ri^diteous
thin;^ with (uxl to recom[)ense affliction to them that
atHict you, and to you that are afflicted rest with us,
at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven
with tlie anj^els of his power in flamin«^ fire, ren-
<lerin^' vengeance to them tliat know not(io<l, an«l to
theui that obey not the <^ospeI of our Lord Jesus:
who shall suffer })unishment, even eternal destruction
from the face of the Lord and from the j(Iory of
his mijrht, when he shall come to be glorified in
his saints and to be marvelled at in all them that
believed."

J^otice first, that "at the revelation of the Lord
Jesus"— His second coming — not only will those
that are suffering persecution be rewarded with
"rest," but the persecutors will be punislied witli
"affliction." The apostle repeats this thought and

A RTITDV IN KSrifATOT.OOY.

iiiiikcM ItotI) tlic rt^WHi'din;^^ iukI tlic piiiiisliiii^^ ^^'iicnil.
" Ktenuil (It'Mtructioii " is to full on " tlu'iii tlwit know
not CUmJ," iiixl " tlicin that oU'y not tlu» ^o.sjm'I,"
" wlicn he mIihII conn? to Im ^lorifictl in his Huints,"
etc. Ilotli cluNHeH, the unrij^litcous iind i\w ri;jlit-
eons, iii'ti Huid to bo rcwimlrd, wlim Christ conit'S .
anrain. Hut art' tho (lend to be incUided in tliose vvh«)
lire liere dealt with, or are they but chiMHes of tlioHe
who are to l)e alive at ChriHt's coining!' 'I'h(!y niust
b<» of the dead : for they are to inehuU? the perseeuted
Theasalonian believerH and their perHecMitors, who
have been nearly two thousand years in their ;;raves.
Hut is this Ju'i;;iMent to be of all the «lead f While in
the tirst part of the passa<;e I'aul refers only to tlie
persecuted saints at Thessalonica and their persecu-
toiTi in the latter portion of it, he shows that thesj?
u)ut share in a {general distribution of rewanls and
punishments: for "them that know not (Jod" and
" them that obey not the ^os))el " include all tiu^
wickc'd, and " his saints "all His j)eople. Neither is
this judj^ment upon the wicked a tempoiary and tem-
poral one: but is an "eternal destruction" which
must be final. Neither can there be any doubt that
the reward of the ri^liteous is etjually tinal and ever-
histin^. As the wicked who are judged include the
dead persecutors of the saints at Thessalonica, and as
none believe that the unrighteous receive their final
judgment in sections, but all agree that they are
all judged tof^ether, this, as it includes some of the
wicked dead, must include them all. This is a fair
and unforced interpretation, and is concurred in by

THE IMl()(j}UE.S.S OF THE UOSrEL.

225

It is while tliUH i'.\alt«Ml, and from tlie Hoat wliic'h He
now 0('CU|)i«'H, tlial tlicso scjvon'i^ii powers are to bo
diHpenHod to nion, Wliih; I*etor does not iloclare that
it is only from His present mediatorial throne this will
be done, the lanj^ua^e is alto«^etlier out of harmony
with the thout^ht that but little, comparatively, of the
dispensin*^ of repentance and panlon will be done
until He has left His place at CJod's ri«;ht hand. It is
in tlie strictest agreement with the belief that all the
dispensin<^ of His ^race will be dotie before He leaves
this seat, and when He does leave it, human proba-
tion is at an end.

In this connection, we must refer a<^ain to Heb.
10 : 12, 13, " But he, when he had ofiered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the ritrht hand of God,
from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made
the footstool of his feet."

This passage is in strictest harmony with Acts 5: 31,
just considered. Our Lord, after offering himself on
the cross as the one sacrifice for sins, sat down at
God's right hand as Prince and Saviour, to dispense
repentance and forgiveness. From the time that He
takes this exalted seat of power, He expects or awaits,
as the word really means, until, through the progress
of this work of repentance and forgiveness which
continues in connection with the preaching of the
Gospel, His enemies shall finally become subject to His
sway. If we say that this passage refers to the
crushing of His enemies by omnipotent power, rather
than subduing their hearts by the power of the
Gospel, we have to suppose the writer of Hebrews, in
15

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

the Greek : for there is no respect of person.s witli
God. For as many as liave sinned without hiw sliall
also perish without law : and as many as have sinned
under law shall be judged by law ; for not the hear-
ers of a law are just before God, but the doers of a
law shall be justified ; for when Gentiles, which have
no law, do by nature the thinj^s of the law, these, hav-
uitr no law, are a law unto themselves ; in that they
show the work of the law written in their hearts,
till'"'- consciences bearin<( witness therewith, and their
t juj^hts one with another accusing or else excusinj^
them : in the day when God shall judge the secrets of
men, according to my gospel, by Jesus Christ."

This is to happen at " the day of wrath and revela-
tion of the righteous judgment of God," v, 5, " in that
day when God shall judge the secrets of men, accord-
ing to my gospel, by Jesus Christ." It is then " he
will render to every man according to his deeds," v. 6,
not to the righteous according to their good works
only ; but to the wicked also according to their deeds.
It is not a judgment of a part of either class ; for it is
" upon every soul of man that doeth evil" and "every
man that worketh good," and it is when God sliall
judge the secrets of men — all men. It is not spoken
of those only who shall be alive when that time comes ;
for it was to include those Paul was addressing, as
well as all wlio were to come after. Let the reader
give this passage careful consideration, noting espe-
cially how the apostle includes both good and bad in
one common judgment, referring back and forth from
righteous to wicked and w^icked to righteous ; and he

THE (iENEUAL JUDGMENT.

will tiiid it more tlian difficult to })elieve that in tlius
("•oiui: back and fortli from one class to the other he
has two separate judgments in mind, and is each time
passiiij^ back and forth across the grandcvst period of
the Cliurcli's history without the faintest intimation
of its existence.

Nor is this all. We have this same expression of
Honi. 2:0: " llender to every man according to his
deeds"; in Matt. 10: 27: "For the Son of man shall come
ill the glory of his Father, with his angels, and then
shall he render to every man according to his deeds."
Just as in Rom. 2 : 0, so here " every man " refers to
all men universally and of both classes, as tlie con-
nection makes evident. This judgment — this distri-
bution of destiny according to deeds — all of it, and
for both classes, is to take place " then " when the
Son of man shall come, etc. Can we believe that our
Lord intended the event described in this succinct
statement to be rent into two perfectly distinct
transactions, separated b}'^ the great millennial period?
How can we venture to declare that this "then"
covers all this stretch of years, and that "he shall
render to every man," etc., describes more than a
single transaction ?

Still further, in Mark 8 : 38, a part of the same dis-
course as Matt. 16: 27, we read: "For whosoever
shall be ashamed of me and of my words, in this adul-
terous and vsinful generation, the Son of man shall be
ashamed of him, when he cometh in the glory of his
Father with the holy angels." This evidently refers
to the judgment of the wicked, just as the same

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOGY.

expression in Matt. 10 : 82, 33 refers to the reward of
tlie righteous. This judgment of the wicked, then, is
said by our Lord to take place at His second coming.
It also includes the judgment of the wicked dead, for
those who were ashamed of Him, in the generation
living when He was upon earth, were to share in it.
If our Lord's coming, then, is to be pre-millennial, so
must the judgment of the wicked dead be as well as
that of the righteous. Could our Lord have thus
spoken were the wicked not to be judged "when" He
was to come in the glory of His Father, but ages
after that glorious event? When, therefore, we read,
Matt. 7 : 22, 23: "Many will say to me in that day,
Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy by thy name, and by
thy name cast out devils, and by thy name do many
mighty works ? And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you : depart from me, ye that work iniq-
uity." " In that day " refers to the day when our Lord
" Cometh in the glory of his Father," etc., mentioned
in Matt. 16 : 27 and Mark 8 : 38, and describes scenes
in the judgment of the wicked at His coming, not
centuries after. So also Matt. 10: 32, 33: "Every one,
therefore, who shall confess me before men, him will
I also confess before my Father which is in heaven:
but whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I
also deny before my Father which is in heaven," is to
be fulfilled at the same time "when he cometh," etc.
Then "every one," "whosoever," not those merely
who are alive when He appears, shall be welcomed or
rejected. For Mark 8: 38 specifies the time when
the wicked are rejected, and here we find that the

THE UENKHAI. .JUlKi.MENT.

lit'liteouH receive their welcome when the wicked are
lejrcted — at our Lord'H second coming. Thus all
tliese passaj^es are in beautiful harmony with each
otlKT and with Matt. 25 : 31 sq.] 2 Thess. 1 : 6-10,
Kev. 20: 11 sv/., Rom. 2: 5-16, and unite their testi-
mony in support of a sin^^le judgment of the right-
eous and the wicked, not of two distinct judgments
separated by the millennial period.

Acts 17:31: "Inasmuch as he hath appointed a
day in wliich he will judge the world in righteous-
ness." " The world " can mean nothing less than all
mankind. This is to be judged on " a day " appointed
by God. This day, then, be it a long or a short period,
nmst, at least, be an unbroken and continuous period
of judgment, and not two periods separated by the
niillennium, which is the very antipodes of a time of
judgment.

The same teaching is found in a number of the
I)arables. Take the parable of the pounds (Luke 19 :
12-27), and that of the talents (Matt. 25 : 14 sq.).
Even if we restrict these to the professed servants of
Christ, the faithful and the unfaithful, the good and
the wicked, they are judged at the same time, and re-
ceive their reward and condemnation together, in the
course of a single, unbroken judgment. Notice al 'o
the parable of the tares (Matt. 13: 30, 38 4'>^. ihis
parable refers to the continued relation betwoeii the
righteous and the wicked from the introduction of
evil unto the " end of the world." If anything is here
plainly taught, it is that the evil and the good shall
exist together until the " end of the world," and that

■^

A STUDY IN ESCllAT(JLOtJY.

then, and only then, .sliall thore be a separation as
complete as it is final ; as the wicked meet their doom
and the ri<;liteous receive their rewnrd. All airree
that this time when Christ is to send forth FIiHan<(els
— this end of the world — is at our Lord's second com-
in<(. Pre-millennialists assume that this parable
describes what takes place before the millennium, and
ur^e it in favor of another feature of their Ijelicif
which will be considered later on. But how can it be
held that this final and complete separation takes ])lace
then ? Most Pre-millennialists hold that the fijreatest
triumphs of salvation are to happen after our Lord
comes. Now if all the tares (the wicked) are separated
forever from the ri<^hteous, as declared in this parable,
at a pre-millennial coming of our Lord, there are no
wicked people left on the earth to be saved. If the
language used by our Lord means anything, it seems
to show that, at the period referred to, grace is past
and judgment begun. Besides, on any pre-millennial
theory, the difficulty remains that the evil and the
righteous are not finally and completely separated
until after the millennium : for, at its close, there is an
uprising of wickedness which shows that it had never
been completely eradicated. The final and complete
separation does take place after the close of the thou-
sand years. If, therefore, it is at our Lord's second
coming that this final and utter separation takes
place, His coming is post-millennial, in connection
with a judgment of both righteous and wicked.

We have, in this chapter, sought to give the most
natural interpretation of the most explicit passages

THK (JENEllAL JUIXJMEXT.

rclcrriii^ to tho judgment oF the two gratii classes of
iMiinkind, ns in tl»(3 previous one we considered the
jwisHiiges bearin<jf most directly upon the resurrection,
.lust as in that chapter we found tau*^ht a siuf^le resur-
rection, includinj^ both ri<rhteous and wicked, so, in
tiiis chapter, we find a sinf^le jud«;nient of all men at
the coming of the Lord plainly and repeatedly de-
clared. Whether this jud«;ment be short or lon<^, it is
a single, unbroken, stupendous event. Let our pre-
inillennial brethren re<;ard thejud<]jnient of the right-
eous as declaring their comparative rewards, according
to their works and not their destiny, if they will. All
the same, if this judgment, whatever it be, is but a
part of the general judgment, including the wicked as
well, it is fatal to their theory. The coming of the
Lord and the judgment of the righteous are in connec-
tion with the judgment of the wicked, which all admit
is after the millennium and at the end of the world.

A STUDY IN esciiatolo(;y.

CHAPTER III.

THE VIEWS COMPARED.

pRK-MlLLENNlALlSTSwouklset asido all this evidence
from the most explicit passages bearing upon the
questions at issue. Tliey would rend both the resur-
rection and the judgment of the rightnous from the
resurrection and judgment of the wicked by the inter-
jection of the millennial period, and that of tlie great
uprising of wickedness. Before proceeding to consider
the grounds upon which the teaching of all these ap-
parently plain passages is ignored, it may be well to
place the two views as to the resurrection and judg-
ment of the righteous and the wicked side by side in
general comparison. The reader will then be better
able to judge of the genertil impression they respec-
tively make.

The view of Post-millennialists is very simple. They
believe that all the dead are raised at the coming of
the Lord, and all the righteous living are changed.
Then all, righteous and wicked, risen and alive, are
judged and enter upon their eternal reward or doom.
The resurrection takes place after all who are to die
have died. The judgment takes place after all men
have had their probation, and all action upon which

THE VIEWS roMPAREn.

ju<l;4iiiciit is to be piiHsed, is iini.slu'*!. Docs not tliis
seem to 1)0 tho natural and appr()j)riat(! tinio for Ixjth
it'snrrcction and jud<;nient ^ Is this not the time we
would expect these <^reat events to happen, even if
the Scripture teaching upon the (piestio!! were less
(It'cisive ;*

Now let us compare with this the complicated
schcnie of our pre-millennial friends. I <]five it as out-
lined by ])r. J. H. Brookes, in " Maranatha," pp. o-l-o-O ;
\V. K. P>la('kstone, "Jesus is Comin<^," pp. 48-50 ; John
McNeil, " Kven So, Come " :

" IK'scent of the Lord to receive His bride (1 Thesa.
4: Kl); Resurrection of the just (Luke 14: 14) and
('liantrc of living believers (I Cor. 1 ') : 23,51, 52);
Traiishition of the saints who are caught up to meet
('luist and His bride (1 Thess. 4 : 17) ; The meeting of
Christ and His bride (1 Thess. 4 : 17) ; Period of un-
(Mnialied tribulation to the world (Malt. 24 : 21), during
which the Church having been taken out, God begins
to deal with Israel again, and will restore them to
their own land (Isa. 11 : 11, Acts 15 : 16); The vials
of God's wrath will be poured out (Rev. 6-19 chaps.);
Israel accepts Christ and are brought through the fire
(Zoch. 13 : 9) ; The revelation of Christ and His saints
in flaming fire tc execute judgment on the earth
(Jude 14, 15). This is Christ's second coming to the
earth (Matt. 24 : 24, 29, 30) ; Judgment of the nations
or the quick (Matt. 25 : 31-46) ; Antichrist is destroyed
(2 Thess. 2:8); The beast and the false prophet are
taken (Rev. 19: 20); God and His allies are smitten
(Ezek. 38, 39 chaps.); Satan is bound (Rev. 20: 1-3);

A STT'DY IN y

OT.OOY.

RoHurroctioii of tlu^ tribii ,n HJiints whidi coinpl«'t.<'s
tlio Kirst KcHurrcction (Hov. 20 : 4-0); The inilh'iuiiuin.
(yliriHt'.s ^MoriouH n'i;^n oil tlie ejirtli for oik; thouHiiiid
yoarH with His brido (Ren'. 20: 4); Satan looHt-d for a
littlo Heason and (Ui.stroyt'd with (io^an'l Ma^^og (Rev.
20: 7-10); The rcsuiTcction of ju<l<,niient (Rev. 20:
12-lo) ; ,Jud;L^inent of tlie throat white tlirone of all the
reniaininj^ dead (Rev. 20: 12-1')); Death and Hell
destroyed (R(iv. 20: 14); Eternity, or rather the rtiov/.s
tocomefKph. 2: 7)."

Aecordin^ to this outline, it will be noticed our
Lord first cornea for His people. All tlie righteous dead
are raised and all the rij^hteous who are alive are
" chan<(ed " and are caught up to^jether to meet the
Lord in the air. There they remain duriui; the irreat
tribulation on the eartli —some say seven years from
the; prophetic week of Dan. U: 27, others think it lasts
lon^xer. Then Christ descends to the earth with His
saints, and the rij^hteous who have died duiin<^ this
period are raised from the dead. The millennial
period follows, during which people continue to be
born and die. It would seem that the righteous, for
it is held that righteousness is universal, cannot bo
translated at conversion in childhood, or the race
would not continue. They must either die, or receive
their resurrection body without dying, after they
have done their part in propagating the race. So
there must be a resurrection at the close of the millen-
nium for these, or a continuous process of " changing "
during all this period. The wicked dead are all raised
totrether as the final resurrection act.

THE VIEWS rOMPAUED.

Now, \H not tins a complicated hcIkmiio an to tlio
rt'surrt'ction of tlu' (load ^ Dot's tli(^ ;^L'ueral iin])ros-
si(^ii of Sciipturc toachiii;^ favor this view, or tlio
siinplo post-inilicnnial conception of that ^jrand event
j^'ivon ahove i When the Scriptnri! passa^c^s urf^«'d in
favor of it are exanuned, they are fonnd to he detached
and, tlu! most of them, of the ohscure kind ahont
whose correct interpretation tliere has always been
diniht, while some of the less obscure do not seem to
have rticeived their most natural (explanation. So
evident is this that Dr. Gordon admits " we have never
met this startling doctrine of two distinct resurrec-
tions, with a millennium between, till we reach the
last book in the Bible,"* and, it may bo added, not
until near the chjse of this book, and that in a very
obscure; passa^je of three verses. He also adds, " There
is, perhaps, no doctrine of Scripture the references to
which are at once so compl(;mental of each other as
this doctrine of two resurrections," althoui^h he thinks
it made out by scattered allusions in connection with
Rev. 20 : 4-0.

Notice also the scheme for the judgments. The
first is that of the righteous, to distribute rewards
according to their works. This takes place while the
saints are in the air, during the great tribulation upon
the earth. The second is of the nations when He
comes to the earth with His saints. There must be a
third, of the tribulation saints, as they have a separate
resurrection after the judgment of the other dead and

* " Kcce Venit," p. 219.

A 8T1^1)V IN ESCHATOI.rxJV.

tlioHO who wore ulivc ami arc chani^rd, at His coininL'
lor His people, nniesH they hav(» no jinl;^meiit, a.s do
the others. Then there niu.st he a Tourth, Tor all the
Maint.s that are horn and live durintr the niillcnniuin
and the *;reat upriHin*.^ of wickedness, unle.sH they alwo
have no jtid^^inent. Finally, there is a fifth judgment,
that of all the unri^hteou.s at the end of the history
of the race on earth. Now, we venture to asHert, as
between this complicated scheme of jiid^nu'ntsand the
simple and grand conception of a sinnrle jiid^^ment of
all men at the end, which Post-millennialists hold,
there are few, if any, unhiass«Ml students who, hy a
readin<^ of the Hihle, would arrive at this complicated
view.

But the complicated scheme of resurrection and
jud<(ment not only seems opposed to the <j^eneral im-
pression made hy Scripture teaching as well as incon-
tra<liction to the plainest meaning of the passages
hearing most directly upon the (juestion, but it also
gives rise to all kinds of difficulties and inconsistencies.

Some of these have already been referred to and
others will be considered later. Successive resurrec-
tions, and judgments by instalments, before all who
are to be raised have died and before probation is
ended for all who are to be judged, are hard to recon-
cile with God's changelessness and tlie finality of Hi,s
doings.

NO PUohATlON AhTKIl (11 HIST «<»MES.

4! I

CHAPTKR IV.

NO I'ltOHATlON AFTKU CHRIST COMKS.

The tliird direct antithesis between the views of
the Pre- and Pcjst-niillenni.ilists to be brought to the
testing of (iod's Word is tlio followin*^ :

Post-niilleniiialists hold that tlie propagation of the
race ceases at tiie second coming of the Lord, and tliat
tlie day of probation and salvation tlien closes. From
that glorious and dread time men will no longer con-
tinue to be born and live und die, and it will be too late
to seek and find salvation. From the instant that the
radiance of His appearing flashes over land and sea,
the history of the race in the flesh closes, and there
will be no change of moral condition or destiny ; but
the eternal future of all will be fixed for weal or woe.
The Church shall not thereafter receive enlargement,
but complete with the fulness of the redeemed, sliall
enter into the everlasting joy of her Lord.

On the other hand, while a small section of Pre-
niillennialists believe that the wicked will be exter-
minated when our Lord comes, the great body of them
hold that the race will continue in the flesh, and the
period of probation and salvation keep right on after
our Lord has come again. Nay, all but a very
4

r>0

A STUDY IV KSCHATOLOOy.

Hinall M«>(!(inii Itclirve it iH only after Mis coniinj^ tliat
tlic (InHpcl is to havi' itH ^rciit triiiniplis in Inuliii;^
the ))ulk of iMiuikind to Nulvation. Tiitil then t)i<>
worl«l is to j^row worHc and worse, until evil cul-
minates in the antichrist, wliuin ("hrist iH to (Usstroy
at His coining;. Then, through the as.sertion of llin
nii;;)»t in personal pres«'nce, the world, which has l)een
jjrowinj; worse an<l worse to its tiu'rihie and evil cul-
mination, will 1k^ hron^^ht to Mis feet, and H(> shall
rei^n over the earth in milleimial j^lory. For a thou-
Hand years — Home hold for thre«» hundred and sixty-
five thousand years — this glorious era Ih to continue,
those who are horn heing convertetl in childhood.
The number of the saved, instead of })ein«r complete at
Christ's comiuj^, is to enlarge during all this stretch of
time, in this heyday of the (lospel, hy virtually the
whole tide of life which keeps Hooding across the
earth.

Let us hring the constitu(Mit elements of these
clearly defined and opposing beliefs to the testing of
God's Word.

1. Is the race to continue in the llesb after our
Lord comes? Will children contiinie to le born and
live and die, for at least a thousand years, jifter this
grand event? Nay, as this is to be a period when
peace is unbroken, and all that militates against the
prosperity of men will be suppressed, it cannot but
be supposed that the race will be more prolific than
when under the blight and curse of sin. Is it the
teaching of the Word of God that the earth will be
crowded as never before with thronging myriads of

NO IMMJHATION AKTKU CM HIST roMFS.

iiMii Mii<l wninrii ill tilt' llrsli, t\\'U'r th(^ m'Coiitl coining
of till' lionl f

Kii'Mt ol' iill, liow can tliiN vi(;w ho reconciliMl witli
2 IN'tur M : M-IU ^ OliHorvo i'M|M'cijilly v. 7 : " I'ut tlio
)i(>av(>iiN that ur<> now, and tho oarth hy thu NJitno
word, havn hoon storod up for fln», hrinj^ nwrvod
a;;ainHt tho (hiy of ju<l;^niirjitaiid doHtniction of un^^odly
iiH'ii ; " V. 10: " Hut tho i lay of tho Lord will conio an
a tliirf, in tlio which tho hoavons .shall pass away with
a ;jroat lunm* and tho ohtniontH .shall ho dissolvod witli
forvont hoat, and tho oarth and tin; works that aro
tlioroin shall ho hurnod up;" and v. 12, " Lookin;^ for
and earnostly dosirinj; the coming of tho day of (»o<l,
hy roason of which tho hoavons hoin;^ on tiro shall ho
di.s.solvod, and tho olcnioiits shall iiirlt with forvi^nt
lu'at."

Now, wliat is i\w. luittiral ititorprotation of tliifl
pas.sa^o I In its connection is it not this ? To tiie
" iiiockors " who shall come " in tho I . :t days " (v. *}),
an<l who wilfully for«;et the destruction hy tho flood
and scotHn^ly ask, " Where is the promise of his
cominjTi'" (v.s. 4-()), the day of judj^mont and destruc-
tion of unjjfodly men (v. 7), this " day of the Lord " with
its <loHtruction — now hy tire instead of water — will
come as a " thiof in the night" (v. 10), in like surpris-
ing suddenne.ss. There is no warning any more than
there was to the antediluvians. Now, at what time
is this conflagration to occur / Paul doubtless refers
to tho same dread day in 2 The.ss. I : 7, 8, and declares
it to be " at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from
heaven with the angels of liis power," that he, " in

A STUDY IN ESCHATOUHJY.

- ' I

flaming Hre," renders "vengeance! to them that know
not God, and to them that obey not the gospel."
This, tlien, ia to take place at the second comin<r of
our Lord. Besides, it is hard to see how there could
be scoffers who would say, " Where is the promise of
his comin<( ? " after our Lord had come and raised the
ri«^hteous tlead and translated those wlio were alive,
and right in the face of our Lord's personal reign over
the earth.

This contiagration, then, is to take place at the com-
ing of the Lord, and before the millennium, if His
coming is pre-millennial. This has not only been
admitted but assumed by the great body of Pre-
millennialists in the past. It is also unhesitat-
ingly held by all to-day who believe that the Lord
will destroy all the wicked at His coming, and end
the life in the flesh. It can be denied by none except
at the expense of the very plain meaning of the pas-
sage. But all who believe the race is to continue in
the flesh during the millennium have a great difficulty
to face. It is to explain how the living could survive
the flames of that day, " when the elements shall be
dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the
works that are therein shall be burned up." The
attempts that have been made to meet it are as
various as they are futile. Here are some of them.
The conflagration is to be but partial, extending only
to the limits of the Roman territory. The rest of the
races survive and people the earth during the mil-
lennium. But surely " the earth and the works that
are therein " means all the earth. The conflagration

NO PIIOHATIOX AFTER CHRIST COMES.

is not to be contemporaneous over all the earth, and
thuH a chance will be ^iven for some to escape. There
will be a less searchin<x conflafjration ut the be^jinninj;
of the millennium, throu<,'h which some live, and the
fierce dissolving one is at its close, etc., etc* Hlack-
stone f places it after the judgment of the wicked,
thus extending the day of the Lord beyond the last
judgment. But the "mockers" Peter speaks of are
to be surprised as by "a thief in the night" by the
burning day. How, then, can they be surprised by
this day, if it does not come until after they are
judged and have passed to their final doom ? Upon
whom can this day come "as a thief" after the judg-
ment ?

May we not submit that all the attempts to evade
this difficulty are makeshifts and pure assumptions,
and have no weight against the natural interpretation
of the passage ? This conflagration is at the coming
of the Lord, and it ends the life of the race in the
flesh. If the Lord comes before the millennium, then
there is no continuance <~ i the race in the flesh durinf;
the millennium, as Scripture teaches. The idea that
this grand period stretches onward from the coming
of the Lord, rather than precedes it, is erroneous.

2. Does probation continue after the Lord's second
coming ? The Pre-millennialist answers " Yes," the
Post-millennialist " No." Which view is favored by
the plain teaching of the Bible ?

Let us weigh the bearing upon this question of

* Brown, "The Second Advent," p. 273 ftq.
t Blackstone, " Jesus is Coming," p. 137.

A STHDY IN KSCIIATOLOfiV.

some paHsa^cH already refcrrcil to in another con-
nection.

"All the nations " hIuiU be gathered before our Lord,
when He "shall come in his glory " (Matt. 25 : .*U sq.).
What rii^ht has anyone to assume that " all the na-
tions " here means but a part of them and less than
all men, anv more than to assume that " make dis-
ciples of all the nations" (Matt. 28: 19) means make
disciples of a part only of mankind? But "all the
nations " — all men — are here declared to enter upon
their final and eternal reward or punishment at our
Lord's" coming in glory." Probation then ends for-
ever.

" Them that know not God " and " them that obey
not the gospel " (2 Thess. 1 : 8) are evidently compre-
hensive expressions including all the unsaved. But
these are all to " suffer punishment, even eternal de-
struction, when he shall come," etc. (vs. 9, 10). Pro-
bation then ends for all the unsaved.

Tn the parable of the tares (Matt. 13 : 24-33, 38-43)
at " the harvest " at " the end of the world " or age,
which our pre-millennial brethren admit to be at our
Lord's coming, "the tares are to be gathered in bundles
to burn them," and the " wheat into the barn " (v. 30).
Neither the tares nor the wheat continue to grow in
the field — the race in the flesh continues no longer.
Our Lord explains the tares to mean " all things that
cause stumbling and them that do iniquity," and they
are to be "cast into the furnace of fire" (vs. 41, 42),
The time of probation for " them that do iniquity "
ends with their final destruction at our Lord's cominsf.

"^«p^

NO PROBATION AFTER CHRIST COMES.

In 2 Thess. 2:3-12 there is a description of tlie devel-
opment of an evil power apparently embodied in a
person, whom the Lord Jesus shall " slay with the
breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the
manifestation of his coming." No one can read this
whole passage and not be impressed with the convic-
ti(jn that Paul regarded the coming of the Lord as
the dividing point between the reign of grace for
siiniors and their final doom.

The teaching of several other parables is to the
same effect. Take that of the ten virgins (Matt.
25 : 1-13). Let this refer to whom ^'t may, it was too
late, after the bridegroom came, for preparation to
enter into the marriage feast. Only those who were
ready when he came had this blessed privilege. The
door was shut to all others. Also the parables of
the talents and the pounds (Matt. 25 : 14-30 s(].,
Luke 19 : 12-27).

When the lord of the servants cometh, it is to
reckon with them, not to allow longer time so that
the past neglect and unfaithfulness may be retrieved.
The faithful receive their reward and the unfaithful
tlieir punishment. The plain teaching seems to be,
in all of these, that the coming of the Lord ends pro-
bation — that after He comes, do change from a lost to
a saved condition takes place.

Several other lines of Scripture teaching corrobo-
rate the view that probation ends at the coming of
the Lord.

The work of discipling the nations, with the ordi-

;

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOOY

nances of the Gospel, continues only until our Lord
conies.

This is taught in the great coniniission (Matt.
28: 18-20): " All authority hath been given unto nie
in heaven and on earth. Go ye therefore, and make
disciples of all the nations, baptizing them. . . .
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I
commanded you : and lo, I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the world."

Why does our Lord say " I am with you alway,
even unto the end of the world " ? Is He not to be
with them forever? Do not our pre-millennial brethren
believe He is to be with His people on earth, after
" the end of the world " (which they say means of
this present age), in the millennium in the more inti-
mate and helpful bodily presence ? Does this not
mean that He will be with His people in the ivork of
making discvples " alway " as long as this work is
to continue, and that it is to continue " until the end
of the world " or age, which Pre-millennialists declare
to be the time of His second coming ^ He is said to
be with them no longer in this capacity as their
almighty helper, simply because this work is then to
be completed and end ? If our Lord is to continue
with His people as their helper in this very work,
after the end of the world or age, if then He is to
manifest His power to aid His people to make disciples
of the nations, as never before, could He possibly have
used these words ?

In 1 Cor. 11 : 26 it is also said that believers are to
show forth the Lord's death in the Supper " till he

NO PIlonATION AFTER CIIUIST COMES.

conic," meaning that after His coming' its celebration
is to cease.

The same is tau^jht in Heh. 9 : 24-28. Christ has
entered " into heaven itself, now to appear before the
face of God for ns " (v. 24), after having " once at
the end of the a^es . . . been manifested to pnt
away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasnnieh
as it is appointed unto men once to die, an<l after this
Cometh jmlgment: so Christ also, havin*^ been once
offered to bear the sins of many, shall appear a second
time apart from sin, to them that wait for him, unto
salvation" (vs. 26-2cS).

Having accomplished His redemption " before the
face of God," then He is to come forth from His
place of mediation and appear a second time to men
on earth. The first time it was " to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself." This time it is " apart from
sin " " unto salvation." Does not both the leaving of
uie place of mediation, as well as the expression
" apart from sin . . . unto salvation " in contrast
with His first coming " to put away sin," mean that
the provision and purpose of the redemptive woi-k of
His first coming shall have been completely realized
in reference to salvation, when He comes again ?

It is also taught that the number of the saved ^
will be complete at our Lord's coming.

1 Cor. 15: 22, 23 ought to be conclusive. " For as in
Adam all die so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
But each in his own order : Christ the firstfruits,
then they that are Christ's at his coming."

Paul is speaking of believers in this chapter. All

A STUDY IN EHCIIATOLCKIY.

who liavc ( liriHt jih their Hpiritual liea<l shall bo mado
alivo at His comiiijjf, juHt as through having Adam as
their natural head, thi^y all <lie. JuHt as surely as
Christ is the spiritual head of all who are ever to be
His through appropriating His work, so surely the
" all " of V. 22 and the " all that are his " of v. 28
include all that are ever to be saved by Him. These
are all to be raised " at his coming " in the grand
scene Paul ])roceeds to describe, and compared to
which the resurrection of our Lord is as the first-
fruits to the completed harvest. There is no room
here for the idea that only part of those who belong
to Christ as head are raised at His coming, or that
untold nmltitudes are added to their number after
that decisive event. Other Scriptures might be added
to establish this position ; but we forbear.

Thus we find that all related lines of Scripture tes-
timony unite in teaching that probation ends with
our Lord's second coming. We make bold to say that
a plain passage cannot be produced in favor of a con-
tinuance of probation after His coming. Reliance is
had by our pre-millennial friends upon obscure pro-
phetic teaching which is capable of a far different
interpretation, and upon inferences from their whole
system of teaching. But if there is no probation
after our Lord comes, then, unless none are to be
saved from the beginning of the millennium, our Lord's
coming must be after and not before that period.

III!

UKVKI.ATION 20 : 4-6.

ClIAPTliR V.

IIEVKI.ATION 20: 4 (5.

No rule ol' hermeneuticH i.s more .sell'-evidcnt tlian
that tlie ol)Hcure paH.sa^es of Scripture hIiouM be
interpreted in luirniony witli the plain. To wrest the
plainer pa.s3a<ifes of Scripture from their most evident
nieanin<(, in order to force them into agreement with
a certain interpretation of an obscure passage, while
this very passage is capable of an interpretation in
perfect accord with the most evident meaning of a
large number of plain passages, is exegetical insanity.
It is because of this principle that we have felt our-
selves compelled to defer the consideration of Rev.
20 : 4-6, and certain obscure allusions upon which
Pre-millennialists depend «to support their general
theory, until the more explicit passages had been
examined. We assume, of course, that the Scriptures
thus far adduced are among tlie plainer teachings of
the Bible, and that Rev. 20 : 4-6 is one of the more
obscure passages. Does this need proof ? The pas-
sages we have referred to were almost all given in
direct discourse, and are in unfigurativc language.
The speaker or writer evidently thought those
addressed would understand his meaning. Apart

A STl'DY IN ESCHATOF.OCJV.

from any bias becauHo of theories of the millcnniuin,
tliore lias \nnii\ scarcely any (lisafj^reoinont among
interpreters as to tlieir meaning. On tlie other liand,
the wliole book of llevelation, at least after the
letters to the seven churches, has ever been regarded
OS obscure and ditticult of interpretation. It is the
language of figure and symbol. Not otdy have its
interpreters been divided into great general classes,
but they have disagreed upon points almost number-
less, as in the case of no other book in the New
Testament.

Neither is Rev. 20 : 4-G among the least obscure
parts in this book. Not only are interpreters divided
on the question whether it is to be understood liter-
ally or spiritually, but there is great diversity of
opinion both among the literalists and those who ex-
plain its meaning figuratively. Dr. Gordon thought
it included all the saints, as have the larger portion of
Pre-millennialists, in the past. Blackstone, Brookes,
McNeil, and a growing proportion of the Pre-millen-
nialists of the present, regard it as confined to what
they term the tribulation .saints, or such as die during
the great tribulation, the time between the so-called
rapture of the saints and our Lords return to the
earth with them. Others believe that the most emi-
nent of the confessors in all ages will share in this
resurrection. A similar diversity of view prevails
among those who interpret the passage figuratively.
Probably there is no other passage about which there
has been more difference of opinion. It is true that
many of our pre-millennial brethren think of both

REVELATION 20 : 4-0.

[]\v hook of lU'velation, and this |uiMHarf(; ('.specially,
as anion;; tlio plain porfcionn of Scripture; but in view
of all this divergence of belief anion;; themaelves as
well a.s others, this claim is preposterous.

If, therefore, the ((Uestion be whether W(» shall
l)e;;in with Rev. 20 : 4-0 and interpret the passa;;es
liithcu'to adduced in harmony with one of the many
po.ssible views as to its meaning, even by doing
vioIcTice to their most evident sense, or whether wo
should begin with these passages a!ul make the con-
sensus of th(!ir unforced teaching the norm to judge
as to which of the many possible interpretations of
Rev. 20 : 4-0 is the correct one, the rule we referred
to at the beginning of this chapter recpiires us to do
the latter, and justifies us in the plan of treatment we
have adopted.

The only (juestion, then, is whether the plainer and
more explicit passages bearing on the (piestions under
discussion do teach a single and general resurrection,
a single and genei*al judgment, the end of the race in
the flesh, and the end of probation, at the second com-
ing of our Lord, or whether it is their teaching that
there are two, if not three, distinct and separate resur-
rections and judgments, and frit the race in the flesh
and probation do continue aiter His coming. The
reader must judge for himself whether it has been
made plain that the former and not the latter is their
teaching ; but this is what their natural and unforced
interpretation seems to me to declare with overwhelm-
ing explicitness and iteration. Believing, as I do, that
Scripture is never in conflict with Scripture, when

fi2

A 8Tri)Y IN ESCIIATOl.OfJV.

corn'ctly undorstfKMl, tlic true iiitiTprrtatioii ol' Unv.
20: 4- (I must bo tlic; one wliicli lniii^.sitH tcacliiii;^ into
ucconl with that of tho n-Ht of the New 'IV'Htjiiiunit as
we have oxphiimid it. Apart altoj^ether from its
})oariTijnj on tlio (jucstion of tlic milh-nnium, candid
intcrprctors have cxphiinod it both as li^urativt; and
as htcral. This proves it to \hi capal)le of either a
ti<(iirativ(! or a literal interpretation. As tlie literal
interpretation would l)rin<^ it into conflict with what
appiears the unforced nieaninj^ of whole classes of
explicit passafi^eH thus far adduced, I am compelled
to explain it figuratively. Hut, even if it were other-
wise, oujjfht we not to be willinj^ to accept a less satis-
factory explanation of this oneobscune passage, rather
than consent to wrest all these plain passages from
their natural and evident meaning ?

Let us read Rev. 20 : 4-6 :

" And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and
judjjfment was <i;iven unto them ; and I saw the souls
of them that had been beheaded for the testimony of
Jesus, and for tlie word of Ood, and such as wor-
shipped not the beast, neither his ima<^e, and received
not the mark upon their forehead and upon their
hand ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years. The rest of the dead lived not until
the thousand years should be finished. This is the
first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection ; over these the second
death hath no power ; but they shall be priests of God
and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand
years."

RFA'ELATrON 20 : 4-G.

\jot it Tint )>o for^nttrii lliiit (IiIh \h tlio only <liruct
jKiH.sji;;^ of Scriptun' ur;^«Ml in fuvor of tlio two rrsiir-
n;ctionH, willi the niill(>nniuni lu'tvv('(>n, and involving
the hoiiof in two Hcpunite ju<l^nu>ntH, luxi tlie con-
tiiuuince of tho rac»' in the flesh and of probation
after our Lord coinoH. Dr. (Jordon frankly iidniits
this in the <iueHtion : " Hut how is it wo have ncvur
mot this startli!J«r doetrino of two <listin('t rosurrec-
tion8, with a inillenniuin between, till we reacii tlio
last book of tho liible T' While lu; claims that this
doctrine has been met in other parts of the Scripture,
he was unable "to «leHne it" until this passa^^o is
reached, and he adds, later on, " There is, perhaps, no
doctrine of Scripture, the references to which are at
once 80 fra<;mentary and ho complemental of each
other as this doctrine of two resurrections."*

Dr, Brookes .says : " We come now to the well-
known passaj^e which distinctly asserts the doctrine "-f*
(of the two resurrections), tacitly concedin<( that this
is the only Scripture which "distinctly as.serts" it. This
means that this doctrine could never have been drawn
from the liible without the help of this pu.ssa^e ; in
other words, that this pa.ssage is indispensable to the
theory of two resurrections with all it involves. Now,
Pre-millennialista deem this doctrine of two resurrec-
tions of vast moment. Does it not seem strange that
BO very important a doctrine should have been left to
depend for its revelation upon a single passage in
almost the last chapter of the most difficult book of

# (I

Ecce Venit," pp. 219, 228. t " Maranatha," p. 66.

A 8Tirr)Y r\ k.sciiatoi,o<jv.

i\ui llil)l«? ? VVc sliuiiltl ut Irant «'X|M'ct that MiIh one
hri«<f paMsa;^**, wliicli was to Hprv<« ho iiioiiwutouH a
|»ur|K)S(%Hln)ul<l hi' one ot* eryHtjil cli'JiriM'HR. It is sale
to 8iiy tluit no otluT important «l()C'trin»* of Scripture
iH left to <l«'p(Mul for its revelation upo!i a sin^jle p»VH-
sagc, liowever clear it may be. Mucli less mi^^lit we
expect tlie one iiKlisprnHahlc pasHa^jr itself to he ho
ol)H('iin' tluit honest interpreters have «litren'<l so
widely as to its meanin<^, and to he' found in a l»ook
Ro full of strange and mysterious ima;^«'ry. Can wc
heli»!ve sucli a passaj^e as this was inten<led to he tlu^
medium of the revelation of a doctrine so important
as this is deemed, and its one imlispensahlo hulwark {
Much less are wo justified in making one of the pos-
sible interpretations of this passage the centn; of a
j^reat system, around which the plainer teaching; of
the New Testament nuist be grouped, even if tlicy
imist be wrenclied away from the nu»anin<; which the
vast majority of interpreters suppose they convey,
liut let us examine the passage more carefully.
I. If this is tlie description of a b()«lily resurrection,
it is not of a resurrection of all the ri«^hteous dead.

Tlie words, "Tliem that had been beheaded for the
testimony of Jesus and for the word of Ood and such
as worshipped not the beast, neither his ima^e, and
received not the mark upon their forehead and upon
their hand," are evidently intended to restrict those
that " live and reij^n with Christ" to two classes.
Could such language be used to describe all the right-
eous dead that have ever lived ? The first class —
" them that had been beheaded " — are martyrs. Who

UEV ELATION 20 : 4-0.

ciMiMtitutc tln' srcoiHl ? ** SiK'h JiH w<)r.slii|»jn'<l not tin*
ln'iiMt," t'tc. 'I'liis is iimdt' clt'iir l»y Ki'V. : !)-l I, wln'itf-
iii tli«^ first (>ltiss is (l(>N('i'il>«'(i uiiiioHt in idi'iitical t«'rniM
— " tln'in that lia<l Ix'cn slain I'or tlu' won! of (}<mI, an«l
fortius tostinionv wliicli tlu'V lu'M." 'I'lu'so an' askrd
"to roHt y«'t for a littlo tiim*, until tlunr f(»llo\v-H»'r-
vants also an<l their hn'thrm, which shoiiM hv killed,
even as they wer«', should he fultilled," heforc th«
Lord HhouM ".I'I'IK'' "^'"' Hven;^e their hlocxl." The
secorul clasH included in Kev. 20: 4 are those rel'erred
to in c!»ap. tl : 0-1 1 as still to be slain. This is appjir-
ent from the correspondence hetvveen tlu' description
— "such as worshipped not the beast," etc. — and tho
account of the ])ersccutions whicli are said to burst
out in connection with tho beast an<l his inia^e,
in the chapters between Kev, 6 : 9, and Rev. 20.
Notice especially cliap. l.'i : lo, where it is Raid, "It
was j^iven unto him to ;;ive breath to it, even to the
inui^e of the beast, tliat the inui;je of the beast sliould
both speak, and cause that as many as .should not
worsliip the imaj^e of the bea.st shouM ])e killed." To
make Re>'. 20: 4-0 refer to all the ri;;hteous is to set
at nouj^ht the plainest intention of tlie most definite
lan<,niage, as well as the evident relati(ai of Rev. 6 :
0-1 1 and Rev. 20 : 4-G. As we iiave said, Pre-millen-
nialists are more and more adopting this restricted
interpretation as of the martyrs only. Forced by tlie
demands of their theory of a coming of Chri.st for
His people, and a subsequent coming with them, tliey
would restrict its meaning too much, and make it
refer exclusively to what they term the tribulation
5

A STTTDY IN ESr!HATOT.OOY.

< -

If!

saints, or tho.sc; wlio " hwv. the trials of the times
between these two . i coinin<^s of our Lonl. Ihit

while Rev. 20 : 4-(l refers to two classes exclusively,
it evidently includes all these classes. While "such as
worshipped not the beast " may include those oidy
who lived immediately before the millennium, " them
that had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus
and for the word of God," or as in Rev. G : 9-11, " them
that had been slain for the word of God and the tes-
timony which they held," can only mean all that had
ever been slain for this reason.

Now, it' Rev. 20: 4-6 is to be interpreted liten»'Jy,
it requires us to face the difficulties involved in two
distinct resurrections of the righteous. It even then
leaves all the hosts of saved people who may die dur-
ing the millennium unprovided for, to be raised at
some other time or times. Now, how does this con-
ception square with the general teaching of the New
Testament as to the resurrection of the righteous ?
Take a few passages :

1 Cor. 15: 51, 52: "Behold I tell you a niystery :
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last
trump ; for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall
be raised," etc.

1 Cor. 15 : 23 : "They that are Christ's at his com-
ing."

John 5 : 29 : "They that have done good unto the
resurrection of life."

1 Thess. 4: 14: "Them also that are fallen asleep
in Jesus will God bring with him."

REVELATION 20 : 4-0.

r.7

I Thess. 4. K; : " The .load in Clirist hIuiII uhv HiHt."

Tlu'so oxprcasioiiH, "the dead," "they that are
Christ'.s," "they that have done ^ood," "them that are
falhiii aslec^p in .lesus," "the dead in (^lirist," are all
perfectly ^(Mieral, and they are also used in connec-
tion with accounts of the resurrection, as of a .sin<^le,
and, for the most part, of an instantaneous, event. It
is difficult enough to attempt to rend the resurrection
of the ri<;hteous and the wicked asunder, hut to accej/i.
an interpretation of Kev. 20: 4, which recpiires us to
rend the resurrection of the righteous itself int(j frajj-
ments, against what seems the most explicit teaching
of tlie rest of the Hible, appears to me most unsafe.
The fact that there is not only not the remotest allu-
sion to any such fragmentary resurrection of the
righteous in the New Testament apart from the lit-
eral interpretation of Rev. 20 ; 4-6, but that the gen-
eral teaching of the plain passages of the New
Testament is directly aguinst this idea, forms the
strongest presum})tion against the correctness of such
literal interpretation of this passage.

2. The alternative presented is to have "part in the
first resurrection" or to be under the power of the
"second death" — to be east into the lake of tire.

The implication seems to be that all who do not
have part in the first resurrection here spoken of
must share in the second death. Now, if this is a lit-
eral resurrection, say, of all the righteous dead, until
the millennium, as Pre-millennialists have generally
held, then what about those who live during the mil-
lennium ? They do not share in this resurrection-

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

Must they be cast into the lake of fire ? If tlji.s resur-
rection is literal and of the martyrs only, the (IKliculty
becomes all the greater.

y. It is said, " The rest of the dead lived not, until
the thousand years should be finished." The natural,
if not the necessary, implication of this is that the
rest of the dead should live when the thousand years
should be finished. Now, what do we find at the end
of the thousand years ? Is it a literal resurrection of
the wicked dead ? Let us rea<l : "' When the thousand
years are finished Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison," etc. (vs. 7-10). It is a resurrection of wicked-
ness which has been virtually dead during the millen-
nium, and which now, under satanic impulse, dashes
itself in its last expiring throes against righteousness
and those who represent and embody it. If the resur-
rection of the martyrs here spoken of and of the
" rest of the dead" referred to be of the same char-
acter, as seems evident, then, as the resurrection of
the "rest of the dead" is not of the bodies of the
wicked, neither can that of the martyrs be physical.

4. If this passage refers to the physical resurrection
of the martyr dead, as the final act in the resurrection
of all the saints and their reign with Christ on the
earth, then we have to face a difficulty which to me
seems almost insuperable. Pre-millennialists suppose
that Christ, during the millennium, will, through His
personal and visible presence on the earth, manifest
transcendent power. Through this power, righteous-
ness not only shall prevail, but wickedness shall be
practically non-existent. With Him, and sharing His

REVELATION 20 : 4-6.

(59

rule, will bo tlio glorified .saints in their resurrection
bodies, to be visible witnesses of His power winch had
raised them From the dead, and of the certainty that
all His words of promise or threatening must come to
pass. And y(^t, in an evangelized world, among those
who must be accpiainted with the very prophecy
which assured the overthrow of their uprising, in
presence of the glorified saints, and in the face of the
omnipotent and reigning Christ, as Ho had ruled in
personal j)resence and resistless power for generations
and generations, wicked men arise, as it would appear,
suddenly, and the strength of wickedness, in a little
time, assumes such proportions that its votaries "com-
pass the camp of the saints and the beloved city" —
the city of Jerusalem, where Christ and the glorified
saints have the seat of their rule — and fire must come
from heaven and devour them: or, as it would
appear, they would have swept the saints away and
triumphed.

Now, all this is not irreconcilable with the view of
the millennium which Post-millennialists hold. Right-
eousness prevails, not through the personal presence
of Christ in irresistible power after liaving raised the
righteous dead, but through such progress of the Gos-
pel as we observe to-day. There will be no personal
and. visible presence of the omnipotent Saviour, reign-
ing in mighty power with His glorified people in Jeru-
salem ; but righteousness will maintain its sway, as it
secured it, by the power of truth and moral inHuences.
There will be no memories handed down of the tre-
mendous display of majesty and might described in

A STUDY IN E.S(!nAT()l-0(JY.

Matt. 25:31 si/.; for this ju«lj^inent i.s .still to bo.
Wliile ri<^liteouHii('HH will doininate the world, wicked-
iiesH will still exist, but in a suppressed state. In the
end, evil, which has been bccoinin<^ more inten.se as it
has maiutained itself in the face of the strongest moral
forces, and as it has been pent up, will burst forth in
a last strut^<ijle for supremacy over the earth, and
then those who are its representatives will meet their
iinal overthrow, as the Lord comes to raise the dead
anc jud^e all that have ever lived.

but to suppo.se there will ari.se such an insurrection
of the wicked in the teeth of the power which Pre-
millennialists assume will be displayed by a Chri.st
rulin<r in majesty an<l j^lory with His (jflorified saints
— to suppo.se men with knowledge of the scenes en-
acted at His coming (described in Matt. 25 : 31), and
with knowledge of the almighty power with which He
has been ruling for so long, will dash themselves
against His per.sonal might, as well as that of His
living and glorified saints — .seems to me well-nigh
incredible. In proportion to these difficulties will
be the objection to the interpretation which involves
them all.

5. As already remarked. Rev. 20 : 4-6 contains the
answer to the prayer of the martyrs recorded in Rev.
: 9-11. These are represented as crying "with a
great voice, saying, How long, O Master, the holy and
true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on
them that dwell on the earth ? . . . It was said unto
them, that they sliould rest yet for a little time, until
their fellow-servants also and their brethren, which

UEVKLATIUX 20 : 4-0.

.sliouM be killed even as they were, Hhould be fulfilled."
In Rev. 20 : 4-G, the time for the fulfilment of this
promise has come, through the complement of the
martyrs being made up, and we see the "judgment "
prayed for " given to tliem " (v. 4). Now, if this pas-
sage is to be interpreted literally of niartyrs who have
been raised from tlie dead, then the judgment must be
upon those who dwelt upon the earth with them and
shed their blood (Rev. 6 : 10). But before all who
were to be slain from that time on, had been mar-
tyred, these persecutors had long since been dead, and
they are not to rise till the thousand years and the
last uprising of evil are over. How can judgment
and vengeance be executed upon those whose time for
judgment has not yet come ?

6. Pre-millennialists who interpret this passage
literally are compelled to connect it with the second
coming of our Lord. Yet the second coming of our
Lord is not hinted at in the remotest way, although
the coming of the angel to bind Satan is mentioned
(v. 1). Can we believe that the event which is to be
the grandest in the history of the world and the con-
summation of the ages — that which, according topre-
millennial interpretation, gives all its significance to
the whole narrative — would be left out ? Had John
seen our Lord descending to raise the dead in this
vision, can we believe he would have left this most
transcendent part of the vision unnoticed ? Some,
however, have sought to escape this difficulty by re-
ferring to Rev. 19: 11 sq., as a vision of our Lord's
personal coming to raise the righteous dead. How-

A STUDY IN KSCIIATOl.OUY.

ever, I're-millennialiHts thoiiiHolves are far from agreed
upon tliis as the true interpretation of tliin Scripture.
Tlie imagery ditlerH alto^eth«'r from tlie descriptions
uniformly ^iviiu elsevvliere of His comin<;: Matt. 24 :
30 : " The Son of man comin^^ in the clouds of heaven
with power and ^reat ghjry ;" Matt. 25 : 31 : " When
the Son of man shall come in his glory and all the
angels with him, then shall he .sit on the throne of his
glory ; " 2 The.ss. 1:7: " The Lord Jesus shall be re-
vealed from heaven with the angels of his might, in
flaming fire ; " Matt. 26 : 64 : " Ye shall see the Son of
man sitting at the right hand of power and coming
on the clouds of heaven." If this pa.ssage refers to His
second coming, instead of raising the d(?ad when He
appears, a .series of grand and terrific events (.see Kev.
19 : 11-21) is to intervene between His advent and the
resurrection of the righteous, to which Rev. 20 : 4-6 is
supposed to refer. On the other hand, the Pre-millen-
nialists, who see in Rev. 20 : 4-6 a resurrection of
" tribulation saints " only, believe that the righteous
dead generally were caught up with the living saints
in " secret rapture " (juite a period before this le.sser
resurrection. They place His .second coming to awaken
the righteous dead generally before the pouring out
of the seven vials of the 16th of Revelation, and a long
time prior, therefore, to that described in Rev. 19:
11 «</. Finally, in Rev. 20:11 we have our Lord's
appearing for judgment described in language almost
identical with that of Matt. 25 : 31, thus making it ap-
parent that the same judgment is spoken of in both
passages. But in the latter passage, the judgment is

IIKVKLATIOX 20 : 4-(;.

ill iinmrMlijitocoimection with His sccoiul advent ; and,
tlierefure, tlie second coming of our Lonl nni.st be in
imiiKMliate connection with Rev. 20: 11, not prior to
Rev. 20: 4-G, and Rev. 10: 11-21 must he a .synihohc
representation ol' .sonie part of the history of tlie
Cliurch prior to Hia personal coming. The fire
"coming down from lieaven " (Rev. 20: i)j and do-
vourin*^ tlie wicked in their last uprisinj^ is rather in
coniKiction with the Lord as He ap})ears in Ihimiufj
tire taking vent.(eance on His enemies (2 Tliess. 1 : 8),
7. If Rev. 20 : 4 refers to tiie post-resurrection
rei<;ning of all the saints " with Christ," wliy is it said
to be for one thousand years only ? To " him that
overcometh " (Rev. 3 : 21), our Lord says, " I will give
to sit down with me in my throne," and the promise
to all the saved in Rev. 22 : 5 is that "they shall
reign forever and ever " If it be said that it refers
exclusively to reigning on the earth, it may be replied
that the passage does not mention reigning on the
earth ; it is reigning " with Christ," apparently in tlie
most general sen.se in which saints reign with Him, if
this refers to their reign with Him after He comes
again. In any case, allowing that exclusive refer-
ence is to a reigning on earth, the implication is that
tlie saints shall reign on the earth only for a thou.sand
years, and the pre-millennial belief that the eai'th is to
be the eternal home of the redeemed is set asi<le. But
as has been shown, and as a very large proportion of
Pre-millennialists now admit. Rev. 20 : 4-6 refers to
the martyrs only. Are none but the martyrs to reign
with Christ in the post-resurrection state ? If not

A STUDY IN KSCIIATMLCMJY.

wliy an» tlicy alono inontionorl nn sluirin*^ in IHm rule ?
Qut'.stioiiH will also Hri.so ii.s totlio .saints who arc lioni
and livt' during the niilh'iniiuni. Do they have no
Hhare in this n'ijrninir with Clirist ?

W(! thus find that the literal intcrpn^tation oi' this
]>asHa^re is very far from tlie plain an<l ("asy matter
Pre-millennialists ev(!r assume it to be. It is encom-
])ass('d with ditliculties of the most serious nature, if
they are not insuperaitlc. While we do not venture
to say that tlie H«^urative interpretation is witliout its
difficulties — the passage is too obscure to make a per-
fectly satisfactory explanation possible — it is hoped
that it may be made t(j appear, apart altogether from
the tremendous presumption against the literal inter-
])retation afforded by the general teaching of tlie
New Testament, that there is less against and more
in favor of the figurative interpretation than of the
literal.

1. The most of Revelation, from the beginning of
chapter four to the end, is in the language of symbol
and figure. Take the vision of chapter four — the
elders, the lamps, the sea of glass, the beasts, are all
symbolical. The book with the seven seals, the Lamb
with the seven horns and eyes (chap. 5), are of the
same character, and the whole scene is to represent
truth of a larger significance than that which ap-
peared to John. Eijually symbolical is the opening
of the seals and the horses of various colors of chap-
ter six. And so the visions of symbolic beings and
doings succeed each other to the end. The angels
holding the four winds, the sealing of the servants of

UKVKLATION 20 : 4-0.

(i(m1 oil tlu'ir forelicmla, tho an<(«'l with th« ronsor, tho
Hcvt'ii jui^'cls with their trinn|H'tH, tho HoiiiKliii;^ ol' tho
tnuniK'tM, and wliat follows, aro all in tho lan;;ua^o ol"
ti'Miro. Thoti tlio woman and tho dra;;on and tho
hoaHts which Follow him, and tlio .stru;;;;loH, tho vials,
tho womiin in scarlot, IJahylon, tho whito horso and
Ids ridt'i- followoil by tho arnuos of hoavon on whito
Ijorsos, tho sliarp sword procoodinj^ out of Ids mouth,
tho Hunnnoninj; of tho vultures, otc, are all tl;jurativo
and symbolical. .John did not hoo, for tho most part, at
least, a vision of tho very thin<^s widoh wi^re to come
to pass, hut visions of wliat roprosontod thom in
synd)<)l and Hj^urt;. Thus wo coino to tho innnodiato
connection of our passage, and still, up to tho very
passaj^o itself, wo tind tho lan^uafre of symbol con-
tinued. No one surely can suppose that tho an<^ol
with Ids key and Ins cliain, ins bindin<^' Satan with
the chain, Ids castinj^ him into an abyss and locking;
him in and sealing; tlio abyss over, is a literal repre-
sentation. Even in tlu^ passa<^e itself there is nnich
that is undoiuably symbolical. The boast and his
ima<^o, and tlie receivinjj of the mark on their fore-
lioads and in their hands, are of tins ciiaracter.
Instead, tlierotbre, of its being unjustifiable to inter-
pret tliis passage figuratively, even if it is at all
possible to explain it literally, the overwhelming pre-
sumption from the whole character of the book from
tlie third chapter, and from the character of its
inmiediate connection and much of tho passage itself,
is in favor of a figurative explanation. It is more

A STl'DY IN K.S(:ilATOl.()(JV.

rcaHonaMo to infcorprot it fi^unitivcly, uii1«'hh its lan-
;^ua;^(^ iiiakcH tliis t'X|>laiiati«)n woll-ni^li im|»<).ssil)lo.

2. Tho Hrcoinl (Icath, IVoin which thoHc who havo
part ill the tirst ivsur taction are .secun', is figurative.
Jh it not roasoual)lu that the first roHurrccti**!! in iiii-
incdiato couiioction with wliich it Mtaiuis .shoiiM also
ijc fi;^urativo / Pre-inillcimialiMtH aHHinnc (hat tho
Hucond rcHiirroctioii — tliat of* tiu' rest of the dead— of
wliich that of Rt^v. 20: 4-() is said to be the first, iH
descrihed in Rev. 20: II »([. As the latter is admit-
ted by all to be a physical rt^surn^etion, they ar;^ue
very strongly that the first resurrection which this
succetids must be of the same kind, and likewise of
the botlioH of those raised. Now, if the physical
resuirection of Rev. 20 : 1 1 wy,, were corndated with
that of Rev. 20 : 4-G as tlu^ second, of which this latter
is the first, their ar<;uinent a<^ainst the first bein<^ a
fit^urative resurrection would be very stron;,^ Hut in
assuming that the resurrection of R<'V. 20 : 1 1 i<<j., is
that of the rest of the dead spoken of in Rev. 20 : 5,
or the second resurrection of which that of Rev. 20 : 5
is the first, they jussume the very point to be proved,
and attribute to Post-niillennialists a view that most
of them repudiate, and that is forbidflen, as it seems
to me, by the passage itself. It is nowhere said that
Rev. 20 : 1 1 .57., describes the second resurrection, or
that of the rest of the dead. What are really corre-
lated in this passage are " the first resurrection " and
"the second death." Are we not almost as fully jus-
tified in assuming that both these must be of the same
character, as we should be that the resurrections of

i{Kvi:i,ATH»\ 20 : 4-0.

V. 4 uihI v. 12 w/.. tnUMt. ho !»»', if tlu»y wen* r«'ljit«Ml in
tlir Niuiic wiiy :* It is the Prc-iiiiliriiniMlistM hii<I not
the Post-millctiiiiHlistH who would iiiuki' tlir n'Hiirn'o-
tioii of oik; kind an<l tlit* <l<'utli of >inotli«>r, tli«> lorinor
littTtil aiKJ tlM> latter Hpiiitual. So i'rc-iiiillciiiiialistH
arr njoro ;;iiilty of th«; iiicoiiMiHti'Mcy thry cliar^o
upon us than an; PoHt-niill(>nnialistH, who hold that
thr Hrst and second resurrections spoken of and im-
plied in Rev. 20: 4-0 are hoth H;^airative.

.S. The " rest of the <h'ad," it is <leclare(l, "lived not
until the thousand years sliould he tinished," Can wc
douht that this means they were to live when the
thousand years were ended i In v. M wc read that
the an^«'I shut Satan in tlic ahyss "that he should

• leceivc the nations no more until the thousand years
should he finished, " an ex[)ressi()n i<lentieal with v. '),

• pioted ahovc. Now, wc know that " until the thou-
sand years should he finished " of v. M did not mean
that Satan was not to «;o forth to ficeeive the nations
until a somewhat prolonged period after the thousand
years were over; but that he was to he^in his
evil work as soon as they were end d (v. 7). What
ri;^ht have we to suppose the very same words in
V. .") mean that the rest of the dead were not to live
nj^ain until the conclusion of a fateful period after the
thousatid years were completed ? And yet this is
what the literal interpretation of Rev. 20 : 4-C
recjuires us to believe. The rest of the dead,
the unrighteous, according to this view, instead of
livin*,' a<(ain at the end of the thousand years, do not
rise from the dead until after the last uprising of

A STI'DY IN KSCMATOl.OdY.

wicki'iliirHs liuH run its conrMr. uftiT tin* cnijcIiiHion of
tlio iiiillcniiiiitii ( VN. 7-10), iiiid in tli(> I'cMurrcction of

V. I 1 nij.

Ami y»'t l'n»-inill«'niiiMli.stH an* proprrly very nnicTi
roiHTincd to iiiNi.st upon tlu' iiii|ili('ution of tliis vvonl
"until." Kor instuncr, Lukr 2! : 24, ".IrruNjiInu
nIihII lie tro*l(|t>n down of tlir (icntilcs until (lirtinirN
of tlio (ii^ntilt'N nIihII I>u fullillcd," i.s not tli()U;;lit to
int'im tliiit .IciusalriM \h to nnwiin trodden down until
lon^ jift«u' " tln' tinu'H of tin* (ientilt's he fultilled";
|{oin. I I : 2.'), " Ilnrdeninj^ in ])art liath hefallcn Israel
until the fulne.sH of the (Jentiles be conio in," i.s not
interpreted to mean that this hardenin^^r Hhall continue
until a len^dhened period has elapsed after " the ful-
ness of the (jentiles he eonie in " ; Acts *i . 21, " Whom
the h«'av(!n must rec»'ive until the times of restoration
of all thin<^s," is not thouj^ht to iniply that our Lonl
is not to come until lon^ after the times of restora-
tion have ended. And ho we mi^^ht continue to refer
to the use ')f " until." )»ut tlie.se pas.sa<;es should sufliee.

It seems })lain,then, that Rev. 20: f) means that the
rest of the dead will live a^ain as soon as the thou-
sand years are finished, and not remain uiKjuickened
until after the ^reat uprisin<( of wickedne.ss shall
luive intervened. The ])re-millennial interpretation,
therefore, which sees the resurrection of "the rest of
the dead" in the vision of vs. 11-15, after the upris-
ing of evil shall have been crushed, rather than when
" the thousaiul years are finished," must be wronj^,
and we are shut in to another interpretation than the
literal, and one which does not contradict the plainest

IlKVKI.ATlnN 20 : 4-(J.

iiiiptinitinn of tin* |him.sii;^«'. Tlir iTMUrrrrf ion of " tlj«'
roHt of tlu! (Iciul " iiiiiMi tiiku |tluc«> at tlii> v\\i\ of tlio
tlioiiMjiu<l yt'jU'H, ami not ul'tcr tlir luMt st ru;^';;lt! of t'vil
which huc('«'»'(1m this |H»ri«i«l.

Ih th(>r<> ill! iiitt'i'prctutioii, thru, of this dinictilt
piissji;;)', whirh \h h'SM ohvioiis to thr ol)'n'ctionM which
lie ii;;aiiiNt the litn-ai i'\|ilHiiiitioii. uiid which will
U'ttcr iiuM't the poNitivc comlitions which have Ih'cii
named, whil(^ at tlic Hanic tiino, it do(>H not coiillict
with the dinu't and ;(encral teachin;; of the New
Testainent i* We hol<l that there iH such an inter-
pretation, iilthon;;h no e.\e«^esiM of the passafjti may he
aito^^ether satisfactory.

Ah already noticed, Kev. '20: 4-0 is to bo interpre-
ted in conriection with Rev. G: 9-11. In tl>e earlier
chapter there is n vision of the souls of u cla.SH of
martyrs, unch'r the altar, cryinj^ out for a jud;^nient
and ven^^i'nnce upon their persecutors, whicli they are
told cainiot yet Im) ox<!Cuted. 'I'he vital (piestion in
the interpretation of both these related passa^CH is
whether this is a vision of tlie actual, or whetlier it
is a viHion of what represented the actual in a syni-
l)oIic way. It must be remendxM-eil that the altar,
and the martyrs, and their crying for satisfaction, are
a part of .loiui's (general vision reconled in chapters 4,
5, and 0, of the throne and one sitting upon it, of the
four and twenty elders, of the lamps Imrninjr before
the throne, of the glassy sea, of tlie four living crea-
tures full of eyes, etc. Now, no one believes this all
a vision of what was actually existinjij and taking
place in heaven. The lamps, the elder.s, tlie living

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOOY.

crentnroH aro all Hymholical mu\ roprescnt Homothing.
So hIho of tlic altiir and tlio inartyrH. Can wo believe
that John saw the souls of the martyrs except in
vision f ('an we believe that the souls of these most
faithful witnesses for (io«l are cast down at tlu; foot
of an altar, like the beasts slain in sacrifice f Can we
believe this to be their condition in heaven, and that
they must remain thus, consumed with unsatisfied
desire, until the last witness has sealed his testimony
with his blood ? No, it is doubtful if any sober
student of the Bible, be his view as to the nullennium
what it may, has ever thou<^ht this to be a vision of
the actual. The altar, the souls of the martyrs, their
place under or at the foot of the altar, their crying
with a great voice for satisfaction upon their perse-
cutors which would not be granted — all are to repre-
sent sonjething in the language of symbol. What can
the martyrs represent but the cause and principles
for which they suffered, and the spirit which animated
them in their heroic struggles ? Their position at the
foot of the altar of sacrifice shows forth the depressed
condition of the cause, principles and spirit they
represent. They are like the animals slain in sacri-
fice, and cast down beside the altar. To the same
effect is the significance of the cry for judgment and
vengeance, and the delay in the answer. The cause
and principles represented by the martyrs are crushed
under the opposing power of evil. Complete satis-
faction for the martyr blood shed is still future,
because evil still is strong. This condition must con-
tinue "until their servants also and their brethren,

HEVKF.ATION ZO : 4-G.

wliiclj should l)e killod even as they wore, should bo
fullillod."

In Kov. 20: 4-6 that time has come, and in this vision
the rulHhnent of the promise is represented in similar
iiiiu*,^ery. The class of martyrs seen in Rev. (5: 9-11
reappears, aeconi{)anied by those who had now been
" killed as they were." But now, instead of bein^ as
dead, at the foot of the altar of sacrifice, they live.
Instead of havintj to cry with a «^reat voice for judg-
ment and vengeance, they have judgment given to
tiiem, and they sit enthroned and reign with Christ.

This vision shows the consummation of the Ions:
struggle between good and evil, God and Satan, which
is traced in the symbolic representations between
Rev. 6 : 9-11 and Rev. 20 : I. The emissaries of Satan
— the beast and the false prophet — have gradually
been overcome. And now Satan liimself is said to be
bound, as the final issue of the long and desperate
conflict, and the martyrs hold dominion with Christ.
Now, if the martyrs represent the cause, principles
and spirit of the martyrs, as we seem compelled to
believe, unless we make both visions views of the
actual rather than symbolic representations of what
is real, then for the martyrs to live and sit enthroned
and have judgment given to them, and reign with
Christ, must nieen that this cause and spirit and
these principles, instead of continuing as though life-
less, through being overborne by the might of evil,
now live, through asserting themselves with superior
power. They judge and reign because these principles
are recognized as the law by which life is to be

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY,

i h

ju(1<((h1, and they now rule in tlie life of the world.
Rev. 20: 1-6 gathers up into a single vision the results
of the progress of the cause of Christ an<l the princi-
ples and the most devoted spirit of the Gospel, through
a long process of conflict and gradual triumph, and
symbols it forth in the enthronement and reign of the
clasa of men who represent the highest life of the
Church.

Just as the martyrs are said to live in the resurrec-
tion to life and power of the principles and spirit of
which they are the highest representatives, so like-
wise the wicked are said to live in the resurrection
to life and povver of the principles which they repre-
sent. When it is said, therefore, that " the rest of
the dead lived not until the thousand years were
finished," or that the rest of the dead were to live
when the thousand years had expired, it means that
we are then to look for a resurrection to life and
power of the principles and spirit of evil men, which
had been practically dead during the millennial
period, just as the principles and spirit represented in
the highest way by the martyrs had been practically
lifeless at the time referred to in Rev. 6 : 9-11. And.
this is just what we do find. Just as Satan is repre-
sented as bound through the curbing of his power
during the thousand years, at the close he is said to
be loosed again, as his power again is manifested
through the lives of men (Rev. 20: 7-10). This is the
resurrection which is the second, of which that of
Rev. 20: 4-6 is the first. Both resurrections are of the
same kind and figurative, Both correspond to the

REVELATION 20 : 4-0.

Hccoiul death, whicli is also fif^urative. The two
chiHsoH of men whicli repre.seiit the oj)|)OHing spirit
aii<l pi'inei[)les and cause of ri«jliteouHneRH and wicked-
nesH, of Christ and Satan, are said to live in the life
and power of what they repn;sent. This is one of the
most common forms of expression in the Hible. The
prodif^al, when he abandoned the spirit of his home,
died ; when he was restored t(j a right mind again, he
rose from the dead (Luke 15: 32). When men are
delivered from the dominion of sin and become right-
eous, they are said to be alive from the dead (Rom.
6 : 13). When nations are delivered from bondage,
they are said to live again in their restored pros-
perity (Ezek. 37 : 12-14). In Rev. 11 the two wit-
nesses are said to be slain and rise again from the
dead, as the open testimony to the truth which they
represent is suppressed or proclaimed. Allowing for
the inevitable setting or drapery of all symbolic
descriptions, which must not be pressed for a signifi-
cance it was not intended to convey, this interpreta-
tion is not unsatisfactory ; at least, it is not beset
with the difficulties to which the literal explanation
is exposed. The martyrs are said to reign with
Christ but a thousand years, because it is only for
this period that the principles and spirit they repre-
sent have unbroken sway over men. The judgment
and the avenging of the blood of the martyrs, in
an wer to their cry (Rev. 6 : 9-11), is to be interpreted
in the light of Rev. 19 : 2, " For he hath judged the
great harlot, which did corrupt the earth with her
fornication, and he hq,th avenged the blood of his

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOfJY.

servants at her hand," " the hlood of prophc^ts and
of saints, and of all that have been slain" (Rev.
1*S : 24), The judjjnient and vengeance here 8i)oken
of was realized in the overthrow of the cause and
system of wickedness which slew the martyrs and
which is hero represented by a liarlot, just as the
cause and principles of Christ's kin<j:dom are repre-
sented by the martyrs. The pre-millennial interpre-
tation would re(juire us to believe t'lat the prayer of
the martyrs for jud«^!nent and vengeance was not
answered until the resurrection of Rev. 20 : 1 1 sq. —
after the great uprising of wickedness. But the
answer was to be delayed only until their brother
martyrs had been killed. In Rev. 20: 4-6 weaee them
in company with these very martyrs that were after-
ward slain, showing that this is the time for the
promised answer, and not after a subsequent period
had run its course.

The judgment and vengeance asked for in Rev.
G: 9-11 are, therefore, to be looked for in the crushing
of the persecuting cause of wickedness, through the
triumph of the cause and principles of which the
martyrs were the most faithful exponents, as repre-
sented in Rev. 20 : 4-6.

We Lave not space to elaborate this interpretation
at greater length. The reader must judge whether,
on its merits, in view of the symbolic and figurative
character of all the visions of Revelation, it is not
preferable to the pre-millennial explanation. Are we
not, at least, more than justified in accepting it in its
general features, rather than wrest from their natural

It I '■

HEVEf.ATION 20 : 4-0.

aiul evi(l«nit iiieaniiiji^ all tlie plain and (lircct passaj^es
to which we have referred the reader, bearing on the
([ueHtions of a f^eneral roHurrection, a <^eneral jud<^-
nient, and life in the flesh and prol)ation after Christ
coniess a«ijain, as we must do, if we accept the alterna-
tive pre-niilleiHiial and literal interpretation of Rev.
20 : 4-() ?

While Rev, 20 : 4-G is the only direct passage
claimed by I're-niillennialists in favor of a distinct
resurrection of the riohteous and another of the
wicked with more than the millennium between, they
refer to allusions which it is held can only be inter-
preted in harmony with their view. The chief of
tliese is the expression, " resurrection from the dead,"
€H yfupan'. Tlie class of passages containing this
expression, it is claimed, " r'jpresent the resurrection
of believers as eclectic and special,* . . . refer
to ... a separation and (piickening to life out
from among the dead."

Tliis argument at one time appeared to us to Ite
very strong. A study of all the passages in which
" resurrection from the dead " and " resurrection of
the dead " occur, has greatly reduced our estimate of
its f(jrce.

These are the facts :

1. The resurrection of our Lord, which is pre-
eminently a resurrection from the dead, is twice
spoken of as a resurrection of the dead.

Acts 2() : 23 : " How that the Christ must suffer,

" Ecce Venit," p. 220.

A STUDY IN KSCIIAT<)I,()(JV

aiul how that ho tii'Ht, by the rcHurrcctioii of tho dojul,
shouM proclaim light Iioth tu the people and to the
(JeiitileH."

'i'his, of course, inoaii.s, "that lie tirst ' hy Win own
resinrcetioii as He was " Hrst b<jni from the dead"
(Cyol. 1 : liS) "shoidd proclaim lij^ht," etc., His own
resurrection being thus termed a resurrection of the
dead.

Rom. 1:4: " Who was declared to be the Son of
(jiod with power ... by the resurrection of the
dead." This declaration was made by His own
resurrection, which is again called a resurrection of
the dead.

It is also more than jn'obable that Acts 17 : JVi,
" Now when they heard of the resurrection of the
dead," refera specially to the resurrection of Christ,
spoken of in the preceding verse, thus making three
instances in which our Lord's resurrection is spcjken
of as a " resurrection of the dead."

2. In only two ca.ses is there mention made of a
resurrection from the dead, apart from references to
the resurrection of our Lord, of Lazarus, and Herod's
guilty fear that John the Baptist had arisen from his
grave. These are Luke 20:3') and Phil. 3 : 11. It
is to be remarked, also, that while the record of our
Lord's answer to the Sadducees in Luke 20 : 35 is,
" They that are accounted worthy to attain to that
world and the resurrection from the dead," etc., in
Matt. 22 : 31, referring, as it would appear, to the
same resurrection, it is said to be "of the dead."

'I I

llEVELATION 20 : 4-6.

1^7

.S. of tlie iiitie tiiiioH in which tlie expresHion, "ivHur-
rcction of tlio <h'a(]," is uhccI of other tlinn that of
CliriHt (Matt. 22:31, Acts 2:^:0,24:21, 1 Cor. 15:
12, l.'i, 21, 42, Hcl). () : 2) it is cortaiiily used tliree
times (Acts 2:i: 6, 24: 21, I Cor. 15: 42)— most e.Ke-
<;«'teH wouhl say six times, reckonint; in 1 Cor. 15 : 12,
l.'{, 21 as well — where the apostle had only the resur-
rection of the rij^hteous in his tliought.

4. It is especially to be noticed that in 1 Cor., chap.
l.'». where, as is generally admitted, Paul has the
rii^hteous dead alone in mind, and in v. 42 where
their resurrection alone can be alluded to, this resur-
rection is always referred to as a resurrection of the
dead, and not once as a resurrection from the dead
(vs. 12, 13, 21, 42).

Now, if Paul thought the resurrection of the right-
eous to be a first resurrection to glory from among
the wicked dead, who were not to be raised for more
than a thousand years, and in a second resurrection
to shame and everlasting contempt, it would seetn as
tliough he must certainly liave indicated it in the
onl}'' chapter in which he treats at large of their
rising from the dead, by using the expression, " resur-
rection from the dead," especially in v. 42. The use
of the expression, " resurrection of the dead," in this
whole chapter, makes it pretty evident that he did
not have before him this conception of the resurrec-
tion of the righteous as from among the dead.

It is also difficult to believe that our Lord's resur-
rection should be referred to as a resurrection "of" as

A STUDY IN ES( HATOI,n(JY.

ill

■ 1

i ^

well aH "from" the dead, if the latter oxpre.sHion is
iiitende*! to convey a meaning distinct from that of
the former.

Neither let it he forgot t<'n that the act of h«'in^
raised or of risin^^, whi^ther it he of saint or sintier,
can he expressed in no other way than as h«'inj^ raised,
or as a rising, "from the death" In this case there
cannot possihly he any thought of eclectic resurrec-
tion of sonu^ from among others who nnnain in their
graves. The expressions are prohahly elliptical wliere-
in heing rai.sed or rising from the dead is use(l for
heing raised from the |)laee or state of the dead.
Now, if tliere can he nothing of the eclectic idea in
these verhal expressions, do we need import this
significance into the substantive form, "resurrection
from the dead"? May it not also be an elliptical
expression, meaning resurrection from the place or
state of the dead? In view of the interchangeable
way in which "from" and "of" the dead are found to
be used, and also of Paul's use of "resurrection of the
dead" in the cliapter, of all others, in which we should
expect the other form, were it intended to mean what
our pre-millennial brethren declare, are we justified
in freigliting it with ho large a signiileance (• It may
be added that the great majority of coirunentators
pass over the expression, "resurrection from thedv-ad,"
as though this form "from the dead" had no special
significance.

Phil. 3:11, "If by any means I may attain unto
the resurrection from the dead," is not difficult of

UEVKLATION 20 : 4-0.

oxplnrmtion in Imrniony with this view. Tlio npostlo
))iul in niintl, when writiii;^, the i>l»'HH('(hu!Hs which
should conio to hcIiovtTH at tht*ir resurrection, an \h
made evi<lent hy the following' verH«'H, not neceNsarily
any idea of a Hpccial re.surrection of tho righteous in
])()int of time liefore that of the wieke(l. Hi.s lont;-
in^ and Htrivin;^ were for the hleHHednesH of this
resurrection of the ri^diteous, wliich only he had in
thouj^ht, irrespective of the (juestion whether they
were raised with or hefon; the wicked.

Another ar;(Minent for a separates n^surrecticMi of the
ri^diteous is sonietinies urj^ed.on the ^(round that New
Testament writers ho freciuently refrr to the resurrec-
tion of saints (exclusively. 1 Cor., chap. 15, and 2 Cor.
4 : H« s(j., are especially instanced. It is ar<^ue(l that
Paul could scarccdy have failed to make any reference
to the resurrection of the wicked, if he had supposed
them to share in the same <;eneral resurrection with
the righteous. Hut this form of reas(min<^' is very
unsafe. We niit^ht just as well argue, when we read
that ('hrist died for His sheep, and no reference is
made to His death availing for all men, that He nuist
have died a second time for them. The exj)lanation
is that in the connection in which such passages stand,
the writer is treating of the righteous only, and natur-
ally refers to their resurrection alone. Pre-millen-
nialists themselves do not place much stress on this
argument, and many omit it akogether in their discus-
sions. We merely mention it.

This finishes the discussion of our subject as it

!)0

A HTUDY IN ESCHATOI.OCJY.

1 •

1
1

rehitiiH to two n'Murri'ction.s uml vvluit is involved in
tliis fuiHlHinc'iital pn'-niillrMiiiiil coiict'iitioii. \V<* luivu
Houglit to j(ive the uvi<l('iico for tho virw wc; liohl
can<li<lly, uiid with a (l(>Hii'u to avoid a stiaiiUMl and
oiic-Hided intorpn'tation, wliiic ciuh'avorin;; to ;;ivo
inturpretatiouH which will haniioniz*^ tht' teachiii^^H
of tl»e New Tostainent, rather than l)rin;; them into
contlict. We luive also Houj^ht fairly to meet tlie
ar^uinmtM ur;;ed in favor of the pnj-niilleiujial view.
The reader inunt Jud^e for hininelf of uur uuccesH.

Llj

TIIK KIN(}I)OM.

CIIAI'TI'R VI.

TIIK KINGDOM.

Phe-mif,i,enniai,ists «lirtbr from PoHt-milleiuiialiHtH
ill tlieir conception of the kin^<l<)ni and rei*;n of
Ciirist. Tiicy hold tluit tho kin^«loni of Christ is not
yet establisheil, althoii»;h its principles have sway in
tlie souls of believers. It is to be set up at His second
coming. 1 1 is rule in that kingdom is to be personal
and visible, on the earth, and during the inillennimn,
at least. Durinjr this time He will not only rei<^n
throu^^h the nii^ht of love and spiritual motive in
men's hearts, but al.so throu«^h compidsion over those
who do not otherwise submit to Him. The chief sup-
port for this conception of the kingdom of our Lonl
they find in a literal interpretation of Old Testament
prophecy, special prominence being given to the
promise to David that his throne sliould continue for-
ever.

On tlie other hand, Post-millennialists believe that
our Lord set up His kingdom at His first coming, and
that He took His scat as ruler in this king«lom, when
He rose from the dead and all power was given into
His hands. He is now seated on David's throne, ruling

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A STUDY IN KS("IIATOI/HiY.

!i'

in the kingdom of grace, which is His only king-
dom on earth. This is to continue until His second
coming with the resurrection of the dead and the
judgment, when the eternal kingdom of glory will
succeed in its growing fulness, and for all who have
become members of the kingdom of His grace.
Christ is never to reign visibly and in person on the
earth, in the kingdom of grace, even if He is thus to
reign in that of glory. His kingdom on the eai-th is
spiritual, and His rule through the millennium is to
continue to be what it is at present, one of itiner
motive exclusively. Old Testament prophecy urged
in favor of the pre-millennial view of the kingdom,
when interpreted as the New Testament writers
explain it, finds its fulfilment in the present dispen-
sation.

It will thus be seen that the pre-millerniial concep-
tion of the kingdom is almost identical with that of
the Jews. Accepting the same literal interpretation
of prophecies respecting it, it is scarcely possible to
reach any other conclusion. Dr. Nicholson says :
" Christ . . . should succeed to David's throne precisely
as a son succeeds his father ; that He should succeed
to it as being so identically David's throne, that He
would have as the inherited subjects of His kingdom
' the house of Jacob,' or, as elsewhere expressed, Judah
and Israel — the self-same people whom David ruled;
that, therefore. He should be a visible king reigning
on earth."* This and similar sentiments are found in

'•Prophetic Studies," 1886, p. 144.

TIIK KI\(iD<>M.

all pro-inillcnnial vvritin<(s. The JewR were not so
iiHich in error in their conee})tion ol' the nature ot* the
kiMmloin tli(^ Messiali was to estahlish. But this
kin<^«loni, instead of bein^ associatc^l with His first,
was to be set up at His second coinint^. Whether our
Lord and the apostles endorsed this Jewisli idea of
His ruk> will be considered later. At the outset we
must ;^ive attention to this question of the interpreta-
tion of Old Testament prophecy. It is, of course, too
lar^e a subject to deal with further than as it is
related to the (juestion in hand, or otherwise than
briefly.

Fre-millennialists urf^e the following argument in
favor of their interpretation. The prophecies con-
cerning the birth, life and death of our Lord have
had a literal fulfilment. Therefore, we must expect
a similar fulfilment of those which relate to His king-
dom and reign.

This argument seems to have force. Let us
examine it :

1. It is only presumptive ; for it does not necessarily
follow that prophecies about the birth, life and death
of our Lord and those concerning His kingdom and
I'ule should be fulfilled in the same way.

2. It is also to be noticed that the prophecies about
the birth, life and death of Christ are incapable of
any other than a literal fulfilment. How could He be
born of a virgin in Bethlehem, become a man, be a
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, make His
grave with the wicked, etc., except in a literal way ?
If He Wivs to be g, req,l being, then He nmst have a

A STri)Y IN ESCflATOLOOY.

ro.'il hirth into a real life, and the incidents ol' that
real life wouM all he ical, and prophecies of them
would have a literal fulfilment. It does not follow,
because prophecies which are of such a nature that
they are incapable of any other than a literal fulfil-
ment, are fulfilled literally, that those which are ca])a-
ble of another than a literal fulfilment, must be fulfilled
in the same way. This, as it seems to ua, completely
sets aside all presumption in favor of the literal inter-
pretation of prophecies of His kingdom and rule, as
claimed by Pre-millennialists.

3. The great (juestion is, whether our Lord has estab-
lished a spiritual kingdom — a rule over men's spirits,
which is called a kingdom. If this be admitted — and
who can deny it ? — then it is more reasonable to argue
that, as Christ was to be a real being, all the pro-
phecies about His life are to be fulfilled literally in
the real life He was to live ; but, as He was to estab-
lish a spiritual kingdom, in which He was to rule
spiritually after His death, that the prophecies about
His kingdom and rule refer to this kingdom and rule,
and are to be fulfilled spiritually. What right have
we to assume that these prophecies refer to another
than the kingdom and rule we know our Lord to have
established, so long as they are capable of being inter-
preted in harmony with this known kingdom ? Can
anyone be justified in giving an interpretation to these
prophecies which makes it impossible to refer them to
this known kingdom, and then declare there must be
another kingdom, of which we know nothing, in order
to make this unnecessary interpretation possible ?

THE KINfJDOM.

4. I)ut an examination of the prophecies fchoniselves
shoNVH tliat they cainiot h(! interpreted Hterally, heeause
tliUH explained, tliey lead to inij)()SHible concliKsionH.
Anionj( others are the t'ollowin<^ :

(a) Tlie Jewish conunonvvealth, with its priesthood,
feasts, sacrifices and worship, will be restored, in con-
nection with the kin<^doni which our Lord is to set
up. Isaiah ()G : 20-24 is regartled as a description of
the period of the kingdom, and mention is liere made
of " the housi; of the Lord," ^o which " the children of
Israel bring their offerings in clean vessels." " Priests
and Levites " are to be chosen for service. "New
moons and Sabbaths " will be observed and " all flesh
shall come to worshii) " before the Lonl, in His temple
at Jerusaleiii, from week to week. " No alien, uncir-
cumcised in heart and uncircumcised in flesh " shall
enter Jehovah's sanctuary (Ezek. 44 : 9). The feast of
tabernacles will then be observed, etc. (Zech. 14: IG).
The sanctuary and the tabernacle are to be set up
again (Ezek. 37 : 20, 27).

{})) This Jewish commonwealth, with all its restored
Jewish ritual and worship, together with the Gentiles
who adopt Judaism, constitutes the visible kingdom
over wliich our Lord is visibly to rule (Ezek. 37 : 21-
28 ; comp. Zech. 14 : 10). The Israelites are to be gath-
ered as one people (v. 22) and dwell in the land " given
unto Jacob" (v. 25), and David — Christ on the throne
of David — shall be their king (vs. 24, 25). .

(c) This kingdom and worship is to continue for-
ever. " Judah and Jerusalem " shall abide forever
(Joel 3: 20). The rule of David's line— fulfilled in
Christ — and the priests, Levites and sacrifices shall

A STUDY IN ESCUATOLOGV.

\\m

never cease (.Ter. .MM : 17, 18). '* My Hjinctujiry sliall he
in the iniclst of them for cvcnnore " ( Kzek. .S7 : 28).
Now, if the word " fonsver " lia.s liere a limited meaii-
in^:;, aa is prohahle, it at h'ast means till the end of the
age or period spoken of. If these proplKicies, there-
fore, are of the reij^n of our Lord durin*,' the millen-
nium, as our pre-millennial friends declai'e, then there
is to be a restored Judaism until the close of this
period, or as long as our Lord rules as King on the
earth.

If the word "forever" really means here without
end, as it sometimes does, as this king<lom is thought
to be on the earth and forever, the interpretation
which makes His rule personal and visible, makes it
personal and visible on earth forever. In addition to
the passages referred to above, read also Micah 4 : 7
and Dan. 7: 14.

(d) There is to be the rule of physical force, as the
enemies of our Lord are dashed in pieces (Ps. 2), and
the nation and the kingdom which will not serve
" Israel " " shall perish " and be " utterly wasted "
(Isa. 60:12).

(e) Those that submit and accept Judaism become
the servants or slaves of the Jews (Isa. 14:1, 2; 61 : 5;
60: 14; 49: 23, etc.).

That the passages referred to, and others which
might be quoted, do plainly teach what is claimed
above, when literally interpreted, is tacitly, if not
avowedly, admitted by different classes of Pre-millen-
nialists. All classes of them believe that these pro-
phecies teach the restoration of Israel to Canaan. But
is this more plainly taught than that, at their return,

THE KINGDOM.

tliey hIuiII iviuHtituto tlicir whole rituul, and be reco^-
iii/ed JiH the people and kin<;doni of Chiist, into meni-
hersliip in wliich none can enter unless they adopt
Judaism '.

May we not recjuire them to carry their literal in-
terpretation throu»^h,and demand that they accept not
only the return of the Jews and our Lord's visible rule
over them and those who are joined to them, but also
the description of their religious institutions as well :*

But the majority of Pre-millennialists jj;o fur-
ther than this. They admit themselves bound by
their interpretation to the reinst.tution of the Jewish
sacrifices, rites and observances, after their restoration
t(3 their own land. They endeavor, however, to stop
short of the full extent to which the literal iniorpreta-
tion would seem to compel tliem to go. The Jews
are to be restored to their own land before they are
converted. They set up their old ritual, which con-
tinues until they believe in Christ, and then the Jew-
ish sacrifices, etc., are abandoned. But if anything is
plain this is just what these prophecies, literally inter-
preted, absolutely forbid. The glory of the kingdom
culminates in the restoration of Israel's ancient relig-
ious ritual and services. Isaiah's last vision is of offi-
ciating priests and Levites, of the people presenting
their offerings and thronging to Jerusalem to the Sab-
bath and the new moon observances. So, also, of
y'echariah. His closing vision of wdiat Pre-millen-
nialists assume to be the millennial era, is of the
renmant of the Gentile nations, as proselytes to
Judaism, going up yearly to Jerusalem to worship

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOT.OOY.

r'4

tlio l<in^, the Lord of Ifosts, and to koop the frast ol'
tahcniHclcH ( 14 : l(j), oi' the; p«M)j)lr j)n'parin;^ tlnur sac-
ritlcoH ill vchhoIh holy to tlio Lonl, and to service ren-
derc<l to Him in His hoUHJs, into which no Canaanite
— uncircuniciHcd — is permitted to enter. In all the
prophetic descriptions there is no hint that the Jewish
ritual, wlien reinstituted, is to j^ive place to anytliin^
else. It is an integral part of the f(lory of the kin^^doni
un«ler the rule of the Son of David, and is said ex-
pressly, as above, to continue forever. This can mean
nothing less, at least, than to the end of the millennial
age, to which it is said to belong.

So evident is this that niany of the most candid Pre-
niillennialists of the last generation were forced to tlie
conclusion that the rites and sacrifices of the Jewish
dispensation are to be observed in th(^ millennial period,
and they hazarded conjectui'es as to the purpose they
are to serve.*

The most of the pre-millennial writers of to-day
make no attempt to face these difficulties.

This is ecpially true of force succeeding the reign of
spiritual motive, in case of the unrighteous, when our
Lord is supposed to set up His kingdom. There is a
section of Pre-millennialists who are forced to believe,
from their literal interpretation of Old Testament
prophecy, that when Christ comes as king in His
kingdom, it will be to crush all opposers by His might.

* Rev. M. Fay, "The Second Advent," pp. 120,583-86; Rev.
W. R. Freemantle, "Lent. Lectures," pp. 276-79; Rev. M. Bocett,
"Israel's Sins and Israel's Hopes," pp. 271-73; Rev. W. Pryn,
" (}ood Things to Come," pp. 165-67 ; Rev. A. Bonar, "Coining and
Kingdom," p. 222 ; Rev. C. Molyneux, "Israel's Future," pp. 252-
58 ; see also Blackstone, "Jesus is Coming," p. 134.

THE KINnnOM.

TIniH it Ih .seen that each of the eoiicIusioiiH wo
havr rd'ernMl to as nowHsary from thi^ Mtoial inter-
pretation of Old 'l\'Htainent prophecy, is admitted hy
different clasHes of rre-miUennialiNtH a pretty sure
evidence were any proof, additional to what is ho evi-
dent from the pasHatjes cited and from otlier.s which
iiiij^lit be mentioned, needed, that this interpretation
does K't^itimately lead to such eonchi.sions.

Can we believe tliat tlie progress of the nn;ea from
tlie material and .sensuons into the more sj)iritnal
sliall be revei*sed :* Is it j)ossible that (Jod will write
failure upon His work in estahlishinc^ Christianity by
abandoning it foi* .ludaism, with its priesthood and
siicriHees, its rites an<l symbols, its physical force and
its unsparin*^ ri^or :* Is the culmination of the re-
li<;ioua progress of the a<^es to be but a return to an
etiete and vanished system, adapted, as we had sup-
posed, to the race when it was ignorant and unspiri-
tual, and which, it was hoped, mankind had lon«( out-
«(rovvn ? We surely are not recpiired to acce])t a
system of interpretation which makes such demands,
unless there is no other which can save us fi-om con-
clusions so anomalous and incredible. But there is
more than the inherent improbability of all this a<j;ainst
it. If anything is made plain in the New Testament,
especially in the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is that the
sacrifices and priesthood, etc., of the Jewish dispensa-
tion were typical of Christ, His work and sacrificial
death, and had their fulfilment in Him, and were so
abolished forever.

If Paul also believed Old Testament prophecy

i I 'it

¥ i

l\\ d

III

100

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOI.CKIY.

tan^^lit iliut n ivstoriMl Ju<laisin, witli its circumciHion
iuid its ritual, was to constitute; tlu; final rcali/atiori
of ('liristianity, could ho havo vcnturrd to oppose ho
Htrcnuouslv ihvi .lu<lai/,iii;: tcncIuM'H of Ins own time i'
('ould \u> liav(; wai'iicd tlic (Jaiatians that to accept
cii'cuiucision and wiiat it involved was to forfeit the
Ix'iietits of (Christ's re<leinption i'

It is also strnn^a; that Paul, witli all his yearnin;^
over his own people and desin; to comfort them, nev(;r
told them that th(! time was comiiiir when .luduism
should he restore*!, and their nation, with their old
reli<^ion, should dominate the world un<ler the Mi^ssiah
— tlie Christ whom they were so lon;^ to n^ject. Ho
mi'^dit have a<lde(l : "Your ideas of the Messiah and
His kin^jdom, an 1 of the part your nation is to play
under Him, is according; to the teaehin<jf of the
proplu^ts. ( )nly you are wron(^ in supposinj^ this is
to occur in connection with His first cc^minir. In eon-
nection with His first coming, and for centuries after,
you nuist al)andon Judaism, in order to be His follow-
ers. But in connection with His second, wlien He
comes to set up His kin<j^dom, you nuist restore Juda-
ism, and all who would share in the full ^lory of His
reign must accept the ritual that for centuries He
demanded must be abandoned, before they could have
part with Him." We do not think this overdraws the
antaf»onism between the conclusions rendered neces-
sary by the literal interpretation of the prophecies of
the Old Testament and the teaching of the New. As
we discuss the (juestion of the kingdom more particu-
larly, we shall refer to one phase of this subject in
greater detail.

IHK KI\(J|M».M.

101

CllAPTKK VII.

TMK K[N(;i>()M (Continnvil).

Let uh CJiret'ully exjimino tlu.' teacliin;,^ ol' tlie New
Testament on tlie (lUcHtions which divide I're-inillen-
niali.st.s and Post-inilleiniialiHts a.s to tlie kingdom.
Ih it taiij^lit that this kingdom will not be setup until
Christ's second coniin;^^ that it will he on earth and
territorial rather than, or even as well as, over men's
hearts, and that our Lord will reij^n in personal and
visible [)resence, when it is established !*

The first feature ol:' the teaching of the Gospels
which strikes us is, that it is represented as both
]M*esent and approachino. From the time of John
"the {^(jspel of the kin<^dom of God is preached, and
every man entereth violently into it" (Luke IG : 10).
In the parables of Matt. 13, diti'erent features of a
present kini^dom are spoken of. It is never " the
kingdom of heaven shall be like," etc. The rich man
might have found entrance into the kingdom of
heaven, rather than turn away, ami suggest to our
Lord the statement that " it is hard for a rich man to
enter into" it (Matt. 19:10-2o). Whatever Matt.
16 : 19 may mean, it at least declares that the power

102

A s'rrDY IN EsrnAT<)r,(MjY

W'U'V rocvAVi'A w»iH to Ih3 (^xorciHc*! l»y liiin in con-
nection with II pH'scnt kifi^doiii.

" \Vlu)H(M'vrr will liun»l)i«' liiiiiMcH' an<l Im^cotho as a
littio child is ;4n'jit('Ht" in tiiiit kin^^dom alicudy ; not
mIiuII l»e at Honic futnre day. 'I'he HcriltrH and Plmri-
sccH do not <'nt(^r into tho kin^^doni of hoavon, luiithcr
do thoy " HufltT thtnn that an; entt'rin;; in to enter"
(Matt. '2:\: Hi, etc.).

It i.s alHo Hpokon of aH " at hand"; .lohn the liap-
tist (Matt. M:2); our Lord hitMscil' (Matt. 4:17^;
Mis apoHtlcH (Matt. 10:7); and the seventy (Luke
10: 0, etc.).

Now, neither of tlie.se ropresentationH, it' tliey he
indeed different rej)r(!.sentationH, leaves room For the
iden, that this kin<(doni is still future. Many Pre-
niillennialists attempt to explain away this ditKculty
by sayin*^ that our l^ord came to set up His visible
kingdom and rei^n, expectin;( I lis aneicMit people to
receive Him; hut through tlieir rejection of Him, His
])ur[)ose was defeated, and the kin^^^dom was deferred
until His second advent.*

It will he noticed, liowever, tliat our Lord did not
say, the kinj^dom of heaven is at hand, if the Jews
receive me. His declaration of its presence was
absolute. He couKl not, therefore, on tliis supposi-
tion, have foreknown that they would reject Him.
He must have misinterpreted Isa. 5.S and the other
prophecies of the rejection of the Messiah. Their re-
jection of Him mu.st have come to Him as a surprise,

* See e.tj., "Jesus is Coining," p. 3G ; "Prophetic Studies," p. 46.

TUK KIN'ODOM.

loa

Hn<t th(! ilcliiy in Huttinf^ up His kin;^Ml()in hh an after-
iliou^^Mit. Iltul thoy i'ccuiv<Ml Mini, hIno, IIkmi lie
would hiivr ^'oiH^ to His throne juhI not to tlic croHH.
'I'lirn then) would Iwivr been no need tluit lie .should
die and iiiako atonenicnt, in ordur that (Jod hIiouM
lii;,dily exalt llini (Phil. 2: {), 10). It in stran^ro that
anyone .shouM attempt to huvv a theory at the cost of
HUeh conceptioiiH of the foreknowledge and innnuta-
hility of Chri.st, and the ah.soluto nece.sHity of His
atoning; work, as are thu.s involve<l.

It <l()eH not directly concern uh in thi.s discns-sion to
iiKpiire in vvhatsen.se the kin<^doin waH pre.sent «lurinj^
our Lord's life and in what .sen.se Htill to come. Wo
helieve, however, tlu; distinction m to be found in
this; While the kingdom, a.s a spiritual rule in the
hearts of men, had be<;un, durin;^ our Lord's life, Jis
He taught its principles aiul f^ained followers, it was
not until He luul ccjmpleted His atonin*^ work and had
been j^ifted with "all authority in heaven and earth"
(Matt. 28: 18) to administer its government and
advance it among men, that it was formally
instituted.

In this connection let us call attention to another
point. Fre-milU nnialists hold that the coming of our
Lord, which was said to be near and innninent in so
many passages, was His second personal coming to set
up His kingdom. If this be so, is it not strange that,
while the writers of the epistles so fre(iuently speak
of the coming of the Lord as nigh, they never thus
speak of His kingdom, although they make frequent
reference to it ? Is it not difficult to believe that

104

A STUDY m ESCHATOLOfSY.

theso two events can be associated to^^etlier, when
one is so often said to be near, and the otlier is never
til us spoken of ?

The nature of tliis kingdom and rule is also very
clearly taught in the New Testament. It " is not
eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost" (Rom. 14: 17). It is not mate-
rial but spiritual. It " is not of this world " nofff-ioS
(John 18 : 36). Those who become members of it
must be born from above (John 3 : 3-5), must have a
real righteousness (Matt. 5 : 20). Position in it is
gained through meekness and humility (18 : 4). The
members of this kingdom have their citizenship in
heaven (Phil. 3 : 20). This kingdom is unseen, as it
exists in, or in the midst of men, so that it conieth not
with observation (Luke 17 : 21). It is the antipodes
of the power of darkness, and the Colossian believers
had all been already translated into it, when they had
been delivered from this awful power (Col. 1 : 13).

These and other passages make it plain that our
Lord's rule in this kingdom is not territorial, but
over men's hearts, as they are conformed to His image
through the new birth, and thus gladly acknowledge
His sway. It is enlarged, not by taking in new
lands, but new hearts. It is pushed forward, not by
omnipotent might, but by omnipotent love. Subjec-
tion is not formal and of the outward life, but real,
of the spirit as well. In this kingdom He is ruling
now. He does not need to come in person and use
His omnipotent might in order to exercise this sway.
This kingdom and rule continue to enlarge as the

THE KINUUOM.

105

Gospel of the kin<if(loin (Luke 9:2; comp. v. 0), or tlie
word of the kin<^(loin (Matt. 13 : 19) is proclaimed.

This conception of the kin<^(loin helps us to under-
stand another of its aspects which is still future.
This kingdom of grace on earth issues in the eternal
kingdom of glory in heaven. Therefore it is that
Paul declares " The Lord will save me unto his
heavenly kingdom" (2 Tim. 4: 18). It is also to be
n(jticed that in the first verse of this chapter, he
charges Timothy, by the Lord's " appearing and his
kingdom " to preach the Word. Can we doubt that
the kingdom which He associates with the Lord's
second coming is the heavenly kingdom He speaks of
in V. 18, rather than a millein)ial kingdom on earth,
as Pre-millennialists believe ? Peter also (? Pet.
1 : 11) speaks of "entrance into the eternal king lorn
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," referring to
the everlasting kingdom of glory. The reward to those
who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake is
to become sharers in the kingdom of heaven with its
great reward in heaven (Matt. 5 : 10-12), and those
who belong to it are commanded to lay up for them-
selves treasures in heaven, for it is only there that
they can be safe (Matt. 6:19). To the rich young
man who asked, " What shall I do to inherit eternal
life" (John 10: 17), our Lord gave instructions how
he might have "treasures in heaven" (v. 21), and
when he refused to comply with them, Jesus said
" How hardly shall they that have riches enter into
the kingdom of God " (v. 28), showing that the great
blessedness of entrance into the kingdom of God was

lOG

A STUDY IN ESCHATOI/KJV.

i ilij

' *

'■ , ]

' ■}

i 1
1 1

Ur:

in socurin<r treasures in heaven. After telling his
disciples that it was the Father's good pleasure to
give them the kingdom (Luke 12 : 32), instead of refer-
ring them to a reign in this kingdom on earth as their
great reward, he urges them to secure treasure in
heaven and to have their hearts there (vs. 33, 34), and
not be filled with the thought of any future glory on
the earth. " Many shall come from the east, etc., and
shall sit down with Abraham, etc., in the kingdom of
lieaven : but the sons of the kingdom shall be cast
into the outer darkness : there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth" (Matt. 8:11, 12). This is not the
description of the sitting down, etc., in the millennial
kingdom of our pre-millennial brethren ; for they
believe that at the beginning, or before it is set up,
the sons of the kingdom, or the Jews, shall be
gathered into it, and shall have first place, next to
the king. It is a description of the kingdom in
heaven and not on earth, as the outer darkness and
the weeping and gnashing of teeth (references to the
lost in Hades) of those who are cast out abundantly
show. It is this kingdom of God in heaven which
" flesh and blood cannot inherit " (1 Cor. 15 : 50). The
kingdom here spoken of is the one which believers
inherit after the resurrection, as the connection of
this verse shows. Now, the earthly millennial
kingdom, according to pre-millennial conception,
is one in which a great host of saints in the
flesh shall have a share. In this place, where above
all others, perhaps, we might expect the reference to
be to this earthly kingdom, were there to be such

THE KINGDOM.

107

a oijc, it Is (](3riiiitely and (lociHivoly excluded — a
pretty sure indication tliat Paul ha<l no knowledge
of it.

Are we not then — in view of all these passages and
of others which might he adduced — compelled to
helieve that the aspect of the kingdom of hi'aven
under which it is spokiui of as future, is the kingdom
as it is in the heavenly glory, where there shall be
the realization of its aims and blessedness in ever-
growing fulness ? In all the passages (juoted. and
they constitute nearly all the allusions to the king-
dom in the New Testament, there is no reference to a
future territorial and material reign of our Lord on
earth ; in the most of them, this idea is absolutely
ruled out.

The expression "shall" or "shall not inherit the
kingdom of God," if it refers to the kingdom at all
as future, must mean become sharers in the kingdom
of glory. " Thy kingdom come " in the Lord's prayer
must be joined with "Thy will be done, as in heaven,
so on earth," or it may mean, come in the complete
realization of its purpose, in bringing all men into
loving subjection to Christ. We do not need to intro-
duce any visible reign of Christ in an earthly king-
dom to explain this passage. The kingdom of God,
into which Paul said the Ephesians must enter
through much tribulation (Acts 14 : 22), and of which
the Thessalonians sought to be worthy through suffer-
ing (2 Thess. I : 4, 5), does not need to be a visible king-
dom on earth, but the grander kingdom of glory, with
its rewards in heaven. " If we endure, we shall also

in
liii

108

A STUDY IN ESCHATOI-OUY.

rei<^n witli him" (2 Tim. 2:12) does not require
UH to think it a rei<^n on eartli, Imt in the eternal
^lory spoken of in v. 10. Is it not the absurdity
of literalism to infer from Luke 22:29, 80, "I
appoint unto you a kinj^dom, even as my Father
appointed unto me, that ye may eat and drink at
my table in my kingdom," that tliis is to be a
material kinpjdom, rather than considei' the form of
expression, "eat and drink," etc., as determined by
the circumstances which sugj^ested this whole pas-
sage ? In any case, Pre-millennialists believe this
kingdom will not be enjoyed by the apostles until
after their resurrection, and if they are then to
eat and drink, why not in heaven as well as on
earth, and, ir at all, why not forever ? This is
considered by Blackstone " the strongest proof that
the kingdom will be literal and material." As well
might we believe that Rev. 3 : 20, " Behold I stand at
the door and knock : if any man hear my voice and
open the door I will come in to liim, and will sup with
him and he with me," is to be taken literally. Both
passages refer to the condescending and intiniatf!
fellowship our Lord is to hold with His people. Matt.
26 : 29 may well be interpreted in a similar way. The
passage which was oner urged most strongly for the
doctrine of a material kingdom is Rev. 5 : 10. But
it was without manuscript authority, as in the
old version, and the revised version gives it, " They
reign on the earth," not " They shall reign." As this
vision is of the redeemed prior to the millennium, the
reign, as already exercised, cannot be of a visible and

THE KINGDOM.

109

iiiatt'iial kiiul, our pre-inillijiiiiial fri(in(lH tlieniHelvos

" Know yo not that tlio Haints sliall Jiid^c tlic world V
(I Cor. i) : 2) is ur;4»'<l in favor of a literal and niat«3rial
kin^^doni here on earth lint this is followed by
"Know ye not that W(^ shall jud«^e r.n<(('lsj'" in v.
.S. Now; if V. 2 proves that the sain are to share in
tlie literal jud«(ni(Uit of the world, meaning the wicked
of the world, then v. 8 nuist mean that there is really
to he a literal jud<^uient of holy an<^els, in which the
saints are likewise to share. It is safe to say that a
future judgment of an<^els in this literal sense is
foH'i^n to the teaehin«!j of the New Testament. It
wouM he very unsafe to base so large an inference
upon this one obscure passaoe. If it does not refer
to jud^nnent in this literal personal sense, in the one
case, it does not in the other. May it not mean that
the saints may judge the world and angels in the
sense that the standard of their life and thouirht is
that by which the world shall be condemned and the
angels justified :* In any case, the saints might have a
part with Christ in judging the wicked, and still there
be no personal reign of Christ on the earth. In the
passage "judge" can scarcely mean " I'ule," for in this
sense it could hardly be thought to be over angels. The
a])ostles sitting on twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel (Matt. 19 : 28), is a passage of acknow-
ledged difficulty. The judging is restricted to the
twelve and is not a general function of all the re-
deemed. Every one who has denied himself for
Christ's sake (v. 29) "shall receive an hundredfold";

;,,'['

Hi]

A STUDY IN ESCHATOT,OOY.

but tlio apo.stlcH only arc to ju(l;(^^ It is a Hpocial
function cxiirciHcd ovor Lsmcl, aii'l it will 1)0 ovor
l)oIievin<i^ Israel, aH most I're-iMillcnniali.sts suppose;
for th(;y hol<i tliat Israel is to bo converted before the
second advent, or, at h^ast, in eonneetion with it.
Whatever it may mean, therefore, it constitutes slight
cvid(uice for a j' rsonal rei<(n of our Lord and His
people on the earth. We have; already ^iven extended
notio'j ,0 Rev. 20 : 4-0. It may be ad<led, in this con-
nectioi ^at nothin*^ is said in thai, passaj^e about a
1 ''^n on the earth; it is "reign with Christ," that is
all. If the interpretation we have «;iven of this pas-
sa<(e be alon<5 the ri<j;ht line, then it has no reference
to a personal rei^^n. In Matt. 21 : 43, "The kin<;dom
of Orod shall be taken away from you, and shall be
given to « nation bringing forth the fruits thereof,"
the meaning doubtless is that the special otter of its
blessings to the Jews as the ancient people of God,
shall be withdrawn, and its blessings be opened to the
Gentiles, who would be prepared to bring forth its
fruits. This began to be fulHUed when Paul at Anti-
och turned to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46), and when
at Rome, after " testifying the kingdom of God " to
the Jews (Acts 28 : 28) and their rejection of his mes-
sage, he declared, " Be it known therefore unto you,
that this salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles:
they will also hear " (v. 28). It is significant that
the kingdom of the Pre-millennialists is one in which
the Jews are to have the first place.

We have now referred to about all the passages in
the New Testament, pertinent to the question under

THE KINODOM.

Ill

iliHCiiHsioii. That tlic Uin^jdom of licavi'ii \h Hpiritnal,
a roiirn in nu'ii's liearts, aiwl not iiwit«'rial, over eartli
as ft territory — that this kin^^dom and n-i^n l)(>;;an
when our Lord was on eartli, was rnoro formally os-
ta])liHh('d at His ascenHion to tlio ri;^l»t hand ol* power,
and that our [jord is now excrcisinj; His rule, seem
altunihuitly manit'cst. 11' th.is is made clear, we must
not assume that the principU's and metliods of tins
kinirdom are to be revolutionized at some future tinie,
and a rule of force as well as of t^race in a material
kingdom begun, unless upon the clearest (evidence.
Still less should we be disposed to do this, if we boar
ill mind that God's kinirdom on earth was once of this
character, and that it has issued forth from the more
material into the spiritual. A conception of it which
re(|uires us to believe it will revert back to the more
material, is too much like progress ending in retrogres-
sion, at least in some of its features, to be acce|)table.
The support, also, which Pre-millennialists claim for
this belief from the New Testament is in allusions
which are scant and not without obscurity. It is doing
them no wrong to state that their chief reliance, to
make good their claim that our Lord is to reign per-
sonally on the earth, is upon Old Testament prophecy,
in connection with their belief in the restoration of
the Jews to their own land. We proceed to consider
the prophetic teaching upon which they depend.

!5I! .

112

A STirDY IN KSfHAT()t,()(»V.

CHAPTKR VIII.

TIIK KINCJnoM {CnndmM).

Pke-.MFLF.EMNIAMsts hold tliiit the throno of J)»ivi(I,
spoUon of in ( )l(l 'reHtainont prophecy, is distinc-
tively our Loril's throne. They chiini tliat He is now
sittin<r on His Father's tlirone, at His ri^dit hand, and
has not yet assumed rule in His own kin;^d()in. It is
only at His second coniin;^ tiiat He steeps down from
this tlirone to take tluit of His earthly father David,
and rule in His proper kin<^doni.

It is a rei<^n of our Lord in person, from His throne
in Jerusalem, over a subject world.*

Bishop Nicholson, in the address from whicli I have
already (pioted, puts the view very elo(|uently : "In
the Davidic sonship He takes the kingdom that has
descended to Him, the earthly throne that He has in-
herited, reigning therefrom in all essential attributes
of our manhood, yet robed in the majesty of His God-

*Iii discussion, prominent Pre-millennialists sometimes deny that
their view of tiie millennial kingdom involves the personal and con-
tinued presence of Christ on earth, or the presence here of saints in
resurrection bodies. But how can Christ reif^fn personally, and how
can saints share in the blessings of this earthly kingdom, unless they
are present in person on the earth ? The anomalies involved in the
pre-millennial ccmception of the millennial kingdom cannot be
avoided by any denials of this sort.

TIIK KINGDOM.

h( otl. Tims His Duvi'lic lufirsliip will Iwivo Ihmmj iiiado
jivaiJjiMr iiy reason of His u('C'oiii)>lislu><l utonrniciit,
jirnl us >i piit'st as well as ji kin^, llr will sit on the
throne oF Ilis;^lory. A theocracy, then, the kin<^<ioin
of the Christ will be, a divinc-hnman monarchy,
wlu.'rein, as well as the Savionr ami the snprenu'
ohject of worship, the world's supreme civil ruler He
will lie Men shall see the kin^ in His heauty, evan-
«;elist divine, society's re<j;enerator, creation's master,
• dorious in holiness <loin<j wonders.' *

As we have already remarked, this interpretation
of prophecies referrin*^ to the exaltation and reij^n of
our Lord, as well as those describin«( the future exal-
tation of Israel, is identical with that of the Jews
themselves. Let us see whether this interpretation
can be adopted and not Icjad to impossible conclusions
— conclusions which not only have no support in the
New Testament, but which are in contradiction to its
teachint^.

In order to fi^et a clear view of the (question, we
must ^o back to the covenant promises made to Abra-
ham and David, and strive to learn whether their
assurances, taken in a literal way all through, have
been or can be fultilled.

Let us turn first to Gen. 17:7,8: "And I will
establish my covenant between me and thee, and thy
seed after thee throughout their generations, for
an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to
thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and

''if ,

"Prophetic studies," p. 143.

A STUDY IN ESCTIATOT.OOY.

to thy H«'('(l after ihw, tlu' lami of tliy Hojoiinnii^H, all
the liuid of (yanaati, for an evoriaHtiii;; posHOMMion." In
the n^nuwal of the covenant ((Jen. 22: \H) there iH
added, "and in tliy Heed Hhall all tlio nationH of the
earth he hleHHed."

TluH covenant waH renewed to Isaac (Oon. 2() : .*J-5),
an<l to Jacob ((ien. 'Vt : 12). Do thcHe pronn'seH that
the (leHcendants of Abraham .shall |)oh.s(^h.s the land of
Canaan thron^hout their j^eneration foi* an everhiHt-
inp poHHCssion, asHiire that Israel shall afjain, as a
nation, rule Palestine i If Dr. West's statement, in
"IVophetie Studies," p. 12(1, is correct, an< I "(jlod's cov-
enant with Abraham is all of grace, and therefore
.unconditional," if it is taken literally, its promises
have been broken. For nearly two thousand years
the Israelites have not possessed the land of Canmin
"in their generations." They have not continued to
hold it as an "everlasting" possession, even in any
restricted sense in which this word may be used.
These promises, therefore, which give no pledga of
continued possession, in a literal way, can give no
assurance of restored possession, when it is once lost.
According to Leviticus, chap. 2G, however, it appears
that the covenant was conditioned upon obedience,
and its blessings lost through disobedience. Repent-
ance only could restore them when forfeited. How,
and how far, the Israelites would repent and the
blessings of the old covenants be theirs, is not declared.
No safe argument for a restored kingdom of Israel in
Canaan can possibly be urged from this covenant

TIIK KINO DOM.

116

ina<l«' witli Ahnilijuii ami rcMU'Wod with Tsiuir aiul

A II<mm1 of li^^ht, liowevfM", is thiovvn upon tluj whole
<|U«'.stion l>y N«'W 'I'^staiiu'iit tt'ucliiii;;. So far a.s the
"Hoed" of Al)nihaiii was to l)0 tlu' iii(!<lium or chainicl
of l)I«'H.siii«r to "all uatioMH," l*aul (IcclarcH (ion. 22: IH,
"In thy .so(m1 .shall all thc^ iiatioriH of tlio eartli b«
hloHMe<i,' to have iHiceivod its fulfiliMcnt in CMirist
((ial. M: 1(5): "Now to Ahrahani wrro tht* proiniNOH
spokt'M. Ho Haith not, And to HoodH, jih of many :
hut a.s of one, And to thy .sood, which is Chri.st." So
far as tho Hood of Ahrahain aro tho ohjocts of hlosH-
iu;;, it is of hlcHsinj^ which must come throu^jh Chri.st,
and as to thoso l»lo.sHin^.s, 'Thoro can ho noitlior Jew
nor Grook " ((Jal. .*i : 28), "circunjcision and uncircuin-
cision" (Col. 3 : 1 1), hut all aro one in Christ: so that,
"If yo bo Clnist's thon aro ye Ahraliam'.s Hcod, lioirs
according to tiio proniiso" ((iai. 3: 29), hocau.se in tho
f^ospol disponsation, "Ho is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is out-
ward in the Hosh ; but he i.s a .Jew which i.s one
inwardly: and circumcision is that of tho heart, in
the spirit not in tho letter" (Rom. 2 : 28, 29). They
"are the circumcision" — the Jews in the gospel sen.se
— "who worship God in the spirit," etc. (Phil. 3: 3).
Therefore it is that the "middle wall of partition ' is
broken down so that the Ephesian Gentiles who had
been "alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and
stranj^ers from the covenants of the promise" might
have the fullest participation in all their blessings
through the common condition of accepting the

Il({

A S'rrDV IN EMCIIATol.OdV.

■'(M

1 j

!
it

^iu

rjospd (Kpli. *2 : 11-10). ami tlms Iwcftmo "fellow-
licii'N iiikI i'l'llow-iiiniilH'i'H (>r tilt; Ixxly hii*1 rdiow-
purtiikrrH of tlu> ])roiiiiHo in ('lirist .Icsiim tlirou^^li
tlu» ;;oMjn'l " (Kpli. M : (I). All tlh' hlt'SMiii^H of tlu*
covciiJintM imuh' to AI)niliHiit, tlu'reforc, instcud of <lt'-
HC'ciulin^ to his litt-nil h(!i,(I, Jirr iiiln'rit('<l hy lioIirvorH,
vvlictlwr tln»y ho Juvvm or C}riitii«'H. On the other
IiuikI, HOIK! of liicst' lilcNMinn^H Mhiill <l»'H(M'ii(l to uiiy
Ix'cjiu.se of men' iK'shly ih'HiM'Mt, l)e they Jc^wh or (ien-
tiloH. The llcshly lino of mitiinil deHceiit isHueH in
the Hpirituui line of those who are cliiMreii of Ahra-
haiii tlirou;;h haviii;^ like faith (Koin. 4: HI). If,
therefore, these piouiiseH of the covenant made to
Al)rahani assure to any tlie j)ossession of the land of
Canaan and a national rule, it will be to all believers
and not to the .lews as a p- '>ple. Hut if the New
Testament interpretation of the promises of this cov-
enant forbid that they be taken literally for the natu-
ral secid of Abraham, why are wo recpiiied to hold
that the inheritance is the literal and physical
Canaan ;* The truth is, if the Jews are to be restored
to their old land as a people, we must depend U])on
other Scriptures than the covenant promise to Abra-
ham to assure us of it.

Pre-millennialists, however, believe that the cov-
enant made with David not only confirms their inter-
pretation that the one to Abraham assures the restor-
ation of Canaan to Israel, but also makes it plain that
our Lord shall reif^n over restored Israel in person,
and involves their whole doctrine of His glorious and
visible rule over all the earth. Let us examine the

TIIK KINCiDoM.

117

IcrtnH of tlnM Piivifllr rovcnutit, to hov wIh'Out HiIm
conclusion is justifird.

This covoiwmt is first j;ivrn in 2 Sum. 7 : 1- IS,
rspccijilly V. 16: "An<l thy lioiisi' iinil tliy kiri;^<i<nn
mIiuII 1m« iuikK' sure I'on'vcr Im-I'imt tlict* : tliy tlirono
slmll in5 «'stal>liMlin| fon-ver." It is rcfcnrd to in l*s.
H9:4: "Thy sctMl will I t'stalilisli I'oiovor, aiul huiM
up thy throiu' to all ;;rn«'nitions," an<l rojicato*] in vs.
•J!>, Mf), 'Mi in Kul)s(aii(ially thr sainr trrnis. It is also
of this covenant that ilcrciiiiah sjx'aks (Jcr. MM : '21):
"Then may also my covenant he hiukiMi with David
my servant, that he shouM not have a son to rei^ni
upon liis tiirono ' (as specified in v. 17): "David shall
never want a man to sit upon the throne of the h<mse
of Israel." Similarly he declares of tlu^ Jewi.sli wor-
ship, "Neither shall the priests the Levites want a
man hefore me to offer burtit off\'rin^^s, and to burn
ohiations, and to «lo sacrifice continually" (v. IH).

Now, no literal interpi'etatioii of these covemmt
promi.ses which makes them refer to a rule over
Israel as a pc'ople, or to the ancient priestly and
li(!vitical oflerin^^s and sacrifices, can ho carrie«l
throu^^di. They assure an unbroken rule of David's
seed, and nn unbroken succession of priests and Le-
vites offering ^ifts and sacrifices before the Lord.
The rule is over Israel, and the priests and Levites
perfonnin<( their functions are in Israel. Any inter-
pretation to serve the literalists in their claim that
these j)assa<^es assure the restoration of the Jews to
their old land, to enjoy rule and ^lory under David's
greater Son, is an interpretation wliich proves these

- ■! •■

I •:•

|i lili
1 ^

ik^ *^

ll.s

A STCDY IN ESCIIATOLOGY.

prophecies falHo. The unbroken rule of David'H line,
and the unbroken succession of priests, Levites and
sacrifices, are as clearly declared as the fact of the
rule an<l pri«!sthood, and sacrifices. But there has
been neither kinjjf on the throne of Israel, nor sacri-
fices, for nearly two thousand years. Neither the one
nor the other has been unbroken, if they must be
taken literally. Unless these are to be held as false
prophecies, they must be interpreted in some other
way.

Not less do the terms of these prophecies, in other
respects, as we have seen vs true of other prophecies,
render this interpretation impossible. The priests,
Levites and sacrifices are declared to be perpetual in
the same terms as is the rule. So lonj^, therefore, as
Christ shall sit on His throne, in the sense Pre-millen-
nialists hold that He will, so long must priests, Levites
and sacrifices continue, in the same sense. The priests
and sacrifices nuist be as literal .as the reign, and con-
tinue as long. How many of the Pre-inillennialists
of to-day are willing to accept this necessary outcome
of their interpretation, and believe a restored Judaism
to be the final issue of Christianity ? But, if they
say that we are not required to believe that priests,
etc., are ever to continue the same literal priests and
sacrifices as at the beginning, why then mu.st the rule
necessarily continue to be of the same visible and
personal kind as was David's ?

So also the reign of David's line was to be over Israel.
Not oidy is there no mention made of any other
than Israelites as under this rule, but all others than

THE KINGDOM.

119

hey

IsnicliteH and their proaelyti'S arc expreaaly ruled out
in oilier pa.ssa<^e.s. Not only the uncircumcised in
heart, but tJie uncircunici.sed in Heah, are excluded from
the sanctuary (E/ek. 44 : 9, which, is held to be a de-
scription of the millennial kingdom). The Davidic
line is as plainly declared to rule over Israel exclu-
sively, meaning by Israel the Jews, their proselytes
and subjects, as it is promised rule at all. If the rule,
therefore, must continue to be of the same personal
and visible kind as was David's at the beginning, so
nmst it be over the same Israel exclusively as that
which David ruled. This, then, is one aspect of the
state of things to which the pre-millennial interpre-
tation commits us as the final outcome of the religious
growth of the ages. A triumphant Jewish nation,
and an everlasting Judaism. In Christ there is to be
Jew and Gentile. The middle wall of partition is to
be restored. The Jews, notwithstanding their long
rejection of Christ, are not only to be saved, but are
to be exalted to supreme dignity over those who have
accepted Him centuries before. The descendants of
the Jews who have been accepting Him from the first
age, and, from intermarriage with Gentiles, have lost
their connection with their own ancient people, will
have to take lower rank than those who have per-
sistently opposed Him until His second coming. All
Christians, Gentiles as well as Jews, as a reward for
their earlier submission to Christ, will be required to
accept the Jewish ritual, and take inferior rank under
those who have resisted Him till the end.

No, our pre-millennial brethren cannot accept this

120

A STUDY IN ESL'IIATOLOOY.

■V

tti {iJlhiil

1 i-^!

ai-.iii::i;::, ,1:.

outcome of their literal into'pretation. But it' they
aflmit these prophecies do not .shut us in to Christ's
personal and visible rei^n over Israel exclusively, why
should they shut us in to a personal rei^n at all, seeing
that both the reif:rn itself and the fact that it is over
Israel, are declared with equal explicitness to be literal
forever, if literal at all or for either ?

But is there an interpretation which is less open
to objection ? We believe there is, and that it is given
by the New Testament writers, especially the apostle
Paul.

Our Lord was the antitype of David. Peter declares
this at Pentecost. It was not of himself that David
said, " My flesh shall rest in hope because thou wilt
not leave my soul in Hades, neither wilt thou give
thy Holy One to see corruption" (Acts 2 : 2G-28;
comp. Ps. 1G:10), but of "the resurrection of the
Christ" (v. 31). Peter also declares David "being a
prophet and knowing that God had sworn with an
oath to him," in that very covenant promise of 2 Sam.
7 : 16, from which Pre-millennialists derive their chief
argument for a reign of Christ on earth, " that of the
fruit of his loins he would set one upon his throne ;
he foreseeing this spake of the resurrection of the
Christ " (vs. 30, 31). " Being therefore," .Peter fur-
ther explains, " by the right hand of God exalted,"
through the resurrection, and, most certainly, to this
promised throne of David, " and having received of
the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath
poured forth," in the exercise of His kingly function
on this throne, " this which ye see and hear." Peter

THE KIXUDOM.

121

furtlior (leclaniH that IN. 110: 1 is an «>xpn»HH pnMlic-
tioii of Chri.st's exaltation to tlie throne promised to
David'H seed in 2 Sam. 7 : 10, an<l from which ho lias
poured out the Holy (Jhost (vs. 34, Ho). " Let all tlie
house of Israel, therefore," in view of the ar«^un>ent
he has just concluded — this house of Israel that has
crucified Christ and is expectin<; jMessiah to come as
a national ruler, as do Pre-millennialists — let Israel
know assuredly the truth which runs counter to their
l)itterest prejudices " that God hath made him both
Lor<l and Christ" (v. 3G). He is now, as iMessiah,
seated on the throne of the Messiah promised to David
and to his seed. Can this laniruaire and this artrument
be forced to mean that our Lord was not to ascend
this promised throne, and to exercise His autliority as
the antitype of David, until thousands of years should
pass { Peter virtually says, Israel is looking for a
Messiah who is to reign from an earthly throne. He
is to rei<;n, but from the throne in heaven, whither
He went wlien He was raised from the dead and
ascended on high. Do not reject Him as though He
were not a king. He is a king, and is now ruling
from the throne promised to His father David.

In Acts 5 : 29-31, Peter, in a similar way, associates
our Lord's resurrection with His exaltation to regal
authority : " The God of our fathers raised up Jesus
whom ye slew, hanging him on a tree, him did God
exalt with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour,
for to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins."
This rule, as a prince, is doubtless tha lich he had
already spoken of at Pentecost, which fulfilled the

122

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

covenant j)roiniHO(l to David, tliat he should not want
a man to sit on his throne, an<l the only rule of Christ
of which Peter ^ives any Itint anywhere.

Similarly James (in Acts 15 : 15 w/.) interprets
the prophecy of Amos (9 : 11 w/.), "And I will
build a<ifain the tabernacle of David which is fallen,
and I will build a^ain the ruins thereof, and I will set
it up, that the residue of men may seek after the
Lord and all the Gentiles," as affording proof that
the Gentiles are to share in the promises to Israel,
and as already in process of fulHlment in the conver-
sion of the Gentiles as represented by the case of
Cornelius.*

Heb. 10: 12, 13 seems absolutely conclusive that
Christ's present rule is the rule He will exercise
till the end. " But he, when he had offered one sac-
rifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God : from henceforth expecting till his enemies be
made the footstool of his feet." If this does not de-
clare that He is to sit on the seat at the right hand
of God to which He was exalted from the cross and
grave, until all His enemies are vanquished, what
does it mean ? His present rule will, then, continue
to the end. How any can, in view of this passage,
hold that our Lord must leave this very seat at God's
right hand, from which " he expects till his enemies
shall be made the footstool of his feet " and assume

* Dr. ftordon regards Acts 15 : 14-18 as the "programme of
Redemption." He makes v. 14 I'efer to the gathering out of the
(Jeiitiles — the first act ; v. !(!, the conversion and restoration of
Lsrael at Christ's personal coming — the second act; v. 17, the con-
version of the worUl in the millennium— the third act. This is
eisegesis surely.

THE KIN(M)()M.

123

jUK)tli()r tlinuio, wliich thoy aHHume to bo His own (or
David'.s), ill (liHtiiiclion to tluH, which thoy say is His
K.'itherH, before His cnetnios can be Hulxhied, is pa.sH-
in^ Htranj^^e. Nay, more; liow they can beheve tliat
the world is to f^row worse nnd worse, and men be-
come more and more rebellious and hardened a<^ainst
His rule so lonj; as He sits on His throne at the
Father's ri^ht iiand, is stranger still, when it is de-
clare<l that His enemies are to bo made the footstool
of His feet before He leaves it. Similarly conclusive
is that much-abused passage (I Cor. 15: 23-20):
" But each in his own order, Christ the firstfruits :
then they that are Christ's at his coming. Then
Cometh the end, when he shall deliver up the king-
dom to God, even the Father: when he shall have
abolished all rule and all authority and power. For
he must reign, till he hath put all his enemies under
hio feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is
death." When it is said here " he must reign till,"
etc., does this mean He shall continue to reign as
now, or He shall only begin to reign in the reign
which shall "put all his enemies under his feet," at
some distant future time ? The latter meaning is im-
possible. When, also, is the time of the end, " when
he shall have delivered up the kingdom to the
Father"? It is not to be "until he has put all his
enemies under his feet." The last of these is death,
and death is put beneath His feet in the resurrection.
Now, what was the resurrection that Paul could have
suppose<l vaiKpiished death and gave the limit to our
Lord's mediatorial rule, at which He surrendered it

124

A STI'DV IN' KSCIIATOIJKJV.

fhU

into tho hjinds of the Fatlicr, but tlie iVHurrectioii
about wliich lie was troatin<; at lenj^th ?

Now, thiH, ns our pre-milltMniial friends ^^enorally
hold, was tho resurrection of the rijj^hteous. It is
then that all enemies, even to the last of them, have
been put beneath His feet. It is then that He com-
pletes His work on earth.

Instead of bej^innin*:; to rei^n in His kin<^dom, when
He comes and raises the ri<^hteous dead, it is then He
surrenders His rule. Instead of cominjj^ to lift a sink-
ing; cause up into triumph. His enemies are all sub-
dued when He comes to destroy th(! last enemy, death,
in the resurrection of the righteous he is describing.

Is it too much to affirm that the pre-millennial in-
terpretation of the Old Testament prophecies of tho
throne of David and the perpetual reign of his seed
is dashed to pieces l)y the teaching of the New Testa-
ment ? Christ as tho Son of David has already taken
up into himself all the kingly authority promised
to his seed, and is already ruling on the prophetic
throne of David. The rule He is now exercisiuij: from
heaven is the only kind of rule He shall ever wield
over the earth. Old Testament prophecy interpreted
in the light of New Testament teaching gives no sup-
port to the idea of a visible reign of Christ on earth.
Thus interpreted, the promises that David should
never want a man to sit on his throne is fulfilled.
Up to the time of our Lord's first coming, the de-
scendants of David continued to have a kind of rule
over the Jews. Since He came and ascended on high.
He has been exercising a higher form of kingly

THE KINf;D()M.

125

authority, julaptod to tho julvunco in .spirituality of
the new (lisjx'Usation uh coiiipaiHid with the oM, ovor
the antityjK' of Lsnud, and this is never to end.

Now, thJH l>ein^ eHtahlished, all things else nmst
adjust theniHelves around thin more Hj)iritual concep-
tion of Clirist's rule. There is no need of a national
Israel for Him to <^overn. Nay, a rule, includini; all
the functitmH of civil ^(ovei'nmont, as Dr. Nicliolson
holds, would be inconsistent altot^cther with a spirit-
ual rule over the hearts of men, such as our [.lord
lunv wields, and is to wield perpetually. So we find
that the true Israelites, in the New Testament sense
— those who are the children of the promise made to
Abraham and his seed — are those who receive life
from Christ, the seed in whom all naticma should be
blessed, and who have the same faith that made
Abraham the object of blessintr. The Jews, through
their unbelief, were broken ott* from this believing
stock (Rom. 11 : 17 «7.), and the believin^^ Gentiles
are grafted in and partake of all the root and fatness
of the olive tree. Just as David and his natural de-
scendants ruled over natural Israel, so there is a
spiritual Israel in which " neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creature,"
and over which our Lord sways His spiritual sceptre,
and both sway and people are the only sway and
people, until the end.

All this is further confirmed by the fact that there
is no hint in the New Testament of a restored Jewish
nation, much less of a restored Jewish nation with
priests and sacrifices and supremacy. The heart of

if 'I

126

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

Piiul vvjiM coiisuiikmI with loii^^iiijj- for tho wrlfiirc of
liis pooplc, (jHpociiilly JIM In; was penning tlu! oulliiio of
thoir futiin' in UomaiiH, cliaps. 9- 1 1. Surely if ilio
^lory of a national restoration undc'r (Christ as visible
kin«jf was to he theirs, mention woul<l l)e nia<h' of it
here. Hut tlie <(reat hope whicli eomforted Paul and
was to comfort liis fellow-countrymen who had be-
lieved, and which also exhausted the fulness of the
promises an<l vindicated the divim; faitld'ulness, was
the preservation of a faitliful remnant before Christ
came, wlio were the real "children of the promise"
wliich are "reckoned for a seed" (9 : 0-10, 27), the
preservation of a believing renuiant after He had ap-
peared (11 : 1-8), and the salvation of " all 1 rael,"
after " the fulness of the Gentiles be come in," through
the taking away of their sins (11 : 25-27). It is the
reception of the Jews to the blessings of the Gospel,
which are common to Jews and Gentiles alike, on the
common condition of faith. They are to be grafted
in as a shoot among the Gentile branches wliich have
long been growing on the old root of promised spirit-
ual blessings. They are to be saved in the same
sense as, and in no other sense tlian, the fulness of
the Gentiles, All Israel is to be saved because all
Israel, one by one, is to believe. Both Alford and
Meyer, though favoring the pre-millennial view in
some things, declare that the prophetic expression,
" There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer" (v. 2G),
means merely that the Redeemer should spring from
Israel, and gives no hint of His coming to reign over
the Jews on earth.

THE KINrmOM.

127

Neither is it ho <lit!ieult to conceive w'ly lln' Ijui-
^im^^e oF ()l«l 'rcstument jjiophcey ol' Hpiiituiil l)l<'N.sin<;
in the new MiMpcnMution Hhould be in teriM.soi' natiotnil
l)leHMinj^ to national Israel. Is it Htian;;e, For instance,
tliat tli(! ruh; oF I ))ivi( I'm greater Son hIiouM he spoken
oF as still located in Jerusalenj, the seat oF David's
line, and that its power and hicssin^ should he repre-
sented as continuinj^ to ^o Foith From this ])lacc,
which had for loiii; ai'cs been the centre oF (iod's
iiianiFestations to Israel i Is it stranjjje that the
hi«;hest religious service an<l worship in the ^dorious
and spiritual gospel era, should be in ti^rins of the
priesthood, sacrifices and Feasts, which represented
the hitchest conception that prophet or people had of
them? The descriptions oF the triumphs oF tin; ^(ospel
dispensation of peace and ^mice, as couched in the
lan^ua<je of victories on fields oF blood, may be under-
stood, when we remember that this is the only kind
of victory for God which the Israelites knew. These
prophecies were all addressed to Israei'tes. In any
other lancruage than that which to them most nearly
represented the truth to be communicated, the pro-
pliecies would have been unintelligible.

They were yet unprepared for the conception of a
spiritual rule of Christ from heaven. His reign must
be represented in terms of the rule which to them
was most glorious, and most like His rule which was
to be. Equally unable were they to conceive of
religion without priests and sacrifices. The religion
of the gospel age was, therefore, represented in the
terms of their own, lifted up and purified to the
utmost. And so of all the rest. Even in the New

128

A STUDY IN EhCMATOLOOV.

If <

'I'r.stjuiH'iit ill tlic l)<M»k of Kcvrlatioii wo liiivt; tli«

IICHCcI'llI COIKlUt'.st.S of tllC (tOHjU'I, ail«l i\\V st I'llJ^^^lfH ol'

tho ('liun'li, n'pr.'Montod in Homo pjisHugoH in tliu lan-
gUJi^(5 of huttlo ami <»!' l)l()()«l.

In coiifiriiiatioii of all tliis, as we liavo Heeii, ho much
of ()I<1 TcstaiiK'iit prophecy rcHpt'ctin«( Israel, the
kin;,^(loiii mikI rt'i;^ni of Messiah, etc., as is explained by
New 'restaiiiciit writers, is ref«'rrc<l hy them to the
spiritual Israel of which th*' nation was the type, and
to the present kingdom and reign of Christ on earth.
Not one of those propliecies is referred by them to a
natural and national Israel. Must we not, therefore,
interpret the prophecies to which New Tcistament
writers make no nd'erence, in the one and only way
they explain those they do explain ? To do otherwise
woidd 1)0 the liei^ht of presumption.

We also call special attention to anotlu'r point.
Many pro-millennial writers admit that, literally
interpreted, Old Testament prophecy is almost, if not
alto;^ether, silent about the Church and the history
of God's people in the whole gospel age, from Pente-
cost until the second advent. The exigencies of their
theory seem to demand this position. For instance,
Blackstone says, " The church came in mystery and
was but rarely, if at all, spoken of in Old Testament
prophecies."*

Mcintosh declares: "There is not so much as a single
syllable about the church of God, the body of Christ,
from cover to cover of the Old Testament. "i*

* •• Jesus is Coming." p. 59.

t " Papers on the Lord's Coining," p. 22,

THF KixnnoM.

12!»

Dr. hrookos : "Tlu» church jih now cxiHtiii;;, foriiiin;^
the iny.stical h(Miyjunl hri<l«' ()f ('hrist, wjih not known
to th«' Old Testuinrnt prophrtH."*

For Htatonionts ho positivo and involvin;; ho much
that iH W('Il-ni;;h increclihli', th»y (K'|M'n(l for proof
chiclly upon Kpli. 8: .'>-!), wliicli nioroly <k'cIart'H that
tlio niyHtcry npokcn of had not lu-on ho clearly nm<l(»
known, in the othrr ^ciU'ratiouH, an it wan now
p'Vralt'd to the apoHtlos an«l prophets of the new
(liHponHntion.

'I'he literal an<l pre-iniliennial interpretation, then,
recjuires uh to helicve that the prophets whosf visionn
were clear and explicit rej^ardin;^ onr Lord'n first
coiiiini;. His lifts death, resurrection, ascension aiul
the pourin<^ out of the Spirit, see nothing; < f the \on^
a«^es which were to follow, as the ('hurcli arose and
Mis diHci[)les, in the power of the Spirit, sou^lit to
fulfil the partin*^ instructions of their Lord, hy preach-
in"^ tlie (lospel to the whole creation. After this
centuries lon^ blank in proplietic vision, when only
obscure hints rise up out of the dense darkness of the
unrevealed ; then, away beyond the second coinintj of
the Lord, the far horizon is all a^low with li<jfht, as
seer after seer gives enraptured descriptions of a
kinjjfdoni, a rule and a restored Israel, in a glory which
is to be peri)etual. There lies against the forcing of
the literal interpretation tlirougli Old Testament pro-
})lu'cy, with all that it involves, the tremendous
pivsuniption against the belief that there should be

Maranatha," p. 438.

130

A MTl'DV IN KS«||AT(M,o<JV.

this ^iviit liiiidiM in propliocy coV(>rin^ all tli«^ <liN)ii>ti-
Hjition of tlio Spirit tli«' wry liiiu', w«? iiii;;lit wi«ll
Hiip[)<)H«>, tlitit would (ill to tli«> full the proplirtic
vJHiori of the future tlmt tlh> Mfcoii<l coiiiiii;;, in
prophecy, HUCcoudH thu tirnt with next to notlung
botwiM'n.

If our iir^unient has force, uikI the colh'Ctivo Ixxiy
of U'liovers is tlie antitype of prophetic Israel, thou
tliis oxtravat^ant assuniptioii is without fouutlatiou.
IVrhaps it may l)o well to refer to a few uuivo. pas-
Ha;^es which support our position, and some also which
aro in <lirect conflict with this idea that prophecy <lid
not have the present <liHp(!nsation in its visi<»ns of the
future. Peti^r writinj^ to the elect of the dispensation,
" in sanctifieation of the Spirit, unto obedience and
sprinkling of the bloo<l of .Jesus C'hrist," declares (1
Pet. 2: 5): " Ye nrlso as livinj^ stones are built up a
spiritual house, to be a holy priisstliood, to oH'er up
spiritual sacriHces, acceptable to (iod through Jesus
Christ." He continues in v. : " Hut ye are an elect
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for
God's own possession." Whether Peter is writinff to
Jewish Christians alone, or to mixed churches of
Jewish and Gentile converts, the teaching; is the .same.
Gathering up all that the Israelites had been, and
still claimed to be, to God, Peter turns away from
natural Israel to these scattered believers, and declares
them to be the antitype of (iod's ancient people:
*' Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for God's own possession." Yc do not
possess a material temple, as did Israel, but ye consti-

THR KINcnoM.

ini

lute H tt'iiiplc, as yu "UN living sioiuvs iirt; Ixiilt up u
Hpirituul lioiiMr " Y«', Its "iilioly prirMtluMMl," " «>tK'i'
up spiritual sacriMcfN," of wliicli ilm oM utlorin^js
will Ik? I)ut thr material type. F«>r IN'tur, i\ui .Ifwi.sh
" riico," " nation," " prirHtlKMxl," " pooph?," " .sarriUcuH,"
" tiMiiplu " lia<l tli«Mr iii;;li(>r an*i aiititypioal roali/atiou
in l)«'liuvurH. Tlio natural and material had isHUcii in
the spiritual. So far as we can ju<l^<' from his
uritir>;;s, all the promises to prophetic Israel had their
fultilnient in helii^vers. Of a retro;^ression from the
H|)i ritual antityp(; to the fleshly and material typo
Pt'ter seems to have known nothint;.

Paul in Hom. !) : 24-27 (|Uotes IIos. 2 : 2'.] and 1 : 10,
which was spoken l>y the proj)het coneeriH'n<;a rcHtora-
tion of Israel to favor, as covering; the reception of
(lentiles a.s well as tiews under tlu^ (Jospel, to he tho
Lord's people. This prophecy, which refeii'cfl primarily
to the restoration from the captivity, Paul declarea
to have its antitypical fulfilment in tho <^osj)el day.

In Gal. 4: 2l-.'n Paul declares that two .sons of
Ahraham, I.shmael hy a handmaid, and Isaac l»y a free-
woman, furnish an alle;^ory. The former was horn
.'liter the flesh, the latter hy promise. Ishmael horn of
llaj^^ar, corresponded to the old covenant from Sinai,
and was represented by Jeru.salem as it then was in
hondage with her children; Lsaac corresponde*! to
tlie Jeru.salem that is above and free, of whom all
l)elievers are children. In the reception of believers
into the churcli was fulfilled, in its (grandest and final
Ht'M.se, fsa. 54: 1, which referred directly to Lsrael.
Hence, Paul conclu<les, " We brethren, as Lsaac was

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132

A STUDY IN ESCirATOLOCY.

are children of promise." We believerH are the real
IsraelitoH, the real children of promise with Isaac.

In Hel). 8 : 6 wy., the two covenants are compared.
Tlie first was that made with the Israelites, when
God delivered them from Kgypt. The second, or new
covenant, is that of the new dispensation of the Gos-
pel, as is seen in the succeeding elaboration of the
author's thouijht. Yet this new covenant — of the
t^ospel dispensation as explained in Hebrews — is sai<l,
in the proj)hecy in Jer. ."31 : .'31-34, as quoted, to be
made ' with the house of Israel and with the liouse
of Judah " (Heb. 8: 8). The promise of a new cov-
enant to Israel and Judah is fulfilled, under the Gos-
pel, to all who accept Christ by faith and are regen-
erated. If promises made explicitly to Israel are
interpreted by New Testament writers as fulfilled in
the new dispensation in believers, whether of Jew or
Gentile, they must have identified the Israel of these
prophecies with believers.

Almost all of Hebrews is to explain how the nation
and religion of Israel have their hiirhest realization
in Christ and Christianity. The author gives us not
the remotest hint that there was any promise or cov-
enant to Israel which was to be fulfilled in any other
way than in their partaking of the common salva-
tion, and sharing in its blessings, which are for all
alike. His wdiole argument goes to show that all the
prophetic promises to Israel, so far as he knew them,
were to be fulfilled in this way, and in this way only.

Again in Rom. 10 : 18-21 Paul (juotes prophecies

I "1

iii.

THE KINGDOM.

r,v.]

which he interprets as fulfilled in the conversion of
the Gentiles which was then in pro<;res.s, and in Rom.
15: 9VA he refers the reader to several otliers which
hi! interprets as bein<; fulfilled in the same way. It
is especially noticeable that he (quotes the theocratic
passage, "There shall be the root of Jesse, and he
that aristjth to ride over the Gentiles, on him shall the
Gentiles hope" (v. 12), where the Messiah is referred
to in His kint^ly dij^nity, and in the exercise of His
royal rule as a prophetic description of the spiritual
subjection of the Gentiles to Christ through their
conversion, and having no reference to a future per-
sonal rule of our Lord on earth.

In this connection we refer again to Rom. 11 : 25-
.')2, but especially to vs. 25-29 : " For I would not have
you ignorant of this mystery, lest ye be wise in your
own conceits, that a hardening in part hath befallen
Israel, until the fulness of the (Jentiles be come in : and
so, all Israel shall be saved, as it is written : There
shall come out of Zion the Deliverer : he shall turn
away ungodliness from Jacob ; and this is my cov-
enant unto them, when I shall take away their sin."

Just as certainly as Paul in the passages before
referred to interprets the prophets as foretelling the
conversion of the Gentiles, and their reception into
the Church, so in this passage just as surely does he
interpret another prophecy as declaring the conversion
of the Jews, and their gathering into the Church.
Sanday, the last and one of the best conunentators on
Romans, explains v. 20 : " 8o the words of Paul mean
simply that the people of Israel as a nation, and no

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134

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOfJY.

I ■:;!':'

longer in part, shall be united with the Christian
Church." Alford : " I have not mixed with the con-
sideration of this })rophocy the (juestion of tlie restora-
tion of the Jews to Palestine, as being clearly irrele-
vant to it : the matter here treated being their recep-
tion into the C/mrch of God." So, substantially,
Godet, Meyer, Moule, Philippi, " Biblical Commentary,"
etc.

We cannot do better than (|Uote from Meyer's note
on this passage, concurred in by Philippi. As these
both sympathize with some phases of the pre-millen-
nial view, the testimony has all the more force

He says : " Observe further how the present passage
is in diametrical opposition to the opinion now received
in many (juarters of an actual restoration of Israel to
its theocratic royalty in Canaan. Israel does not take
in the church, but the church takes in Israel, and
whenever this takes place, Israel has its royalty and
its Canaan in the true sense."

Paul gives us in this eleventh chapter of Romans
his furthest and final word as to Israel's earthly
destiny. It is its salvation from sin, and its recep-
tion, as a whole, among the Lord's people, which have
been gathered into the Church from Gentiles and
from Jews " in part." All this is to be completed
before our Lord's second coming. ** There shall come
out of Zion the Deliverer " refers to his first coming, as
Alford suggests. " * Out of Zion ' summed up tlie
prophecies which declare that the Redeemer should
spring out of Israel." As Meyer well says, at His

'l^^!:ll

THE KINGDOM.

135

second coining Christ comes as judge, not >us deliverer.
All Paul seems to see, as the fuK '.nient of prophecy in
case of Israel, was, therefore, Israel's conversion before
the second coming of Christ. Can we think him less
fully acquainted with the prophecies which Pre-
inillennialists believe assure a national life in Canaan
to Israel, then are they ; or was he less fitted to
interpret them correctly i Can we believe that here,
if he gave the pre-millennial interpretation to ajiy of
them, and he really saw that as a nation they were
to be raised to supreme glory, he would have been
silent, where he seems to give his last word as to their
earthly history ? Nay, it is much more rational to
believe that he interpreted the glowing prophecies as
to Israel's future, as Meyer says he did, according to
analogy with his identification of believers with the
true sons of Abraliam, and that " where the church
takes in Israel, Israel has its royalty and its Canaan
in its true sense."

Other passages might be adduced to prove that Old
Testament prophecies respecting Israel, as interpreted
by New Testament writers, are fulfilled in the gospel
day in believers whether Jewish or Gentile, and, also,
that in some of them, as thus interpreted, direct
reference is made to the gospel age, its progress, and
its final ti"* lmph^nt consun.i^i.ttion. The following
will repay tndy . 1 Pet. 1: 1012; 2 Cor. 6: 14-18;
Col. 2 : 16 sq., etc. We shall not pursue the subject
further. We call the reader's attention again to a
very significant fact. The New Testament writers

<swi9l

w^t'itmL i ■

RMi

136

A STUDY IN KSCHATOLOCJY.

I4BII!I

lapi'I

:i8i

interpret no Old Testament prophecy to which they
alhule as remaining to be fulfilled after our Lord is
to come again, or under any other than the present
gospel conditions. Had they regarded the great mass
of Old Testament prophecy respecting the future
glories of the Messiah's kingdom as to be fulfilled
only after His second advent, and under conditions
vastly dififerent, would they have abstained so abso-
lutely from all reference to them and interpretation
of them ? Those who hold they did both so believe
and so abstain, ought, at least, to favor us with some
rational explanation of so strange a silence.

A final point needs to be noticed in this discussion
of the nature of the kingdom. Our Lord speaks of
the Church but twice : Matt. 10 : 18 : " Upon this
rock will I build my church," and Matt. 18 : 17 :
" Tell it unto the church," etc. In Matthew alone He
speaks of the kingdom nearly fifty times, and upon
that His thoughts seem fixed. This was not only the
subject of the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt.
3:1), but also of our Lord from the beginning to the
end of His public ministry (Matt. 4 : 17; 9: 35, etc.). It
was the kingdom He commissioned the twelve to
preach (Matt. 10 : 7), and also the seventy (Luke 10:
11). It was the Gospel of the kingdom He foresaw
was to be preached among all the nations (Matt. 24 :
14). It was about the kingdom that His chief teach-
ings were gathered.

Thus it was with the Sermon on the Mount, as
generally interpreted, the prayer He taught His

IR'.l 111

-;■ It

tiif: kixcdom.

I.S7

diHciplcH, i ^ most of His paraljlos (see Matt. 1'3), and
a large pL.^, of tlu; hulanco of His instructions.

Xow, if tlie kingdom is not to be eHtahlished until
after the second coming, as our pre-niillennial friends
declare, we are compelled to believe that all the
preaching of John, of our Lord, of the twelve, of the
seventy, the principles laid down in the Sermon on
the ]\I(nmt, all the teaching of the most of the
parables — the great body of the teaching and preach-
ing of our Lord and His disciples — had little direct
and prominent reference to all the ages which were
to crowd each other between His ascension and His
second coming. They all had direct and chief refer-
ence to a period in the dim distance, beyond centuries
on centuries of permeating principles and deepening
conflicts. Does it seem probable that our Lord,
speaking to His disciples whom He was about to send
forth to disciple all the nations, gave almost exclusive
attention, in His own preaching and teaching, to a
kingdom which was not to exist until all the work He
was thus to commission them to do had been done ?
Why should He take such pains to speak to the men
of His own generation of a kingdom which was not to
appear until ages on ages after they were to be in
their graves ? In speaking to those who were living
with Him Pie would surely refer chiefly to what was
immediately impending or already present, so far as
the earthly life of His people was concerned. Our
pre-millennial friends may well be asked to explain
how our Lord could have such scant thought for the

'Ml t

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I'll

mi 11

m 1 1

1 1 i

1 '! 1 !

1 1 ■■

1 J] 1 i

138

A STUDY IN ESrHATOI.()(JY.

period just at hand, and which was to iinpoHO such
trenicndouH burdens and reHponaibilitieH upon thone
to whom He .spoke ^

We liave thus endeavored to consider, with care
and candor, the evidence from the New Testament,
and from the Old Testament in tlie li^ht of tlie New,
as to the kin<(dom and rei^n of Christ. It has been
profitable to ourselves ; we hope the result may be of
some service to the reader.

TIIK KVEK-IMMINENT C(»MIN(J OK Ol'Il LOUD. l.*J9

CHAPTKR IX.

THE EVEIMMMINKNT COMING OF OUR LOUD.

PliE-MiLLENNlALlsTS hold it to be the teaching of
the New Testanieiit that our Lortl's second and per-
sonal advent might occur at any time HubHe(iuent to
His ascension. In view of the possibility of His
innnediate return, all are conunanded to watch, lest
His coming take them by surprise and unprepared.
H' at least one thousand years must intervene before
this coming of the Lord, as the post-millennial view
demands, it is said this great event could not be
represented as possibly so near, or that men must thus
ever be on the watch lest it overtake them as a thief
in the night. As Blackstone tersely puts it : " Now
it is absolutely inconsistent with the construction of
the human mind thus to watch for an event which
we believe to be one thousand years or more in the
future." *

This argument, at first sight, appears more than
plausible. Were all the facts involved taken into
account in this statement it would be conclusive.
When these facts are weighed, however, we believe it

;;l

•ui
m

* (<

Jesus is Coming," p. 438.

iiip^

14^

A STI'DV I\ KSCIIAT()L<)(JV

I " 1

ij '\ i

1 ii

DC t'oiincl to Ih' exposed to ubjoctionH, ami to be

•jcd upon a ini.sconceptioii.

Lot us oxaiiiinc tlio facts of the New TeHtuincnt
teacliin<^ from the pre-iiiilleiiiiial .standpoint, that
alnioHt all the refereiice.s to tlie eoniinj; of the Lord
are to His second and personal advent.

There are passaj^es wldeli seem to teacli that tlie
time of His coming is left })erfectly indefinite. The
"day and liour" is known only by the Father (Matt
24 : .S()). Otliers know no more about the time than
does till' householder when the thief will come. His
coming will be when even His people think not, so
that the only safety against surprise is to bi' id ways
ready (Matt. 24: 42-44). It is ecjually uncertain
whether He will como "at even or at midnight, or at
cockcrowing, or in the morning" (Mark 18 : 35),
whether in the second watch or in the third (Luke
12 : 38). The coming may be at the beginning of the
period of possible expectation, it may be at its close,
it may be at any time, it is altogether uncertain ; the
only safety, therefore, is in perpetual watchfulness.

On the other hand, there are other passages which
just as clearly declare that the coming of the Lord is
nigh, and at hand. " The Lord is at hand," says Paul
(Phil. 4 : 5).*

" For yet a very little while, he that cometh shall
come, and shall not tarry," says the author of
Hebrews (chap. 10 : 37). " Be patient, therefore,
brethren, unto the coming of the Lord," " The coming

* Many interpreters regard this passage as referring to Christ's
ordinary presence with His people.

THE KVKR-IMMINK\T (OMINfJ <)K Olll L()|{|>. 141

of the lionl JH at band," an<l " tlic .lud;^*' staiulctii
before the door.s," Hays .laiiie.s (5 : 7-!)). " 'I'lu; end of
all thiM;;s is at hand," .says I'oter (1 Pet. 4: 7). " Y«
shall not have ^oi»e through the cities of Israel till
the Son of man be come," said our Lord (Matt. 10:
2'}) in <,dvin;^ sjM'ciHe instructions to His a[)ostles
con('erinn<,' what woi'k they shoul 1 attempt, lind
which must l)e fultilled duriuir their li^e-tim(^ In
hiii'iMony with this He adds, " Verily I say unto ycai,
there be sonic of them tliat stand here which shall
in no wise taste of death till tiiey see tlie Son of man
coming in His kingdom" (Matt. 1(1:28), which .some
Pre-milleniiialists would make refer to His transhiiura-
tion six days after, ajjparently not noticinj^ that only
"some of them" to whom Ho was .speaking were to
live until they .saw Him coming in His kiuji^dom, and
not all of them, as was true when Ib^ was trans-
ti»i;ured. Besides, His transfiguration was oidy wit-
ne.s.S(Ml by three of His di.sciples, while He intimates
that all who were then alive should see Him comiiii:
in His kingdom. Finally, our Lord commissions
John to .say to the Church in Philadelphia, " I come
(juickly " (Rev. 3: 11), and His last word in Rev.
22 : 20 is " Yea I come quickly."

Nor is this all. The i^^norance of our Lord of the
future which is implied in the belief that He himself
thought He might come in person immediately after
His a.scension is utterly at variance with all our ideas of
His knowledge, and with what we are led to expect
from scripture teaching. That He did not know the day
and hour of His return by no means makes it neces-

, 1 .

■ 1 * {

{V f:

142

A STl'DY IN ESCIIATOMKiV.

ilillij

sary for us to HUppono that lli' knew notliiiij; of dui
futurt! of tlu» vvorlil'M lustory, which His t«;H('hiii^ jih to
tln' posHihU; iiiiiiiiiu'iicc of 1 1 is prr.soiial coiiiiii;^ fnmi
tlic lir.st would eompol uh to iicocpt. Ht» ami .scrip-
ture writ(»i*H <li<l know that His coiiiiuj; was to \n>
associated with the rcsiirrcctioii of the dead, the jud;^-
iiient, aud the end of the world If thry thou;;ht
that li(t iiii^ht come at any moment, then they must
have he(>n in utter i^jnoi'ance of anything' in tlm
history of the world ancl tlie nations, which was to
liapp(!ii after His ascension and hefore the en<l. But
they must have been awarc^ that there were prophe-
cies of cities and countries yet unfulfilled, or nnist
liave believed that the events in njference to them
miifht all ho rushed throui^h in almost no time, or that
all ref(!rred to what was to happen aft»'r the eiul of the
iifrQ. Of all tlu! history of the C/hurch.as the work of
our Lord on earth was to advance to its realization
throu<^h conflicts and varyini^ ex[)eriences as a^es and
a«(es went by, can we believe they knew so little that
they thout^ht it might all happen in a few months,
or, at most, years ? Indeed, this supposition that our
Lord and scripture writers thouj^ht that the second
personal advent and the end of the w^orld mi<^ht
happen at any moment after the ascension, recpiires us
to believe that all the time between, packed full, as
has been proved, of the (grandest history since the
world began, was an absolute blank to them, so far as
events demanding time to happen are concerned. When
we remember that the prophets of old had such sure
visions of the future, we can scarcely think that those

TIIK KVKU-I.MMINKNT <OMINfl OF OlH I.OIIO. 148

who lui<l tlu' hi^jhcst position tiiul llu' clt'jin'st li«;!it
of rrvulatioii of tlio new iliHpriisation tnucli Iohs ctui
wu tliink that out' Lord liiinsrlt', cvtMi wliilu in IIIh
state of huiuiliatioii -knew notliiii;; of what was to
ha[){)(Mi on earth until Itis scicoml coinin;^. Inter-
preterH ;;etieraily, including; IVc-niillennialiHts, Hce in
Olil ToHtainent pro|)hecy, especially in Daniel, ar> out-
line of history Htretchin;^ for c«'nturi«'s heyond our
Lord's life on earth. Take the seventh ehaptisr of
Daniel, for Instance. The last of the four Ixiasts, hy
common consent, repnjsiujts th<' Roman Kmpire. Up
to the end of the apostolic a<;e Home was in the
heij^ht of her power. This empire; was to fall to
ruins: ten kin^s were to risif from these ruins; after
them another was to come forth, and h(» was to " wear
out the saints of the Most Hi^di . . . until a time and
times and half a time " (vs. 2.S-2()). Could not our Lord
also interpret prophecy i lie did interpret it so far
as it n^aehed down to His day. Did He not know
that the completion of unfulfilled parts of these very
[)r()phecies reepiired long stretches of time?

Hut we need not argue in this a prurrl way. Our
Lord and the New Testament writers did know that
events were to intervene between their time and the
secon<l personal advent which made His return at any
moment impossible : because these events could not
happen in the twinkling of an eye, and must run on
far beyond the life of that generation. They knew
that Jerusalem was to be destroyed and to remain
" trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled" (Luke 21 : 24). They knew that

lil-

A MTITDY IN FSrilAToLodV.

' I''

thf loii); NOi'icN of cvrniN otiiliiuMi in Miiit. 24 iiuiHt
Im' C()iii|>lt't«Ml. Ni'itlH'f can wn lM'lit»vo tlwvt our l^nrd
WUH HO cntiri'ly i;;norant of IHh own propln-cMi'H uh
not to know tlwit tln'y wouM nwicli on iv^vs licyond
\\\H tiino. The («()N|M'l of tln! kin^^dohi wjih to Iw
proaclird in tlu' wlioir world ind'on' tlir end Matt. 24:
14). Tlu! followers of Clirist were to "make dinciples
of all the nations," as He was to he with them alway,
"even unto tluM'iid of th.' world" (Matt. 28: I!), 20)
tlirou;i;h the j>rt!.senc*e of tin- Spirit. 'I'hey knew that
the hsraelites ;;eneraily must first repent Ixifoi'e our
Lord woulil bo .sent fiom lieaven (Acts. 3: 19-21).
They knew also that Israel would not repent " until
the fulness of the (lentiles he come in " (liom. 1 1 : 25).
They knew tliat the " man of sin " nnist aris«3 and
run his course' until ini(|uity reaches its culmination
before it is "brought to nouj^ht by the nianirestation
of his coming ' (2 The.ss. 2 : 1-12). They knew that the
kingdom of heaven,, then like a musta»"d seed, in its
small be;;innin{^, was to ;(row until it became in con>-
pari.son, like a <^reat tree (Matt. 18: 31, 32). Like the
leaven in the meal, the kinn;dom of heav(in in the
world was to go on doing its work until all the world
was per.ncated by its teachings and power (Matt. 13:
33). .lolm also, in Revelation, see.s a long .succession
of trementlous events wliich were to take place before
the end.

In view of all this, can we believe our Lord and
New Testament writers really thought the second
personal advent might be inunediately impending?
Here is also something which is " absolutely incon-

TIIK KVF.H IMMINKNT CoMlN'rj «)K OIU l,n|u>. U.'>

NiNtcili with tlir cniistitiltioM itl* tli<> litlliiuii liiilid " ill
vit'W of tlh'Mi' tnriitM which tht-y knew iiuiMt hjipju'ii
hcl'inc H«' could conic, which thry knew iniiMt cov«'i*
loM'^ MtrctchcH of vciirs, if not c«'nturic.s — Htill to hcMcvo
He nii;^ht conic at iiiiy nionicnt, an<l he wiitcliin;^ for
lli.s coming hcforo the cvciitN had hiippcnud whicli
they ki.'nv iiiUMt precede lli.s coming'.

hut lM)th our Lord iuu\ I'niil nmke it evident that
they (lid not wish the early hcdievers to think the
Hccoiul personal advent was possibly at han<l. When
His disciples came to our Lord privately, saying,
" What shall he the si^ai of thy coiiiin;; and of tho
end of the world ! " (Matt. 24 : 3), our Ix)rd, evi-
dently fureseein<^ how liable they would be to l»e le«l
away by a false hope of His immediate return, warns
them a^^ainst it. " 'I ake heed that no man lead you
astray. For many shall come in my name, sayinj^, I
am the Clu'ist : and sliall lead many astray. And ye
shall hear of wars and rumors of wars : see that yo
be not troubled : for those tliin^js must needs come to
pas.s : but the end is not yet. For nation shall ri.so
!i;^'ainst nation. . . . But all tiiese things are tho
be^innin;^ of travail. . . . And many false
])rophets shall arise, and sliall lead many astray.
. . . And this j^ospel of the kingdom shall be
preached in the whole worhl for a testimony unto all
the nations : and then shall the end come " (vs. 4-14).
In this discourse, instead of representing His coming
as indetinitely near, our Lord, by interjecting this
long series of events, taught tlrem in the most explicit
way that it was indetinitely distant.
10

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U:^

146

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOGY.

Paul, also, about thirty years after our LorfrHascen-
.sion, gives a similar warniii*^ to the ThcHsalonians, who
thought the day of the Lord was present. " Let no
man beguile you, in any wise," he says, " for it will
not be except the falling away be first, and the man
of sin be revealed," etc. (2 Thess. 2 : 1-12). Now,
whether this " man of sin " be the Romish system or
some evil personage of tremendous power, Paul really
referred to what has at least not yet been completely
fulfilled. Are we to believe he knew so little of the
time re(]uired for the rise and culmination of this
evil power, as to think it possible for it all to take
place so (juickly that the Thessalonians might still
expect the Lord's return at any moment ? Did he
know so certainly the future facts and the order of
their occurrence, and know nothing of the time it
would take for them to run their course ? Paul surely
could not have meant to encourage any to interpret
his words in this way. They seem to have been occa-
sioned by this very misconception, and to have been
written to remove it.

Peter also knew he was to grow old and die, as,
doubtless, did all the disi^iples, from our Lord's words,
" But when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth
thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee
whither thou wouldst not," as is evident from John's
inspired comments : " Now, this he spake, signifying
by what manner of death he should glorify God "
(John 21 : 18, 19; comp. 2 Pet. 1 : 12-15). John is care-
ful to disabuse the minds of the people of the false
notion that our Lord's words, " If I will that he tarry

■i!lif «!'^

THE EVER-IMMIXENT COMIXCJ OF OUR LOHD. 147

till I come," iinplii'd that lie wouM bu rulitsved from
death by the second advent (.John 21 : 22, 23).

'riiiiH, we find the time of the coming of tlie Lord
represented as altot^ether uncertain and indefinite. In
other passrft^t's it is definitely sp.>ken of as near. At
the same time our Lord and the writers of the New
Testament have knowledge of events and series of
events to happen before His coming, which they must
liave l)een aware would take long stretches of years
to accomplish. On the pre-millennial assumption that
all these references to our Lord's coming are to His
per.sonal second advent, the first and second forms of
representation .seem utterly irreconcilable. If the time
of the second coming is altogether indefinite, so that
it may not happen for ages, how could it be spoken of
with such un(]ualified assurance as near at hand ?
The knowledge of events recjuiring a great length of
time to happen before His advent seems equally incon-
sistent with either its possible or its certain nearness.
The problem presented is not easy in any case ; from
the pre-millennial point of view it is insoluble.

Rationalistic interpreters, of whom Germany sup-
plies the greatest number, have what they deem an
easy solution. They believe it to be the teaching of
the New Testament, not that our Lord might, but
that He would inmiediately return, and, consequently,
that apostles and people expected Him to appear
before the day of their death. The second class of
passages we have referred to, as well as those like
Jas. 5:7; Rev. 2 : 25 ; Luke 19 : LS ; 1 Thcss. 5 : 23; Thil.
1 : 9, 10; 1 Thess. 4 : 17, etc., they would explain on

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A STUDY IN ESCFIATOLOnV.

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tliis j^rouiKl. It is also to be reinoiiilusrod tliat tliuso
are the interpreters our pre-inillennial brethren oi'ten
(juote as lending such authority to their view. But
this interpretation does not help, in tlie least, to har-
monize the second class of passages with the first
noticed, or to explain how they could think our Lord
was inunediately to appear, when there was no sign
of the fultilinent of many of the predictions which
they knew must come to pass before He was to come.
It also involves us in a more serious difficulty. Our
Lord and New Testam^ it writers, they hold, teach
that the second advent .a to be in the lifetime of the
generation then living. But He did not then come in
the sense they declare He was to appear. They were,
therefore, false prophets. If they were in error in
reference to this prediction, we have no assurance
they were not in reference to all they made. If their
inspiration did not save them from error in their teach-
ing about the future, can we be sure that it kept them
from error in their doctrinal teaching ? And thus our
whole confidence in them as infallible teachers is in
danger of shipwreck. This does not trouble this
class of interpreters ; nay, they urge this instance of
what they deem false prophecy as a proof that the
traditional doctrine of inspiration is false, and must
be modified or abandoned. But our pre-millennial
brethren, who are staunch believers in the infallibility
of the scripture writings, cannot afford to accept
these interpreters, or this interpretation, as authori-
tative, when leading to a conclusion they so strongly
deprecate.

•BH

THE EVEIMMMIXENT COMIXO OF OUR LORD. 141)

Otliers think they find help in tho tlioufrlit of the
progressive nature of reveUition. We hclieve aid is
to be found liere. but not a complete solution. In
the progress of revelation the antitype may succeed
the type, the fuller the more obscure statemcMit; the
more spiritual the more material form of truth, and
new truth may be made known. But in what per-
tains to a matter of fact, no progress in revelation
can set aside a previous prophecy and not prove it
false. The time of the coming miglit not be revealed
in the earlier revelation, and be made known in a
later one ; or the fact might be stated in the earlier
and the time left indefinite, and the definite time
revealed in the later. But if one time is stated in the
earlier, and another in the later, the later proves the
earlier false, if itself be true.

If, at any stage of revelation, it is taught that the
personal coming of the Lord is near, and it was really
far distant, no progress of revelation can help us
but a progress out of the false into the true. Again,
even though the time of our Lord's coming were
represented in the earlier as altogether indefinite, and
in the later as certainly near, or vice verm, we
get no help. In the fc^mer case the progress of reve-
lation has ended in what has been proved untrue, in
the latter case, it began in what wt's of this character.
But really such progress in either direction can
scarcely be made out in the New Testament writings.
In any case, the insuperable difficulty presented by
the fact that our Lord and New Testament writers
knew that events covering long stretches of years

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150

A STUDY I\ ESCIIAToLOfJV.

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muat intervene before the Hecond personal julvent,
would remain untouched. Pre-niillennialiHis believe
tluit the time of our Lord's second personal coming is
purposely left indefinite, in Order that all men in all
a«(es may have the inspiration of the thouj^lit that
His second advent may possibly be imminent.

Dr. Gordon declares,* " Nothing can be plainer to
the unprejudiced reader of the New Testament than
that it is the purpose of the ascended Bridegroom to

* In a(l<litioii to the quotation from Dr. Gordon, I add the fol-
lowing from other prominent IVe-millennialista in support of my
statement :

'• It has pleased (Jod to give signs or evidences of the approach of
these events, and by which we might know that the day was draw-
ing near (Heb. 10 : 2.')), but, as we have before said, they have been
of such a character that the Church could see them repeated in
each generation. And this, we believe, was purposely designed, in
order to give the Church ho date and no sign which might so defin-
itely indicate the time of her ra[)ture, that we should, in any
interval, cease to be vigilant. It was eviclently all planned, so that
the unfolding of events should be, to her, a constant incentive to
watchfulness."— Blackstone : "Jesus is Coming," pp. 148-9.

" The imminence of the Lord's coming consists in two things:
its certainty as a revealed fact, and iti uncertainty as to timo.
The Lord is coming, liut as to tiie time of that day and of that
lu»ur knoweth no man, not the angels in heaven, but my Father
only. < It constitutes, therefore, an overhanging, imminent event
always liable to occur. The object of such imminence is that we
may be perpetuallv looking for and waiting for the coming of the
Lord."— Dr. Pierson : " The Coming of the Lord," p. 53.

"It did nit please Him to reveal the time of His Son's return
from heaven, even to the angels, much less to men, because this
would have deprived the doctrine of all power except with those
living at the very close of the present dispensation " — ^Dr. Brookes :
" Maranatha," p. 353.

*' We one and all cannot do better in this matter than stand firm
on the vows of one of the great historical confessions. As Christ
would have us certainly persuaded there shall be a day of judg-
ment, so will He have that day unknown to men, that they may
shake off all carnal security, and be always watc'iful, because they
know not what hour the Lord will come." — Kellogg : " Pre-millen-
nial Essays," p. 49.

THK EVER-IMMINENT COMIN(J OE OUR LORD. 151

liuve His bride constantly, soberly and busily awaiting
I'or His return, until the appointed time of His deten-
tion in the heavens shall have expired. Hence ((juot-
in<; with approval from Archer Butler) He has har-
monized with consunnnate skill every part of His
revelation to produce this general result ; now speak-
ing as if a few seasons more were to herald the
new earth, now as if His days were thousands of
years: at one moment whispering into the ear of His
disciples, at another retreating into the depth of
infinite ages. It is His purpose thus to live in our
faith and hope, remote yet near, pledged to no
moment, possible at any ; worshipped not with the
consternation of a near^ or the indifference of a dis-
tant certainty, but with the anxious vigilance
that awaits a contingency ever at hand. Thus the
deep devotion of watchfulness, humility and awe,
He who knows us best knows to be the fittest posture
of our spirits ; therefore does He preserve the salutary
suspense that insures it, and therefore will He
determine His advent at no definite day in the calen-
dar of eternity."*

This quotation, expresses in the most beautiful and
the least objectionable form, the well-nigh universal
interpretation of the facts of the teaching of the New
Testament on the time of our Lord's coming, adopted
by Pre-millennialists. But grave objections of vari-
ous kinds lie against this view. It fails to account
for all the facts. While it recognizes all the passages

" Ecce Venit," p. 14 sq.

152

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOOY.

ill whicli tli»? time of the coming is left altogether
indefinite and uncertain, it does not explain those in
which the coniin*]; is positively declared to be at han<l,
urdess on the assumption that our Lord was justitied
in declaring it to be at hand for moral etf«ict, although
He was not sure it was near, and although, as has
been proved, it was not near. So, also, it does not
help us to reconcile the knowledge possessed by our
Lord and New Testament writers of the long future
which must intervene between His personal coming,
with their declarations of its possible as well as its
actual nearness, unless, again, they purposely gave
men the impression that the coming might be, or was
near, to present a motive for faithfulness.

If we understand the matter, this is just what Pre-
millennialists do believe. The language just ([uoted
— when stripped of the glamor of its beauty — means
nothing less than this. Th.cy do not contend that our
Lord and the New Testament writers were so ignor-
ant of prophecy and of the future, that they did not
know events must happen before the Lord's second
coming, which would push it forward for a long term
of years. It is not a question of their knowledge so
much as of what will be " the fittest posture of our
spirits." It is because " the deep devotion of
watchfulness, humilitj'^ and awe " are known by our
Lord to be the most helpful attitude of our spirits,
that our Lord, therefore, preserves the salutary sus-
pense that insures it, and, therefore, will He deter-
mine His advent at no definite day in the calendar of
eternity. It is for this reason that " at one moment

THK EVEIl-IMMINEXT COMINC OF inUX LOUP. 1 ')IJ

Ho wliiHp(!r.s into the car of His (lisciplc, at anotlicr
rctivuts into tliu depth of intinite a^cs."

Stripped of all uniu'cessary vcrhia^c ami ox})n'SKL'(l
in tlu! plainest way, this means that our Lord,
aItlioii<;h knowin;^ His personal coniin;jj could not be
until lon^ after the men of His own ;^'«'neration were
dead, nevertheless spoke to them and inspired others
to speak to them, so as to lead thorn to suppose
His advent mi<^ht occur before their death; and,
a^'ain, as if it certainly was ni^h at hand. His rea-
son for this was in order that this salutary attitude
of watchfulness mi<^ht be maintained, not only in the
men of the first generation, but also in those of all
j^n>nerations, until He really should come. Souie of
the best of men, it is true, Imve held this view; but
it appears to us they could not have had in mind all
the facts of the case, or they could not have suth-
ciontly considered the necessary implications of their
theory. Can we on this ground possibly escape the
shocking conclusion that our Lord encouraged the
men of His own generation, at least, to hope for what
Ho knew would prove an illusion, in order to promote
their faithfulness ^ If we can believe this of our
Lord, can we longer express abhorrence of the Jesuit
rule of action, that the end justifies the means ? Even
if it be said that our Lord was so ignorant (jf the
future that He really thought He might come before
the death of some of the men of that generation : the
Father knew, and we must suppose He would plan to
make a hope which He knew would be an illusion to
the people of scores and perhaps hundreds of genera-

154

A STI'DY IS E.SCHAT()I-(HJY.

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tioim, tlio ^n'aiul iiiotiv*; of Cliri.Mti.iii ruitlifuliicHH. Do
W(! not tlms iinpu;;ii His trutlil'uliHj.sH, vvln'ii we sup-
poHo Ho would arniiif^e to doludo inyriiidH uiul inyri-
ad.s with a h()[)(3 He kiu'vv muHt provo false:' Do
we not tlius impu;;ii His all-sntlicieiicy l)y iinj)lyiii;^
that His rcsourccH are so limitcfl that He will clioose
to depend for what Pre-niilleniiialiHtH believe the one
great motive power to C'liristian faithfulnesa and
activity, upon an expectation which, for nearly two
thousand years of living and dying generations would
never be realized i Neither is tliis all : we must sup-
pose all things to be so adjusted that the supreme
motive to faithfulness would be conditioned upon
ignorance rather than knowledge. To have an under-
standing of the prophecies which had to be filled
before our Lord would come, would be to make it
impossible to be under the dominance of this stand-
ing and grandest motive for all the (christian ages.
For the contemporaries of our Lord, for instance, to
know that Jerusalem must be destroyed, must be
trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of the
Gentiles be fulfilled, that the Jews must repent before
our Lord could break through the heavens which
shut Him from their sight, and that thev would not
repent and be saved until the fulness of the Gentiles
be come in — to know all this and more which is
declared in the New Testament, not to mention the
prophecies of the Old Testament — would remove not
only tlie men of the first Christian age from the
power of this grand motive, but those of all others
until this day. Only those could feel its power, who

TIIK KVKK-IMMI\'K\T co.MINti (>K OUIl LOIU). 155

rithor shut tlirir eyes to tlu'so propliticioH, or wlio
couM not |)(!i-t'()iin tlu! I'oat of t>x|H>c'tii»;; tlu' Lord's
comin;^ us j)osMiltl»' liet'oro tlio ovi^iiiii*; of cacli day,
whilo thry knew many of tlicso cvcntH to Ix; rultilK'(l
hofon* \\v could coiiio — cvouts wliich, by tlu'ir wry
nature, must oc'cuj)y ;;rcat Ifii^tlis of yoars — j^avc no
si;;n of occurring.

Reply is made to this (>l)jcc'tion, Iiowever. It is
said tlicro is no inconsistency in God's usin<^ tlic nn-
certain.y as to tlie titno of our death to promote
watcid'uhiess and faithfuhiess, altliough He may
know that years are to ehipse before tlie dying day.
Wliy, then, it is urged, need we deem it out of har-
mony with God's veracity, if He use the uncertainty
as to the time of the Lord's coming for tlie same pur-
p(3se ? The ditHcuIty, it is said, is no greater in one
case than in the otlier.

J>ut the cases are not parallel. The time of a num's
death is necessarily uncertain. It would re([uire a
special revelation in each man's case to make it
known, involving continuous miracle. It is alleged
that the time of Christ's coming is purposely left or
made uncertain, in order that what was known would
]irove an illusion might be used for moral stimulus.
The length of human life is also so brief that death is
not only possible but really near to all.

It does not re(juire us to think as possibly near an
event which would happen only after scores and per-
haps hundreds of generations had come and gone. In
the one case. God uses fur moral stinuilus an event
which is necessarily uncertain, and which is near and

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A SllhV I\ KS<MAT()I.(MJV.

to hjip|M»n ill tho lifi^tiino of all. In i\w nthor, Wo.
piirpoHcIy inakoH to appear U!ic<M'taiii. wlicii a word
could have iiindt; it known to all men, an rvont which
ll(» knew would not happen for lou;^ 'IJ^('h, >»> order
that He nii;^dit use the illusory iinpreHsion thus j^iven
of its poHsihlc nearnt'HH for moral eHTi'ct. 'I'he ditf'er-
cnee between the two caweH is one of nature as well as
one of de;(ree.

It would appear, tlierefon', that the pre-milleimial
interpn^tation of the various forms in which the
comin;^ of the I^ord is ref»'rred to in the New Testa-
ment, involves ditKculties, at almost every step, which
are simply insuperahle. To maintain that all the
references to our Lord's comin;^ are to His personal
appearing, and that all the expressioius which exhort
to watchfulness, fidelity, etc., in view of His comin<;,
are conditione<l upon the possible inuuinence of His
personal coming, is to make it impossihh^ either to
prevent difi'erent passages from contradicting each
other, or to interpret them in harmony with the
veracity of (Jod. No attempt has been made to create
needless difficulty, only an honest effort to make
manifest the real difficulties which invest this whole
subject, on pre-millennial assumptions, when we come
to give to the Scriptures which relate to it anything
like a searching examination.

Recently a class of Pre-millennialists have become
convinced of the utter impossibility of continuing to
believe that our Lord may come at any moment, while
they acknowledge it to be the teaching of Scripture
that He cannot come before the Jews are converted,

TIfE KVKIl IMMIVKN'T ro.>nS<J OK ulK l.nUI) l.")7

th(> (j!t>M|H'l prciU'liitl in till iiHtinii.s, tlio muii of mIm
revealiHl, ami \vhil«! a mimlM'r ol' otlirr proplu'cirs
niuaiii to be ruirillcii. Much k'ss. thvy tVel, could
tlu;He two ])o.sitionM liavo bcoii iiitclli^^t'ntly lu'M
toir»'th('r Iroiii tlio liouimiiiii' ol* tln> Cliristiaii era.
Tlu'y Hc*' tlii.s \v<)»iM mean tlwit llf iiii;;lit coiiu' bt't'oro
lie could come, and is a direct contradiction in terniM.
Tlic vvondtT is tliat any could believe our Lord would
not return, Tor instance, until tlu' .b'W.s were con-
verted, and Htill c«)uld expect C/liri.st nii;;ht come
wiiile the Jt^w.s remain impenitent. Hut many, even
to-day, hold these incompatil)le beliefs.

The new tlieory to uieet tl»i8 ditliculty, ami still
save the pre-millennial view, is the following:

Our Lord is to come for His peopl(^ in the air. The
ri^diteous dead and the livin<; who are His, are to be
caught up, in their resurrection bodies, to meet Him
there. He does not then descend to the earth, but
remains with them in the air, or, as some say, returns
with them to heaven. During this time, they receive
their judgment. In the meantinus on the earth, there
is the great tribulation, during whicli Israel will be
restored to Ids own land and converted ; antichrist
will be revealed ; the vials of God's wrath will be
poured out ; and then our Lord will come with His
people, to judge the nations and to begin His millen-
nial reign. Those who hold this theory say that
Christ may come for His people, which they term the
" Rapture of the saints," at any moment ; it is only
His coming with His people, which they call the

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158

A HTUDY \S KHCiiAToLrxiY.

" U«'V«'l«iti«)ii," which cimiiot ocnir until cMTlHin pro-
pliecicH urc rulfillrti.

The (|ui»«t HMMuninco with which this ih'W ihtM)ry Ih
put forwiinl, is .simply jiHtnundiii;;, in view of* all it
iiivolvcH, and of the evidence uii^i'd in its I'jivor.
Notice HoiiH'thin;,' ol* what is involved in it :
Thei'e art^ to l)e tw») personai t'oniin;^H ol' our Lord,
•eparated hy a period of years pre^^nant with the
•grandest ('vents. Not oidy will then* he two n^sur-
rectioiiH, one of the ri^diteoiis and another of tlu^
wieked, with those who live durin;:; the niilleiniiuin
to be accounted for, which tin; general pre-inillennial
view niakeH neces.sary ; hut there wmII he three rcHur-
rectiouH or more. The ri«rhteouH dead ^.jentsrally rine
in the "rapture," at His tir.st second cominj^ for His
people. The trihulation saints who die between the
first and the second second comin<r, lise when Wo comes
this second time with His saints. To correspond with
this, we suppose there nnist he thre(^ jud^Muents, if
these tribulation saints ai'o not nuide exceptions, and
have no jud«jfment ; and still no provision is made for
those who live during tlie millennium. " The day of
judgment" is made to stretch, not only from the
beginnin<^ of the millennium to beyond its clos*', but
bej^ins (juite a time before the thousand years. Tlie
last day, also, since it is made to include the resurrec-
tion of the righteous at its beginninj^ (John G : 39,
40,44; 11 : 24), and the judtjment of the wicked at
its close (John 1 2 : 4><), must extend over the same great
length of years. Now, all Pre millennialists regard the
age to come as the millennial period, as distinguished

THE EVKIi-IMMINKNT COMINd OF OUli LolU). ir>l>

IVmiii ilip ii^<<H to coiiK* (Kph. 2 : 7), and ilir ItiHt ^\ny
they ln'lirvr witli um to Im tin; lust < lay of tin* pn-MPiit
^oM|M'l ji;^o or <liMjM'iiHjitioM. Wliili! tho j^rmMJiI pro-
iniilt'iiiiial theory thus ext(>iiilM the hist <hiy of thiH
tt^u HO UH to inchnh' the whole ii;;e to conu', thin
Hpcciiil view iiiakeM the hist (hiy of thin n^t' ho loii;^
that it not only covers all tht- a;;e whieh is to follow,
hut also takes in a considt-rahh' |)ortion of the closing;
part of tlu' present ap;.

Tln'y assiune, surriy, that th«' scripturr writers
hail a stran^^e sens(^ of jiropricty in the use of lan-
j^uaj^e, when they use the term last day of one a«;e,
apparently, in order to nuuk, sharply, the division
line between this a»re an<l the next an<l to contrast
a short with a lon;^ perio<l, as aetually inclu<lin^ th«'
jM'riod r«'i)resent»'d hy the U^rm deserihinj; tlu' unspeak-
ably lon<''er tinw, with considcraMe to spare. They
also wcnilcl have us belic^ve, that while the New T«'sttt-
iiicnl writers thou<^ht the last day of this ii<rii was ho
iinnuiuse, they believe the a;^e itself, of which this
was to be the last day, niij^ht l)e less than the life-
• time of their own generation. Rather a stranijjc con-
ception of the relative len«(tha of an a^e and its lawt
day, one would think !

lUjt what are tlie scripture evidences u})on which
<le[u;ndence is placed, to establish this theory of two
second connngs of our Lord ;" Let us examine them
as given by W. E. Blackstone in his book, " Jesus Ih
Comin*:;," which is commended in over three pages of
enthusiastic testimonials from Pre-millennialists, and
whose chart of events was publicly endorsed by

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOF-OOY.

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the clwiinnan of one ol' tlioir coiii'eroncoH as repro-
Hciiliii;^ the virvvH of tliat body. It in significant tliat,
of this view, tlie reverent .stiKlents of tlie Bible for
eighteen centuries found nothin<^. It is a discovery,
so far as we can learn, of sonu; brethren in this (genera-
tion. It is also noticeabh;, that it was discovered to
meet what seemed an insuperable difHculty in the
aspect of the pre-niillennial view, which is regarded
by its supporters as giving to it its chief, if not its
whole, importance. This may not necessarily be an
objection to the view itself ; for difficulties often lead
to new views made necessary for their solution.

It does, however, suggest the need of the greatest
caution, and makes it imperative to have very clear
evidence before we accept the theory which is so
opportunely discovered to relieve a cherished belief of
one of its greatest difficulties.

Mr. Blackstone says: "The rupture occurs when
the church is caught up to meet Christ in the air (1
Thess. 4: 15-17) before the tribulation: and the rev-
elation occurs when Christ comes, with His saints, to
end the tribulation by the execution of righteous
judgment upon the earth (2 Thess. 1 : 7-10 ; Jude 14,
15). At the rapture, Christ comes for His saints
(John 14 : 3). At the revelation, He comes with
them (1 Thess. 3 : 13 ; Jude 14 ; Zech. 14 : 5)."

Of course, the reader will see that there is not a
particle of proof in all these passages, allowing them
all to refer to Christ's second and personal coming,
that a period including the great tribulation comes
between the assumed comings for, and with, His

THE EVEIl-lMMINENT (OMINU <)F OUR LORD. 10 1

•et-
to

JOUS

14,

nts
ith

people. If tl>oy were cau«^lit up to meet Him, and
accompanied Him immediately to the earth, every
demainl i\)r honest interj)retation would bu met.

But now for Mr. B.'s argument.

" He certainly must come for them before He can
come with them. The assurance that God will bring
them (Greek : lead them forth) with Jesus (I Thess. 4 :
14) is evidence that He will first come for tliem, they
beini; cau<ifht up to meet Him in the air (v. 17). The
Greek now here rendered ' to meet ' signified a (jo'uxj
forth in order torctiirn with. The same now is used
in Acts 28: 1'), where the brethren came out to meet
Paul, and liad a season of thanksgiving with him at
Appii Foruni and the Three Taverns, when on his way
to Rome. This exactly accords with our being caught
up to meet Christ and afterwards returning to the
earth with Him."

Two arguments, if we may call them such, are here
given. The first is mere words. Christ must come
for, before He can come with. His people. This only
means that they must meet Him before they can ac-
company Him to the earth. But what strength has
it to show that the calling of them up to meet Him
and their descent with Him are two distinct occur-
rences, involving two separate comings of our Lord ?
His second argument, from the parallel case of the
use of the word aTtavTsai;, to meet, is most unfortu-
nate for him ; because those who met Paul, met him
on his journey to Rome and immediately accompanied
him back. Who would argue from the use of this
word that the one met was required to stop a long
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A STl^DY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

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time bofon; coiitinuinn; lii.s journoy, or to ^o luick
whence he came, and return with tlieni only after an
indefinite period ^ Tlie fact is that in tlie otlier in-
stances of tlie use of this expression {€i> dfTrayTeffi?:)
in the New Testament (Matt. 25 : 1-G ; Acts 28 : 15), it
is to meet and immediately to return with the one
met, as he continues on to liis destination.

But let us examine the passages dependeil upon a
little more closely. We are asked to believe that our
Lord's coming, referred to in 1 Thess. 4:14, " If we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also that are fallen asleep in Jesus will God bring
with him," is subseijuent, by an indefinite and fateful
period, to the coming Paul immediately proceeds to
speak of in vs. 15-17 : " For this we say unto you by
the word of the Lord, that we that are alive, that are
left unto tlie coming of the Lord," etc. The former
is the revelation, which is not to take place until long
after the latter, which is the rapture.*

But who that notices the way in which these verses
are articulated together into an indivisible whole,

*It is also more than doubtful whether this verse refers at all to
the return of the saints in tlieir resuirection bodies with tlie I^ord.
The teaching seems to be that as our Lord died and rose again, so
shall (iod bring those who are fallen asleep in Jesus with Him from
the dead. Or, it may mean, that (Jod will bring with Jesus the
spirits of those who have fallen asleep (as to their bodies) when He
descends to raise their bodies from the dead (comp. 2 Cor. 4 : 14).
This is the interpretation of Jos. Smith, in his " The Coming
King," p. 52. Mr. Smith is an ardent Pre-millennialist. The "ten
thousand of his holy ones," in Jude 14, are the amjeU, not the re-
deemed. These two passages upon which such a doctrine depends
for its direct scripture basis, when rightly interpreted, have no
reference to the question at issue, and if they had, would not give
it any countenance.

THE EVER-IMMINENT COMING OF OUR LORD. 103

the
en He

U).
oming
"ten
he re-
pends
ive no
t give

can heliove this? Notice that Paul, in his Second
Kpistle to tlie ThessalonianH, corrects some nuHappre-
hensionn of the peoph;, as to liis former teaching. In
cliapter 2:1-9, he says : " Now we beseech you, hretli-
ren, toucliin<; tlie coming of our Lord Jesus (.'hrist,
and our gathtsring tot^ether unto him ; to the end that
ye be not (piickly shaken from your mind, nor yet be
troubled, either by spirit or by word, or by epistle as
from us, as that the day of the Lord is now present ;
let no man be<;uile you in any wise : for if (rill not Ixt
except the falling away come first, and the man of sin
be revealed," etc. Paul here disabuses the minds of
the Thessalonians of a false impression as to the time
of our Lord's coming. He declares it impossible for
Him to come for an indefinite time in the future,
instead of assuming He might come at any moment,
as the pre-millennial view reciuires, and as they inter-
pret 1 Thess, 4: 15-19 to mean. To Mr. Hlackstone
and those that follow him, this is thought to present
no difficulty. It is only necessary to refer 1 Thess.
4: 15-19 to the rapture and 2 Thess. 2:1-9 to the
revelation. They do not seem to notice the arrant
nonsense they make of Paul's reasoning. It is not
" Do not be troubled : for the coming I spoke of in my
first letter is not present, as you suppose. An indefi-
nite time must elapse before that coming will be upon
you." But it is made to be : " The coming I spoke to
you about in my first letter may, indeed, happen at
any moment ; but do not be shaken from your mind ;
because there is another coming than the one I then
spoke of, which is not to be present for a longtime to

Utl

164

A STLM)Y IN ESCIIATOLOOY.

«■ !

|li;

■1

come." If anythiiii^ is plain, uiilesH wo wish to impute
folly to an inspired man, it is that Paul, in his second
letter, is referring to the same coming as in the first,
and that tliis theory of two second comings of our
Lord is a figment of the imagination rather than the
teaching of these passages which are supposed to give
it its chief support. And yet, Mr. Blackstone takes
" most commentators " to task, because they do not
accept sucli an interpretation as this !

Another argument for the distinction between the
time of tlie rapture and of the revelation is one of
the many specimens, in his book, of curiosities of
interpretation.

For the statement, " At the rapture the c]iurcli,like
Enoch, is taken out of the world," he gives as proof
Acts 15 : 14, where it is expressly declared that " God
did visit the Gentiles to take out of thnn a people for
his name," referring to the conversion of Cornelius
and his household and the reception of the Gentiles
generally to the privileges of the Gospel. It does iKot
make the remotest allusion to Christ's coming, at
some future time, to take His people from the earth.
For the suppleme*tary statement, "At the revela-
tion, the millennial kingdom is begun," he gives Acts
15: 15, 16, wherein the reception of the Gentiles to
the privileges of the Gospel, by Peter and Paul, is
declared by James to fulfil a prophecy from Amos,
which he quotes.

This much for the proof of the distinct comings
at the so-called rapture and revelation. Now for the
proof that the tribulation comes between. In Luke

THE EVEIMMMINENT COMING OF OlTll Loill). 105

21: 28, tlio rupture i.s referred to at tin; bej^nnniiif^
of tlie tribulation. " w/ion these tliini^s hnjlu to come
to pans, then look up and hft up your liead.s : for your
redemption drawetli ni^h " (redemption here meaning
tlie first resurrection, the sanu; as in Rom. 8 : 23).

In Luke 21 :3l the revelation is referred to " wlien
these things (the tribulation) liave come to pass and
tlie kin(j<lom of God dravveth niirh."

But Mr. B. had just asserted, on the previous pa<je,
that the rapture conies " before the trilmlation."
Here he says that after tlie tribulation befifins tlie
rapture is only drawing nigh. How can the rapture
both precede and happen during tlie course of the
tribulation ? Besides, he should have read the pre-
ceding verse (27), "And then (at the close of the
tribulation) shall they see the Son of man coming in
a cloud," etc. It is manifestly in view of this coming
at the close of the tribulation, and not of an imagin-
ary one at its beginning, that our Lord told them to
" look up . . • for their redemption was drawing
nigh." A small knowledge of Greek would prevent
anyone from building an argument upon the word
" begin " as given in the translation of this passage.
The more accurate translation of Luke 21 : 31, "coming
to pass," has left no semblance of an argument such
as Mr. B. has given. But why w^aste space ? Our
Lord, in vs. 29-32, is but illustrating by a figure the
time of the coming He has been speaking of in the
preceding verses. These things there spoken of should
be related to His coming, just as the putting forth of
the shoots on the fig trees was to the summer. To

'ill'

1 . c.

m >!<

IGO

A STUDY IN ESCHATOT.OGY.

It 'I

make the direct statements of our Lord in vs. 24-28
refer to another comin<^ than the one which is spoken
of in the figurative aUusion to tliis same coming, is, of
course, out of tlie question.

He also urges as an argument for the rapture as
distinct from the revelation, that the Church is to
escape the tribulation which precedes the revelation.
Two passages are given in proof — Luke 2 1 : 36 ; liev. 3:
10. Luke 21 : 3G reads, in the Revised Veision : " I)ut
watch ye at every season, making supplication, that
ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
What are the " all things " which they are to strive
to escape ? They are certainly what is mentioned in
V. 34 ; whether they include anything else or not, is
doubtful. They are then, to watch, etc, that they
might prevail to escape from having their hearts
" overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and
cares of this life." Now, prevailing to escape from
sins and the spirit of this world does not mean neces-
sarily, or even naturally, to be taken away from the
world and its temptations altogether. It is by escap-
ing from evil in this higher way that men are able to
" stand before the Son of man," in the consciousness
of right, as the word implies — when He comes. So
far as Rev. 3 : 10 is concerned — " Because thou didst
keep the word of my patience, I also will keep thee
from the hour of trial, that hour which is to come
upon the whole world, to try them that dwell upon
the earth" — it was spoken to the church at Phila-
delphia. That church has long ceased to exist, and its

TIIK EVEH-IMMINKNT COMING OK OIU I.ORI). 1(17

mcmhei'H have long been lying in tlieir graves. None
ol' them were to live to the great tribulation which
pre-niillennial interpreters of Matt. 24 and Luke 21
make a period yet future. It must be a promise then,
to this speciHed church, of deliverance from an liour
of trial which was soon to come upon its living mem-
l»ers. Whether tliis foreshadows a greater deliverance
of the whole church from a future tribulation is
uncertain. If it does, surely, as the deliverance to the
riiiladelphia church \\as a deliverance by helping
them through and out from (f«). rather than away
from, the trials, any deliverance this foreshadows need
not be through keeping the church away from, rather
than through the midst of, and so out of, the coming
trials.

Thus we have followed Mr. Blackstone in all his
treatment so far as it is not mere assertion. A few
words more on this theory may be added.

It is assumed that the revelation of our Lord is
His coming with His people a long time after He
comes to raise them from the dead. It is also after
tliey have received their judgment and have their
rewards apportioned to them. It is also after the
" marriage of the Lamb." They are judged, and the
marriage of the Lamb occurs, while they are in the
air with their Lord. Let us see how all this agrees
with the use of the word (a7roHa\vf/'i>) which Pre-
millennialists allege is used to describe this coming of
the Lord with His people, after all these things have
taken place.

" So thac ye come behind in no gift ; waiting for

. I'

168

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

I I
1, 1

\ .

tlic revelation of our Lord Jcsuh (yhrist ; who Hhall
also conHnn you unto the end, fhnt ye he unro-
proveabh^ in the (hiy of our Lord Jesus Christ"
(1 Cor. 1: 7,8).

If the revehition is not until after they have met
their Lord, aiul the niarriaj^e of tlie Lamb and tlieir
judgment with tlie apportionin<; of its rewards are all
past, then the eyes of the Corinthians, during their
waiting, must have overlooked the very coming which
our pre-millennial brethren think tlie chief object of
expectation. They were waiting for the coming which
was more distinct, and not the one which might bo
just at hand. Also, their being " unreproveable in the
day of Jesus Christ," evidently referring to the judg-
ment, was to be before His revelation for which they
were waiting, and not at the revelation, us the apostle
declares.

" That the proof of your faith, being more precious
than gold that perisheth, though it is proved by fire,
might be found unto praise and glory and honor at
the revelation of Jesus Christ" (1 Pet. 1 : 7).

Did Peter mean that their faith was not to be found,
" unto praise " until after the first coming, when they
were to be judged and their rewards assigned ?

" Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, . . •
set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be
brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ "
(I Pet. 1:13).

Did Peter think the bestowment of this grace would
be deferred until long after they were raised from the
dead and had met their Lord in personal presence ?

TIIK KVKIl-IMMINKNT CUMIN*; OV (Ull I.OUD. 101)

"'I'o yo»i that are atHictcil rest with us, at the
revelation of the lionl Johuh from heaven," etc.
(2TlieHa. 1:7).

Were tlie TlieHsaloiiian believers not to have rest
witli their Lord when Me hIiouM come to raise them
from tlie tlea«l and take them to hiniHelf ? They
really are not said to liave rest, if the revelation is a
later coming, even at the marriaj^c supper of the
Lamb.

Besi<les, all these passa<^es are taken as proof that
Paul an<l Peter thou^^ht the comin«^ of the Lord so
near that tliose they addressed would pi'obably live to
see it. And yet we are to believe a word is used to
describe it, which refers to another cominf(alto;(ether,
which was not to happen until after a terriKc time of
tribuhition.and after the comin<j which really mi^ht be
near, was past !

So of the other noun most frefjuently used to de-
scribe the second coming. This word {napoi^aun) means
" a being beside " or " presence." Now, we should ex-
pect this word " presence " or " being beside one, or
where one is," would certainly not be used of a coming
which is merely a nearer approach, antl which stops
short before He gets in sight of men at all. And yet
it is this very word translated " presence," in the more
accurate rendering in the margin of the Revised Ver-
sion, which is used of this, as is claimed, approach of
our Lord, wherein He does not come in personal
presence to the earth at all.

We cannot pause to refer to other classes of pas-
sages in which this theory breaks down. We hope

■ft"' H
%■■■

170

A STUDV IN KSCIIATOhOUV.

I I

ihiH exHiiiiiuition i.s.sutlicioiit to mIiow that ull mIIc^imI
jn'oof of tliin theory must ho roiul in, Ix't'oic it cun
he (hawii out. 'I'here is not only notliiuj^ to favor it,
hut it iH in the most direct eoiitliet with many pas-
Ha;;es of tilt! Word of (Jod. The ordinary readin;^ of
the N(!\v Testament and its mow critical studv alike,
when there is no theory to su|)port, tind no inchcalion
that its autliors had the remotest conception of two
personal cominj^s of our Lord, s!'parat«'d by a space
between sufficient toliold all prophecy whicli remained
to be fulfilled before His revelation with the angels
of His power. A study of all the passa^^es referring
to our Lord's second personal coming makes it plain
tliat it was to them a single, decisive, tremendous event,
and not two separate ones. They speak of it always
in the singular. 'I'hey speak of the personal coming
they refer to in every definite case as tlie one personal
coming of which there is no other.

Certain other exigencies of this theory, which we
cannot take space to explain, make it necessary that
this so-called " Rapture of the saints " at Clirist's
coming for His people shouhl be secret. Secret it is,
therefore, held to be by tlie most of those adopting
this special view. It is, tlierefore, necessary to explain
away 1 (\ir. 15 : 'y'l : " We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised," and 1 Tliess. 4:10:
" For tlie Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with tlie voice of the archangel and
with the trump of God, and the dead iu Christ ahall

THK EVKKI.MMINFNT COMlN(J OF Olll l.olll). 171

ns«," etc. Ah it Ih impossible (o refer these pjissa;;eH
to iuiytliitij^' «'1m(> tliaii tiie eoiitin;; of tltf Lonl to raise
tile (lead and take liis |)«'u[>li' to Iiiiiisrif, they declare
the '* shout, " the " voice ol" the archaiii^cl ' and thf
" sounding; tiiimp " an* heard oidy by the ri^ht«'oUH I
Hut this is not al!. Matt. 24 : 27, " For, as the li^dit-
uiii^ Cometh forth from thr cast, and is seen (!Ven unto
the west, so shall be theeomin<^of tiu?Sonof man," and
Acts 1:11, " This .Jesus which was n'C<;iv(d up from
you into heaven, shall no come in like manner as ye
bcsheld him ^<)in;j into heaven," cannot refer at all to
the comin«; of the Lord which was first to follow
His ascension ; for that is to be secret and invisible,
whereas this con)inj^ is in a visible blaze of glory.
It cannot refer to that comin«^ which is of chief
interest to believers, as our pre-millennial brethren
themselves suppose ; it is of a second second coming
or a third advent, when lie returns after having taken
liis people to himself! This second coming of our
r.jrd for His people as distinguished from His glorious
c( ming with them, is a figment of the imagination,
not a teaching of the New Testament.

Finally, the Scriptures teach it is upon the wicked
the coming of the Lord is to be an awful surprise.
Now, the alleged coming for the saints is said to be
unknown to them, except as they wake up .some
morning and find all the righteous gone. It is the
coming with the saints, which is placed seven years
after the rapture, which is to come with its terrible
unexpectedness upon this class. Not only do they
hold that the time between these comings is known,

172

A HTIJDY IN KSCIIATOLOijy.

but also tlu' jlrfinito HerioH of «»v<»ntH wljirli will rhipBt'
then. Am<1 y«*t, iti faco of all this, tli«> rcvfiatioii of
our Lonl will surpri.s*' all (ho wick«'<l ' Nay, it' tliore
were Mucli i\ rnptnrr of the saints at a coming at this
nliort ptu'iod previou.sly, it \h iiiiposHihlu to iiiKlcr.staiKi
how all tln' wicked could Ix' thus Huipris»'(|.

So far a.s wo havr gotio, the problem of tin* trachin;;
of Scripture a.s to our Lord'H Hccond coniiu^ remaiim
uuHolved. 'I'hi.s theory would not solve it, if it could
Iw acccpte<I, and it cainiot he accepted even thouj^h it
would.

'Il'^'l

TIIK ; VKK-I.MMINKNT COMINll OK OIH I.OHh. 17IJ

CIIAI^IHR X.

TIIK KVKIMMMINKNT COMINdl OF OIK LORD.

K\ KUV Olio wlio lias jrivcii mufh stiuly to the pa.s-
siiifi'H rofrir'm^ to the coining; of the Lord will nwulily
luliiiit tluit tlio Huhjrct is one of „reat (jitriculty. It
i.s much easier to critiei.se explanatiotiM that have Ix'on
(tflenMl thati to put foiwani one that is hctter. It is
(louiiti'ul if any throry will ever he prcsruted which
will he pcrft'ctly satisfactory, \V»' hrlicve, hovvever,
that an explanation can be ^iven which is not liable
to th(! insuperable objections to wiiicli thoae we have
been discussing are exposed.

We do not believe tlie first step can be nuule to-
ward a solution of tlie ditficulties envclopinf^ this
subject, as lonj; as all references to the comini^ of the
Lord are ref^arded as alludinj^ indiscriminately and
exclusively to His personal advent. If they all spoke
of the coniinf( as only po.ssibly near, still there would
be the impossibility of reconciling^ such statements
with their evident knovvledj^e of future events whicli
must happen before His coming. But, as we have
seen, there are numerous pa.ssages which spwik of His

' n

174

A STUDY IN ESOriATOLOOY.

■•J

coming not only as possibly near, but as certainly
n(3ai-. Thoro aro also otlicrs which, if they teach any-
thing about the nearness of our Lord's advent, and
thus support the pre-niillennial conception, take for
granted that He will appear before those; who were
aliv(; when the New Testament was written, have
passed away : " We that are alive, that are left unto
the couiing of the Lord " ( 1 Thess. 4 : 1')) ; " That thou
keep the comniandnient , . . until the appearing of
our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Tim. 0:14): "Be patient,
therefore, brethren, unto the coining of the Loi'd " (Jas.
5 : 7): " That ye may be sincere and void of offence unto
the day of Christ" (Phil. 1 : 10). All these passages,
if interpreted to favor Pre-millennialism at all, prove
too much. They not only assume that Christ might
come, but that He certainly would come, in the gen-
eration then living, and the teaching was false. Tlie
interpretation which commits us to Pre millennialism,
thus inevitably leads us to a conclusion which makes
the apostles fallible, and their teaching of no sure
worth to prove anytliing.

This leads us to our first position :

1. There are " comings " of the Lord spoken of in
the New Testament other than His visible and per-
sonal advent.

(1) The Lord is represented as coming in His spe-
cial and more striking providential dealings with
men.

Many illustrations of this usage are found in the
Old Testament : " In every place when I record my
name, I will come unto thee and I will bless thee "

THE EVER-IMMINENT COMINO OF OI'U T.OUn. 17r)

(Kx. 20 : 'l-i). " Ve <'re a stifriiockiMl ix'oplo : if I ^^o up
into the midst of tliuo lor one nioinciit, 1 shall coiisuine
tliee " (Kx. *V'] : 5). " Ho Ixnved tlio hojivons also and
ciune «lo\vn" (2 Sam. 22 : 10). "Our Cod sliall como
and shall not keep silence" (Ps. 50: ')). " 15ow thy
heavens, () Lord, and come down " (Ps. 144 : 5). "I>e-
lioM the Lord rideth upon a swift cloud and eometh
unto K(rypt" (Lsa. 10 : 1). "Behold, (lod will come
with ven<;eance, with the recompense of CJod : he will
cojne and save you" (lsa. .35 : 4). "Oh that thou
wouldest rend the heavens and come down.
When thou didst terrible thinffs which we looked not
for, thou camest down " (lsa. 04 : l-.S ; see also Ps. JSO :
2 : Micah 1 : 3-5 ; 7:4; Mai. 4:0; Zeph. 1 : 7, etc.).

So, likewise, the pourinff out of some great ju<lg-
nient is fre<|uently called the coming of the day of
the Lord. (lsa. 2:12; Joel 1:15; 2:11: Amos 5 :
18-20; Zeph. 1 : 7, etc.)

It need not surprise us, therefore, if, in the New
Testament, the grander displays of the divine power
in Providence, should be called the coming of the
Lord, or the day of the Lord. It would rather be
strange if no such allusions were found there.

We do find, in the New Testament, our Lord's pro-
vidential dealings called His coming. The references
to the Lord's coming in the letters to the seven
churches are all acknowledged, by such a champion
of Pre-milleimialism as Dr. Kellogg, to be allusions to
His comings in Providence. The most judicious of
con^imentators who, in some points, agree with Pre-
millennlalists, also explain them the same wtiy, e.g.,

a.. ?

;rV It ••

'■-■- "i i

17G

A STUDY IN KSCllAToLUfJV.

Alford, Meyer. No ono wlio .studios them can reacli
any other conclusion. Our Lord says to tlie church
at Kpliesus : " Remember tlierel'ore from whence thou
art fallen, and repent, and do tlie first works; or
else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out
of its place, e.xcept thou repent" (Ilev. 2:5); to the
church at Per<;amos : " Repent therefore ; or else I
come to tliee (juickly, and I will make war against
theni with the sword of my mouth" (2: 10); to the
church in Sardis : " Remendjer therefore how thou
hast received and didst hear; and keep it, and repent.
If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come as a
thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come
upon thee "(3 : 3).

Now, our Lord's second an<i personal coming was
not determined by the impenitence of these churches,
as the comings here mentioned are. The judgments
which are threatened constituted His coming, in each
case, and these have long since fallen upon theni.

(2) Our Lord is said to come to take His people to
himself when they die. 1 know that our pre-millen-
nial brethren regard the thought of this as almost a
shocking one. They speak of death as a repulsive
thing, as the "king of terrors," as something to be
dreaded, even by believers. They heap all manner of
contempt upon the idea that anytl 'ng so loathsome
as death w^ould be called the coming of the Lord.
One of the greatest joys in the thought that our
Lord may immediately appear is that thus they may
escape this " enemy." All the same, however, for over
eighteen centuries since Christ came, believers have

be
r of
oine
ord.
our
nay
3ver
lave

THE EVER-IMMINENT COMINO OK OFU LORD. 177

all liad to (lie. Howc^ver much tlu'y may liavc rcjoicod
in tlie liopo of heinjif spared bodily disHolution, their
liope lias proved an ilhision, and, perluipH, deatli has
been all the more bitter })ecauHe they had learned to
look upon it as such a fearful thin((. Surely this is a
false view of the nature of death to the believer.
Clin we believe our Lord, for aj^es, would make no
adefjuate provision for His people in the hist soleuiii
hour ? Does all tliis represent correctly the teaching
of the Bible, or the facts of Christian deathbeds ?
Death is represented as a falling asleep. Paul says
tliat " the sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is
the law : but," he joyfully adds, " thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
(nirist " (1 Cor. 15 : 56, 57). Even the body shall be
the trophy of victory at the resurrection. Christ
died " that he miglit bring to nought him that had
the power of death, that is, the devil ; and might
deliver all them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage " (Heb. 2:14,15).
Paul can desire to "depart and be with Christ,"
althouirh lie knows that death will meet him on the
way (Phil. 1 : 23). When the time comes for him to
face death he can exult (2 Tim. 4 : 7). In the New
Testament, although deatli is called an enemy, he is
an enemy which is overcome for us now, as he shall
be destroyed at the resurrection. The New Testa-
ment does not give us a sombre view of death. Ample
provision is made for the believer against its? dread
and power. This pre-millennial representation is, we

■!'■■

riTV

178

A STUDY IN ESCUATOLOCiY.

are Hiirc, as unwliolesoinc as it is a misconception of
Bible teaching;.

Whatever may be said of the other references to the
Lord's cominjif, there is one wliich seems undoubtedly
to be to His coming for the believer at death. We
refer to John 14 : 1-4:

" Let not your heart be troubled ; ye believe in
God, believe also in mo. In my F'ather's house are
many mansions; if it were not so I would have told
you ; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I
go and prepare a place for you, I come again, and
will receive you unto myself : that where I am, there
ye may be also."

Now the Father's house, with tlie mansions or
abiding places, was in heaven, whither Jesus was
going, not on earth in the millennial glory. Neither
were His people to be kept waiting for hundreds and
perhaps thousands of years, before they were to be
received by Christ to himself, to abide with Him in
these homes He was preparing for them. Paul knew
that to die was to be with Christ, and so it is with
all who believe on Him. They do not have to wait
until the resurrection of the body to be received by
our Lord unto himself. It is at death they are thus
received, and are with Christ in the mansions pre-
pared in heaven. It is at death, then, that Jesus
comes for them, and this is the comfort for all His
people. Those who assert that it is not at death,
but at His second personal advent, win either have to
show that believers are not received to the abidin^^
places in heaven until the later coming, or that,whiJo

and

bo be

iin m

Knew

with

wait

(1 by
thus
I pre-
Jesus
I His
ieath,
ave to
)idin<,^
while

THE EVEIMMMINEXT (Y)MI\fi OF oru LORD. 179

roc(!ivt'(l tt) be with Christ at (h'utli, our lionl hrro
pasHCH over all the time wliich they are with Him
until then, and speaks as thouj^h they were first taken
to himself at that late date.

Notice also another passat^e, Luke 12 : 4JJ-4G (com p.
Matt. 24:47-51): "Blessed is that servant whom his
lord, when he cometh, shall find so doint^ Of a
truth I say unto you, that he will set him over all
that he hath. But if that servant shall say in his
heart, My lord delayeth his comin<^, and shall begin
to beat the manservants and the maidservants, and
to eat and drink, and to be drunken, the lord of that
servant shall come in a day when he expecteth not,
. . . and shall cut him asunder, and appoint his
portion with the unfaithful."

This parable is given in reply to Peter's (question :
" Lord, speakest thou this parable to us, or even unto
all V Even if what our Lord proceeds to say referred
to the apostles exclusively, it cannot be His personal
coming which is spoken of ; for they have been for
long centuries in glory with their Lord, and how can
they be found watching at a coming which is still
future ? But our Lord is evidently here speaking in
!i general way ; He includes the apostles, but only as
they belong to the class they represent throughout
the ages. But if He referred to all of this class, it is
equally impossible for His personal advent to be here
alluded to. For, let it be noticed, the watching and
the lieedlessness here spoken of are not merely in
view of a coming which may or may not occur during
the period of watching or carelessness, Tliey are in

180

A STl'DV FN KSCHATor.OnY.

viow of a coiniii^f which is oortaiii to hapjx'U during
that time. It is not "whom the Ijonl, il' He conies,
shall tiiul,"etc.; but " the Lord, ichcn He comes, shall
find so doin<^." How can the Lord, when He comes,
we know not how \on<r hence, find ail the faithful
of the class He refers to, still watchin*;, when they
have heen with Him, many of them, for nearly two
thousand years:* Observe, also, it is oidy "if that
servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his
comin^^," etc. ; or, on this con<lition, that our Lord
declares He will come upon him with destruction.
Now, who can hold that our Lord's personal advent is
determined by the disobedience of some of His pro-
fessed servants? A^ain, the conung here spoken of,
with its destruction, is to overtake the unfaithful
servant in the midst of his violence and riotousness.
Does our Lord's second advent, which is still future,
cut oti" all this class throughout the ages, in the midst
of their sin ? This coming, therefore, is one which
takes place in the lifetime of both faithful and
unfaithful, through all time. The only possible escape
from this conclusion would be on an impossible
assumption that our Lord is here not speaking gener-
ally so as to include the apostles and encourage them
to faithfulness and warn them against unfaithfulness,
by His words ; but that He is alluding exclusively to
a generation two thousand years or more in the
future. Besides, in any case, if we refer this parable
exclusively to our Lord's second coming, the reward
and punishment here described would be only for
those of the last generation, while it is obviously

THK EVKIMMMIVENT roMIN'O OF (M'U LOHD. IHI

iiu'jint to oncoura;^o and warn peopl** in all aj^cs.
Tliure iH a coinin*^* liere spokon of, then, wliicli hIuiH
be to all earlier i^enemtionH what the perHonal a«lvent
of our Lonl shall be to tlie last.

Now, if this is mule clear, it is further evident
that tlie (loom which the coininj^ of the Lord brings
to tile luifaithful servant is His death, beinj^ "cut
asunder," one form of judicial execution, and what
comes after ileatli, "appointing; Ins place with the un-
faithful," or hypocrites, as Matt. 24:51. The Lord's
coming in this passage, then, seems to be His coming
with His judgments at deatii. It is most reasonable to
believe, also, that His coming to the faithful, here
spoken of, is His coming at death also. It appears
impossible, at least, to make tliis coming other than
tliat either in providence or at death.

In this connection, three allusions to the coming of
the Lord in the letters to the seven churches deserve
attention. To the church in Thyatira our Lord says,
" Howbeit that which ye have, hold fast till I come "
(Rev. 2 : 25) ; to the church in Philadelphia, "I come
(juickly : hold fast that which thou hast, that no one
take thy crown" (3: II); to the church in Smyrna,
" Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee the
crown of life " (2 : 10). " That which ye have," " That
which thou hast," refer to the faithfulness already
shown in trials and temptations. This they were ex-
horted to maintain until the Lord came. What is the
coming here spoken of ? It is only a (juestion between
the coming in providence and in death. The provi-
dences which some have thouirht to be His cominfj are

1. 1

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182

A STITPY i\ EsnrAToi.oov.

1
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thn trials about to como, vvhicli should trst tin- faith-
fulrioHH they wen; oxhortod to hold last throuj;h them
(hoo 2 : 2:J, 8: 10). Hut if this Ix- the coiiiin;j of tho
Lord, then tlie exhortation nuist have been, " hold
fast when I cotne in these trijils," not " till I come in
theui." The coinin<.j, then, would seem to be when
JesuH ai)j)(!ars to deliver them from the trials, when
the testing shall be over. In 3: 11, where H<; says,
" I come (|uicUly," lioM fast the faithfulness already
HJiown, in the trials I have just told you are about to
come, He means, " He patient, endure the trials : you
will not have to suffer them lon<;. I come quickly to
deliver you fnnn them." Compare, also, these expres-
sicms ^iven alK)ve. It is by holdin<.( fast their faith-
fulness, until tlie Lord comes, and comes (piickly, that
they are to make sure of the crown prepared (2 : 20 ;
3:11). It is in Rev. 2 : 10, by bein^r faithful unto
death, that they are to assume their crown. Does not
this mean that the coming of the Lord is at their
deatli, when He comes to take them from the trials,
after tliey have t^iven them sutticient testing ? It
seems hard to escape the conclusion.

(8) There is a comin<jf of the Lord in His kinj^dom
spoken of, v;hich does not refer to this personal advc^nt.

We have already referred to Matt. 10: 28: *' Verily
I say unto you, there be sonje of them that stand here,
which shall in no wise taste of death, till they see the
Son of man cominjj; in his kingdom." Tl)is coming was
not to be till some of them had died, while it was to
occur before all were dead. There should be, " some of
them " alive, when He should thus come, and only some

THE EVEH-lMMfVENT COMINcJ OP OlMl LORD. 183

of thcni. All who <li«l live until thiH coming were to
Heo it. The attempt to break the force of this pHHflage
hy making the coming spoken of His tran.stiguration
Itofore but three of them only six days after, and while
they were all still living, is worse than useless.

Doubtless Matt. 10: 28 refers to this .same coming.
" iiut when they persecute you in this city, flee into
the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have
go!je through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man
lie come." Now, there have actually been some wlio,
in their zeal to refer all the comings of the Lord to
His second personal advent, have argued that *' the
cities of Israel have not yet been " gone through.

They do not seem to have noticed that our Lord was
addressing His twelve disciples in all this chapter,
and that this coming should happen while these twelve
were going about their work in Palestine. Compare
with this Matt. 24 : 14 : " And the gospel of the king-
dom shall be preached in the whole world (inhabited
earth) for a testimony unto all the nations : and then
shall the end come." The end and the coming of the
Lord are acknowledged to be the same period. Now,
are we to believe that the coming of the Lord, which
should happen before the apostles had gone through
the cities of Lsrael, and the coming that was not to
occur until the Gospel had been preached in all the
world, are the same ? If they are the same, all the
worse for our pre-millennial friends, for the time speci-
fied for the coming in the first passage is already long
past. Therefore, that of the second is long past also,
and neitlier of them refers to His personal advent.

ill

184

A STUDY IN KSCnAT()L(MJV.

Hut tlio (ioNpol )ia.s not yet Ix^fii {>reaclio<l in all thn
worM for a wittu'HH, as i're-iiiillciiiiialiHtH lieliuvc, an<l
nil iniiHt hold who hcliovt' thi.s coining to In; HIh {xt-
Honal advent ; for had it hccn, our Lord would have
come aH He had promised. Tlie coming of Mutt. 10 :
23, at lea.st, i.s lonj; past.

(4) Our Lonl duelareH He himsi'lf wouM come in
thecomin<rof tliu Spirit (John 14: \H, 23: 10 : l()-22).

(.'>) There i.s also a coming of the Lord which i^
spiritual (Rev. 3: 20; Kph. 2: 17, etc.).

2 In view of these forms in which our Lord issai<l
to come, liow shall we explain the references to llin
coming in the New Testament f

(1) Let us notice, first, the cla.ss of pa.s.sa;;es in which
helievers are represented as waiting, or looking for
the coming of the Lord, or are exhorted thus to do.

" So that ye come behind in no gift : waiting for
the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall
also confinn you unto the end, that ye he unreprove-
able in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. 1 :
7,8). *' For our citizenship is in heaven : from whence
also we wait for a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation,
that it may be conformed to the body of His glory"
(Phil. 3: 20, 21) " How ye turned unto Goil from
idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for
his Son from heaven" (1 Thess. 1 : 9, 10). "Denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly
and righteously and godly in this present world,
looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the
glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ "

I, I

TUF KVKH-IMMINEST C(>MIS<J OK Ol'lt I.OIID. IK.'i

(Tit. 2: 12. I:J). " Sr^in^ tliut tln'M« tliiti^cs an' tlius
all to bo ilisHolvrd, whut iimniuT of ihtmoiim ()u;;ht yo
t<» Ih) ill all iioly living; aii<l ;(i)(llin«'MM, Inokiii^ for and
uarncstly «lr.siriii;; the coiiiiii^^ of tlu' day of Go«i," etc.
(2 Pot. 3:11, \'2).

There are Noiiie lVe-iiiilleiiMiaiiHt.s who deem it iiii-
poHHihle to wait for, or look for, a coining,' of the Lord
which in not j)os.sil)le at any iiioiiieiit. They, there-
fore, conclude from these j>a.sMa;;(!s, as well as from
others, that the Nc^w Ti^staiiieiit writers must have
rej^arde'd the personal advent of our Lord as possibly
at hand. Hut this is an extreme view of the case, as
some pre-millennial brethren themselves acknowledge ;
for we can wait and look for what we know to be in
the future. We wait and look for tlu' return of dear
friends from the day of their departure, althouj^h
they are to be absent for weeks or months or even
years. In this case, '"wait" is used in the Hense of
making the return the ;;reat object of desire : it is ever
kept in lon;^in;( thou»;lit. A ;;eneral is said to wait
for a batth' he knows will not be foujrht for days or
weeks. " Wait," in this case, is used in the sense of
having all his preparations so made for the; enemy
tliat he has nothing else to do, with reference to the
coiiiinj^ conlliet, until the battle. In )>oth these senses
we can wait and look for the c()iiiiii<^ of the Lord,
whatever be our idea of the time of liiscomin^r. The
condition of the waitin*' is not the nearness but the
certainty of His coming;. If we know that our Lord
is surely coming, and that we shall iiave the same
share in all the blessings He comes to brinj^f whether

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

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He appears to-morrow or a thousand years hence, we
can hold His coming in thought as the great object
of desire, and be moved to faithfulness in order to be
prepared for it, especially when it is remembered that
the time for this preparation is limited to a life
which may end at any time.

But neither Paul Tior Peter, when writing these
epistles, in which these expressions are found, thought
the coming of the Lord might be immediately im-
pending.

In the last chapter of First Corinthians, in which
one of the passages is found, Paul expects to return
to Corinth (16 : 2), then to send on their contribu-
tions to Jerusalem, and perhaps go himself (vs. 3, 4)
after he had passed through Macedonia (v. 5). He
expects to tarry at Ephesus until Pjentecost, etc. Now,
if the Corinthians could wait for what they knew
would not take place for months, and was indefinitely
future, why was it impossible to wait for what was to
be a thousand years hence ? Then we know that in
the second letter to the Thessalonians, Paul definitely
puts the coming of the Lord into the indefinite future.
He could not have meant, therefore, in 1 Thess. 1 : 9,
10, that the coming of the Lord might be immediately
impending, because the Thessalonian Christians were
to "wait for his Son from heaven."

This class of passages really teaches that believers
are to keep the coming of the Lord, as the great con-
summation of their highest hopes, ever present in their
thought and feeling, so as to act continually in view
of it and its power, as though it were actually near.

THE EVER-IMMINENT COMING OF OUR LORD. 187

(2) In the second place, let uh notice the class of
passages in which believers are exhorted to faithful-
ness, or growth in grace is said to continue " until "
Christ comes.

" He which began a sure work in you will perfect
it until the day of Jesus Christ " (Phil. 1 : G) ; " That
ye may be sincere and void of offence unto the day of
Christ" (v. 10) : "That thou keep the commandment
without spot, without reproach, until the appearance
of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Tim. 6: 14); "Be
patient, therefore, brethren, until the coming of the
Lord" (Jas. 0:7); " Trade ye herewith till 1 come"
(Luke 19 : 18); " We shall not all sleep, but we shall
all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an
eye — the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we
shall be changed" (1 Cor. 15: 51, 52); "We that are
alive, that are left unto the coming of the Lord "
(1 Thess. 4: 15).

As already remarked, these passages, if they teach
anything about the nearness of our Lord's advent,
declare too much, for they would make it apparent
that the authors of the New Testament not only
thought this great event possibly, but certainly near.
This would be in conflict with the knowledge they
show they had of events which they knew must
happen before His coming.

It would also prove that, in statements which are
made in the most categorical way, they were in the
most grievous error, and would make it impossible for
us to trust them as inspired t(>achers in anything.
How then are we to explain these various passages ?

1S8

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOfJY.

lili

Our Lord and the scripture writers knew that their
teaching was for more than those first addressed.
They had in mind all to whom it was to apply down
through thti ages to the end. When Paul says to the
Corintliians, " For as oft as ye eat this bread and
drink this cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till
he come" (1 Cor. 11 : 26), he did not mean that
these identical believers were to continue to observe
the Supper t:ll the coming of the Lord. He had in
mind the whole continuous line of believers, beginning
with them, and reaching down to the second coming.
The "ye" of direct address included all living saints
until that time. This great succession of believers
should continue to observe the Supper until His
second advent. So, also, our Lord, in the great com-
mission, " Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the
nations : and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the
end of the world " (Matt. 28 : 19, 20). He surely did
not expect the eleven disciples he was addressing to
" make disciples of all the nations." It was not with
them only He was to be " until the end of the world."
He evidently had in mind the collective body of
believers beginning with them, but reaching on until
the end of the world, when the great commission
should be fulfilled. In the parable (Luke 19 : 13) the
ten servants represent all of the class mentioned
throughout the ages. In this same way must I Cor.
15: 51, 52 and 1 Thess. 4: 15 be explained. Paul
did not expect, with the Corinthian and Thessalonian
brethren, to live on until our Lord's second advent.
There were to be two classes then, the dead and the

THE EVER-IMMIXKNT OOMlVn OF nvU LORD. ISO

■M

the former to be raised, tlic latter to be
clian<ije(l. He naturally continues to reckon himself
and his fellow-Christians then, in the class they were
in now, as in his thought he thus takes in all the living
and all the dead.

Another principle comes in, perhaps, to help us
explain some of the passages that remain. The
second coming looms up, often, in overshadowing
grandeur, in the apostle's thought. Then, also, only
the life on earth has to do with determining the
relation in which men will stand to this grand event,
whether as prepared or unprepared. It is not sur-
prising, therefore, that the time between death and
the second coming should drop out of view, both as
overshadowed by it, and as having no direct bearing
upon the condition of men in that fateful day ; and
that this supreme and transcendent day should bo
spoken of as in immediate connection with the life on
earth. The first four passages given above seem, on
this principle, to have a natural explanation.

(3) In this connection let us consider the last, and
perhaps the most difficult, group of passages we need
to examine. We refer to those in 'Vv^hich men are
connnanded to watch, in view of the coming of the
Lord. We may be surprised to know that all of these
in the gospels are in connection with a single discourse
of our Lord. We have then, really but the varied
references of this kind to deal with, given at a single
sitting of our Lord. It will be found that parts of all
the passages in Mark and Luke, embodying commands
to watch, are contained in Matt. 24 : 37-51, We con-

1 .i

190

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOHY.

i
i

i ii ' '■ '

■i -' :■ i

llliili

cludf, tliureforo, tliat what thoy ^ivo, in these connected
pussaj^GH, not found in Matt. 24 : 87-51, are but fuller
accounts of the same thought.

Let UH, then, examine Matt. 24: 37-ol in the connec-
tion in which it stands. The difficulty in interpreting
this discourse of our Lord, as given in Matt. 24, Mark
13, and Luke 21, is acknowledged.

In Mark 13:4 and Luke 21 : 7 it is represented as
given in answer to a specific question as to the time
when the temple was to be destroyed. In Matt. 24: 3,
there is added, " And what shall be the sign of thy
coming, and of the end of the world ? " Our Lord
answers both the questions. But the answer is not
first given of one and then of the other, with a clear
line of division between : it is rather, in part of the
discourse, at least, an answer of one of the questions
through that of the other which was its type.

The crux of the difficulty is in v. 34 : " Verily I say
unto you. This generation shall not pass away till all
these things be accomplished." There are three chief
interpretations. There is that of the rationalistic inter-
preters who hold that " generation " here means the
people then living, and that our Lord really believed
Jerusalem was not only to fall, but He himself was to
return in person to end the world, within this brief
space. This view, as is readily seen, assumes that
our Lord is not only ignorant of the time of His com-
ing, but though ignorant. He makes the most positive
statement possible, prefacing it with " verily " as
though it could not be disputed, as to the terminus
ad qiiem, for His coming ; and that this positive state-

THE EVER-IMMINENT OOMINO OF OUR LORD. 191

merit, iiuide with such perfect assurance and with
sucli manifest intention that it sliould be received as
true, was to prove false by we know not how nuich
more than eighteen centuries. We can suppose our
Lord ignorant of the precise time of His second
coming; but we cannot beUeve Him to be uncon- •
scious of His ignorance, or, when conscious of it,
to hazard the most positive statements as tliough
He had the most definite knowledge. This interpre-
tation, at least, assumes our Lord not only to be
ignorant, but that He might think that He knew that
whereof He was thus ignorant, and to declare, under
this delusion, what was to prove untrue. Then away
forever with the thought of His infallibility as a
teacher of truth. But how, in that case, is it io be
explained that, in no other instance, lias the truth
of either His prophecies or His teachings been success-
fully challenged by candid men ? If He were in such
grievous error in His statement in this discourse as to
His second coming, liow^ comes it that in all pertain-
ing to the destruction of Jerusalem the event proved
Him to have had such accurate knowledge ? We
reject this interpretation as not self -consistent, and
as involving what is contradictory and subversive of
all reliance upon even the words of our Lord as a
revelation from God.

The second is the pre-millennial interpretation
which makes the word "generation " mean "nation"
or " race." The verse then reads : " This nation or
race shall not pass away," etc.

But, as Dr. Broadus says, '* The word cannot have

fif-

■m

192

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

lliHiil!

i I

Til

any other meuniiif^ havr, than tlio obvious one. rue
atteniptfi to cHtabliwli for it the Henso of race or nation
have failed. Tliero are Home examples in which it
might have such a meaning, hut none in which it
must, for in Qvery case the recognized meaning will
answer, and so another sense is not admissible.*

Olshausen also declares, " The word yevsa is not
used in the sense of natron in any one passage, either
of the New Testament or of profane writers,"f

So of commentators generally, excepting Alford.

But even though the sense nation were allowable
here, on philological grounds, it would not helj) those
who hold the coming of the Lord spoken of in this
chapter to be exclusively His personal advent ; for
the Jewish nation has long ceased to exist, and still
our Lord tarries. If " generation " here means
" nation," the coming in our Lord's thought, when He
uttered these words, must have been the providential,
at the destruction of Jerusalem, when the Romans
took away from the Jews their " name and nation."
Neither will the sense of race serve, in the connection
of this passage. Did the disciples suppose the race
of men in general, or of the Jews in particular, might
be blotted out before their Lord's return, tliat He
needed to assure them to the contrary, in this most
solemn and emphatic way ? If this were their thought
which He needed to correct, they evidently did not
suppose His personal advent to be very near, for we
can scarcely suppose they thought the race was about

« <<

Commentary" in loco.

t " Commentary" in loco.

THE EVER-IMMINENT CoMINO OK OUR LORD. 103

to be cut ott". I^osi<los, the implication of the words,
' This croncration wliall not pass away until," etc., is
that what is foretold is not completely fulfilled "until"
the tjeneration is near its end. If jreneration here
mean Vdce, then it means that the comin<jj of the
Lord here spoken of is to he delayed until the Jewish
race was nearin^^ the end of its existence. In any
ca.se, then, this discourse, on the pre-millennial
assumption, instead of giving the impression that our
Lord's second coming might possibly be nigh, would
put it forward into the dim and indefinite distance,
and make inexplicable how He could proceed to give
the disciples the solemn warnings to watch and be
ready, lest it might come upon them as a thief.

It is also evident our Lord thought it extremely
important that His disciples should hear what He
was saying. He introduces this sentence with the
emphatic note of attention, " Verily." Can we doubt
He intended them to understand Him and thought
they did so ? But could they possibly have under-
stood this generation here to have meant this race,
when the word He used never signified race but
always generation, and when, too, there was a word
which meant race rather than generation, which He
might have used ? But did He intend them to under-
stand the word which usually, if not invariably, meant
the short period of a single life, to have the sense of
race, a term covering a great and indefinite length of
time ? If He did make them understand that in the
connection in which He used it, the word meant an
indefinitely long instead of a short period, then can
13

r;4i

'•"»wi«p

194

A STUDY IN ESCnATOI,0(JY.

! I

^mi

wo CHcajx! tli(^ conclusion tliat Ho took Hp(>cial pain.s
to (linabuso their iiiinds of tlio tl»ou<;ht of the possiblo
nearness of His second advent, and intended tlie uum
of tliat generation, at least, to dismiss it from tlieir
practical thought ?

Thus we see that no help can come to the pre-
millennial view, even if we allow the word generation
the meanings its advocates would force upon the word.

The third interpretation of this passage does not
ask us to believe our Lord used the word " geiusra-
tion" in an unusual, if not an unknown, sense, and
then urged upon them the fact thus stated in lan-
guage they would not be expected to understand, as
though it were of the greatest practical moment.
The usual, if not the invariable, meaning of the word
is^maintained.

It is in this generation — in the lifetime of the
people then I'ving — that all these things, including
the Lord's coming, were to have their fulfilment. But
how can this be when He had been speaking about
the destruction of Jerusalem and His second and per-
sonal advent ?

As we have already seen, there was a coming of the
Lord to occur in the lifetime of that generation.
In Matt. 16:28: "There be some that stand here,
who shall in no wise taste of death till they see the
Son of man coming in his kingdom." Dr. Broadus,
voicing the conclusion of a host of commentators, de-
clares this is an undoubted reference to the destruc-
tion of Jerusalem.* And yet, in the preceding verse

* "Com. on Matt.," pp. 228, 368.

THE EVER-IMMIXENT TOMTNTJ OF OUR LORD. 105

the

Ition.

[lere,

the

.dus,

de-

,ruc-

erse

(Matt. 10: 27) our Lord liiul as uiidouljtedly bcon re-
ferrin*; to His second and visihlo advent:

'or tno

Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father,
witli his antjfels, and tluni shall he render ufito every

imm accordin<r to his deed'

'{'here is here the most

sudden transition from His second personal eominj^,
wliich none then livin<( was to see, to a comin<( so
near that some then livin*: should behold it. In the
same way, in this discourse of Matt. 24, our Lonl
makes as sudden transitions between what refers to
the de .truction of Jerusalem and His second advent.
How can this be explained except that the destruction
of Jerusalem here, as in Matt. 16 : 28, is spoken of as
a coming of the Lord, and a type of His final coming,
so that one can be, and is, referred to in terms
of the other ? Our Lord saw in the destruction of
Jerusalem a reflection of His grander coming at the
end of the world. While speaking directly of the
one, He also had His eye fixed, through it, upon the
other. There is thus an interblending, to a large ex-
tent, of the two events, and language is used of one
which will apply to both. The lesser coming is the
type and prophecy of the grander, and the same de-
scriptions have a double reference to both. We do
not mean that all the language is of this character,
but that some of it is. Understood in this way, v. 34
means : "All the things which are to have a grander
fulfilment in my grander coming, this generation shall
live to see in the lesser fulfilment in my lesser com-
ing, at the destruction of Jerusalem. Ye shall live to
see the fulfilment of all these things in the type,

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A STrnV IN ESCHATOLOGY.

which aro lator to coino to paa.s in the* ^rundcr way
in tho antitypo." Students of Old 'rcHtanicnt pro-
phecy, wlio have noticed liow tlie (grander deliver-
ances of the t^ospel day are descrihed in lan<^ua<;o
whieli refers directly to the rescue from the captivity
in Babylon, and how, in many other cases, the pro-
phets weave descriptions of what is to occur in tho
remote future arountl events which are soon to hap-
pen to those wh(>m they are addressin<jf, will not have
so <^reat ditliculty in acceptin<»" this interpn^tation ot
Matt. 24 : 84.

Understood in this way, the exhortations to watch-
fulness because of the imminence and suddenness of
the Lord's comin<^ wliich follow, are not so hard to
explain. There was a coming which was imminent.
This was the grand stroke of His providence in the
destruction of Jerusalem. While this one coming in
this one provi<lential event would serve as a basis
of warning for the people of the Krst generation of
our era, just as His grander personal coming would
thus serve for the last, our Lord was speaking for
the people of all ages, and these two specific com-
ings would not serve this purpose for the genera-
tions between. We find our Lord, therefore, in Matt.
24 : 45 sq., and in Luke 12 : 42 where the sa»ne or
a similar discourse is recorded, generalizing, and
thus making the warnings applicable to all in all
time, by stating there was a coming for reward to
the faithful and judgment upon the unfaithful which
was sure to all, and which we have found reason to
believe is our Lord's providential coming at death.

THK EVEU-IMMINKNT CUMIXO OF Ollll LOUD. 1!>7

Tliusu forms oF our Lord's providontijil coinin^H arc
but typos of His final and personal advent, and
^a\n their fullest si;^nilicance from it. Throu<^li tlieso
lesser foreshado\vin;(s, therefore, men are to have
their minds fixed u[)()n the larger reality, just us the
Jews were to see Christ's <;reater sacrifice throu^^h the
typical ofl'ei'infifH of the old economy. Nv'hile refer-
ring-, therefore, to the nearer event, and the laujc^ua^e,
"Ye know not the day nor the hour," and similar
expressions are appropriate to it directly, in a larjjfer
sense, we are to watch, also, in view of the t^rander
comin((, as we are vi(j^ilant and ever alert to be ready
for it, seein*;" that our term for preparation for it will
expire with His earlier comin*^ at death, which is,
therefore, practically so far as readiness to meet it is
concerned, the same as His final appearance In this
way our [jord lays the foundation for a perpetual
watchfulness, which does not depend for its existence
for all generations up to the present and no one
knows how long in tho future, upon men being kept
in ignorance, and which, if the time of His second
coming were made known, could not be exercised.
There is a coming of tlie Lord which is always immi-
nent for all. At this coming our destiny will be fixed
for the grander coming which is to follow. It is little
wonder, under these circumstances, if often the inter-
vening time which does not bear on our relation to
final destiny at the grander coming, should drop out
of view, and these two comings be practically treated
as one.

Along this line of interpretation is to be found, we

198

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

believe, the solution of the difficulties of this difficult
chapter. As all our Lord's exhortations to watchful-
ness are contained in this single discourse, delivered
by Him to His disciples as He sat on the Mount of
Olives, over against the Temple, this explanation, if
it suffices for any of them, suffices for all.

Some pains have thus been taken to present the
results of an inductive study of the teaching of the
New Testament on the coming of the Lord. All the
passages bearing upon the subject have been exam-
ined with honest care. The conclusions reached, with
as much of the grounds upon which they rest as
could be embodied in this condensed treatise, are left
with the reader in the hope that they may prove of
service in relieving a perplexing subject of some of
its difficulties.

Let it be understood, however, that this subject has
not been discussed because it was thought h.ome
explanation of this kind must be found or the pre-
millennial view accepted. There is no such alternative
as this. Our Lord and the scripture writers were either
ignorant of the over eighteen hundred years which
have passed and the unknown length of years which
are still to intervene before He comes, or they were iiot.
If the future, during all this great period of years
with its crowding events of highest moment for the
Church and the world, was so hidden from them that
they really thought the Lord's second advent might
surprise them with its transcendent events before
they died, what right have our pre-millennial friends
to assume they must know of the thousand years of

THE EVER-IMMINENT COMING OF OUR LORD. 199

the millennium, if it were to precede this coming, any
more than the other thousand and more, and, per-
haps, many thousands of years, which were to pass
before He was to return ? But if they did know that
a great stretch of years was to pass before the second
advent, then, according to our pre-millennial friends
who interpret all His references to His coming as of
His personal appearing, they must have commanded
the believers of their day to watch, etc., lest the com-
ing of the Lord should take them unaware, although
His second advent was known to be far distant. But
if they used these expressions in a sense which would
be thus allowable, although one or two, or perhaps
many, thousands of years lay between them and the
coming in view of which they were to watch, ei^,
there then would be no impropriety in using them,
although the thousand years of the millennium were
to be added to the years which were to precede His
advent. So, also, if they declared this coming
was at hand, although all this time was to elapse
before He was to appear, they might equally have
said it was nigh, although the millennium was to be
over before His coming.

This reasoning holds of all the New Testament
writings except Revelation ; for in all these there is
not the slightest allusion to a millennium. It is only
near the end of this last inspired message from God
that the single reference to it is found. But Revela-
tion is also the one book in which there is a series of
visions supposed to cover the whole period from
John's time until after the second advent. And yet

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

our Lord, in full view of this and also in His exalta-
tion above all the limitations of His knowledge as to
the time of His reappearing, says, at the close of Rev-
elation, "Yea I come quickly." Now, if our Lord
used these words of His personal coming, He used
them in a sense consistent with the delay of His sec-
ond advent for hundreds and, perhaps, thousands of
years. Why should they not be consistent, then, in
the same sense, although the millennium is to precede
His coming ?

On any imaginable ground that Pre-millennialists
may take, therefore, the argument that if the millen-
nium were to come before our Lord's second advent,
this grand event could not have been spoken of as
possibly near, does not hold good. Whatever the
reader may think of the view above elaborated, the
pre-millennial argument just stated does not hold,
and all that has been hitherto advanced on the gen-
eral question at issue between Pre-millennialists and
Post-millennialists, maintains its full force.

THE POWER OF HIS COMING.

201

CHAPTER XI.

THE POWER OF HIS COMING.

Our pre- millennial brethren regard their view as
necessary to the highest motive power for the Chris-
tian life. It is for this reason they esteem it of such
supreme importance, and press it with such vigor.
It is not the fact and certainty of our Lord's coming
so much as its possible immediate nearness, upon
which this great power depends. It is only as it is
thought each day the glory of His coming may flash
across the sky before night, that believers are im-
pelled, in full measure, to that attitude of waiting and
readiness which is most conducive to growth in char-
acter and faithfulness in service. If this be not the
great motive of the Christian life itself, it is thought
to add intensity to all other motives. The hope of it is
the grand inspiration, the supreme joy. It makes love
glow and adds fresh ardor to the desire to be holy. It
quickens every spiritual energy, and makes labor
and sacrifice easy. It arouses missionary enthusiasm,
as the work of preaching the Gospel for a witness to
all nations is pressed, in order that the glad day for
His return may be hastened, by fulfilling its condi-
tions. Without the motive power of the thought that

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOCJV,

:|i

our Lord may appear at any moment, many think the
Christian life to be powerless and dead.

There is no dispute but that the personal advent of
our Lord is held up in the New Testament as a grand
olDJect of Christian anticipation, and as fitted to stir
the energies of the new life to activity and faithful-
ness. The real question is whether its motive power
depends upon the conviction that His advent is pos-
sibly near, or upon the assurance, whether near or far
away, of its certainty, and that we shall, whether
near or far, have our share in all the blessedness of
that glad day for the Lord's people.

If the blessedness of the hope of the Lord's coming
and the strength of its motive power, have depended
upon its possible immediateness, then, for eighteen
centuries, all believers would have had to rest upon
what was to prove illusive and, in the end, disappoint-
ing, for their chief comfort in affliction and their
chief inspiration in labor. Can we believe God
intended all these increasing hosts of believers down
through the centuries to have as their chief depend-
ence for growth in character and faithfulness in life,
an expectation which He knew was to prove alto-
gether empty and false ? Fur He knew that the time
of the Lord's second comiag was not to be possibly
near during all this time, but was as Hxed in His plan
and purpose as any other event. But our pre-mil-
lennial brethren ask us to accept more than this.
They would have us believe God to have carefully
arranged all things so as to make it possible for this
false hope to be maintained throughout the centuries

THE POWER OF HIS COMING.

203

since Clirist's departure, and until He may return.
To this end our Lord is to come twice aj^ain, once for
His people and again with them. For this purpose He
seals from His prophets all the history of the Church
between Christ's departure and His return for His
people.*

In like manner the history of the nai. ins is a blank
to them, until after this coming for His people,
although up to the time of Christ's ascension and
beyond this coming, there are crowded visions of
what is to be. Thus, and in other ways, they would
have us think God has planned, in the most skilful
way, to keep up the illusion of the ever-continued
possible imminence of the Lord's coming, down
through the centuries, and thus maintain what He
knew was to prove an empty and false expectation
as the great hope and motive power of His people. H
a father who did not intend to return to his family
for, say, ten years, should plan as skilfully to make
his wife and children believe he might come back at
any moment during this period, be the purpose what
it might be, we should consider it deliberate deception
— an attempt to make capital out of what was false.
We have tried to find some way in which to attrib-
ute similar action to God and make it consistent
with His righteousness, but have failed, and have
given plainly the impression this view makes upon
us. The alternative view, which draws motive
power and inspiration to growth in grace and fidelity

* <<

Papers on the Lord's Coming," by C. H. M., pp. 22, 28.

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

in service from the consideration that the coniinf; of
the Lord is certain, and that our lives on earth have
as full bearing on that day as though it were to come
before our death, is immeasurably superior, because
more scriptural, we believe, and more rational, and
because it casts no d>'.rk shadow upon the character
of God's moral gove anient.

'Jurnin^ from the moral complexion of the motive
from oii ) nrd's personal coming to its strength, we
mo than \>ubt whether the view which makes this
depe 1 • pon the belief of its possible nearness rather
than its positive certainty, has any advantage over
the alternative conception. Let it be possible for us
to believe that God has so planned the form and sub-
stance of His inspired teaching as to give the impres-
sion to all, in all the ages, that the second advent of
the Lord may come at any moment ; and still, unless
we were constituted differently, the power of the
motive from the continuous imminence of His coming,
in distinction from its certainty, could not maintain
itself. So far as the nearness of His coming is to
stimulate us, it must be in the hope He may come
before our death, to save us from the necessity of
dying. If He delay until after we die, it matters
little to us whether His coming be in a year or in a
thousand years from the day of our burial ; for
surely, when we are with Christ, even though disem-
bodied, we shall be satisfied to wait God's time for
the redemption of our bodies. As soon as a thought-
ful man begins to attempt to draw inspiration from
the idea that the Lord may come before his death, he is

THE POWER OF TTTS COMING.

205

faced by this Tact. The very language of Scripture
upon which lie bases tliis hope, is the language whicli
was intendetl to give the same hope to tliousands and
millions throughout eighteen slow-moving centuries.
All these hosts had the same right to expect His coming
which he has, and some of them did cherish this liope.
And yet, for all these, days grew into weeks and the
weeks into years, as middle age succeeded youth and
old age drew on apace to those who lived to length of
days. While the time grew short, if He were to come
before the time for their death, the grand hope which
they had made their chief support in trial, and their
supreme incentive to fidelity, would either become a
frenzy of disappointment, or would fade away, to be
replaced by others which had been founded upon
something more substantial than "a might be," which
was to prove without ground. He cannot but have
the thought suggested : if God's inspired message
encouraged all the generations from our Lord's ascen-
sion to hope for His immediate return, and to make
this expectation their chief motive, although eighteen
centuries have gone and He has not appeared, why
should He not have used the same language, although
as many more centuries are to elapse before His
people shall greet Him from the skies ? Especially
will this be the thought of the intelligent Pre-millen-
nialist who holds the most advanced views, that God
has revealed nothing of what was to happen from the
end of the apostolic age until the second coming of
the Lord for His people ; for, if there be nothing
revealed which must happen before He comes, equally

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A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOr.Y.

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ill

tlioro can possibly be iiothin;^ to sbow us when thus
coining is near. It is only of the Inter coming with
His people that there are signs in the coming to pass
of events which are revealed as succeedini: His com-
ing for His people. The time from any point in liis-
tory, according to this theory, to His coming for His
people, being a perfect blank, may be two thousand,
or it may be two hundred thousand years. There are
no data upon which to form an estimate. At the out-
set, then, the man who believes the one great hope
ami inspiration of his life is to be in the coming of
the Lord before the time for his own death, will find
it hard to believe His coming is so probable as to
make the hope sufficiently certain to serve so great a
purpose. He cannot but feel that as millions have
been disappointed who had as good a ground for their
hope as he, the balance of probability is unspeakably
against his hope being realized, and if he holds to the
name of this hope as the great power of his life, he
still has lost the reality.

But even allowing that he can shut his eyes to all
this, and that he begins life in the power of this
hope, each morning he thinks, " My Lord may come
before night," and the hope thrills him. But He does
not come. He is inspired by the hope, but to the
extent he is thus animated, will he be disappointed
when He does not appear. Months grow into years,
and every day he hopes, and every day his hope is
not realized. In the meantime day by day, he sees
funeral processions, and knows men who should be
relying upon the hope of Christ's coming before their

THE POWER OF iriS foMINO.

207

tleath as iiiucl) as ]\o, to lu; fooling its icy touch, and
tliat this cliorisliod dosiro has oidy, in tho ond, made
it Imrdor for thf^n to dio. Can a man possibly, undor
all those circiiniatancos and conditions, maintain this
hope of the coming of Christ before his death in full
strength as an ins{)iration and motive power? It is
simply iinpossi])le so to force what is an improbability
at the beginning, and which grows more improb-
able and disappointing as the years pass, into an
expectation (jf sufficient confid(;nce to serve this
purpose. The hope, like all that is constrained and
unnatural, can at best l)ut be spasmodic. The history
of the denomination which has made this hope of our
Lord's immediate appearance their great central pecu-
liarity and tenet, proves this. It is a record of con-
vulsive spasms, rather than an ever-growing life of
permanent spiritual power. It is hard to believe that
God would have His people depend for their greatest
hope and motive power upon what can only be held
through their being kept in ignorance, which a
knowledge of the facts would make absolutely im-
possible, from which, even when kept in ignorance,
they can only get inspiration as thoy close their eyes
to the nmst overwhelming balance of improbability,
which, as actually tested, has proved insufficient to
maintain a sustained and high level of impelling force
upon Christian life and character, and which, in the
end, in all the hosts of believers who shall die in all
generations except the last, is to prove as vain as dis-
appointing. Is it not more probable that He intended
the motive power of the Lord's coming to depend

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208

A STUDY IN ESCIIATULOaV.

Upon wliut iH certain, upon vvluit r(M|uiroM no condition
of i<(nonincn and conccalnH'tit, which loads to no di.s-
ap])ointinent, and wliich is (Mjually fitted to move ail
^(inerations and tlu3 vvhoh; term of all livcH with a
steady, even impulNc — the fact that our Lord is cer-
tainly to come a^ain, the fact that we shall all have
our part in what lie comes to brin^j to the class to
which we helonjjf, the fact that it is our life before
death which determines what that coming is to be
for us, the fact that we can therefore wait for His
coming as a grand object of expectation, whether it is
near or far, and watch, in order to be ready for it,
whether before death or ten thousand years lience ?

It is also to be noticed that in proportion as the
imminence of the second advent of our Lord is made
the great hope and motive, other hopes and motives
drop out of view and lose something of tlieir power.
Especially is this true of going to be with Christ at
death, which is ever imminent, and must soon come.
While our pre- millennial friends rightly protest
against confusing tliis with the second and personal
coming of the Lord, they also manifest a certain kind
of impatience at the thought of any help or inspira-
tion coming to the Christian life from this considera-
tion. Now, we need not put the death of the Christian
and his going to be with Christ in place of the per-
sonal coming which is to follow, in order to gain from
it motives to earnest work and fidelity. It is evident
that each is fitted to give its own distinct and abiding
impulse. New Testament writers recognize this.
Leaving out of the question the passages referred to

IHE POWEIl OK HIS COMINCl.

209

ill the prcciMliii;^ trcutiiioiit as deHcrihin^ a coming of
the Lord at doatli, \V(; liavo our Lord liiiiiselt' .sayiiij;
to Hi.s<liHci|)leH : " W« must work tlie vvorkH of liiiii
that HL'iit 1110, while it is day : the ni^ht cometli when
no man can work " (John 9 : 4). Our Lord brings to
bear upon His disciples the motive which continually
(juickened Hia own energies. The time before the end
of life was so short, they must be ever alert to do the
work of God. Peter also was moved from the same
consideration : " And I think it right, as long as I am
in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance: knowing tliat the putting ott' of my
tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus
Christ signified unto me. Yea, I will give diligence,
that at every time ye may be able after my decease to
call these things to remembrance" (2 Pet. 1 : 13-15).
In 2 Cor. 5 : 9, 10, " Wherefore also we make it our
aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing
unto him. For we must all appear before the judg-
ment seat of Christ," etc., Paul gathers his motive, not
from the possible nearness of the Lord's coming, but
the certainty of the judgment which His coming will
bring. The man who lives under the consciousness
that he must soon depart and be with Christ, and also
under the power of the thought that this short and
uncertain time will determine what Christ's coming
witli all its grand attendant events will be for him,
as he shall as certainly have a part in them as though
they were to be introduced to-morrow, will not lack
the fullest motive power from the consideration of the
presence of Christ, and the terrors and splendors of His
U

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOI.OGY.

second comiiipf. There will also l»e no risk of .midden-
iii^ liiHappointineiit becau.se that which ha.s ))«M>n made
tlie f^reatcHt expectation \h not n;ahzed, and all other
niotiveM are also left in full force. Coni[)arinfr the
general life of those wlio depend for motive upon
what, up to the present, in all the a^es has not been
realized, and of those who <lepend only upon what is
certain, we do not think th(» balance is in favor of the
former. While there have been seasons of unnatural
atinnilation, as they have held up before themselves
the illusion that tlie liord was just at hand, tlie sea-
sons of reaction have been as marked, and the whole
life has been of an unhealthy type. In the case of
those who hold the doctrine in its more moderate form,
it is doubtful whether the motive power from the pos-
sible nearness of our Lord's com'.n<^ is really so much
as is supposed. Is it not better to become so absorbed
in just doing the will of our Lord that the thou<^ht
of the time of His coming as it aftects us personally
may have less weight ? We know we can please our
Lord equally well whether His advent be near or far.

THE I-AST DAY.

211

CHAPTER XII.

THK LAST DAY.

It is jijenorally, if not universally, concodod that
the exprcHsion.s " c.iy of judgnunit," " day of tlio Lor«l,"
" last day," " that day," are all essentially eciuivalent.
Throu<(h holdin<» the judgment of the righteous and
the wicked to be separated by a long stretch of years,
Pre-niillennialists arc required to regard this 'day of
judgment," etc., as a great period filled with transcen-
dent and diversified events.

The class of Pre-millennialists who Ijelieve in a
coming of Christ for His people and another with
them, include in this day (1) The coming of the Lord
for His people ; (2) Their resurrection and the rap-
ture ; (3) Their judgment and reward; (4) The great
tribulation ; (5) The restoration of Israel ; (6) The
revelation of Antichrist ; (7) The conversion of the
Jews ; (8) The coming of the Lord with His people ;
(9) The judgment of the nations ; (10) The destruction
of Antichrist; (11) The resurrection of the tribula-
tion saints ; (12) The personal reign of Christ for one
thousand years; (13) The last great uprising of wick-
edness; (14) The resurrection, punishment and judg'
ineiit of the wicked ; (15) The last conflagration,

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

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■ h

Tliosu of the Pre-millonnialists who do not coniinit
theiiiselvcH to the doctrine of a coming for, and a com-
ing with, His people, believe this "day" to include 1,2,3,
7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 of the above. Post-niillennial-
ists believe this day includes the coming of the Lord,
the resurrection of good and bad, the judgment of all,
their reward and punishments respectively, and the
last conflagration. Let us refer to all the passages in
which these terms are used, and see whether there
is any allusion in thtm to the restoration and con-
version of the Jews, the personal reign of Christ over
a holy people upon the earth, a great uprising of the
wicked and their attack upon the saints while He is
with them in personal presence and power, which all
classes of Pre-millennialists believe included in that
day. Almost all believe, also, that during the millen-
nial part of this " day," the work of salvation which
has made little progress prior to our Lord's coming,
will then, in connection with the labors of the Jews
who are to be converted at its beginning, sweep over
the earth in glorious might, until all men are brought
to the feet of Jesus in devoted subjection and adoring
love.

But what do the Scriptures say that day contains ?

The dead are to be raised on that " last day " (John
6:39, 40, 44,54; 11:24).

That day shall be the great day of searching judg-
ment. Men shall be then judged by the word of
Christ (John 12 : 48), the Gospel of Christ (Rom. 2 : 16),
must give account for every idle word (Matt. 12 : 3G),
will have the emptiness of mere formal service exposed

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THE LAST DAY.

213

(Matt. 7 : 22), and tlie character of their service
revealed (I Cor. 3 : 13).

In the testing of the searcliing judgment of this
day, the wicked shall be declared guilty and shall be
punished.

Those wlio reject the preaching of the apostles shall
be under deeper condemnation and penalty than Sodom
and Gomorrah (Matt. 10 : 15; Luke 10 : 15), Capernaum
than Sodom (Matt. 11 : 22), Chorazin and Bethsaida
than Tyre and Sidon (Matt. 11 : 21). The wicked are
kept " under punishment unto the day of judgment"
(2 Pet. 2: 9). That day is to be the day of "destruc-
tion of ungodly men " (2 Pet. 3 : 7). Evil angels are
kept unto the judgment of this " great day " ( Jude 6).
Because on this day, the doom of the wicked is made
manifest and God's righteous displeasure against sin
it is called the " day of wrath " (Rom. 2 : 5).

In that day of searching judgment, the faithful
shall be " unreproveable " (1 Cor. 1: 8), "void of
offence " (Phil 1 : 10), " have boldness " (1 John 4:17),
"have whereof to glory" (Phil 2: 16), "receive a
crown of righteousness" (2 Tim. 4 : 8), "find mercy"
(2 Tim. 1 : 18), glory in those saved through them
(2 Cor. 1 : 14), Christ is then to be glorified in His
saints (2 Thess. 1 : 10).

In that day, there is to be the great conflagration
spoken of in 2 Pet. 3 : 10 sq.

The only other passages in which any of these,
expressions is used, are 1 Cor. o : 5, Phil. 1 : 6, 1 Thess.
5 : 2-4, 2 Thess. 2 : 2, 2 Tim. 1:12, Heb. 10 : 25, which

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tell us nothing on the question at issue between Prc-
miilennialists and Post-rnillennialists.

So far as these declared descriptions of this day, so
variously designed, specify, it includes just four things
— the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the
dead, the judgment of the righteous and the wicked
with the condenniation and penalty and the justifica-
tion and reward associated with it, and the great con-
flagration of 2 Peter, which some reverent interpreters
do not take literally. There is not the shadow of a
shade of a hint that this day includes the restoration
of the Jews and their conversion, the great era of the
progress and triumph of the Gospel, the personal
reign of Christ on earth, and a great rebellion of the
wicked in the very face of the omnipotent Saviour
in personal presence, and after a thousand years of
the display of His invincible might.

If this day is really to include this long and grand
series of events, how is it that not the remotest refer-
ence or allusion to any one of them is found in a single
one of the numerous and varied descriptions of it ?
Could our Lord and the apostles have believed this
day was to include them all and still have kept out
the most incidental allusion to them from all their
references to it ? Where might we more expect to
find references to these events than in the descriptions
of what is alleged to be the period of which they
form some of the grandest features ? If the descrip-
tions of this day were few, or these events which Pre-
millennialists would thrust into it, of an insignificant
character, it would be conceivable that they might

THE LAST DAY.

215

make part of this daj'^, though not mentioned in the
Hcant reference to even its more transcendent features;
but where the descriptions of this day and the aUu-
sions to it are so many and varied, and these events
wliich are alleijed to be included in it are so <rrand and
blessed, can we reach any other conclusion than that
they are not mentioned in the descriptions of the day,
simply because they do not belong to it?

Besides,the whole impression made by an exhaustive
study of all the passages in which the " day of judg-
ment " and its kindred terms are used, is just the
opposite of its being a long period. This day bursts
upon the world with lightning-like suddenness. It
comes like the stroke of doom to all the wicked. All
arms opposed to Christ are palsied by the glory, and
grandeur, and divine might of the personally-present
Judge. No puny arm of rebellion will ever be lifted
after He appears in transcendent majesty. There
is no long and gracious period in which Christ's lov-
ing calls continue to woo the wicked, and draw multi-
tudes into the kingdom, as never before. There are
no long centuries of blessed life on earth in this "day."
It is to be as swift in its progress as sudden in its
coming. Its tremendous events crowd each other
across the scene. They are all homogeneous, having
their centre and unity in the judgment seat of Christ,
His coming and the resurrection as preparatory to it,
and the reward and penalty as consequent upon it.

While, therefore, we must not restrict *'^. day" to
twenty- four hours, it does appear that thv ^^ersistent
and invariable use of this brief natural period to

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOV.

describe the era of these grand events, was intended
to impress upon us its relative brevity — that it is to
be too sliort to include a millennium of years with
the addition of an indefinite period, as Pre-millennial-
ists believe

Nor is this all. Notice the significance of the fact
that this day is called " the last day " as well as " the
day of the Lord " and " the day of judgment."
Reference is made to the same period, as the end of
the world, or age, in Matt. 13: 39, 40, 49; 24:3;
28 : 20, where the same great events, the judgment
separation, the coming of the Lord, and the end of
the gospel age, are spoken of. John uniformly calls
this period " the last day," Matthew "the day of judg-
ment " and " the' end of the world " or age, Paul " that
day " or " the day of the Lord," Peter " the day of
judgment " and "the day of God." Its designation
as " the last day," and " the end of the world " or age,
fixes its relative place in time. So far as we know,
there is no dispute, either that all these designations
refer to the same period, or that the age of which it is
" the last day," or " end," is the present gospel age,
which is to close with the coming of the Lord, as dis-
tinguished from the age to come which then sets in.
Pre-millennialists, believing not only that the age to
come is introduced by the coming of the Lord, but
that He will come to introduce the millennium, hold
that the millennium forms part of the age to come.

It does not require much penetration to see the
contradictions and inconsistencies which the pre-
millennial conception of " the day of judgment " or

THE LAST DAY.

217

t I

" last day," involves, wh(3n brought face to face with
tlieir belief that the inillenniiiin forms part of the
atje to come — nay, constitutes that age. Unquestion-
ably, "the clay of judgment," which is also termed " the
last day," includes the judgment of the wicked, as well
as the coming of the Lord and the judgment of the
righteous. But Pre-millennialists all hold that the
judgment of the wicked is not until after the millen-
nium has been succeeded by the great uprising of
wickedness at its close (Rev. 20 : 11 .sr/.). They,
therefore, make the day of judgment, which is also
described as the last day, include all the millennium,
with all the events they believe will then take place.
That is to say, the last day or end of this evil age, as
distinguished from the glorious millennial age which
is to follow, includes all this very age to come and
perhaps more ! What would we say of the man
who should declare that the last day, or end of the
nineteenth century is to include all the twentieth
century with all its crowding events ?

What shall we say of the theory wdiich makes it
necessary to suppose our Lord and His apostles guilty,
in their use of language, of folly just as great ?

If anything is plain, it is that these ages stretch over
different periods of time. No event, therefore, of the
one can occur in the temporal limits of the other, any
more than an object can be in two places at the same
time. In any case, can we conceive scripture writers
to be so unmindful of the properties of language as to
designate as a day of an age a period longer than the
one they call an age ? It will also be noticed that the

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A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOOY.

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III

pro-inilleniiial view makes tl.J resurrection and judg-
ment of the righteous and of the wicked occur in
two distinct ages, the wicked being raised and judged
in the age or workl to come.

Does not all the plain teaching of the Now Testa-
ment give the opposite impression ? In this case,
especially, we do not see how it is possible to force
the pre-millennial interpretation of Rev. 20: 4-11
upon the rest of tlie New Testament without bringing
these verses into such flat contradiction with the
teaching of the passages which refer to the day
variously designated " the last day," " the day of
judgment," etc., as to endanger the inspiration of
either Rev. 20: 4-11, or of all the passages with
which it is brought into conflict. Will anyone venture
to assume, in order to escape the difficulty, that " the
day of judgment," " the day of the Lord," etc., do not
refer to the same period as that covered by " the last
day " ? But this would require great hardihood. It
would be necessary to maintain that " the day of
judgment" and "the last day" were not the same
period, although the same grand events are said to
take place in them both. It would also require him
to defy the consensus of Christian scholarship.*

Or will anyone say that the millennial age belongs
to the present age as distinguished from the age to
come ? But this would be to give up the central
doctrine of Pre-millennialism, and take the heart out

* E.g., see Crenier, Thayer, Robinson, " Lex. New Test. Greek,"
art. day {I'/fiepa).

tup: last day.

219

of that vvliole system. Shall wc thon conclude that
our Lord and His apostles used language with no more
discrimination and propriety than to include in the last
day of this aj]je nuich if not all, of the age to come,
from which, apparently, this term " last day " of this
aije was meant to distin«niish it ? There seems to be
but one alternative to all these assumptions ; and that
is, to conclude that the theory which puts the millen-
nium and the jud^^nnent of the wicked beyond the
coming of the Lord in an age to come, as distinguished
from the present age, is untenable, and must be
abandoned in order to escape impossible conclusions.

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CHAPTER XIII.

THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

There is another issue between Pre-millennialists
and Post-millennialists, namely, that in reference to
the profijress and outcome of the gospel dispensation.

Pre-millennialists teach that the preaching of the
Gospel, even with the co-operating power of the
omnipotent Spirit of God, was never designed to be
the divine means by which the mass of mankind
should be brought to the feet of Jesus. Instead of
the world being gradually subdued by divine grace
and power through the Gospel, and the millennium
being ushered in as the grand climax of a progress
which, though often halting, has been maintained,
the miixht of evil is to go on witherinjj force and
intensity, until it reaches its climax, and then Christ
will come to smite down its reign. The object of the
preaching of the Gospel and the work of the Spirit is
only for a witness against a world becoming more
and more opposed to Christ, and to gather out an
elect few.

In opposition to this, Post-millennialists hold that
the preaching of the Gospel, in the power of the Holy
Spirit, is the one and the only means designed by

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TIIK IMKXillKSS OF IIIK (JOSI'EF..

221

(J(m1 to l)riiij^ a lost race to salvation. They believe
that the (jloHpel, iiotvvithstan<liii<; reactions, has nia<le
prot^resH, and is to continue to advance. A time is to
come when, throuijfh this pro«jress, and, perhaps,
some nu<(lity and special energizing of divine power
in connection with the work of the Church, the
millennial era of rightc.'ousness and peace is to <lawn
upon a weary world. Through this halcyon time,
goodness, and truth, and holiness are to prevail as
never before. At the close, the elements of evil
which existed during this period will again assert
themselves, and in the hist desperate struggle against
the power of the Gospel will be smitten down forever
by the descending Judge of (piick and dead, as He
comes to end this age, and usher in the ages of
eternity.

The question is, which of these views is the scrip-
tural one ? Is it the teaching of the Bible that the
Gospel, in the accompanying power o? the Holy
Ghost, is God's one means for the salvation of all
who are to be saved ; or are we to expect the great
era of salvation to be in another age, under changed
conditions, through the personal presence of Christ ?
Does the Bible say that the shadow of sin is to grow
darker and darker over the earth from the time
Christ came the first time until He is to return ? Or
does it justify a more hopeful view ?

First, then, what do the Scriptures teach us as to
God's purpose through the Gospel with the accom-
panying power of the Holy Spirit ? Naturally, we
first turn to the great commission. This was our Lord's

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A STUDY IX ESCHATOLOGV.

last {^oiiorul nio.s.sjij^e for His prople down tlirout^l. the
ji^^es. We iiii;^lit well exptrt liore, il' aiiyvvluTc, to
find our Lord's own statonient of tho «^reat purpose of
the service of His people through the Gospel. Let
us study the pregnant words of Matt. 28: 18-20:
" All authority hath been given nie in heaven and
earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all the
nations, baptizing tlieni in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you :
and lo, I am w^th you alway, even unto the end of
the world."

Does " make disciples of all the nations " mean that
the servants of Christ, as they go forth in obedience
to His last injunction, can hope for nothing more, as
the ultimate results of their work, than that an elect
few shall be gathered out of the nations until the end of
the world ? Does it not rather mean that the work of
evangelization is to go on until a day shall come,
when practically, aujd in a general sense, " all the
nations" shall become disciples of our Lord ? If this
be not so, then can we escape the conclusion that our
Lord commanded His people to do sometliing which
He never intended or proposed should be done ? The
words "make disciples," "teaching to observe all
things whatsoever I commanded,' cover all of sal-
vation, and exhaust all the provisions of the Gospel
for the souls of men, and " all the nations " leaves
none out. What is here commanded, therefore, omits
nothing from its all-inclusive scope of God's purpose
as to human salvation in the present life. Pare we

THE PUOailESH OF THE fJOSPEL.

223

asHuiiu' that it was not Ili.s purpo.st; that what our
JiOnI hen; coiniuandod .should l»o done in the souHr in
wliicli it was enjoined ? It was our Lord's purpose,
then, that His servants sliould never consider tlieir
work done until tlie wori<l sliould be brought to His
feet through the efficacy of His work and through
His power. The (luestion still renmina as to the
period in which this great design of His, as indicated
by His charge, should be fulfilled. And is not this
also clearly made known in the introductory and
concluding words of this same all-embracing passage,
" All authority hath been given me in heaven and
earth. Go ye therefore," and " Lo, I am with you
alway, even unto the end of the world " or age ? It
is His presence with them, in the all-embracing
authority vvhicli has already been bestowed upon
Him, that is the ground upon which God's people are
commissioned to accomplish so mighty a task. He is
to be with them, in this capacity of their all-sufficient
helper, until tlie end of the age, or until His second
personal coming to end the age.

Can there be the shadow of a doubt that this means
He is to be with them as long as the work of discip-
ling is to be continued ? It is a promise to encourage
them in their special work, during all ages, and is
therefore an assurance of His presence until this work
is done. When He says, "I am with you alway, even
unto the end of the age," He declares that this w^ork
is to continue till then, and then it is to end. There
seems to be no possible room left for the idea that
the chief part of the work of discipling was not to

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A STUDY IN ESCHATULOOY.

iiiko place uiilil aftrr tlir end of tlie a^e in wliicli lie
lia<l |)r()ini,sr<l to he with tln'iii lor the purpoHt; of
hel[)'mj; thciii in this very work. Neitlier can wo
think that the cliief part of this work was not to be
(lone throu;;h tlie power He luul already received
from (jo<1, and which was to be nianifeHted throu«^h
the pn.'Htince of tlu; Spirit of Christ, as the passaji^e
plaiidy intimates ; but was to be accomplished in a
nvw a^e, and in the exercise of another form of
power — that of His personal presence, rather than of
His Spirit, through whom He is present with His
people in the sense here in(licate<l. The <^reat com-
mission covers all Ood's purpose of grace to men on
earth through the redemptive work of Christ, and
this is all to be accomplished through the agency of
God's people, before the end of this age, in the present
dispensation of the Spirit. Any millennium, there-
fore, there is to be, must be within the scope of the
great commission, and lie within the limits of the
present age. Other passages contain the same
teaching.

Acts 5 :31, "Him did God exalt with his right hand
to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
Israel and remission of sins." Peter had not yet been
led out beyond his Jewish exclusiveness. He only
mentions Israel, but the object of our Lord's exalta-
tion was equally to give repentance and remission to
all men. Just as in the great commission, our Lord
says — "all authority" is given to Him, here Peter
declares He has already taken His exalted seat of
power as the dispenser of repentance and remission.

THK IMKKIHKSS ^>V TIIK (JOSPKI..

226

It is while tliUH rxaltt'd, and rioiii tljo .scat whicli llo
now oct'Upii'H, that tlicsi^ .s<)v«M't'i^n powers aiv to he
diMpunHod to iiu^n. While l'et(!r does i»ot declare tliat
it Ih oidy Croiii His present mediatorial tlirone tliis will
be d()n»3, the laii^^'ua^e is altogether out of haniiony
with the thought that hut little, comparatively, of the
di.spensin;^ of repentance ami pardon will be done
until ll(^ has left His place at (lod's ri<;ht hand. It is
in the strictest aj^retiment with the belief tliat all the
dispensing of His <^race will be done before He leaves
this seat, and when Ho does leave it, human proba-
tion is at an end.

In this connection, we must refer a^ain to Hob.
10 : 12, 13, " But he, when he had offered one sacrifice
for sins forever, sat down on the rit(ht hand of (iod,
from henceforth expectini^ till his enemies be made
the footstool of his feet."

This passaj^e is in strictest harmony with Acts 5: 131,
just considered. Our Lord, after ottering himself on
the cross as the one sacrifice for sins, sat down at
God's right hand as Prince and Saviour, to dispense
repentance and forgiveness. From the time that He
takes this exalted seat of power, He expects or awaits,
as the word really means, until, through the progress
of this work of repentance and forgiveness which
continues in connection with the preaching of the
Gospel, His enemies shall finally become subject to His
sway. If we say that this passage refers to the
crushing of His enemies by omnipotent power, rather
than subduing their hearts by the power of the
Gospel, we have to suppose the writer of Hebrews, in
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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

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referring to the outcome of Christ's sacrificial work,
as He " had offered one sacrifice of sins forever," and
sat down on the right liand of God expectin<^ the
outcome, really thought it nothing more than the
crushing, by His avenging might, those who continue
to hate Him. Surely, if this were the kind of con-
quest He was seeking He need not have died to make
it possible. Nay, the subjection here spoken of is of
men's hearts by grace, not a crushing by might. After
having accomplished the w'ork of redemption for
men He sat down, expecting — that is, from His seat
at the right hand of God He continues to expect —
until His expectation shall be realized in His enemies
being made the footstool of His feet — until the
Gospel has completed its work and had its full
triumph.

As an example of attempts to harmonize this passage
with pre-millennial views, we quote from Faussett,
" Commentary," in loco : " He is now sitting at rest,
V. 12, invisibly reigning and having his foes virtually,
by virtue of his death, subject to him. His present
sitting on the unseen throne is a necessary prelimi-
nary to his coming forth to subject his foes openly.
He shall then come forth to a visible manifested
Kingdom and conquest of his foes," etc. Is it neces-
sary to say that the subjection He sat expecting was
not one He virtually had. To expect what we already
have is a misuse of language. He was to sit until
the " virtual subjection," whatever that may mean,
became actual. While we must not press too far the
figurative expressions, " sat down at the right hand

THE PROGRESS OF THE fJOSPEL.

227

of God," " the footstool of his feet," the passage can-
not mean less than that His enemies are suV)jected
under Him, while exercisin«r the sway, which He
assumed when He ascended to the Father. The full
results of the atoning work He accomplished, when
He offered one sacrifice for sins forever, are finished
before He leaves the seat "on the right hand of God."
When He leaves that seat, it will not be to save, but
to judge men, and give eternal rewards to His people
and punishment to His enemies.

If more evidence to the same effect is needed, we
refer the reader to Acts 2:34-36, and all the passages
to prove that there is no probation or salvation after
Christ comes, as given in chap. 4, where the same
teaching, in the most explicit form, is found.

In opposition to all this, and in support of their
gloomy view, Pre-millennialists rely chiefly upon two
passages.

The first is Matt. 24: 14: "And this gospel of the
kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a
testimony unto all nations, and then shall the end
come." If the " end " here spoken of is the end of the
world, at our Lord's second coming, then, during all
the ages in which myriads had never heard the
Gospel, it was impossible to believe this end or second
advent might surprise tlie world at any moment.
The event could not happen before its necessary con-
dition was fulfilled.

To reconcile this passage with the belief in the per-
petual imminence of our Lord's coming, some Pre-
millennialists regard the " end " referred to as the

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOI^OGV.

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end of the "travail" spoken of in v. 8, and wliich cul-
minated at the destruction of Jerusaleni. (See Meyer,
Alford, etc.) In that case tliis passage has no neces-
sary bearing on the general purpose of the Gospel
in all the subse(i[uent ages.

But if this verse does refer to the general purpose
of the Gospel in all ages, it can support tlie view
that few will be saved through its proclamation, only
as preaching for a testimony is for some other purpose
than to save men. This is what Pre-millennialists
believe. The chief purpose of this preaching is held
to be to make it possible for God justly to condemn
men, rather than to save them. It is, therefore, inferred
that condemnation and not salvation will be the chief
end served by the Gospel up to the end, when Christ

comes again.

But is this the true explanation of the expression,
" preaching for a testimony " ? Cremer, than whom
there is scarcely a higher authority, after a com-
parison of all the places where " for a testimony "
occurs, concludes that the preaching for a witness
signifies the proclamation of the New Testament
facts to men " that they may thus hear of Christ the
Messiah," Even Dr. Pierson ("The Coming of the
Lord," p. 34), in speaking of the witnessing of the
Church, says : " This witnessing includes everything
that tends to put before human souls the grandeur,
dignity and power of Christ as Saviour and Lord." It
is not for a testimony against any, except as they
reject Christ about whom the testimony is given.
There is nothing in the expression itself to determine

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THE iMiorjiu:ss of the gospel.

229

ihing
deur,
It
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;iven.
mine

whether the testimony thus giv<'n by tlie Gospel is
for condemnation or salvation. It covers the immedi-
ate object of the preaching of the Gospel — to make
known, or to testify to, if you will — the facts and
truths about Christ. It is a making known of Christ
in His true relation to human salvation. Whether
this will result in condemnation or salvation is not
declared. It leaves room for either the salvation or
the condemnation of the great bulk of mankind.

At the same time, the view which would make the
great purpose of the preaching of the Gospel to be as
a witness against men to assure their righteous con-
demnation, is inconsistent with the very meaning of
the word " gospel " — "glad tidings' — and with such
passages as John 3:17: " For God .sent not his Son
into the world to judge the world, but that the world
should be saved through him." His coming and the
preaching of the Gospel, like all things else which are
provided in mercy, if rejected, results in deeper con-
demnation ; but the Gospel is sent forth with a view
to salvation. The condemnation comes throui{h the
refusal of men to yield to God's manifest intent.

The other passage relied on by Pre-millennialists in
support of their pessimistic vievv^s of the object of the
preaching of the Gospel in the | .ent dispensation, is
Acts 15 : 14 : ■ Brathren, hearke. ^into me : Symeon
hath rehear.sed how first God did visit the Gentiles, to
take out of them a people for his name."

Very large use is made of this verse. In tracts and
from pulpits we often see and hear it said, " God did
visit the Gentiles, not to save them all, but to take

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOLO(JY.

out of them an elect few, to be a people for his
name." This verse is thought an all-sufficient proof
of their gloomy views of the future work of the
Church. It does not require much thought to per-
ceive how little this verse avails to this end.

James is referring to the specified instance which
Peter had rehearsed — the conversion of Cornelius
and his household (see vs. 7-9 and compare Acts
10 : 44). It is more than probable that James, when
he said, " God did first visit the Gentiles to take out
of them a people for his name," referred only to the
Gentile converts already gathered into the churches.
These already constituted a people for God's name.

But if the general purpose in the preaching of the
Gospel to the Gentiles is here declared, it is in nowise
in conflict with the belief that a long period is yet to
come, in which the great mass of the Gentiles shall
be converted. The expression must refer, in this
case, to the purpose and result of the preaching of the
Gospel throughout the ages to the end. For ages past
but comparatively few of the Gentiles have been saved.
We do not know how long this shall continue to be
true. Even though the great body of the Gentiles
continue to be converted for a thousand years before
the end, still, of all the innumerable myriads who
shall have lived during the Christian era, those of
them who are saved would be a people taken out of
this vast mass. The expression, " To take out of the
Gentiles a people for his name," does not necessarily
imply that those " taken out " are but a small pro-
portion of the whole number. So long as all do not

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231

become the people of the Lord, it is hard to see how
any other form of hm^uage could be used. If nine-
tenths or ninety-nine one-hundredths were to be
chosen by God, it would still be tjiking them out
from the whole number of the Gentiles. But the
evident meaning of the whole passage (Acts 15 : 14-19)
makes plain, not only that it gives no aid to the
pessimistic view of our pre-millennial brethren as to
the outcome of the gospel dispensation, but that it is
all aglow with the most radiant promise. In vs. 16, 17
James proceeds to show that this " taking out of the
Gentiles a people for his name " is in harmony with
Old Testament prophecy, and quotes Amos 9:11, 12, in
a free way from the Septuagint, in proof, where " all
the Gentiles upon whom my name is called " are
spoken of as seeking the Lord. Now, if the statement
of James in v. 14 — " taking out of the Gentiles a peo-
ple for his name " — included only the gathering out
from the Gentiles a very few converts in the time pre-
ceding the second advent, while the prophecy refers
exclusively to the gathering in of all the Gentiles
after that grand event, as pre-millennial controversial-
ists declare, then the prophecy does not even include
the first reception of the Gentiles into the blessings
of the gospel dispensation ; it is not pertinent to the
matter before the Council, and the apostle seems
guilty of a misapplication of prophecy. It is only as
the prophecy includes the very gathering " out of the
Gentiles a people for his name," of which James
speaks, that there can be the agreement between
them which would justify the reference to the pro-

232

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOaY.

phecy in support of what had been clone, or what it
was proposed to do. It would be strange consist-
ency, also, for James to quote in support of a state-
ment that only a few Gentiles were to be saved in the
Christian dispensation, a prophecy which declares
the salvation of them all. Notice, also, the similarity
of James's language, '• a people for his name," and that
of the prophecy, " the Gentiles upon whom my name
is called."

For this reason, all commentators we have been
able to consult on this passage,* including Meyer,
Wordsworth, Canon Cook, Plumptre, Lechler in Lange,
SchafF, A. R. Faussett, Olshausen, Cambridge Bible,
Abbott, Howson & Spence, Hackett, and Alford, inter-
pret the prophecy quoted as referring to the recep-
tion of the Gentiles to the Gospel, and their subse-
quent salvation and gathering into Christ's spiritual
kingdom in the present dispensation. As Meyer says :
" The prophecy has found its Messianic historical
fulfilment in the reception of the Gentiles unto
Christianity, after that thereby the Davidic dominion,
in the higher and antitypical sense of the Son of
David, was re-established." Bishop Wordsworth ex-
plains, Amos declares in these words, " that the true
restoration of the tabernacle of David is to be found m
the reception of the residue of the human family, and
in the flowing in of all nations, into the Church of
Christ." They all associate this prophecy with our
Lord's first coming, and make the building again of the
tabernacle of David refer to what was to follow this

* "Commentary," in loco.

^fm

THK IM{<Kil{KSS OF THE (;()SI'EF..

2.s:i

coming of David's greater Son. James seems to think
this propliecy covered all the divine purpose of this
first coming in reference to the salvation of the Gen-
tiles. He sees the beginning of the realization of
that purpose in the gathering in of the Gentiles,
which had already taken place. He saw, in this
prophecy, the assurance it was still to go on, in the
same dispensation, until " the residue of men may
seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles upon whom
my name is called." Can this mean anything else
than that the conversion of the Gentiles, which had
already taken place, was to go on until all the Gen-
tiles who were to be saved should be saved ?*

A reference to Rom. 11 : 25 supports this interpreta-
tion, if it needs any support. " Hardness in part hath
befallen Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be
come in." Pre-millennialists refer the fulfilment of
this prophecy to the time preceding the second com-
ing. They are therefore recjuired, in order to har-
monize this statement with their view that but few

* Since writing the above my attention has been called to the
views of Dr. .Stifler. He thinks James's address was to sootlie the
Pharisees, not to support Peter in silencing them. "James pro-
posed to show that all scripture which the Pharisees might cite in
lavor of Jewish superiority and supremacy was relevant, but not
relevant at this time, nor relevant in the state of tilings which
God's spirit had now surely brought about, j)utting Jew and Gen-
tile on the same level." The Old Testament, according to Dr. Stifler,
makes no reference to the church period, and the passage James
quotes must refer to the millennial era after the church period has
been brought to a close by the coming of the Lord. Dr. Stitler's
attempt to reconcile James's address and ([uotation with the pre-
millennial view is ingenious ; at the same time, I have no doubt,
James's hearers thought Amos 9 : 11, 12, relevant at that time and
under the circumstances then existing. His view and argument,
also, are based upon the belief that the Christian dispensation was
a hiatus in Old Testament prophecy, which is hard to believe.

"ftfrnmrn

11;

liiiMII '^^1

7 A STUDY IN EbCHATOLUtSY.

jiparatively are to bo saved before Clirist comes
.i^aiii, to make it appear that " fulness " liere does not
mean the great body of Gentiles, but the full ap-
pointed number of the Gentiles. But allow that this
is the meaning of "fulness" here, does it even then leave
their interpretation free from insuperable ditficulty ?
To say that it signifies the full appointed number who
are to be saved before " all Israel shall be saved,"
would be to make Paul here state a meaningless
truism. He would just declare that all the Gentiles
who were to be saved before all Israel shall be saved,
should be saved before all Israel shall be saved, which
it did not require an inspired man to declare, and
which a man of the most ordinary wisdom would not
take the trouble to say. If " fulness " here does not
mean the great body of the Gentiles, it must mean the
full number of the Gentiles who are ever to be saved.
But this is just what our pre-millennial friends deny ;
for they hold that the prophecy is to be fulfilled be-
fore the second advent, whereas the great bulk of the
Gentiles are not to be saved until after that event.
If " fulness " here means the full appointed num-
ber, and only covers an elect few, then an elect few
are all that will ever be saved, and this brings the
passage into direct conflict with James's interpretation
of Amos in Acts 15 : 16-18. The only tenable inter-
pretation of " fulness " in Rom. 11 : 25 is to ^ive it its
usual meaning of the great body of the Gentiles. And
wiio can doubt that Acts 15 : lG-18 and Rom. 11 : 25
refer to the same gathering in of the Gentiles ? The
first says, " All the Gentiles upon whom my name is

THK 1M10(MIESS OF THE (JOSI'EL.

2;i:)

called," the last, " the fulneHs of the (ientiles." Can
we believe the first refers to the salvation of thejjfreat
body of the Gentiles, and the last to the salvation of
only an elect few ? Can we believe what is declared
in these two similar forms of expression, which appear
to be essentially identical, can really refer to what is
in the strou<jest contrast, the one alludini: to a scat-
tered few in the present dispensation, and the other to
the great hosts of the Gentiles in a dispensation which
is described as its antithesis ? The only consistent
interpretation of the two passages is to make them
both allude to the same gathering of the Gentiles into
the kingdom of God in the present dispensation, before
Christ conies. To rend them apart, and make one
refer to the salvation of an elect few before the Lord's
personal coming, and the other to the conversion of
all after His coming, is both to do the greatest violence
to the meaning of " fulness " in the connection in
which it stands in Rom. 11: 25 (comp. 10-12, and
observe "in part "' and " fulness," v. 25, and " all," v. 26)
and to put asunder passages which evidently refer to
the same great but gradual event.

Let, then, the great commission, in which, if any-
where, we might well look for the statement of the
purpose of the preaching of the Gospel ; let these other
passages which have been quoted, and let the proof
that there is no probation after Christ comes, be set
over against these two misused passages upon which
Pre-millennialists depend almost exclusively for their
gloomy view. When it is seen that, in the case of one
of these passages, it can serve this view only when

''''fill

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A STUDY IN ESCHAT()I.(MiV.

interpreted in most obvious (li.src^nrd of tlic connec-
tion in whicli it .stands, and in case of tlie other, only
by forcinj^ on it a ni(!anin<^ it docss not naturally 1 (ear,
and which it need not convey, may we not well won-
der that they could have been used to override
tlie teachin<^ of tlie very passages which seem ex-
pressly given to tell us what the purpose and outcome
of the preaching of the Gospel is to bo, and which
declare it, in no ambiguous terms, to be the very op-
posite of that which thus seems to be forced from
Matt. 24: 14 and Acts 15: 14?

In suppoct of their view that comparatively few
are to be saved before the second advent, and that,
therefore, the millennium of the righteous cannot have
place until after this event, Pre millennialists refer to
a few other passages which, they allege, describe the
future of the Church and of the world in too gloomy
terms to include such a period.

Emphasis is laid upon 2 Tim. 8 : 1 .sy/., 2 Pet. *i : 8,
and two or three kindred passages, in which it is said
that in " the last day " there shall be grievous times
and a widespread declension from Christian truth and
life. But we must not be too sure that all these pas-
sages refer to the times immediately preceding the
second coming of the Lord. In Acts 2 : 17 " last days "
is used to cover the whole dispensation. In 1 Tim.
4:1" later times " also refers to all the times subse-
quent to those in which the apostle lived. It is also
to be remarked that he refers to similar conditions,
as in 2 Tim. 3 : 2 sq., and Paul warns Timothy of them,
in both letters, in order to prepare him for them as

m
it

connoc-
31-, only
ly Itoar,
ill won-
iverride
cm ex-
mtcome
[ which
■cry op-
id from

elv few
id that,
lot have

refer to
ribe the

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1 Tim.

subse-

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ditions,

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hem as

THE IMIOORESS OK THE fSOSI'EL.

237

already begun or imme<liat('ly impending. In .bimea
5: 3 also ' tlu; last days " are used to designate the
times when James wrote his letter. While "the last
day" has a single deKnite reference to the coining of
the Lord and the grand events associated with it, the
expression "the last days" does not have so Hxed a
reference to the times immediately jn'eceding this
closing act of this aire. It is also noticeable that John
(1 Jolin 2: 18) declares the time when he wrote, the
" last time." Now, if the scripture writers used these
expres.sions to cover the whole period of the C'hristian
disp(;nsati()n, including the time when they themselves
lived, as they do in some instances, it is difficult to
prove that they used them in any case exclusively of
the time immediately before the end of the world.
" Last days " would, according to this interpreta-
tion, be in tacit antithesis to the days of the past,
The meaning of 2 Tim. 3 : 1 sq., would then be that
Paul saw all he described as to take place in the
future, but not necessarily, perhaps not probably, in
the remote future : for how, then, could he refer to
what was to happen to forewarn Timothy as against
what already threatened the early church ? But
even though Paul and Peter did refer to what was
immediately to precede the end, their descriptions
would be just in keeping with the great lapse of
righteousness and the uprising of wickedness between
the millennium and the end, as described in Rev. 20 :
G-IL Neither does either of the apostles declare that
the conditions of things they describe in the passages
we have referred to, abide as a permanent feature of

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238

A STrOY IN ESCHATOT.OfJY.

tlie life of tins dispcuHjitioii. If the vlovv be taken
that (he a))()HtI(vs referred in tliem to the times iinine-
(li}i(«'ly i)reee<liii;r tlu; end, as it is in these hist thtys
tliat these (h^tarttires from tlie faith and life of tiic
Oospel were to occur, it certaiidy imj)li«'s that it was
in them only that they should be nianifest<Ml ; or
manifestc<l, at least, to the dej^rce they were then to
i-each. If they refer to tlie whole periofl of the
Clun'cli, beginninf^ with the apostolic a^i;, tlu»n it is
merely declared that sueh a state of thin<;s would
have; place: but for how lonjj^ or how often, nothintr
is said. In neither case, therefore, can these passages
have any decisive bearing upon the (juestion at issue.
If, finally, we take the view that the writers of these
passages nuilly expected the Lord soon to appear, and
thought the times in which they lived the last in the
sense of immediately preceding His advent, then the
foreshorten inir of the future which reduced thousands
of years to a span, left room, in the stretches of time
it proved they left unnoticed, for a millennium of
prevalent righteousness. These passages do not prove
that the wo "Id will grow worse and worse until the
second advent. They only prove that there will bo a
period of relapse.

Reference is also made to such passages as 2 Tim.
3 : 12, " All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall
suffer persecution"; John 16: 33, "In the world ye
shall have tribulation." But in the latter passage,
our Lord refers specifically to His disciples to whom
He was speaking, as the connection shows. In the
first the meaning need be nothing more than that all

TIIF PHOnRFSS OF TIfE riOSPKI,.

2na

taken
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it was

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tllLMl to

of tl\e
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2 Tim.
us shall
orld ye
)assage,
whom

In the
Ithat all

of thoH(! who would live iLTodlv, in tlie times an<l cir-
eumstanccH pn^vailin;^ when Paul wrot(^ to Timothy,
shall suffer persecution, not that tlu^ persecutin;jf mij^ht
of (»vil should prevail without break to the eii<l of tho
world.

It is \u\] that Matt. '24 : ^7, -SH (comp. Luke 17 : 26,
27) in<lieat(ss that th«; time immcMliately precedini^ tho
comin*,' of the Lord will be one of aboutidintj; wicked-
n(!ss. liut the compariso!i is not so nnich between
the wiekedness of the days before the flood and those
days, as between the unexpectedness of the comin<^
of the Hood and of our Lord, .lust as in the; parable
of the ten vir<^ins, the cry, " Lehold the bride<^rooin
Cometh," caught the virgins all slumbering, an<l took
them by surprise, so here, the coming of the Son of
(lod bursts upon a world as little expecting His
appearing as did tlie antediluvians the flood. If em-
|)hasis is *o be lai<l upon the wickedness as well, it is
also laid upon the destructicm of the wicked as well,
and this is just what our pre-millennial brethren
deny : for they hold that Christ does not come to
destroy " all " the wicked, but to introduce the great
era of salvation. If it is here declare<l that wicked-
ness is to abound, and that the wicked are to be
destroyed at the Lord's coining, it is in exact accord
with the post-millennial interpretati(m of Rev. 20 :
11 sq., where the final uprising of wickedness after
the millennium is crushed out by the coming of the
Lord and the tremendous scenes of the general resur-
rection and judgment.

The pre-millennial interpretation of Luke 18 : 8

Hi'™ r

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240

A STUDY IX ESCHATOLOGY.

< .■ i -I

" Howbeit, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find
faith on the earth ? " as declaring that our Lord really
doubted whether there should be any believers or
saved people on the earth at His second toming,
proves too much, and contradicts the plainest teaching
of other passages. In our Lord's parables referring
to His coming, Ke speaks of the faithful servants,
and in most cases they outnumber the unfaithful.
There is wheat as well as tares at His coming, and
the tares are among the wheat, suggesting that the
great mass of mankind are saved, Pre-millennialists
themselves make the judgment of Matt. 25: 31 sq.,
that of the nations which are alive on the earth when
our Lord cornea, and yet some of these are described
as sheep, and enter into the kingdom prepared for
them from the foundation of the world. Their own
interpretation of these parables is in conflict with the
one they give of Luke 18 : 8, showing that it is as im-
possible from their own view as from the plainest
teaching of tht whole New Testament. Paul speaks
of those who are alive when Christ comes, who are to
be caught up to meet Him in the air, and the living
righteous shall not precede the righteous dead in the
glad resurrection day, in meeting the Lord, in their
resurrection bodies. Whatever interpretation we
accept of this passage, it cannot mean what our pre-
millennial friends would make it signify.

Perhaps the passage upon which they chiefly rely
to prove that the world is to get worse and worse
until our Lord comes, is 2 Thess. 2: 3-10, "Let no
man beguile you in any wise, for it will not be, except

THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

241

e find

really

jrs or

ming,

tching

erring

vantH,

ithful.

nr, and

at the

lialists

31 sq.,

1 when

scribed

•ed for

ir own

ith the

; as ini-

)lainest
speaks
are to
Uving
in the
their
ion we
ur pre-

fly rely
worse
Let no
, except

the falling away come first, and the man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and
exalteth himself against all that is called God, or that
is worshipped ; so that he sitteth in the temple of
God, setting himself forth as God Remember ye not,
that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things ?
And now ye know that which restraineth, to the end
that he may be revealed in his own season. For
the mystery of lawlessness doth already work : only
there is one that restraineth now, until he be taken
out of the way. And then shall be revealed the law-
less one, whom the Lord Jesus shall slay with the
breath of his mouth, and bring to nought by the
manifestation of his coming."

Our purpose does not require a discussion of the
difficulties which beset the interpretation of this pas-
sage. Suffice it to say that a few of the best exegetes,
and not all of them Post-millennialists, do not regard
the " manifestation of his coming " or presence which
is to " slay " and " bring to nought " the " lawless
one " or " the man of sin," as His personal appearing.
But allow that it is of our Lord's personal appearing
that the apostle speaks, and still we are not required
to believe that evil is to go on with steady and ever-
increasing might until the second advent. The apostle
is giving the future history of iniquity, and not a
general history of the Church and of the world. It is
the long-drawn course of evil which presents itself in
his vision, and suffices to make the immediate coming
of the Lord impossible. His course of thought, there-
fore, does not require the mention of any long period
16

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■ . i

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Hi ■ I

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242

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOQY.

of prevalent righteousness during the time inirpiity is
to continue to exist on the earth, even though He
was aware that such a period was to have phice before
evil was to be brought to nought " by the manifesta-
tion of his coming." In an outline of the whole
course of evil, extending over two thousand and we
know not how many more thousands of years, which
is contained in two or three graphic sentences, there
is no room for the specification of details. Even
though Paul did not have his mind fixed upon the dark
history of iniquity, the sweep of the description is far
too general to make it an^* .^hing like certain that he
must have mentioned the millennial period, were it
within the limits of the time his outline covers. There
is also mention made of a restraining power which
keeps the working of lawlessness secret, " a mystery,"
in contrast to the revelation of the " lawless one,"
near the end. During the time of this restraint of
evil, in connection v/ith the general nature of the
description, there is room for a millennium consistent
with the great uprising of wickedness (Rev. 20 : 7-
11) at its close.

Nor is this all. There is a positive and fatal objec-
tion to the view that the millennium is to come after
the coming of the Lord here spoken of. If the millen-
nium is to come after this great event, so also must
the tremendous uprising of wickedness which suc-
ceeds it in Rev. 20: 7-11. But if anything be plain,
Paul in our passage intends to trace the dark history
of evil in this world until its complete and final
pverthrpw, The interpret«^tion, which places the

THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

243

ity is

li He

)efore

festa-

vvhole

id we

which

there

Even
e dark
I is far
hat he
vere it

There

which
^stery,"
s one,"
aint of

of the

sistent

20: 7-

[l objec-
le after
millen-
Iso must
Ich suc-
>e plain,
history
id final
Icea the

niillenniuin after this clos(3 of the history of evil is
impossible : because we liave, after the millennium,
and long after the end of its course mentioned here,
an outburst described in terms which make it evident
that it is to be one of the most terrific that the earth,
which has been so lonfj cursed with so many of them,
is ever to see. Just as surely as Paul in 2 Tliess. 2 : 3-10
traces the history of ini(juity to its close, so certain is
it that the coming of the Lord, which is to mark its
final destruction, must be after the great uprising of
wickedness in Rev. 20 : 7-10, and, therefore, after the
millennium. Instead, therefore, of this passage afford-
ing an insuperable objection to the post-millennial
view it is to the pre-niillennial view it is fatal.

Neither can this passage be made to square with
other features of the pre-millennial theory. Evil, in
its great representative, is not to be slain and "brought
to nought" by the "manifestation of his coming,"
meaning His second personal advent, according to
this theory. Iniquity, through the conversion of a
world almost altogether given up to wickedness at
His coming, is to be destroyed by a process of con-
version after He has come, and the seeds of evil are
to remain for over a thousand years, to spring up at
last for a terrible harvest.

Finally, how are 2 Thess. 2: 3-10 and Rev. 20 : 7-10
to be reconciled ?

No one who compares the two passages carefully,
can fail to be struck by the similarity of their descrip-
tions. The outburst of evil in both covers but a short
period. In Thessaloniai^s it seems to have its cuj-

244

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

! 1 i

mination, its time of power and its overthrow within
the lifetime of some prince of evil : in Revelation it
is said to be " for a little time." In each case the
bursting forth of the evil might appears to be sudden.
In both cases it flares forth after long restraint,
apparently the more tierce because of the long repres-
sion. In both sudden destruction falls upon the evil
power, when at its terrific climax. In both the over-
throw of evil seems to be utter and final, from which
there is no recovery. If they both describe the final
overthrow, they must, of course, be different descrip-
tions of the same event. In one the destruction is said
to be by " the manifestation of his coming." In the
other it is said, '* fire came down out of heaven and
devoured them " (Rev. 20 : 9). When we read in 2
Thess. 1 : 7, 8 of the revelation of the Lord Jesus from
heaven — in flaming fire, " rendering vengeance," we
see how the " fire out of heaven " of Rev. 20 : 9 might
well be the " flaming fire " of the Lord's coming of
2 Thess. 1 : 7, 8.

This interpretation would associate the "fire out
of heaven " with the coming of the Lord to raise the
dead, and to judge all men " out of the things written
in the books " as the author innnediately proceeds to
describe. While there are some points left without
full explanation, this interpretation brings the passage
in 2 Thess. 2 : 3-10, into strictest harmony with
Rev 20 : 4-15, and is in agreement with the general
teaching of the New Testament that there is no pro-
bation after Christ comes.

All the millennium there is, therefore, must be

THE PROGRESS OF THE fJOSPEL.

245

itliin
on it
e the
dden.
raint,
jpres-
e evil

over-
which
e final
jscrip-
is said
In the
n and
i in 2
s from
e," we

might
ling of

re out
ise the
vritten
eeds to
vithout
Dassage
with
ofeneral
no pro-

mst be

before the coming here spoken of, for there can be no
uprising of wickedness after the destruction of evil
here alluded to, and after probation ends and judg-
ment has been executed.

A general study, therefore, of 2 Thess 2 : 8-10
does not forbid a millennium consistent with the con-
tinued existence of evil during its course, which the
uprising of wickedness at its close makes necessary.
The character of the destruction dealt with also as
it culminates in the " man of sin " and the seeming
essential identity of the latter part of this description
with Rev. 20 : 7-10 makes a millennium and a subse-
quent uprising of wickedness after the " manifestation
of his coming " here spoken of, out of the question.
So also does all the proof already given that pro-
bation ends at the coming of the Lord. We have
positive evidence, however, that there is to be a
growth in Christ's kingdom on earth until the world
is brought to His feet, instead of the world growing
worse and worse until the end.

In Matt., chap. 13, there are two parables, evidently
intended by our Lord to describe the future of the
kingdom of heaven among men. In vs. 31, 32 He
sa'ys : " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of
mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his
field, which is indeed less than all seeds : but when it
is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh
a tree, so that the birds of the heavens come and
lodge in the branches thereof."

The feature of the kingdom of heaven here spoken
of is evident upon the face of the passage. It is to

N . ■ ■ !

■ i
■ij ■ ■ ; )

24G

A STUDY IN EscnA'mi.or;v.

increase from a very small beginning until it l)ecomes
great. The mustard plant, however large it grows, is
of the same nature as the seed from which it springs.
There is no hint in this parable of a people back-
sliding into evil. It is the kingdom of heaven still,
the same in character but grown into greatness To
speak of unclean birds lodging in the branches of the
nmstard tree, and say that the parable refers to a
corrupt church, is to be ruled by fancy, rather than
deal in sober exegesis. The kingdom of heaven is
not said to be like the birds, be they clean or unclean,
but like the mustard tree which must, by virtue of
its being a mustard tree, be of the same nature as the
seed. It is not said whether the birds are clean or
unclean. All that is signified by the birds taking
refuge in the branches, if it is added for any other
purpose than to show the size of the mustard tree, is
to show that the kingdom of heaven is to be a shelter
for those who might naturally be expected to take
refuge there, just as the birds naturally find shelter
in the branches of trees.

According to this parable then, the kingdom of
heaven, in comparison with its small beginning, is to
become great and mighty.

May we not also believe it was intended to teach
that this kingdom was also to reach the fulness of its
greatness and strength, not by sudden impulses of
power, but by a growth, in the main steady ? There
is room for the arrest of growth, it may be, as a plant
is stricken by drought, etc. There is room for more
or less rapid growth. There may be room for tern-

THE PROGRESS OF THE (JOSPEL.

247

porary decliiK.', just as a plant may become weak
through evil conditions. But there is no room in this
parable, any more than there is in the facts of the
church iiistory, for the view that this kingdom is to
have no growth which will impress the world and
make it better. There is no room for the idea that
the kingdom is not yet established, or that it is to
have no growth until a time in the indefinite future,
when our Lord is to come ; and that then it is to
shoot up into fullest growth, and bloom like a cen-
tury plant in a day. Its increase from the beginning
until it reaches its fullest growth, is to be on the same
principles, so far as this parable gives us any informa-
tion. It is not to begin and end its development
under such changed principles as those our pre-millen-
nial brethren suppose will prevail before and after
our Lord's second coming.

The second parable follows in v. 33, " The kingdom
of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took,
and hid in three measures of meal, till it was all
leavened."

The natural interpretation of this parable is evi-
dent. There does not seem to be anything dark or
hidden about it. It is to the leaven the kingdom of
heaven is like, and it is like it in its pervasive, assimi-
lative power. That which corresponds to the three
measures of meal is mankind, among whom the king-
dom of heaven is introduced. Corresponding to the
woman would be God himself, who established this
kingdom among men. The teaching is that, just as
the leaven does not cease its pervasive, assimilative

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A STUDY IN ESCHATOUKJY.

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intlucnce until all into which it is cast is transformed
and made like itself, so also the kingdom of heaven,
as it has been introduced among men, is not to cease
its work until all mankind, in the general sense in
which such comprehensive representations are to be
taken, has been reached and transformed by its prin-
ciples. Like the leaven, it is to begin its work as
soon as it is placed in contact with the life of the
world. Like the leaven, it is not to cease its work
until "all" the great mass of mankind has yielded
to its transforming power. The final generality of its
assimilative influence is one of the plainest teachings
of the parable, just as in the preceding parable it is
a progress from the beginning of the kingdom on
earth until its close. Fluctuations there may be, but
there is a general advance, just as the tide flows on,
although there may be receding waves upon the
beach during its flood. Instead of evil going on to a
great climax, from the time the kingdom was set up
by our Lord until He comes again, it is the principles
of His kingdom which sweep onward, as the ages go
by. From the time when our Lord said " the king-
dom of heaven is at hand," instead of evil being on
the flow and the principles of this kingdom on the
ebb, it was to be the forces of evil which were to ebb
and the forces of His kingdom which were to move
forward in perpetual flood. The great trend of the
ages was to be upward and not downward.

So evident is the teaching of this parable, inter-
preted in this natural way, fatal to the pessimistic
view of our pre-millennial brethren, that they are

THE PROGUESH OF THE (JOSPEL.

249

aware its forco muHt bo broken or their theory
abandoned.

The attempt to interpret thi.s parable in harmony
witli their view tliat the world is ^rowin«; worse, is
one of the most astounding of exegetieal perform-
ances. Tliey actually attempt to sliow that leaven is
used here as a symbol of pollution and corruption, as
in most other cases in the Bible, and that the parable
is to show "the progress of corruption and deteriora-
tion in i;he outward visible church," as Alford states
the view to controvert it. Let us see how the parable
reads, when the language of reality is substituted for
that of symbol, on this understanding. " The king-
dom of heaven is like pollution and corruption which
Satan introduced into the outward visible church
until the whole was corrupted." Now, the compari-
son is either between the kingdom of heaven and the
leaven, or it is between the progress of the kingdom
and the leaven in its transforming work. If we take
the first alternative, then the kingdom of heaven is
pollution and corruption, which no one will dare affirm.
If we take the second, then it is the kingdom of heaven
which is to transform and assimilate humanity as the
leaven does the meal. That which transforms and
assimilates in each case must transform through what
it is in itself, and assimilate to its own nature. If we
say that something transforms by what is foreign to
its own nature, and assimilates to what is the very
opposite to itself in nature, we are perverting expres-
sions to a false use. If the kingdom of heaven is to
act like leaven in the meal, just as the leaven is said

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A STUDY IN KSCIIATOLUUY.

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to tniiiHfonn by its own nature to its own nature,
HO tho kinj^doiii nniHtdo its work by its own princi-
ples brinj(inj( tlie world into luirniony witli tliom-
selv(!S. If tlie kin<i;(loMi of heiiven, in actinj^ like
leaven, pollutes, it must be because its principles,
which it infuses, are themselves morally corrupt.
This, no man, however much driven by the need of
bad exe<;esis to support a (juestionable theory, would
venture to assert. From whatever standpoint, there-
fore, we view the parable, this pre-millennial inter-
pretation is impossible.

Neither is it true that leaven is always a symbol
of evil in the Bible. In Lev. 7 : 13, 23 : 15-17 leavened
bread is commanded to be offered to the Lord. Rev.
J. Gall, in his excellent treatise on " Wherein Millen-
arians are Wrong," argues that when the work of
Christ is symbolized, as it was definite and fixed,
leaven was forbidden : but where the expansive work
of the Spirit was to be set forth, leaven is commanded,
as in the instances given above. His argument is
strong. But be this as it may, we can scarcely
believe that God would command, even in symbol,
that what is essentially evil and corrupt should be
offered to Him. We are more than doubtful whether
leaven is invariably the symbol of evil in the
Scriptures.

The pre-millennial interpretation of this parable,
even if it were possible on other grounds, is impossible
because it proves too much, especially for other
features of their own theory. If the kingdom of
heaven is to help the spread of corruption until " all "

TIIK I'UOCKKSS Ol' I'HK <;()SI'KL.

251

is cori'uptod, W(! fail to .see why ourlovinj^ Fatlier in
heaven e.stahlishoil it on oartli. Wl»y ho at such
troniondouH cost to hasten (!vil on to its universal
dominion ( Kor, mark you, this parahlc ^ives the final
outcome of the existence of tlw^ kin<,'(lom on earth.
Also, if this is to be the futui'e of th(» work of the
kintjdom, what becomes of the teaching that tlie
kin(^dom is not yet established, and that, when it is
inaugurated at Christ's second coining, instead of its
being associated with a victorious might of evil,
righteousness is to have its grand triumph ?

Finally, this interpretation of this parable, and the
whole view of the continued progress of evil until
Christ comes, in whose interest it is adopted, at so
nmch violence to its plainest meaning, is contradicted
by the facts of church history. Is it true that, from
the time Christ set up His kingdom — the leaven was
put in the meal — the world has been growing worse
and worse ? The man who would say so must eitlier
be ignorant of the festering wickedness of the world
at the time of Christ, or he must shut his eyes to the
condition of the world to-day.

In addition to these parables which so clearly teach
the growth of the kingdom of heaven and the exten-
sion of its principles in their pervasive and trans-
forming might, the reader is referred to all the
passages adduced in proof that " all the Gentiles,"
" the fulness of the Gentiles," and " all Israel " are to
be saved in the present dispensation ; and also the
proof that there is to be no salvation for any after our
Lord's second coming. If this last position has been

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Hustaiiiod, thou evory t^lowlng dcMcrlption of the pro-
gress of truth and right(3()Usn(3Hs and the ;^atherinj( of
tlie people of i\u\ world into the kingdom of (iod
ini<;ht he adduced in rebuttal of the interpretation
which would draw from the Bible the dark doctrine
that it is evil and not <^ood which is advancing with
all-con(|uerin«^ niit^ht in the present dispensation.
We place all this over against the few passages
adduced to establish this deplorable position. To
concluile : some of the passages depended upon can
only help this view as a very forced and uiniatiu'al
interpretation is given them, an interpretation to
which no Hrst-class exegete has ever committed him-
self. Others are general in their character, and do
not necessarily conHict with the alternative view.
This interpretation is also in direct conHict with the
facts of history, and cannot be reconciled even with
other features of the pre-millennial view. Does it
seem presumptuous to declare that it is erroneous ?

TMK MII-IJCNNH'M.

258

CIIAPTKR XiV.

THE MILLENXIl'M.

Ouii trwitincnt would not be complete witliout a
short clmpter on the nnllenniuin itself.

AcconliiifT to Rev. 20: 1-6, Satan is said to be
Ifound for a thousand years, and restrained for this
loii^ period from deceiving the nations. The souls of
the martyrs are said to live and reign with Christ.
If our interpretation of this passage be corr"<;t, this is
the language of symbol, as is so much of Revelation,
indicating the triumph of the cause and spirit of the
martyrs, just as the binding of Satan signifies nega-
tively the limiting and controlling of his evil power.
Just how much is meant by this symbolic description
is not easy to dotermine. No true view of the period,
however, can be had, unless we make it consistent
with the uprising of wickedness which is immediately
to follow, as described in Rev. 20 : 7-10: "And when
the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed
out of his prison, and shall come forth to deceive the
nations which are on the four corners of the earth,
Gog and Magog, to gather them together for the
war ; the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.

254

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOfJY.

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And tlu^y went up over tin; bn.'adtli of the cartli, and
compassed tlie camp of the saints about, and the
beloved city : and fire came down out of lieaven and
devoured them."

It is to be noticed tliat this dark period is declared
to be "a little time" in v. 3. While we must not
press this comparative designation of its length too
far, and make it too short, the whole description
makes it evident that evil Hares out with great sud-
denness. It is scarcely consistent with the view that
it arises gradually, as the last generation of the mil-
lennium die, and a new generation gradually giv^e
themselves up to the deceptive blandishments of
Satan. Immediately upon his release he is said to go
forth t(j deceive the nations, and to gather his follow-
ers to battle. He does not need to wait until a new
generation grows up who have not beheld the J4lory
of the millennial years. He does not have to delay
until a host " as the sand of the sea " are born and
grow up in sin. He seems to find his material ready
to his hand. What is the necessary inference from
all this, for all who believe that regeneration is once
and for all, and that all who are regenerated are
beyond such deceptive power as Satan is here said to
use, and cannot be supposed to make up the army he
gathers ? It nmst be that during the millennium — at
the close of a period so transcendently blessed — there
are to be hosts of unregenerate men and women who
will be ready, when the power of evil again is on the
flood, to give themselves up to its flow, and to ally
themselves with the satanic might which is gather-

THE MILLENNIUM.

255

in<^ its forces to daah itself againnt the stron<;hol(l of
tlie saints of the Lord. Tliis is in perfect accord with
Old Testament prophecy of the millennial period. In
Isaiah Go : 20, for instance, in a prophecy acknow-
ledged by Pre-millennialists universally to refer to
this era, we read that the sinner dying an hundred
years old, shall be accursed. Does not this give us a
pretty certain clue to the character of the millen-
nium, and help us in o'lr interpretation of the glowing
imagery of Old Testament prophecy in reference to
it ? Righteousness is to rule, the might of evil is to
be kept in subjection, the principles of the kingdom
of heaven are to dominate the social life, and mani-
fest themselves in all the range of human activities ;
but all men are not saved. Sin is subject, but it is
not eradicated. It may be smouldering in the souls
of hosts of unregenerate people. It may even be
growing intense through its repression, and all the
more ready to burst out in sudden and destructive
violence when once Satan is permitted to give it the
electric touch of his unrestrained power. Those who
have noticed the exuberance of description in the
prophecies of the return from the captivity in Baby-
lon will have little difficulty in reconciling with the
view of the millennium given above, the glowing
language used of it in the Old Testament. We are
seeking, in what is given above, to give the true view
of the millennium, and are not assuming that Pre-
millennialists generally have a different conception of
it, so far as the existence of sin is concerned.

J^et us gather up a few gf the tliflgculties which

256

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOQY.

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beset the pre-millennial view of the millennium, as
following the coming of* the Lord.

Pre-millennialists all believe that the present dis-
pensation is to witness the salvation of but compara-
tively few. During its course the world is to grow
worse and worse, and it is to end in gloom and
failure, so far as the salvation and sanctification of
men are concerned. In contrast with this, as soon as
Christ appears to introduce the millennium and to
set up His kingdom and begin His personal reign,
with the world at the climax of its wickedness, the
work of salvation is to sweep over the earth, a nation
is to be born in a day, and righteousness is soon to
wield its sceptre over the life of mankind.

The first difficulty is to discover whence our pre-
millennial brethren, after the coming of Christ and
what occurs at His coming, are to get the wicked
stock which shall afford the material for the won-
drous displays of saving power v/hich we all believe
are to glorify this period. If anything is clear, the
" day of the Lord," in 2 Peter 3 : 10, is the day of our
Lord's second coming (see v. 4). How, then, are the
people in the flesh — all the wicked who have not been
changed by receiving their resurrection bodies — to
survive that day when the elements shall be dissolved
with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that
are therein shall be burned up ? To evade this diffi-
culty by putting the final conflagration more than a
millennium after our Lord comes, as does Blackstone,
etc., is a desperate resort.

But this is not all. These brethren tell us tliat the

THE MILLENNIUM.

257

iudgment of Matt. 25 : 31 .sf/., is of " tlie liviiifif
nations." We do not admit tlieir right to exclude
from " all the nations " (v. 32), any nation, be it Jew or
Gentile, any more than to limit the application of the
same expression in the great commission. But all
the nations would then include all who are in the
flesh after our Lord appears. These, according to
pre-millennial interpretation, can only be the wicked:
for all the living saints have been caught up to meet
the Lord in the air, after having received their resur-
rection bodies. How, then, can there be any righteous
people among these nations to hear the welcoming
" Well done," etc ? But allowing that good people
still live in the flesh — even allow the figment of a
coming for and a coming with His people, with a time
between when some of the wicked who alone were
left when the righteous were caught up, might be
converted — and still the difficulty remains. All the
nations, including all mankind, either go away into
eternal punishment or eternal life. This judgment
is to final destiny, and as it is at the beginning of the
millennium, there can be no conversions : for there
remain none who are in a state of probation. Even
concede that "all the nations" here means, all the
Gentile nations, and that the Jews are the "brethren"
of the Lord spoken of in this grand description, and
still there is no great release from the diflficulty. We
cannot suppose He would thus designate the Jews
who were still opposing Him, and that the eternal
destiny of all men on the earth at His coming would
be determined by the way they had treated these
17

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258

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

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.still stubborn and unbeHevinf^ members of this
race. Still we cannot find any men to be saved,
after this judgment, even allowing it to be of the
living nations.

Not only so, but it is evident from Old Testament
descriptions of the millennial era that men in the
flesh are to be agents in tlu^ groat work of God which
is then to make such glorious progress. But it is as
difficult to find righteous, as wicked, men in the
flesh, after Christ comes, and the judgmtrnt of Matt.
25 : 31 sq.y takes place, even though it were of the
living nations only. They could not, any more than
the wicked, survive the burning day of 2 Peter 3 : 10.
All the saints, also, are changed when Christ appears
to raise the dead (1 Cor. 15 : 50-52). There can,
therefore, be no righteous people, in the flesh, when
the millennium begins, to be the great missionaries
of which our pre-millennial brethren speak, to the
world of unsaved people they conceive then to be
awaiting their ministry. If there be wicked men
then still in a state of probation, they must be brought
in by tlie agency of the glorified, if by human agency
at all.

Thus the pre millennial view, on this point, is self-
contradictory, and is impossible in both of its parts.
There are no wicked people still remaining in the
flesh after the judgment of Matt. 25 : 31 sq., to be con-
verted, and there are no saints still in the flesh to be
the ministers of their salvation, did they then so
exist.

The conception Pre-millennialists have of the con-

li'iti

THE MILI-ENXIUM.

259

nought
liffmcy

the

|)e con-
to be
len so

le con-

ditions cxi.stinf; in tlie niillcnniuin arc ulinoHt iinj)OH-
.sible of belief. Its very central thou<;lit is that Christ
is then to rei^n in personal and visible presence on
the earth. The kinj^dom is not really to be <'stab-
li,shed until He be<j^ins His pei'sonal rei<rn. Their
literal interpretation of Old Testament prophecy
forces upon them this view, and they must be pre-
pared to face all the conse(jUences. They, for the
most part, glory in it: but some, when confronted
with its difficulties, make vague statements. But if
our Lord is to reign in visible and personal presence
on the earth, so must all the hosts of the saved in all
generations, for, according to their interpretation of
Rev. 20 : 4-6, all these are included in thos(! who are
to live and reign with Him, and if He is reigning on
the earth, so must all these be with Him here. These
innumerable hosts of the glorified saints of all tlu;
ages are to associat(! with mortal men in the flesh.
Raised above the needs of the earthly life, tlwy are
to mingle with men who an; tilling their fields, pre-
paring food and raiment, building houses, etc. They
are also to witness pain and death, for people are to
continue to die. In this period, too, the virus of evil
is still to be in the nature, as is proved by the need of
regeneration then, and the multitudes who are ready
to follow Satan at its close, and they are to be brought
into intimate relations with sin. This view also re-
quires us to believe, either that those who are saved in
the millennium receive their resurrection body as soon
as they believe, or that there must be anotlier special
resurrection for those who die during its continuance.

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260

A STUDY IN ESCIIATOLOGY.

The former of tlicsc altvnuitivcH involves with it the
neccH.sary conchi.sioii tliat, tlien, it is only tlie unsaved
wlio continue to pr()i)ajifate the race, that the work of
evangelization, so far as human agency is concerned,
must be done V)y the gloritieil, and tliat the army of
Satan, in tlte great uprising, actually comes up against
the camp of glorified and immortal saints, thus over-
turning all our conceptions of tlu; si'curity of those
who have passed into this state. The latter — that
saints die durintr the n^jllenniuin — if this is tlie time
when believers can be said first to inherit the kin*:-
dom of heaven, is in direct conflict with 1 Cor. 15 : 50,
"Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God,"
and of this second special resurrection and judgment
of saints tliere is not the remotest hint in the Bible :
nay, the teaching of Scripture is opposed to it from
Genesis to Revelation,

Again, how is it possible to reconcile this view of
the millennium with the uprising of wickedness at
its close ? We are asked to believe that, after a
thousand years of Christ's visible and personal ruU;
upon the earth with His glorified saints, sin is still un-
subdued, and only needs the presence and solicitation
of the prince of evil to flame up in God-defying
might. We must remember that our Lord's second
personal coming is represented in terms of boundless
contrast to His first. It is to be "in power and great
glory" (Matt. 24: 30). He is to come "in glory and
all the angels with him" (Matt. 25 : 31). The glory
is to flash around the world (Matt. 24: 27). It is
to be in " the glory of his might " (2 Thess. 1 : 9).

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261

From His face tlu' very hoiveiiH are to tlee away
(Rev. 20 : 11). Of the Lord who is to come, it is said,
His eyes are " a Hame of fire," His voice like " the
sound of many waters," and His countenance as " the
sun shining in liis strength" (Rev. 1 : 13-10). This
Being, clothed with the glory and might and majesty
of divinity, with all the glorified hosts of redeemed
men, is to be present on the earth, displaying His
power in overcoming grace and judgment for a
thousand years, and there are still people as the sands
of the sea who, with the knowledge of His victorious
sway for a thousand years, and in the very presence
of His majesty and the myriads of redeemed men, if
not of angels as well, are ready to rise up and try
conclusions with Him and His hosts. For, be it
noticed, there is no hint given of any withdrawal of
our Lord and the redeemed from the earth, if they
are on the earth at all. While this reign with Christ
goes on, this insurrection is organized. The fact that
the forces of Satan are said to be gathered from the
four corners of the earth, seems to imply that there
were nations far away from the seat of power that
were unsubdued, and that these are now allowed to
come up against the central power of the saints, where
Christ and the saints had been reigning. They come
up, then, against the same rule which had been exer-
cising sway during all the previous periods. They
come, therefore, according to pre-millennial ideas of
this rule, up against Christ in all His personal might
and against the glorified hosts who have been reign-
ing so long with Him, as well as against saints in the

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flesh. They actually hem these in in the beloved city
whither they had betaken themselves, and the camp
they had constructed for defence. Mortal men forcing
the onnnpt)tent Christ in personal and terrible presence
with all the hosts of the redeemed, as well as all
mortal saints to betake themselves to defences, in
order to keep themselves from being swept away,
ami fire from heaven has to come down to deliver
them :

It is difficult enough to understand how a condition
of things which required even a figurative description
of this kind, could succeed a thousand years of the
dominance of gospel influences which Post-millennial-
ists believe will prevail. But to suppose all this is to
be taken literally, and that mortal men will have the;
awful daring to come up against the omnipotent Son
of God, after He had reigned in person with the glori-
fied saints for a thousand years, and that He would
permit himself to be beleaguered by them, and have
to be rescued by the delivering power of (Jod, is more
than human credence ought to be asked to believe.

In the millennium both the righteous and the
wicked are to continue to die. If this has not already
been made clear, let the reader consider Isa. 65 : 20 :
" There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor
an old man that hath not tilled his days : for the child
shall die an hundred j^^ears old, and the sinner being
an hundred years old shall be accursed." Pre-millen-
nialists recognize this passage as part of a description
of the millennial era. Its teaching is perfectly plain.
While life will be prolonged, still both the righteous

THE MILLENNIUM.

263

child
being
illen-
ptioii
lain.
Iteous

and the unrightcouH nre to di«». We have, tlierefore,
through the niinennium, death making its ravages,
even as now. If our Lord comes to introduce the
millennium, as our pre-millennial friends hold, death
is to still maintain its sway over both classes of men,
after our Lord comes. This view presents two diffi-
culties. If all th(! saints who are to live after those
of the generntion in which He comes, are to die as all
generations before, how comes it that for this one
generation, at His appearing, this rule is reversed, and
the living righteous are changed, being thus relieved
from the necessity of dying ? Why should the com-
ing of Christ in person to the earth be attended with
this triumph over death, in the resurrection of dead
saints and the change of living saints, if immediately
there is to be the reversion back again to the old sub-
jection to death ( Will the returning Saviour mani-
fest but a flash of resurrection and quickening might,
and then, while personally present with His people,
hand all the living again over to the power of the
last enemy ? Why should there be such discrimina-
tion in favor of the one generation which happens to
be on the earth at His coming, if immediately the
succeeding generations are to be handed over again
to His dominion ? Then the resurrection described in
1 Cor. 15 is not the resurrection in which this last
enemy is destroyed ; his grip is but loosed for a
moment, to be tightened again for a thousand years.
The event described there is but a hiatus in the rule
of death. Where is there any hint of any such thing
in the Bible ?

204

A STUDY iN ESCHATUhOUY.

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Then it iiiUHt not be for«^otton that our pre-ininen-
nial brethren {^ive deliverance From the neceH.sity of
dyinj^ as tlie most blesHed part of the bleHsed liope of
our Lord's coining — tlie feature wliich lifts it inunea.s-
urably aliovc the departing and being with Christ.
And yet, in what is to be the supreme blessedness of
this golden era, with the Lord in majesty reigning on
the earth, and in sight of the multitude of risen and
changed saints, the rigliteous who are converted after
Christ comes are still to have the king of terrors to
face. Why are they left subject to death, now that
the Victor over death has once asserted His might ?
Why is the glory of this halcyon period marred by
this dread monster death, as Pre-millenntalists arc
inclined to regard him ? Can it be possible that their
view of a release from the need of dying as one of
the chief elements, if not the chief one, in the blessed-
ness of our Lord's coming, is the true one, if this
is not to be realized by those who are saved during
all the long period of our Lord's alleged reign on
earth i

SOMK tVII.S OK I'HK MIM.KNNIAMSM.

211.5

chapti<:r XV.

SOME EVILS OF PKE-MILLENNIALISM.

TuUTH is very precious. In our (|ue.st for it wu
should spare no pains. All truth is so interdependent
tliat indifference to any part of it may make impos-
sible the fullest understundin^,^ of it all. A false view
of what may l)e thou<(ht a subordinate truth, may
distort a whole system of belief. Considerations like
these are sufficient to justify the labor ^iven to the
preparation of this treatise. There are, however, as
the author believes, more specific and practical reasons
as \'re\\. There inhere in the pre-millennial system
not a few tendencies which are most unfortunate —
tendencies which not only affect thought, but also the
life of individuals and the general activities of
churches in a way that is not good. In this conclud-
ing chapter it is proposed to refer to these tendencies
as tliey come to light in the course of this discussion,
and give them a separate and fuller consideration.
The reader is asked to excuse any repetition which
this makes necessary.

Underlying the whole pre-millennial system is the
ultra-literal interpretation of the Old Testament

266

A STl'DY IN ESCIIATOI-OrJV

Hfi

;ii

Scriptures, vvliich cotninits Pro-!iiille?inijiliHts to many
(M)ncluHi()n.s in contindiction to vvluit .seeiiiH to hv th«
plainest toacliinj^H ol' tiic New. '\\\v kin^^doiii of ({(xl
or of liojiven jus deHcrilmil in Old 'I'oHtjunent pro-
pliocy, literally taken, is to l»e one of material
.splendor upon the earth. 'I'hen^fore they hold it is
not yet eHtahli.shed, in defiance of the teachin*^ of
tlie New Te.stanient. Or, seein*^ that hotii our Lord
and .John the Baptist declare the iniinediat(^ estah-
lishnient of tlie kin<((loni, in terms too plain to be
gainsaid, they assume that their expectation was
defeated because the Jews n.'fuseil to accept our Loi'd
as Messianic Kin»^, and the inauguration of the kin<(-
dom iiad to be deferred to His secon<l coming, lint
this compels them to accept these unspeakable con-
clusions: Our Lord did not understand Old Testa-
ment prophecy respectin<( His tirst comin<(. He was
ignorant of the treatment He should receive from the
Jews, and it came upon Him as a surprise. His
expectation was defeated, and He actually had to
change His plan. He at first shared in the false
expectation of His followers that He was to mount an
earthly throne rather than go to the Cross. Had the
Jews received Him, He would not have died and
made an atonement for sin. Had the Jews received
Him, therefore, salvation would have been without
atonement, or an atonement would have been made
in some other way.

This same ultra- literal interpretation also forces
them to believe, not only in the restoration of the
Jews to their own land, but also that they are to con-

) many
l)o tlu;

of (J()<1

it pro
latcrial
il it is
iin;j ol'
ir lionl
OHtal)-
1 to be
)ii was
ir Lord
LJ kiii<(-
r. Hut

Ic COIl-

TcHta-
[le was
oin the
His
had to
e false
unt an
a»l the

1 and
ceived
'ithout

made

forces
of the
.0 con-

.^:c)ME KVILS OF rRE-MITJ,ENXIAT,lSM.

2(17

stitutc tlu' dominant factor in this kingdom, as our
Lord from His capital, Jerusalem, sways His sceptre
in excecMliijcr majesty over a subject world, althou;^h
I'aid knows of no such distinction for then) in the
chapters, Kom. I)- II, in which he traces their future
liistory.

Som»! l*re-milleiwiialists slu'ink hack from otlier
conclusi(jns which just as surely follow from this
literal interpretation. Others, more logically con-
sistent, feel they can do nothin«r else but accept
them, while they clin^ to this system of interpreta-
tion. They therefore hold, not only that the Jews
are to constitute the chief factor in this future kin;^-
dom, but that the (Jentiles are to be subject to the
Jews. Those who are opposed to the Jews are to be
smitten as were the Canaanites of old. The Jewish
rites and ceremonies are to be restore<l, and priests
and Levites are a<^ain to tread the courts of a temple
of transcendent f^lory, and otter sacrifices and observe
the feasts and new moons. While perhaps none would
be prepared to believe that this perfected Judaism,
with all the world proselytes to the Jews or subject
to th<'m, is to be the final condition in the milleiniium,
ye*, this is the last vision of its fjlory which prophets
se(^, and they have no right to stop short of the full
conclusion to which this ultra-literal interpretation
leads. If it is used to support a theory, it must also
be accepted, when it leads to conclusions which sub-
vert all our conceptions of the wisdom of the divine
plan, by making the climax of the religious pro-

ll.

I •■

2G8

A STIJDV IN ESCHATOLOGY.

fjrcss of the a^jcs a rctrogrcHsion to the .Tiulaism with
which it wcll-nigli began.

It i.s also to be noticed that this scheme of interpre-
tation makes it necessary for its advocates to separate
tlie splieres covered by Old Testami^it propliecy and
New Testament teacliings. So evidently do the pro-
phecies of the Old Testament, interpreted in the literal
way which alone can give support to tlie pre-millcn-
nial theory, refer to altogether different conditions
than those contemplated by New Testament writers,
that leading Pre-millennialists can only escape; the
difficulty by asserting that the Old 'i'estament pro-
phets had no visions of the Church and of the gospel
dispensation. From our Lord's first coming, with His
life, death and resurrection, until His second coming,
there is a hiatus in prophecy, Pre-millennialists them-
selves being judges. There is no hint of the conditi(m
of things the prophets picture, if what they declare
is to be taken literally, in the teaching and outlook of
the whole New Testament, with the exception of Rev.
20 : 1-6, and perhaps an allusion or two in Peter. The
thought of New Testament writers was of the con-
tinuance of the conditions and agencies then existing
in connection with the Church, until the end. Beyond
this church condition they saw nothing, expected
nothing. Jews and Gentiles were to be equal, and
the highest boon for both was to be saved through
Christ, as men were being then saved. If, as these
brethren admit, Old Testament prophecy, literally
taken, was altogether inconsistent with New Testa-
ment conditions as declared by its apostles and

SOME EVILS OF PUE-MILLENXIALISM.

209

111

with

itcrpre-

K'paratc

cy and

,hv pro-

c literal

-inillcn-

rulitions

writers,

ap(! the

i>nt pro-

le gospel

kvith Hi.s

comiii;^,

ts th(Mll-

:oiiditi()n

' declare

jtlook of

1 of Rev.

,er. The

the con-

existing

Beyond

expected

(uai, and

through

as these

literally

w Testa-

itles and

inspired men, so that these prophecies must refer to
another period, almost lU contrast, is it not strange
the New Testament writers give no hint of being
aware of any such Old Testament prediction, or of
anticipating an^^ such period ? Now, if the literal is
the true interpretation of these prophecies, must not
the New Testament wiiters, especially with their
inspired insight, luive reached similar conclusions i
How comes it, then, that they are silent about it all ?
'Nay, how comes it that Paul, with his heart yearning to
comfort his people, in the very chapters, Rom. 9-11,
in which he traced their future, does not hint at any
such pre-eminence as the literal interpretation of the
Old Testament gives to them, but makes their con-
version the supreme blessing they are to expect ?
Why is it that their view of the future of the liistory
of redemption ends with the close of the dispensation
in which they lived, and the coming of Christ ? We
are sure this tendency, fostered by the hyper-literal
interpretation, to make Old and New Testament teach-
ing irreconcilable, except upon impossible assumptions,
is most unwholesome and unsafe.

This ultra-literal interpretation was once more
associated with outbreaks of fanaticism than it is
now. It was also once used to secure scriptural
justification for persecutions. To it, to-day, we are
indebted for several false beliefs which are being
pressed with great vigor. It is cniefiy responsible for
the materialistic annihilation theory in all its forms
Life and death mean just natural and physical, or
literal iife and death. When this natural death takes

270

A STUDY IN ESniATOLDOY.

, 1

■- t

.■a

1 t

* y

1 t

! 5

■\

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■^

' \

place, consciouHiieHH ceaHe.s, etc. Ah all spiritual facts
must be expressed in terms of the physical, the
extreme form of belief based upon the literal inter-
pretation is a bald materialism. So also of Seventh
Day Adventism. The Sabbath must be the same
literal day the Jews celebrated. If there is departure
from the seventh day, all the curses against Sabbath -
breakin^j found in the Old Testament are upon us.
Although Pre-millennialists are not by any means all
annihilationists and Sabbatarians, all annihilationists
and Sabbatarians are Pre-millennialists, showing that
these beliefs are all kindred to each other, in some
respects, and share in a common source, which we
believe to be the literal interpretation we have
been discussing, which makes it more easy for Pre-
millennialists to be led away by these and other false
doctrines.

Space will not permit us to pursue this part of our
discussion further.

The pre millennial view of the purpose of the
preaching of the Gospel adds to the mystery of God's
moral government. It is never to do more than
gather out from the great hosts of mankind an elect
few. As the ages go by, and as long as the gospel
dispensation continues, it is wickedness which is to
become more and more dominant and ^/riumphant, and
not righteousness. Instead of the Gospel having
greater and greater power, and a larger and larger
proportion of mankind being saved as a result of its
proclamation, it is to have an ever-diminishing
influence over those to whom it is proclaimed, and the
proportion of saved men, in evangelized lands, shall

ii!,

SOME EVILS OF PKE-MIIJ<EN\IALISM.

271

il fucts
il, the
inter-
leventh
e same
parture
ibbath-
pon us.
»ans all
tionists
ne: that
n some
lich we
e have
or Fre-
er false

t of onr

of the
f God's
re than
in elect

gospel
ih is to
[int, and

having
J larger
t of its
inishing
and the
ds, shall

never be so small as when Clirist is to appear to end
the present dispensation. The preaching of the
Gospel, then, is not to bring the nations to the feet of
Jesus, finally, for salvation and sanctification : it is
proclaimed for a witness. This is its chief purpc^se ;
the gathering out of an elect few is but a subordinate
result. But what does the preaching for a witness,
as distinct from preaching for salvation, really mean ?
If its chief purpose is not for salvation, not even
for the subduing of wickedness, this must be as a
witness against men, to place them under deeper
condemnation.

This is the view held by the Pre-millennialists
who express themselves on the question of the preach-
ing for a witness. Some would hold it to be to lay a
just ground for condemnation. But stated in this
form, it implies that the unevangelized are not
already under righteous condemnation. It can only
be, practically at least, to add to condetnnation, if it
be not for salvation.

But this is not all. One wing of Pre millennialists,
convinced by the overwhelming teaching of the
New Testament that there is no salvation for any
after Christ comes, declare He is to appear to destroy
the wicked. The world is to grow worse and worse
and be brought under an ever-deepening condemna-
tion through the preaching of the Gospel, until the
end of the age, and then our Lord, when sin is at its
carnival and men's guilt and condemnation are the
most dread, is to come and blot the wicked out
of the world by His consuming judgments. This

272

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOrjV.

view is, at least, selF-consistent. It holds that God's
dealinf(s throu<j;li the ages, and at the end, are in
harmony.

But most Pre-millennialists hold that at the end
of this a<(c, when wickedness is at its worst, and all
men have been placed under this deeper condemna-
tion through having heard the Gospel, and when the
guilt and opposition to Christ are most strong and
direful, just then our Lord is to appear, and by the
use of a power which must be greater than that
in connection with the Gospel, for it succeeds when
men are most hardened, when the Gospel failed when
they were less depraved, He is to save all the world.
Hitherto, throughout unnumbered ages, those who
liave rejected the gospel message have perished.
Nothing further of power, nothing further of special
provision, is vouchsafed them. In this last genera-
tion of this .age, however, God abandons His course
up to this time. Now, to those who have not only
refused the gospel call, but to those who are the most
hardened against Christ and deep-dyed in sin of all
the generations, He comes with some new and inscrut-
able might, or in some grander exercise of a power
H has already used, and breaks down this greater
opposition, after, for ages, having refused to break
down the lesser, and sweeps them all into His king-
dom. Whatever mysteries there are in God's moral
government, according to any belief — and who that
thinks does not acknowledge them ? — tlr's view adds
to them indefinite!}', and makes them well-nigh in-
soluble. If this dispensation is never to succeed, if

SOME EVILS OF PRE-MILLENNIALISM.

273

God's
are in

le end
ind all
lemna-
en the
ijj and
by the
1 that
s when
1 when
world.
so who
jrished.
special
3-enera-
, course
ot onlv
le most
of all
nscrut-
power
rrreater
break
R king-
s moral
lo that
w adds
igh in-
jcecd, if

it is foredoomed to end in gloom and failure, if,
especially, in addition to failure it is to cast an ever-
widening sharlow of deeper condemnation over men,
to follow them with its greater curse in the grand
and solemn future — why allow this foredoomed
failure to bring its greater curse upon men for the
eternities during unknown centuries, with their more
densely thronging myriads ? We can see but two
reasons for its introduction : the first is that it was
finally, in the progress of the ages, to bring the
mass of mankind to Jesus' feet, which Pre-millennial-
ists deny ; the second, that men had to be hardened
and made worse, and brought under greater condem-
nation, before they could be saved by the transcend-
ent power to be revealed in a succeeding dispensation.
But who would venture to assume this last?

The whole teaching about the world growing worse
and the preaching of the Gospel as a witness, meaning
a witness against all men, is irresistibly toward a view
of God most repugnant to all our conceptions of Him,
and utterly inconsistent with the statement that " God
sent not his Son into the world to judge the world :
but that the world should be saved through him "
(John 3 : 17).

This pessimistic view of the purpose and out-
come of the gospel dispensation removes one of
the chief inspirations to all but one form of
Christian effort. Here is an authoritative state-
ment of the view, as given by Canon Ryle, and
published in the Introduction of the " Pre-millennial
Essays " of the great Prophetic Conference of 1879 ;
18

t|.

)■
i:

274

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOrJY.

" I beli«3ve, finally, that it is for the safety, liappine.ss
and comfort of all true Christians to expect as little
as possible from churches, or governments, under the
present dispensation, to hold themselves ready for
tremendous conversions and changes of all things
established, and to expect their good things only from
Christ's Second Advent."

We are " to expect as little as possible from
churches." We are to be in despair of any great
result from church work, " under the present dispen-
sation." The only hope is in the Second Advent and
what it introduces. All the energies of Christians,
therefore, should be thrown into the work of hasten-
ing His coming. As He is to come " when the gospel
has been preached for a witness in all the world,"
this is the only work which should call forth their
best efforts. This is the only work in which they
can have the inspiration of assurance of success.

Now, what is the result of such a view as this upon
Christian effort ? It will stimulate the kind of work
which is thought to be meant by "preaching the
gospel for a witness." This is interpreted by Pre-
millennialists generally to mean, giving men an offer
of the Gospel. The supreme consideration will then
be to reach all men, as soon as possible, with an offer
of the Gospel. This is what Post-millennialists and
Pre-millennialists alike believe should be done. But
when it comes to the reasons why we are to strive to
do this, they part company. Pre-millennialists, to be
consistent with this statement of their view by Canon
Ryle, do not seek to reftch ftU men with the Gospel,

SOME EVILS OF PRE-MILLENNIAT,ISM.

275

upon
work
ig the
Pre-
offer
1 then
n offer
ts and
But
rive to
,to be
Canon

in order that tliey may be saved throu<jh it. They
are " to expect as little as possilile from cliurclies,"
and that which the churches are doing. They are not,
then, to expect " to make disciples of all the nations."
The Gospel is preached with the great aim of fulfilling
the condition of Christ's coming, which is thought to
be that all the nations have at least one offei* of the
Gospel, not that they are generally to be saved
through the Gospel.

Now, what will be the natural results of these two
conceptions of the aim and outcome of the Gospel
upon the methods adopted ? Post-millennialists,
believing that the purpose of the Gospel is to save
men, and that it is to make steady progress until the
glad time is reached when men generally shall be in
this blessed state, will organize their work, and settle
down for the long aujl conquering campaign of the
ages. While they will wish to reach all men with the
Gospel, they will also study to occupy the ground as
they go on to the ends of the earth, and entrench
themselves for the long, hand-to-hand struggle.
Expecting triumph through present agencies, they
will make the most of them, trusting to God to fill
them with His own effectual power.

Pre-millennialists, however, expecting little from
the preaching of the Gospel, and placing all their
dependence in the coming of the Lord, will rather
seek to cover the world than plan to possess and hold
it. If the Gospel can but be proclaimed so that all
may have the opportunity of hearing it, then Christ
will come and do all the rest. The work will bo

> ■

'■■A : ■ (

r-i

1 I

i ' !
t

i '

■

276

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOOY.

planned on a more Huporficial hasiH. The ability of
the inisHionarieH aiul their eijuipincmt ior their work
will be of Hniall moment. Their cliief work is to
reach as many an poHHi})le with the offer of tlie (jo.spel,
and almo.st anyone can help do that. They are not to
.settle down and grapple with lieathenism very seri-
onsly ; for only comparatively few of them are ever to
be .saved by the Gospel, and the Ijord will see that the
elect few will be brought in, in siilx)rdi nation to the
great purpo.se of hastening His coming. Some men of
larger calibre will be needed to direct; Vjut, for the
most part, inferior men and women, with poor train-
ing at that, will do. So, also, the need of organizing the
work on the foreign field will be chiefly to continue the
preaching of the Gospel for a witness, where it is
thought this is necessary. If it is thought, especially,
that tlie rest of the ground which has not had the
Gospel as a witness, can be covered without any
further organization of the work in the rear, it will
naturally not be attempted, as it would divert ener-
gies from the work which is supreme.

The natural tendencies of the pre-millennial view,
as outlined above, have .shaped, very largely, the char-
acter of the methods and work of all mis.sions under
its auspices. While other mission societies have
thought that the strongest and best equipped men
were needed to grapple with heathenism on the
foreign field, those under pre-millennial control send
out men whose mental ability and training are not
sufficient to qualify them to be pastors of our churches
»t home, which m^ke l^ast demjinds. AH t^o little

SOME KVILS OK rUE-MILLENNIAI.I.SM.

277

attention is uIho ^ivon to the organization of tlie work
on tlie i'or('i<^n fiehl. Ah the (Jospel is preaclied to a
lar<;er proportion of niankin<l, and it is tliou<;ht tliat
the Lord's coming is drawing nearer, the tendency
will be to neglect this more and more. The different
policies which are the natnral outcome of the two
views, lift the issue between them above one of
mere academic interest, and make it of very vital
importance.

But this pessimistic view of the purpose and out-
come of the gospel dispensation, wl\en it is intelli-
gently held, has a tremendous bearing upon the
inspirations for Christian work. The soldiers who
know they are fighting a losing battle, cannot struggle
so manfully as those who know they are gradually
pressing back the foe to final and irretrievable defeat.
Men who feel the conflict the Church of God is waging
with sin, is to accomplish but little, and that sin is to
grow stronger and more triumphant during all her
long struggle can scarcely have the best heart for the
supremest effort. It is true, they may feel that it is
the will of their Lord that they should thus fight
this losing battle, and this ought to afford the highest
inspiration : but how much greater would it be, were
they to know that their Lord both wished them to
struggle, and also gave them assurance of final
triumph !

Not supposing God intends to do much through the
preaching of the Gospel and its associated agencies in
this dispensation, they cannot have faith to ask great
things from God ; expecting less to be accomplished,

278

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLCJCiY.

;

! -1

they are inoro readily satisHetl with sinall results. If
wickediioHs i;row j'reater and more aj'i'reHsive, even
if tlieir work be losing ground, this nuiy be accepted
as an evidence of the correctiu'ss of their view instead
of stimulating to greater en<leavor to resist and drive
back the ti<Ie of evil which is tloodinij their conuuu-
nity or country. Expecting the world to grow worse,
they are tempted to make tlie most of every unfavor-
able symi)tom, and the least of what might be titted
to give courage.

On the home Held, where all have had an otter of
the (j}os))el, and the preaching for a witness, as they
suppose, has been accomplished, the chief work of the
Church havinij been done, the natural result would
be to cease the most earnest effort, especially as it
might be thought that sufficient had also been done
to be God's means for gathering in the elect few.
Apart from the sending forth of missionaries, the
work of the Cliurch might be thought well-nigh done
in the most of the communities in a Christian land
like this. Mrs. Guinness, that lady of great mind
and heart, saw the natural outcome of her pre-
millennial views. In a Conference in England she
told the assembled ministers that the Gospel had been
preached for a witness already in their favored land.
The one thing the Christians of England had to do
was to hasten the Lord's coming for the salvation of
the nations, by going to the unevangelized portions
of the earth to give the people there the offer of
the Gospel, and thus complete the condition of His
appearing.

SOME KVILS OF PUE-MIM.KNNIAMSM.

279

Wliilc we may be ^latl that all our pre-milleniiial
luetliren are not so loj^ically conHistent with their
views as was she, this is nevertheless its logical out-
come, so far as the writer can see, and it is one which
may well convince us that more is involved also in
this difference between Pre-millennialists and Post-
millennialists than a rather unimportant question of
interpretation.

Chief reliance for motive power upon a belief
in the perpetual inniiinence of our Lord's coming
which Pre-millennialism encourages, is another unfor-
tunate feature of this view. Reference has already
been made to the difficulty of reconciling this doctrine
of the perpetual inuninence of Christ's coming with
the divine veracity. The teaching of the New Testa-
ment is thought to be carefully adapted to give to
each generation the impression that Christ's coming
may be just at hand. Tliis expectation, which our
heavenly Father knew was to be a false one for all the
generations except the last, He nevertheless inspired
the scripture writers to give : so that all generations
might have the inspiration of the thought that
the Lor<l might appear at any moment. Now, the
motive power of the thought of His coming, on pre-
millennial principles, must be in proportion as this
transcendent event is thought, really, to be at hand.
God has therefore arranged it, that, for all but one
generation, men shall be moved to be faithful to Him
in proportion as they can cherish an illusive and false
expectation. Can such a view be intelligently held,
and not encourage the most unworthj^ thought of

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23 WEST MAIN STREET

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(716) 872-4503

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280

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

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God ? Can a view which seems to reflect so darkly
upon the veracity of God be true ? Can such a
thought of God be encouraged and the robust truth
and sincerity of Christian character not be greatly
weakened ?

If there is any solid ground for the higher motive
power of the imminence of His coming, over and
above its certainty, it must be because it assures to
those who are alive when He appears some trans-
cendent blessing which those who die before this time
are not to have. But why should God so discrimi-
nate in favor of one generation, without apparent
reason ? For all others He holds this out as an
illusive expectation which will lead to disappointment
as keen as the expectation was great. To one genera-
tion alone is there to be the fruition of the blessed
hope which has but tantalized all the others. Are
God's ways thus unequal ?

But what can be the special advantage as a motive
power of the expectation that Christ may come any
day, over the assurance that He is certainly to appear,
and that His coming will bring the same blessing
whether in the body or out of the body ? It is all
staked upon His coming before death ; for, when once
we die, it makes little difference whether He come
the next day or a thousand years after the spirit
leaves the body. We shall be satisfied in the glory
of His presence. Neither can it be held that the
saints who have died before His advent shall not
share as fully as those who are alive, in all that His
appearing is to be and to bring. The one advantage

SOMIS EVILS OF PUE-MILLKNNIATilSM.

281

come

to those who are alive then, is the deliverance from
physical death. Is this so wondrous a salvation as
to make it worthy to be exalted as the chief motive
power, even though this could only be done by
encouraging a delusive expectation, in so many gen-
erations ? Emphasis is given to this question when
we consider all there is in death to alarm the saint
who would welcome the personal appearing of the
Lord. To him there can be no dread but only joy in
the thought of meeting Christ, whether in the body
or in spirit. There remains nothing in death, then,
for him to dread, but death itself. The rational basis,
therefore, of the blessed hope of Christ's coming
which is built upon its nearness rather than its cer-
tainty, is reduced to the mere deliverance from
the pains of dying. But Christians are not such
cravens as to make this the great hope which is to
give them chief inspiration to faithfulness. Can we
suppose the view is scriptural or wholesome which
would make God attach such tremendous importance
to so small a thing ?

Notice, also, that there is a conflict in motives in
the pre-millennial view. The motive to Christian
work — especially in that of foreign missions — is to
hasten the coming of the Lord by fulfilling the con-
dition of preaching the Gospel for a witness in all
nations. The motive to this can only be operative
as it is thought this condition is not fulfilled, and His
coming is not imminent. On the other hand, it is
taught only as His coming is thought to be at hand,
that there can be the highest motive to general faith-

' 1

f '

^^ I

.1. i\ '' \

fei:

282

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

fulness. If it is believed there are countries in which
the Gospel has not yet been preached for a witness,
then the necessary condition of His coming is not yet
fulfilled, and His coming cannot be thought at hand.
]f, on the other hand, it is thought His coming may
occur before night, it can only be upon the assumption
that the Gospel has been preached in all the world for
a witness, and this work is ended. If inspiration of
the highest kind is received from the one, it is at the
expense of the inspiration from the other. No rea-
sonable man can both be quickened to general fidelity
by the thought that Christ is immediately to appear,
and also be led to strain every energy to oflTer the
Gospel to some unevangelized tribe or nation because
this must be done before He can appear. Can our
Lord intend us to be moved, at the same moment, by
both the motives, that His coming is at hand and is
not at hand I There seems no escape from the
dilemma. Either hold His coming not to be at hand,
and be inspired to faithfulness in the work of hasten-
ing His advent, or hold His coming to be at hand,
and abandon the motive that the Gospel must be sent
to some unevangelized country before He can come.
The view which involves this irreconcilable conflict
of motives, must be wrong in one or other of its
positions, if not in both.

In any case, chief dependence for motive upon what
is so vague and uncertain as the time of the Lord's
coming, rather than upon its certainty, and upon
what it will be equally to all aaints, whether in the
body or disembodied, cannot but be unwholesome

SOME EVILS OF PUE-MILLENNIAJ.ISM.

283

The motive power must be as uncertain and unsteady
as tliat which is relied upon to furnish it. It encour-
ages the sensuous to tlie disregard, in some measure,
at least, of the spiritual. Christ's coming in material
and visible splendor and might is exalted above our
going to be with Him in the spiritual fellowship of
the spirit state.

Finally, the disproportionate importance given to
the pre- millennial view by so many of those holding
it, is leading to practical difficulties, and may threaten
graver dangers. They feel compelled, because of their
conviction of its great consequence, to press it with
great vigor, whenever opportunity offers. At the
same time, they are very impatient if anything is
said in opposition to tb' 'r special opinion on this
subject. To a large proportion of them, the preach-
ing which does not contain it, or which even does not
give it chief emphasis, is deemed very unsatisfactory.
In churches containing a large element of this class, it
naturally happens, if a pastor is to be called, only
one who is prepared to lay stress upon this view can
receive their hearty support. If one who holds an
opposite view is chosen, there is dissatisfaction, and
often trouble, if he preaches freely what he and the
great majority of the church believe. Many of them
will often absent themselves from services of their
own churches, to seek elsewhere the preaching
which gives emphasis to the view which has so large
a place in their esteem. In missionary operations,
they are in heartiest sympathy with missions under
pre-millenniul auspices, and a large part of their

284i

A STUDY IN ESCHATOLOGY.

iiSliiiil

ijl

::i

; i

1 1

I '

i I

beneficence will be diverted from the work of their
own body into these treasuries. In proportion as
their special view is magnified, will they be disposed
to seek their closest fellowship with those sharing it
with them, and the bands binding them to their
denomination, through kindred views in other respects,
will be weakened. In some cases it is becoming very
difficult for those who do not hold pre-millennial
views, to work harmoniously with the more extreme
Pre-millennialists, in the same church, unless by
yielding to them more than they ought to be
expected to do. While there are many who do not
magnify this view out of all proportion to its com-
parative importance, and who throw their best ener-
gies in all loyalty into the work of the churches and
the denominations to which they belong, there are
also many of the more extreme Pre-millennialists
whose sympathies, contributions and efforts are
diverted elsewhere. The various denominations may
well regard the drift of many of their members into
that form of Pre millennialism with much concern.

My work is done. If even unconsciously I have
wrested any Scripture from its most natural interpre-
tation, or, if I have not maintained the true spirit of
Christian gentleness and the humility of one who is
seeking after truth rather than to support a theory,
I ask pardon of God and also of ray brethren. This
little treatise, in all its imperfection, is sent forth in
the hope that it may be of some service to the cause
of truth.

«f

. ' I

►f tlieir
tioii as
inposed
iring it
o their
espects,
ig very
llennial
sxtreiiie
ess by
to be
do not
bs corn-
et ener-
hes and
ere are
inialiats
rts are
ins may
ers into
cern.

I have
iterpre-
ipirit of
! who is

theory,
I. This
orth in
le cause

INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS.

Oenesis.

InAiAH— Continued.

17 : 7, 8

PAOB
- 113

: 1-3

PAOK

- 175

22 : 18 -

•

- 114

: 29-

1 1 t»

- 255

26 : 3-5

- 114

: 20-24

- 95

35 : 12 -

T^l

- 114

Jeremiah.

t/t/

20 : 24 -
33 : 5 -

JiXODUS.

Leviticus.

- 175

31
33
33

: 31-34
: 17, 18
:21 -

EZEKIEL.

■ 132
96, 117

■ 117

7 : 13 -
23: 15-17

- 250

37
37

: 12-14
: 26, 27

- 83

- 95

2 Samuel.

: 28-

- 96

7 : 12-
22 : 10 -

■ - 117

• • •

, 121
- 175

Daniel.

14 -

- - •

- 96

Psalms.

- - -

- 143

- - .

- 96

2 -

17 aq.

16 : ]0

■ 120

50:3-

- • •

■ 175

Joel.

80:2-

- - -

• 175

1 ■

16-

■ 175

89 : 4-

" " •

• 117

11 -

- 175

110 : 1 -

• - .

121

11 -

- 33

144 :5 -

175

Amos.

Isaiah.

18-20

- 176

2: 12-

• " • •

175

14 : 1, 2

• - -

MiCAH.

19: 1 -

- - - .

176

1 :

3-5

* - ~ •

- 176

35 :4 -

176

7 -

• • •

- 96

49 : 23 -

" • • •

54 : 1 .

* * V ■

131

Zephakiab.

eO ; 12, 14

f » •

96
9

1 :
<5

1 '

; » !

286

INDEX TO SCRIPTURK TEXTS.

' ' i ' 'iiM&

:M:(H

, , f ; ^-'^^^H

^ ■'; ; >.:fij^^i

s^l ll ' * ■ ""l'^'

SS!;;Si: ■'':-: ■

jlll'i|i-'-'i

^^glyi

Zr.ru

ariaii.

MATFUV.w—Oonlinue.t/.

■ ■A(IK

l-AOK

14 : 5 .

- 160

25 : I 13

- 65

14 : 1« -

- 95, 98

25 : 31-49 -

26 : 29 -

29 sq., 54
- 108

Malachi.

28 : 18 -

- 103

4:6 -

■ 175

28 : 19, 20 -

54, 144, 216

Matthew.

Mark.

3:1-

- 136

8 : 38 -

. 39

3 : 3 -

- 102

13 : 35 -

- 140

3 : 39, 40,

- 116

•

4:17-

- J36

LUKK,

r> : 1012

- 105

9:2-

- 105

5 : 20 -

- 104

10 : 9 -

- 102

6 : 19-

- 105

10:11-

- 136

7 : 22, 23

- 40, 213

10 : 15 -

- 213

8 : 11, 12

• 106

12 : 32 -

- 106

9 : 35 -

- 136

12 : 38 -

- 140

10 : 7 -

- 102, i36

12 : 43 «/. -

- 179

;

10:15-

- 213

15 : 32 -

- 83

10 : 23 -

- 141, 183

16 : 16 -

■ 101

10 : 32, 33

- 40

17 : 21 -

- 104

11 : 21, 22

- 213

17 : 26, 27 -

- 239

12 : 30 -

- 212

18 : 8 -

- 239

I 13 : 19 •

- 105

19 : 13 -

87 sq. 147

; 13 : 30-43

- 41, 54

19 : 12-27 -

- 41, 55

; ;

13 : 31, 32

- 144, 244 sq.

21 : 24 -

- 78, 143

13 : 33 -

- 247 .^7.

21 : 21-33 -

- 165

16:18-

- 136

21 : 36 .

- 166

' [

i 16:19-

- 101

22 : 29, 30 -

- 108

i 16:27-

- 39

26 : 35 -

- 86

i 16 : 28 -

- 141, 182, 194

■ 1

18 : 4 -

- 104

John.

i if:

18 : 17-

- 136

3 : 3-5

- 104

:!?

19 : 16-25

- 101

3 : 17 -

- 229

■ '■

19 : 28 -

- 109

3 : 21 -

- 78

21 : 43 -

. 110

5 : 25 -

13 sq.

2-2 : 31 -

- 86

5 : 28, 29 -

12 sq., 66

23 : 13 -

- 102

6 : 39 -

- 158, 212

24 : 3 -

- 145, 216

6 : 40, 44 -

- 212

24 : 14 -

- 144, 183, 227

9:4-

- 211

24 : 15 -

- 181

10 : 17-23 -

- 105

;

24 : 27 -

- 170

11 :24-

- 212

24 : 36 -

- 140

12 : 48 -

- 212

24 : 37-51

- 189 sq.

14 : 3 -

- 160

24 : 37, 38

. 239

14 : 1-4

- 178

24 : 42-44

- 140

14 ! 18, 23 .

- 184

24 ! 47-51

- 179

16 : 16-22 .

- 184

25 : 16

•

. 162

16 : 33 ■

• 238

xq.

I'AOK
tit I

„ .'>4
108
lO.'i
*21G

- .39

- 140

105
102
130
21.3
106
140
179

8.3
101
1U4
239
239
147

55
143
165
166
108

104
229

sq.
, 66
212
212
211
105
212
212
160
178
184
184
238

INDEX TO SCRIPTURE TEXTS.

287

3 ow^ —Continued.

17 : .32 -

19 : .3(5 -

21 : 18, 19, 22, 23

2(5 : 23 -

Acts.

2
2
2
3
5
5

15 ;

28 :

28 ;

1
2
2
2
2
4
6
8
9

17-

26-28

.34 36

19 21

29-31

31 -

46-

22-

14-16

15-

14-18

15-

23, 28

■16

229
181

I'AOK,

86
104
146

236
120
227
144
121
224
110
107
164
122
.V7.
41
xq.
110

Romans,

10-

28, 29

16-

13-

23-

24-27
Chaps. 9-11
10 : 18-24

17 nq.

2632

17-

9-13

11
11
U

- 86
37 xq.

■ 293

- 212

- 115

- 116

- 83

- 165

- 131
126 sq.

- 132

- 125
78, 133, 144, 233 nq.

■ 104

- 1.33

1 Corinthians.

1 :
3 :

5 :

6 :
11 :
15 :
15 :
15:
15 I

7,8

13-

5 -

2 -

26-

12-42

22,23

23-26

60.

168, 184, 213

- 212

- 213

- 109
m, 188

- 87
57, 66

• 123
. 109

1 C<)RINTIIIANH-6'o»/l//m7/.

15 : 51, .52

2
2
2
3
3

1
1
1
2
2
3
3
3
4

1
1

I'.WJK

1
4
5
6

5(5 -
2 -

16, 6(5, 170, 188

■ 67, 177

- 186

2 Corinthians.
14 -

14 .y7. .

9, 10 . - .
16-18 -

Galatians.

3 : 16, 28, 29 -

4 : 21-31 -

213

89
209
135

115

EI'HESIANS.

7 -
11-19
17-
5-9
6 -

- 131

1.19
116
184
129
116

PniLIPPIANS.

6, 10
9, 10
2.S :
9, 10
16-
3 -
11 -
20,21
5 -

187,
147,

- 86,

- 104,

COLOSSIANS.

13-
18-
16-
11 -

1 Thessalonians.

1 : 7-10
3 : 13-
14-
16-
15-19
15-
17-
2-4
23.

184, 186

- 16
160, 163, 170

213
174
177
103
213
115
88
184
140

104

135

113

213
160
66
67
188
174
147
213

147

288

INDEX TO SORIPTTTRE TEXTS.

1 ;
■V

r'f.
■f

rf'

.f.

.i'

;

■ i'

■ij:

■!

"■4 .

•iJi

'A'/! >

* .,^.1

2 TlIKSSALoNIANS,

l-AOK

1 : 4, 5 - ■ 107

Sf) .sf/., r)4, 244
- 109
144, 140, \m
■ 213

1
1
2
2
2
2

0-10
7 -
1-12
2 -
3-10
8-12

1 TtMOTHV.

4: 1
6 : 14

2 TlMOTIIV.

1 : 12, 18

2 : 12 ■

3 : 1 sq.

3 : 12 -
4:7-
4:8-

4 : 18-

2 : 12, 13

2 : 14, 15
8:6sq.
9 : 24-28
10 : 12, 13
10 : 25 -
10 : 37 -

5:3-
5:7-9

1 : 7-13
1 : 10-12

TiTDS.

Hkbrkws.

240 sr/.
- f.5

- 236
174, 187

- 213
■ 107

236 sq.

- 238

- 177
• 213

- 105

185

•

177

132

. 122,

225

213

•

140

James.

237

- 141, 147

174,

187

1 Peter.

168

•

B ■

135

1 Vktkk ('(mfiniied.

2 : 5-9
4:7-

TAua
130
191

2 Pkter.

1 : 12 ]

2 :9

3 : 3
3:7
3 : 10
3 : II, 12
3 : 3-13

JUDE.

14, 15

- 105
146, 209

- 213

- 236

- 213
213, 256

- 185
51 w/.

■ 160

Revelation.

2 : 5, 16

2 : 10, 25
3:3-

3 : 10 -
3 : 11 -
3 : 20-

5 : 10-

6 : 9-11
11 : 18-
13 : 16 -

18 : 24 ■

19 :2 -
19 : 5, 18

19 : 11 aq.

20 : 4-6
20 : 7-10
20 : 11-15
22 :5 ■
22 : 20-

141,

141,
108,

65, 70,

176

181

176

166

181

184

108

71 Sq.

24, 59 nq.

82, 253 aq.

21 aq.

. 73

- 141

^■■■i

i'AOR

130

•

191

105

146,

209

■

213

236

■

213

>13,

256

■

185

.w/.

160

41,

181

176

166

41,

181

08,

184

108

70,

S(/.

sq.

253

sq.

■

141