ti11uennariain  Ifebs:
WITH
REASONS FOR RECEIVING THEM,
TO WHICH IS ADDED A DISCOURRIE ON
The   bitt   atlb -najte u  f We f gesurrtfnll.
3BY
ALFRED BRYANT,
t'AfTOR OF THE  FIRST PREfUYTERIAN CHURCHI, NIL.Ei, MbICIIGAN.
NEW YORK:
PUBLISHED BY AM. rW. DODD,
Brick Church Chapel, City fIall  Square, opposite the City fluIl
1 852.




E)NTnIED, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852,
BrY MI. IV. DODD,
in the Clerks' Office of the District Court f5r the Soluthern I)istriet of New York
E. O. JENKINS, PRINTER,
114 Nassau Street.




PREFACE.
IT was the intention to issue the following treatise
without offering any apology, or assigning any reasons
for its publication; but the counsel of others have
induced a brief statement.
Among the reasons which have prompted the present work are, first: A desire to give publicity to
views which are conscientiously believed to be a part,
and a very important part of the gospel of our Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ.  The fact that others differ
from us in this conviction, and believe that no good
can result from the spread of these views, cannot
alter our own long-pondered, and long-cherished persuasion; any more than the fact that many differ
with us in respect to the importance of the doctrines
of grace, can diminish our solemn conviction of their
essential character. Another reason for the appearance of the present work, is the inquiry often made
within the circle of the author's acquaintance and




iv                 PREFACE
influence, what is millennarianism? Not knowing
of any single work which was adapted to give a clear
and connected view of the whole subject, to those
who have not the time or means to read and investigate extensively, the author has undertaken, in
compliance with the wishes of his own people especially, to answer the question as he believes it is gen.
erally held. The work, therefore, is not designed to be
critical, but mostly biblical-answering the title assumed, Millennarian Views with Reasons derived from
the Scriptures for receiving them.
But these considerations might never have given
birth to this work, had it not been for the repeated
misrepresentations made through the press and other
channels. We do not accuse our brethren of any
thing intentionally unjust or unkind. No doubt they
have stated what they supposed to be the truth, but
their misapprehensions, and misstatements are none
the less painful on this account, or injurious to our
standing and influence. We have so often been
placed in a false and painful position, and so many
suspicions have been excited, that we have been compelled to write in defence of the truth, and ourselves.




PREFACE.                   V
Can we be expected to remain silent, when what we
hold as sacred and precious, is misrepresented and
ridiculed? If we are in error we desire to be convinced; but then, those who would effectually convince us of our sin, must first be sure that they understand our views-must view and state them as
we do, and then must kindly and charitably meet
our arguments as presented. It is the hope of the
author, that truth and charity may result from these
pages.








ON T E N'I' S.
CHIAPTER FIRST.
Page.
INTRODUCTION,..                                         9
CHAPTER SECOND.
The Restitution of all things; or, in what sense do the Scriptures teach
that the world will be converted? And when?..   17
CHAPTER THIRD.
The Millennium a New Dispensation, during which the world will be converted, and the restitution of all things take place,...  47
CIHAPTER FOURTH.
The Second Coming of Christ pre-millennial, or at the introduction of the
Mfillennial Dispensation, to receive the dominion of earth, with an answer
to popular objections,...... 66
CHAPTER FIFTH.
The Resurrection of the Just-and the Transfigluration and Reign of the
Saints,...106
CHAPTER SIXTI.
The Jews-Their Conversion and Restoration-And the Conversion of the
Approved Gentile Nations, at the coming of Christ....   133
CHAPTER SEVENTH.
The Judgment Day-What is to be understood by it?-The Judgment of
the Saints-Of the Living Nations-The Conflagration-The Perpetuity
of the Earth-The Loosing of Satan.-The Resurrection and Jundgment of
the Unholy Dead-The destruction of Death and the Grave, and hence
on the eternal and glorious career of a redeemed and restored world, 167




viii                        CONTENTS.
CHAPTER EIGHTH.
Page.
The Season and Time of Christ's coming,.              204
CHAPTER NINTH.
The Fact, Nature, and Rationality of the Resurrection of our Material
Bodies,       o,                                            226




HILLENNARIAN VIEWS,
WITH
REASONS FOR RECEIVING THEM.
4tapter  first.
INTRODUCTION.
KIND READER:-Your attention is invited to a subject
deeply interesting and important. It is not the design of
this book to assail you as an antagonist, or to overturn the
foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief corner-stone.
Though the views which will be advocated are deemed exceedingly important and comforting, yet they are not to be
exalted above those essential doctrines held by the Christian
church, around which the believer's hopes of immortal glory
cluster.  Were the writer called upon to state, in the order
of importance, his own convictions of the truths of revelation,
first, and above all, would be named Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, and the atonement he made when he bore
our sins in his own body on the tree. Around the cross as
their centre and source, would be placed the influences of
the spirit, the doctrines of justification by faith, regeneration,
repentance, sanctification, and the necessity of good works,
as the fruit and evidence of a renewed and justified state.
But in connection with all these, as the glory to which they
2




10              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
point, and to which they were designed to elevate the redeemed, would be enumerated God's exceeding great and
precious promises of future reward, and all his revealed purposes of grace respecting the ransomed church on earth, and
through eternal ages.
For what did Jesus suffer and die, but to redeem unto
himself a peculiar people zealous of good works, and to
raise them to a participation with himself, in all the glories of
his eternal kingdom? The promises which assure the believer of all this, and the prophecies which unfold the nature,
extent, and blessedness of the kingdom of God, as objects
of faith and motives to obedience, cannot be unessential to
the great scheme of redeeming mercy, or neglected without injuring its fair proportions.
Now, should any, from right apprehension, and from intelligent and conscientious conviction, dissent from the views
to be presented, in regard to the import of those promises
and prophecies, which unfold the future purposes of God
respecting his own dear church and the world, it is hoped
that true believers will not disagree in regard to those great
and fundamental truths already named, which range themselves around the cross of Christ, as the ground-work of
every good hope through grace.
These are indeed not vain things; they are our life. They
are the corner stones-the foundation, which, if removed,
the superstructure must fall, however imposing, with all its
top-stones of ornament and beauty.
If in the cross and its associated doctrines there is agreement, and all are truly united to Christ by a living and a lifegiving faith, we are fellow-heirs of the kingdom prepared
from the foundation of the world, though some are mistaken
in regard to its nature and manifold results.
It is, indeed, a delightful and soul-cheering truth, amid the
errors and imperfection of the present world, that all who




INTRODUCTION.                   11
are built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets, Jesus
Christ himself being the chief corner-stone, are safe, however widely they may differ in the externals of religion, or in
the import of those promises which leave untouched the essential truths of the gospel.
Other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid,
which is Jesus Christ. Now if any man build upon this
foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble,
every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall
declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire
shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. If any
man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall
receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he
shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by
fire. 1 Cor.
And what immense loss many may suffer, though saved,
from the errors they may have imbibed and taught.
How anxious should every one be, then, to know all that
God has revealed, and to have all his views conformed harmoniously and consistently to all that the prophets have foretold. How can any portion of the word of God be neglected with impunity? or how can any say, that this or that
portion of revealed truth may be passed by or innocently remain unstudied? For he that shall break one of the least of
these my commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be
called the least in the kingdom of God. These are solemn considerations, and they admonish all to circumspection, and
earnest study and prayer.
No infallibility will be set up in these pages; but yet, conscious of infirmity, and prone to err, we desire with kindness
and earnestness to advocate views, which in all charity to
those who may differ, we sincerely and solemnly believe to
be the truth of God.
In attempting to establish the positions which may be




12              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
taken, no resort will be made to any new or strange principles
of interpretation. No others are desired, than those uniformly adopted by all evangelical Christians, in proving the
supreme divinity of our Lord, the doctrines of the atonement,
justification, regeneration, the resurrection of the dead, and a
day of judgment, when we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive according to the deeds done in
the body. To all these and kindred doctrines, a hearty assent is given; because they are clearly revealed in scripture,
and any interpretation of any portion of the word of God
which would set them aside must be erroneous.
By the same mode of interpretation, by which the existence
of a heaven and a hell, and an endless duration of happiness and misery are proved from scripture, the second glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ to judge the quick
and the dead, and all those events which are associated with
his coming, will be proved.
That the views advocated, and the terms used, may be
clearly understood, especially by those who may be unacquainted with the subject, it will be necessary to make some
explanations.
The term Millennium, means a thousand years. It is
commonly employed to denote that glorious period predicted
in many scriptures, when all this world shall be converted to
Christ, and all, from the least unto the greatest, be brought
to know and serve the Lord.
The idea of a millennium, or a thousand years of glorious prosperity to the church of God on earth, freed from
the influences of the wicked one, is taken fiom Rev. 20, 1-7.
" And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is
the devil and satan, and bound him a thousand years, and
cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a




INTRODUCTION.                   13
seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more,
till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after this, he
must be loosed a little season.
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them
that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast,
neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand years were finished. This is the
first resurrection.
" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they
shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with
him a thousand years."
This passage is generally understood to denote a period of
triumph and exalted prosperity of the Church on earth, such
as never before has been experienced; and the binding of
Satan, and his dejection to the pit, to represent his exclusion
from the world.
Now, all who believe in the prosperity of the Church on
earth for a thousand years, are in fact millennarians, whatever may be their views of the nature of the kingdom which
Jesus Christ is to exercise over the world.
But the term millennarian, is now generally employed to
designate those who believe in the pre-millennial advent of
Christ, and his personal reign on earth with his saints, with
associated doctrines. In this sense the term will be employed
in the following discourses, while the term  spiritualist, will
represent those who believe only in a spiritual reign. The
writer does not profess to be the authorized expounder of
Millennarianism; but it is believed, that in all the great leading doctrines and reasonings here presented, there is an




14              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
entire agreement with what others have written, and premillennialists uniformly hold. He is not aware that there is
a single new view presented in the book.
In the manner of illustration, every man must have his
own way, and in the discussion of details not clearly revealed, there must and will be differences in opinion here, as
on every other subject. But if there is not entire agreement
among millennarians, widely separated, and differently constituted and educated, can this be urged as a legitimate argument against their views? What doctrine and truth of the
Christian religion might not be repudiated and rejected on
this ground? Unbelievers assign often, as a reason for rejecting the Bible, that Christians are so much disagreed among
themselves as to what it teaches. Is such an argument fair
or safe? And shall Christians refuse candidly to examine
the arguments of millennarians, because there is not perfect
unanimity among themselves on all points? There are some
very conflicting opinions among Christians in regard to the
nature of the atonement, and kindred doctrines. Shall we
give them up, and say there is no certain truth in the atonement, nothing definite here upon which the sin-burdened soul
can rest-no real fountain opened for sin and uncleanness,
because men in their presumption, or weakness, or ignorance,
go beyond the bounds of revelation, and form conflicting
theories? Surely not.
"For me, when I forget the darling theme,
Be my tongue mute, my fancy paint no more,
And, dead to joy, forget this heart to beat."
But the differences in opinion in regard to the millennium
or the conversion of the world, which are used as convertible
terms, are not mostly on the side of millennarians.
Professor Stuart maintains, in his work on the Apocalypse,
that many heathen nations, without the limits of the Roman




INTRODUCTION.                  15
empire, will remain unevangelized during all the long years
of the millennium, and these will be the nations which Satan
will go out to deceive after he is loosed from his prison.
Dr. Buchanan, in his Asiatic Researches, holds that this
world never is to be converted in fact; but that the description of our Lord in the 24th chapter of Matthew, of wars, and
rumors of wars, of troubles, and revolutions, are absolutely
to continue up to the end of the world.
While Mr. Harris, in his " Great Commission," insists that
the world will be so thoroughly converted, that heaven will
dawn on earth.
Many pages might be filled with a recital of the widely
conflicting views of those who are professedly united in their
efforts for a world's conversion. Let any one take the trouble to make definite inquiries among public speakers and
teachers upon this subject, and he will be surprised to learn
how exceedingly indefinite and contradictory are the opinions
of many. Brethren beloved have frequently acknowledged
that this is a subject to which they have never given any attention, and upon which they have formed no estimate.
Shall those, therefore, who differ so widely among themselves,
reject millennarian views, because those who hold them are
not perfectly agreed upon every point of detail? Upon this
principle, and for the same reason, we might be justified in
rejecting the idea of the conversion of the world altogether,
and in denying all obligation to labor for it.
But who shall decide amid this "war of elements," the
"conclusions retrograde, and mad mistake" which many draw?
God in his word. Our appeal must be to the law and the
testimony. These are the only infallible rules of faith and
practice. Here we are one. And now if it is the will of
God that we should pray for the coming of his kingdom, and
live and labor in view of this promised kingdom, he has certainly revealed to us something definite and certain respect



16              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
ing it; for is it reasonable to suppose that he would require
us to pray for what was not revealed, or to labor for what
was so obscurely and uncertainly promised, that even by
searching we could not arrive at any certain conclusion as to
what was meant? It seems to us that the scriptures are as
definite and clear upon this subject of the coming kingdom,
as upon any other within the range of revelation. God has
certainly revealed a great and wide-circling scheme of mercy
in his word, embodied in the prophecies, which cannot be
neglected with impunity. It will be the design of the following pages to unfold this scheme as we understand it, and
leave each one to decide "what is truth," according to the
scriptures.




IN WHAT SENSE DO THE SCRIPTURES TEACH THAT THE WORLD WILL ]~
CONVERTED? AND WHEN?
THE conversion of the world, in some manner and form,
is manifestly the great idea of the age. In all the great
benevolent enterprises of the present day, in all efforts for
the amelioration of the condition of suffering humanity, and
in all the rapid and onward progress of knowledge and
science, there is no one thing among Christians, about
which more is heard or said, than the conversion or evangelization of all the nations and families of the earth. It is
presented as the great motive to action, the bright vision
which gilds the future, the consummation of earthly bliss,
and is made the solace of the church in all her conflicts with
error and sin.
Now, it is not denied by millennarians, that the world will
be at some future time all converted, and converted too in a
far higher and more glorious sense, than is commonly held
by those who oppose their views.
Human speculations and theories upon a subject of this
nature are vain and injurious. The future can only be known
and revealed by Him, who sees the end from the beginning.
To His teachings, then, it should be the desire of all to yield,
believingly and obediently.  Let us turn to the law and the
testimony, and hear what saith the Lord.
The apostle John assures us, that "For this purpose was
2*




18             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
the Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil." 1 John. 3: 8.
This statement is very explicit and clear in setting forth
the great design of the Saviour's mission.
But what are the works of the devil, which our Lord
came to destroy? Undoubtedly, all that in the world which
is the fruit of his first and subsequent temptations. Sin in
all its forms, is the work of the devil; for, " He that committeth sin, is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the
beginning. He is a liar, and the father of lies." And not
only sin, but death the consequence and curse of sin; "for
by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin,
and so death has passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned." And hence we are told, 2 Tim. 1: 10, that Jesus
Christ was manifested, to abolish death, and to bring life and
immortality to light through the gospel.
It is clearly predicted in these passages, that the great
Redeemer, in the consummation of His work of salvation on
earth, will annul the curse of death, and wipe clean out, the
mementos of the grave.
The curse of barrenness under which the earth groans,
and the woes which have come in varied forms upon creation,
animate and inanimate, for man's revolt, are the works of
the devil.
And if the Son of God was manifested to destroy the
works of the devil, and He finishes and perfects his work
in righteousness, then the time is coming when all sin, and
all its fruits and woful consequences, will be banished from
our world, and earth restored to its Eden purity and glory.
In Acts 3: 19-21, a time of the restitution of all things
is spoken of, which very clearly illustrates and confirms the
views above stated.
"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your
sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.             19
come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send
Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom
the heavens must receive, until the times of the restitution
of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all
His holy prophets since the world began."
But what is meant by the restitution of all things, here
predicted?
The term  restitution, aUox-cCraradg, Bloomfield  says,
"properly signifies a restoration of anything to some former
state," and by implication for the better. Robinson, in his
Greek lexicon, gives the same definition, and refers its use
"to Messiah's future reign or kingdom."  Webster, in his
quarto Dictionary, defines the word restitution to mean,
among other things, "The act of recovering a former state,
or posture;" and then referring to this passage in Acts, he
says, "Restitution of all things, is, the putting the world in
a holy and happy state."
This is undoubtedly the meaning of the term, and hence
it cannot refer, as some teach, to the exaltation of the
righteous to heaven, or the consummation of all things at
the last day, as commonly understood, for there is no restoration in any of these things, in the sense described, to a
former and' better state previously possessed.  It could not
be said of the Jews that they would be restored to their own
land, if they had never before dwelt in it, nor of any man
that he was restored to an office which he never before
held.
Now, if this restitution of all things is spoken of by all
God's holy prophets since the world began, then certainly,
without any doubt or speculation, we can, by searching the
scriptures, learn what the apostle means,
But before this is done, let us notice another remarkable
passage in Matt. 19: 27, 28, in which the same great and
glorious truth respecting the restitution of all things is revealed.




20             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
"Then answered Peter, and said unto him, behold, we
have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have
therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto
you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration
when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye
also shall sit upon the twelve thrones, judging the twelve
tribes of Israel."
There is then, according to the teaching of our Lord, to
be a time of regeneration, specially and emphatically so
denominated. The term, regeneration, means reproduction,
the act of forming into a new and better state. Robinson,
in his Greek Lexicon, says of the original word, " That it
refers to the complete external manifestation of Messiah's
kingdom, when all things are to be delivered from their
present corruption and restored to spiritual purity and
splendor."
Now this complete and perfect restoration and regeneration of all things, brought to view in these interesting passages, are predicted clearly, and somewhat in detail by the
holy prophets.
1. Man's entire restoration to holiness and happiness is
predicted.
To save time and room, we shall not stop to inquire, at
present, whether the passages quoted refer to Jews or Gentiles, as the design is to prove that all men of whatever
nation are to be restored.
Isaiah 2: 2-5. "And it shall come to pass in the last
days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And
many people shall go, and say, come ye, and let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his
paths; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.            21
of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among
the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall
beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears into
pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more."
Is. 11: 9. " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountains: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of
the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."
Jeremiah 3 1: 34. "But this shall be the covenant that I
will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith
the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it
in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my
people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for
they shall all know me from the least of them unto the
greatest of them, saith the Lord."
Isaiah 52: 10. "The Lord hath made bare his holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations: and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God."
Isaiah 60: 18-21. "Violence shall no more be heard in
thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but
thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise.
The sun shall be no more thy light by day: neither for
brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the
Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God
thy glory.
"Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people
also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that
I may be glorified. A little one shall become a thousand,
and a small one a strong nation: I the Lord will hasten it
in its time."




22             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Surely universal holiness, universal happiness, and uninterrupted and eternal prosperity, could not be more strongly
and beautifully foretold, than they are in this sublime passage, which manifestly has a special reference to the Jewish
nation.
Isaiah 45: 22, 23. "Look unto me and be ye saved, all
ye ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else.
I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth
in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every
knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear."
These words teach that the time will come when every
person on earth shall consecrate himself to God, to love and
obey him forever.
Psalms 12: 17. "Yea, all kings shall fall down before
him, all nations shall serve him."  5: 17. "His name shall
endure forever, his name shall be continued as long as the
sun, and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call
him blessed."  86: 9. "All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, 0 Lord, and shall glorify
thy name."
Malachi 1: 11. " For from the rising of the sun even unto
the going down of the same, my name shall be great among
the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered
unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be
great among the heathen saith the Lord of hosts."
Isaiah 65: 17-19. "For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered,
nor come into mind."  "But be ye glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a
rejoicing and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall
no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying."
Daniel 7: 27. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the
greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.           23
given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall
serve and obey him."
Other scriptures might be quoted to the same point, but
if these,do not teach that all men, universally and individually, are yet to be regenerated and restored to holiness and
happiness, then to us there is no certain meaning in language. And all that is here predicted is just that for which
we are taught to pray by our Lord.
"Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven." How many offer this prayer without considering, or believing its full and glorious import. Our Lord
would certainly never teach us to pray for what he knew
would never be granted, or for what he never intended to
accomplish. But if it is ever fully answered, and it must be,
as God is faithful and true, then the time is coming, most
assuredly, when the will of God will be done on earth as it
is in heaven, by every individual, perfectly, joyfully, universally. This petition, therefore, may be regarded as a revelation of the will of God concerning our world, and a pledge
that all which holy men, inspired by the Holy Ghost, have
written, will be fulfilled: And all this is in perfect harmony
with the revealed purpose of the Son of God, to destroy in
our world the works of the devil.
And when these things come to pass, then will be fulfilled
another most interesting and significant saying of the Saviour: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all
men unto me;" yes, all men, not simply some of all classes
and nations; but all, universally, from the least unto the
greatest of them. This declaration of our Lord is clearly
prophetic of what will be the grand result and consummation of his atonement, in a redeemed and regenerated world.
Thus it may be seen, that the glowing descriptions of Old
Testament prophets respecting the restoration of our world




24               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
from sin, are responded to by all the annunciations of the
New.  But2. Not only is man's restoration to holiness and happiness
predicted; but it is also foretold, by the holy prophets, that
sickness and death, the curse and consequence of sin, shall
at some future period be no more.
And why should they not be removed? Can they hold
sway in a world redeemed and purified from sin?
If sin is removed, why not all its fruits and curse? And
if the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of
the Devil, must he not destroy these as well as sin?
Isaiah 33: 22-24.  "For the Lord is our Judge; the
Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King; he will save us.
And the inhabitants shall not say I am sick; the people that
dwell there shall be forgiven their iniquity."
The absence of all sickness, and causes of pain or sorrrow,
is implied in all those prophetic promises, already recited,
which declare that the voice of weeping and sorrow shall be
known no more. This could never be true in regard to any
people, were sickness, and pain, and death to exist as they
do now.
Isaiah 25: 6-8.  "And in this mountain shall the Lord
of hosts make unto all people a feas't of fat things, a feast
of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on
the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that
is spread over all nations.  Hie will swallow up death in victory, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all
faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from
off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it.
This passage most clearly predicts a victory over death
and the grave at the time here indicated, when the Lord God
will wipe away tears from off all faces, and take away all
chastisements and punishments from earth. And let it be




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.          25
noticed, that this is a description of a state of things, not in
that glorious abode of God we call heaven, but its designation is here upon the earth.
The same thing is foretold in Rev. 21: 2-4, which describes a state of things among men in this world.
"And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned
for her husband.
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold,
the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with
them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be
with them, and be their God.
"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and
there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things
are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write;
for these words are true and faithful."
How solemnly and emphatically does the Lord here assure us, that he will yet create all things new in our world,
so that the former state of sin, suffering, and death, shall be
no more. And when all this is accomplished, and not till
then, will the Son of God have completely destroyed on earth
the works of the devil. But3. When man fell the ground was cursed for his sake;
"Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth, and of the sweat
of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until thou return to the
ground from which thou wast taken."
Now, it is predicted that this curse shall be removed;
and why must it not be as a curse of sin, and a part of the
work of the devil?
Isa. 55: 12, 13. "For ye shall go out with joy, and be
led forth with peace; the mountains and hills shall break
forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field




26               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up
the fir-tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."
In this passage, the very curse pronounced upon the ground
for man's sin, is named to be removed; and in bold personification, the exuberant fertility of earth is joyously foretold.
Isa. 41: 18-20. " I will open rivers in high places, and
fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and dry land springs of water. I will
plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the
myrtle, and the oil tree; I will set in the desert the fir tree,
and the pine, and the box tree, together: That they may see,
and know, and consider, and understand together, that the
hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel
hath created it."
Nothing like this has ever yet occurred on earth, and it
must consequently be future.
The language is beautifully descriptive of the restoration
of our world to its primitive beauty and fertility, when all
the curse that has come upon it, as a chastisement of sinful
man, shall be annulled by the power of God, as one of the
fruits of the Saviour's purchase.
Is. 35: 1-10. At the time that "the ransomed of the
Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; and when they shall obtain joy
and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away;" we
are told"The wilderness and solitary places shall be glad for
them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose.
It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice, even with joy and
singing; the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel, and Sharon, they shall see the glory of
the Lord, and the excellency of our God.




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.           27
"Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears
of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man
leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the
wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.
"And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the
thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of dragons,
where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes."
The whole chapter from which this is taken, is a most
beautiful and joyous description of the fertility, and prosperity, and happy state of our world under the future reign
of Messiah, when there shall be such geological changes and
transformations effected that the desert wastes of Arabia and
Africa, and all the world, shall become fruitful as the garden
of God, and yield their joyful abundance for the teeming
and happy millions of earth.
And there is nothing impossible, or absurd, in receiving
this description as true, in its most natural and obvious import.  Why should it not be so?  Must our world forever
remain under the curse, even when sin and death are removed? Will it be beneath the love and dignity and power
of God, to accomplish even this, in the glorious consummation of his salvation to our world?
If Heaven so ordains, all this may be effected without a
miracle, by the natural operation of those laws and agencies
which are now at work upon, within, and through the earth.
And back of all these, reposes his infinite power, which he can
exert at any moment, if need be, miraculously, to accomplish
his word, and this we believe he will do. Why, then, should
we doubt, or hesitate to receive the word of God in its simple, full, and joyous import? But4. It is also predicted that in this restored world, redeemed from sil and the curse, the ferocity of animals shall
be subdued, and their subjugation to man, in all things, fully




28                MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
accomplished, as we may suppose they would have been, had
sin never entered Eden.
Isaiah 11: 1-9. "And there shall come forth a rod out of
the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots:
and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And he
shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord:
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ear: but with righteousness
shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with the rod of
his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the
wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins,
and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall
dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow
and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the
sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand in the cockatrice's den.
They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain: for
the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the
waters cover the sea."
The same prediction in regard to the docility of these animals may be found in Isaiah 65: 25.
Thus it is definitely foretold, that during the peaceful and
happy reign of the Son of David-the Messiah, on earth, the
ferocity of animals shall be subdued, and that in respect to
man they shall be entirely harmless and subservient.
The full meaning of these predictions, I suppose to be, that
in this restored and glorious era, during the reign of Christ
on earth, these animals will be entirely domesticated, as is




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.         29
now the cat, and the dog, and be at peace among themselves, under the guidance and subduing power of God and
man.
And all that is here predicted may be accomplished by
divine influence, without supposing any miraculous change
in their natures. Let us suppose that all the deserts, and
wildernesses, and solitary places, shall be inhabited and cultivated as predicted, then there would be no place for these
animals, except as they existed in tameness and domestication.
The facts here stated, that these animals shall feed together, and that the lion shall eat straw like the ox, that is,
shall share in such vegetable food as may be provided for
them by man, are not absurd or impossible.  The word
straw, here, undoubtedly stands for all kinds of vegetable
food. We know that the bear now feeds on this, and we
have seen the cat and the dog eat vegetable food frequently,
and why may not the leopard and lion, when brought into a
state of domestication? And the facts stated in the prophecy do not declare that they may not also eat animal food
when given to them. When it is said, " They shall not hurt
or destroy in all my holy mountain," it means that they shall
be docile and harmless in respect to man. There would be
no violation of the prediction, should these animals named
eat such animal food as might be provided and appropriated
for them.
And all this, in the judgment of the writer, would be
perfectly consistent with a world redeemed from sin and the
curse.
It is, we think, a mistaken idea of many, that death among
animals, and all inferior creatures, is in consequence of the sin
of man. This is altogether an assumption, for which there is
no scriptural proof. Though Adam was the representative
head of his race, and as such introduced sin and death among
them, it is never said that he stood as the representative of




30              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
animals, birds, and insects, and introduced death among
them.
Can any one rationally suppose that no animal, insect, or
animalcula would ever have died, had not man sinned? Is
the fact that many of the fish of river, sea and ocean, are
formed to live on, and devour each other by millions daily, a
curse for man's revolt?
Would no bird ever have picked up a worm or a bug, had
not man sinned? Would no one animalcula, which live and
revel in every drop of water, and upon every vegetable, have
been consumed by man or beast in the water they drink or
the food they eat? And yet the destruction of the smallest
insect involves the same principle of life as does the destruction of an ox.
By the microscope, one animalcula is seen greedily to
devour another. Is this a curse for the sin of man?
The fact is, the anatomical and physiological formation of
all carniverous animals, shows that they were designed, by the
Creator, to live on just such food as is provided for them, and
as their wisely adapted powers enable them to procure.
And hence it is said, "The young lions roar after their prey,
and seek their meat from God, and that which he gives them
they gather." And so he provides for man and beast.
The peculiar contrivance and adaptation in each animal to
the food it is to eat, and all the powers given to secure it,
furnish the most conclusive evidence of the existence and
providence of an all-wise, and benevolent Creator. And are
all these contrivances and adaptations, showing the wisdom
and handy work of God, the result of sin in man?
Surely no one is authorized to believe any such thing,
unless it is so revealed by God. But it is not.
When it is said by the apostle, that "By one man sin
entered into the world, and death by sin," he only speaks
in reference to man, and so immediately explains himself;




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.          31
"And so death has passed upon all men, for that all have
sinned."
It is not here said that death passed upon animals because
man sinned. They were never designed to be immortal.
Were there no destruction among them by each other, death
would no doubt come upon them by a necessary law of
organized matter, of decay and reproduction.
When God said to our first parents, "In the day thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die," it is clearly implied,
that should they not sin they would not die. There would
have been no meaning in the penalty denounced were it not
true, that they would have been preserved to immortality,
had their innocence been maintained.
But why would not man have died in innocence? was not
his animal nature subject to the same laws as others? Is
there any proof in scripture that he was immortal in his
physical nature, independently of means and appropriate
agencies to sustain it? Not any.
The fact that food was provided for him, and that it was
necessary for him to eat in innocence, shows that he might
have wasted away and perished had he not eaten.
Why then would he not have died, had he not sinned?
Simply because God had provided an antidote in Eden-the
means of sustaining him in immortal youth and vigor: for
thus it is written, "And out of the ground made the Lord
God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and
good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden."
What then was the design of this tree of life, or this lifebearing tree?  Evidently to perpetuate life-to preserve
youth and vigor; by partaking of its fruit. And there is
nothing unreasonable or absurd in this. God, in his providence, gives to ordinary food the power of sustaining life for
a limited time. Why might he not, then, if he chose, give




32              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
to some particular fruit the property of sustaining man's
physical nature to immortality? This was the nature of
the tree of life. It had the same power to preserve the
functions of life in all their integrity for unlimited duration
that ordinary food has to repair the wastes of each day. Its
properties were such as would answer the purposes of its
creation, in counteracting the tendencies of time to impair
and destroy man's physical energies.
Hence the method adopted of enforcing the sentence of
death.
"' And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as
one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth
his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live
forever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the
garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was
taken. So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east
of the garden of Eden, Cherubim, and a flaming sword which
turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
It is clear from this, that man would have continued to
have lived on to immortality, notwithstanding his sin, had he
been permitted to eat of the tree of life, which clearly indicates the nature and properties and design of the tree.
And hence, from the moment he was debarred access to
the tree of life, he was condemned to death, in common with
the animal world around him. Partaking of the tree of
knowledge of good and evil, in violation of command, worked
a forfeiture of the tree of life, and the laws of nature, in due
time, effectually worked out the penalty.
These remarks in regard to the death of animals and the
tree of life, have been made, not because they belong to millennarian views; for they do not; but for the purpose of
meeting some difficulties which have been urged against the
idea of a complete restoration of man, and creation, animate
and inanimate, to Eden purity, blessedness, and immnortality.




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.            33
What, it is asked, will you do with animals?  Are they
to be restored to immortality? By no means.
It is not supposed that animals of any class will be restored to immortal life, for they never possessed it. In regard to them, nature will take its course, as designed of
Heaven, and if not destroyed or consumed as food for others,
having fulfilled their day, and answered the end of their
creation, they will pass away, to give place to other generations, just as they undoubtedly would have done had sin
never entered our world.
The race of man, it is believed, will be restored to immortality, when God's scheme of mercy shall be perfected on
earth, and as a means, in harmony with the designs of the
tree of life in Eden, it is promised that the tree of life shall
be restored, whose fruit shall be eaten, and whose leaves
shall be for the healing of the nations.
" To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of
life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2: 7.
Rev. 22: 1-3.  "And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of
God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and
on either side of the river, was there the tree of life which
bore twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every
month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the
nations.  And there shall be no more curse," or death.
It is quite certain that this describes a state of things on
earth, from the fact, that the leaves of the tree of life are
for the healing of the nations.  Now where are any nations
to be healed, except on earth? Not surely in heaven; for
there all are healed, and must be, before they can enter.
And besides, the nations do not exist as such in heaven.
These scriptures then must necessarily have respect to a
state of things in our world, where nations need to be healed,
and from among whom sin and the curse are to be banished.
3




34               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
What a beautiful, consistent, and rational idea is here presented! Man lost his immortality physically, by forfeiting,
and being debarred from the tree of life.
He is restored to immortality, through Jesus Christ, by a
restoration of the tree of life, of which he will be permitted
to eat, in the restored state, and live forever.
The same great truth is brought to view in Ezekiel 47: 12.
" And by the river upon the bank thereof, on this side and on
that side, shall grow all trees Tor meat, whose leaf shall not
fade, neither shall the fruit thereof be consumed; it shall
bring forth new fruit according to his month, because their
waters they issued out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for meat, and the leaf thereof for medicine."
The apostle Paul evidently had his eye on this glorious
restitution and regeneration of all things, in his description
of creation's deliverance in the 8th chapter of Romans,
19-23.
"' For I reckon, that the sufferings of this present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature
waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason
of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the
creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth
together in pain until now: And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we
ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to
wit: the redemption of our bodies."
There is no difficulty or obscurity in this passage, about
which commentators have disagreed so much, according to
millennarian expectation. The ground was cursed for man's
sake, and creation in all its parts was made subject to evil, in




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.          35
many respects, not willingly or as a voluntary agent, but
by reason of the purpose of him who hath subjected the
same in hope.
Dr. Chalmers, in his Lectures on the Epistle to the Romans, says upon this passage, "There could be no willingness on the part of the ground in that act of which its curse
was one of the consequences.
" It could be from no fault of the will in nature, that she
was visited with that sore distemper under which she now
labors, and whereof she giveth palpable symptoms in the
volcano, and the earthquake and the storm, and the general
conspiracy of all her elements, against which man has to
fight, and to fatigue himself his whole life long-that he might
force out a subsistence and keep footing through a history
that is made up of little better than to drudge and to die.
It was not of its own willingness that the creation was thus
brought under the power of vanity-that at the fall of
man, a universal blight came upon nature, by reason of which
she is now become a wreck of what she was, still lovely in
many of her aspects, though in sore distress-still majestic
and  venerable, though a venerable ruin-appearing  as
if out of joint, and giving token by her extended deserts,
and the gloom of her unpeopled solitudes, and her wintry
frowns, and her many fierce and fitful agitations, that some
mysterious ailment hath befallen her; so that the whole passage may be thus paraphrased.
"The creation is now waiting, as if in the attitude of earnest
expectancy, for that era, when transformed into a new heaven
and a new earth, it shall become a suitable habitation for
those who are declared and manifested to be the sons of
God.
" For creation then to be so gloriously restored, it has for
a time been made subject to vanity, not willingly but by reason of him, who by his fatal disobedience has brought it into




36                 MILLENNARIAN  VIEWVS.
this bondage-yet it is a bondage mingled with hope, because
creation also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption: and emancipated from those fetters which now bind
and burden, and make it impracticable and ungracious, it will
come forth in smiles that shall be perennial, and immortal-it
will yield a grateful compliance to the wishes of its happy
inmates-and have in all its operations the beneficent flow
and freedom of God's own children."
It is clear from this, that the great and good Chalmers
did not contemplate the destruction of our world; but its
complete restitution, intelligent, animate and inanimate, from
all the curse and consequences of sin, to the purity, the
peacefulness and blessedness, in which it would have existed
had sin never entered.
And how perfectly simple, beautiful, and harmonious, with
this great idea of the restoration of all things, is this description of the apostle! How bright and joyous the vision for
our world!  Cowper felt the inspiration of its glory when he
wrote the following lines:
"  scenes surpassing fable, and yet true!
Scenes of accomplished bliss! which who can see,
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel
His soul refreshed with foretaste of the joy?
Rivers of gladness water all the earth,
And clothe all climes with beauty; the reproach
Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field
Laughs with abundance; and the land, once lean,
Or fertile only in its own disgrace,
Exults to see its thistly curse repealed.
The lion, and the leopard, and the bear,
Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon
Together, or all gambol in the shade
Of the same grove, and drink one common stream.
Antipathies are none. No foe to man
Lurks in the serpent, now. The mother sees,
And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand
Stretched forth to daily with the crested worm
To stroke his azure neck, or to receive




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.                37
The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue.
The creeping pestilence is driven away;
The breath of heaven has chased it. In the heart
No passion touches a discordant string,
But all is harmony and love. Disease
Is not: the pure and uncontaminated blood
Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age.
One song employs all nations; and all cry,
Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!
The dwellers in the vales, and on the rocks,
Shout to each other, and the mountain-tops
From distant mountains catch the flying joy
Till, nation after nation taught the strain,
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round."
Such, then, is the sense in which millennarians expect the
conversion of the world, an entire restoration of man, and of
creation, animate and inanimate, to holiness, prosperity and
happiness forever.
The grand idea is that conceived by Milton, in his two
poems, " Paradise Lost;" " Paradise Restored." How beautiful, and grand, and sublime the thought! How infinitely more
exalted, and God-like, than the views of those who believe
that sin will exist in our world up to the end of time, and
that men must, until the winding up of all human things,
pursue their way through sorrow and tribulations to the
world to come.
And now, what is there unreasonable in these views of the
restitution of all things, so clearly taught in Scripture? Is
it unworthy of Jesus thus to regenerate and restore the world
in all its parts? Is it, in any way, contradictory to his infinite love and blood-bought righteousness, thus to destroy
the works of the devil-thus to annul the curse-thus to
wipe out the reproach of earth, and bring it back to that
purity and blessedness in which it was when it came from
the forming hand of God? And is it in any way impossible
that he should do it? Are not his love, wisdom, and power
united, adequate to the glorious task? And what a mighty




38                MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
triumph it would be over all the powers of darkness! What
a wondrous spectacle to the universe thus to see earth redeemed and restored! Would not such a work be infinitely
worthy of God, and sublimely illustrative of his love which
is unsearchable? So we believe, and so we teach.
"Haste, then, and wheel away a shattered world,
Ye slow-revolving seasons! We would see
A sight to which our eyes are strangers yet,
A world that does not dread and hate his laws,
And suffer for its crime; would learn how fair
The creature is that God pronounces good;
How pleasant in itself what pleases him."
And when this restoration is perfected, we expect, on truly
Scriptural grounds, that our earth will abide forever, a monument of redeeming love, and that the redeemed and sanctified nations who shall live and be born therein, having fulfilled their happy lot and destiny in life, will be transfigured
to the glorified without seeing death, as was Enoch and Elijah,
to make room for others who came after them  in endless
succession.
Reader, turn not up the lip at this, nor dismiss it as absurd, until you have examined our scriptural arguments and
deductions.  You must admit that it is no mean and contemptible idea we entertain of the grace of God, and the
boundless extent of his salvation. Let it be borne in mind,
then, as we proceed, that the grand idea of Millennarianism
is the salvation of the world-a complete restoration of all
things.  All that follows are only the agents, means and instrumentalities by which it is to be accomplished. But when
will this great and glorious restoration, spoken of by all God's
holy prophets, be accomplished? Not, certainly, during the
prevalence of the present gospel dispensation. But why?
Cannot God convert the world now, as well as at any future
period? Cannot he so bless the means and agencies now




THIE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.          39
employed, and so accompany them with the outpourings of
his Spirit, as to accomplish all that is predicted before the
end of this dispensation? Do you deny, or limit, or undervalue the means of grace which God has appointed, or repudiate the efficacy of the gospel, or the influences of the everblessed Spirit?  By no means. We would not dare place
any limits to any of these which God has not himself placed
in his revealed Word, nor do we undervalue his Spirit, or
suppose that his glorious gospel will ever be thrown aside,
or fail to accomplish all that was contemplated in the counsels of eternal love. But these are not the questions. The
point is, what has God taught? If he has ever said that
the latter day glory, predicted in Scripture, is to be brought
about, and ushered in by the instrumentalities now employed,
and before this dispensation closes, then where is the record?
Show us a "thus saith the Lord," and we yield a willing
assent to all that is written.
It is not on theoretical or speculative grounds that the
position is taken, that the world cannot all be converted during the present economy of the grace of God; but because
it is believed that the Scriptures so teach. And1. There are various New Testament Scriptures, which
represent the gospel at present as only partial or limited in
its saving influence on mankind.  As, Matt. 7: 13, 14, " Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad
is the way which leadeth unto destruction, and many there
be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it."
The history of the past and present, shows how literally
and truthfully these scriptures describe the actual results of
the gospel. Will the results ever be different during the
prevalence of the present dispensation?
Has the Saviour ever said or intimated, that the time will




40               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
come, before the present dispensation closes, when the
broad way will be forsaken, and all press the narrow way?
Now, the world cannot be all converted, while these scriptural representations are true or in force: for if all were converted, it could not be said, "Wide is the gate, and broad is
the way which leadeth unto destruction, and many there be
which go in thereat." We therefore conclude, that as our
Lord has placed no limit to the signification of these scriptures
before the end of the present dispensation, they were designed to represent a state of things to continue until its end, and
that the conversion of the world must be at a period after
the era for which these partial representations were designed.
In harmony with the above, is the parable of the sower,
Matt. 13, which was designed to represent the constant
effects of the preaching of the gospel up to the end of the
dispensation.
The sower ever goes forth to sow.  The scattered seed
ever falls, some by the way side, some on stony places, and
some among thorns, and produces no fruit. This correctly
represented the effects of the gospel in the time of our Lord
and his apostles; it has in every age of the world since; it
does now. Will it not continue to do so until the end of the
dispensation?  Has the Saviour ever said it will not?  Has
he ever limited its signification to a part of this dispensation,
or said that the time will come, when for a thousand years
or more before the end, the seed sown will all, or the most
of it, fall on good ground, and produce its appropriate fruit?
Now it is manifest that the glowing predictions of the
Old Testament prophets cannot be fulfilled in the conversion
of the entire world to God, nor yet Christ destroy the
works of the devil, and cause the will of God to be done
on earth as it is in heaven, while these scriptures which limit
the saving influences of the gospel are in force. Any one
may see that the conversion of the entire world would render




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.           41
these scriptures incorrect representations of the actual state
of things then existing.
But these scriptures are manifestly designed to represent
the whole career of this dispensation; because our Lord
has placed no limit to them before the end, and therefore no
one else has a right to: and hence it is inferred, that if the
world is ever converted, as it must be according to the prophets, the grand results must be obtained in some new dispensation, to which these scriptures, which limit the saving
influences of the gospel, do not apply. But,
2. To say that all those scriptures which predict the entire
conversion and restoration of our world, will be fulfilled
during the present dispensation, is to make them clash with,
and contradict all those New Testament scriptures which
represent and teach that the church and the world will continue to exist in a corrupt and mixed state up to the end of
the world or dispensation; and hence such an exposition and
application of these prophesies cannot be true.
"By the parable of the tares and wheat," Matt. 13, we
are taught that the world is like a field in which a man
sowed good seed, and his enemy sowed tares. The good
seed are the children of the kingdom; and the tares are the
children of the wicked one. Both the tares and the wheat,
by the command of the Lord of the field, must be permitted
to grow together till the harvest, which is interpreted to
signify the end of the world, or more properly the dispensation, as the original word confirms.
However largely and widely then the sowers of the good
seed may scatter it, and however abundantly God may bless
the labor, still the enemy is not less industrious. The tares
he sows will continue to spring up and grow, commingled
with the wheat until the end.
The obvious design of this parable cannot be mistaken.
As the parable of the sower represents the effects of the
3*




42              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
gospel at any one time wherever it is preached, so the parable of the tares represents the continued moral aspects of
the world under the influence of preaching from age to age,
till the end of the dispensation.
The same general truth is brought to view in the parable
of the net and fishes. The world is to exist in a mixed state,
and the gospel net is to gather good fish and bad until the
end, when the angels are sent forth to sever the wicked from
among the just. And the wise and foolish virgins are to
remain mingled in the church until the coming of the Bridegroom.
Now these words of our Lord, communicated in these parables, are true and faithful, and every jot thereof shall be
fulfilled.
Can any tell, then, how the tares can grow with the wheat
until the end of the world-how the gospel net can catch
good fish and bad; and the foolish virgins exist and mingle
with the wise until the coming of the Son of Man; and yet
the world all be converted, and all be righteous for a
thousand, or thousands of years before the end? The thing
is impossible. Our Lord being the judge and interpreter,
the world cannot all be converted and restored, and the will
of God done on earth as it is in heaven, before the end of
the present dispensation; because he has taught in these
parables that it shall not so be fulfilled.
All these scriptures were designed to extend to the end;
and to say, then, that the gospel is yet to gradually expand
into the "noon-tide glory of the millennial day" during this
dispensation, is to bring all the prophesies referring to the
conversion of the world, in direct contradiction to these New
Testament statements of doctrines and facts; and, therefore,
such an application must be unscriptural and untrue. But
all difficulties here are avoided, if the scriptures justify the
idea of a new dispensation beyond the end of the present,




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.           43
in which all that the prophets have foretold shall be accomplished.
3. It is argued that the Old Testament prophesies cannot
be fulfilled in the conversion of the entire world to God, before the end of this present dispensation; because, neither the
Saviour, nor his apostles, ever distinctly pointed to this, or
foretold it, as one of the great and grand events which was
to precede his second coming. I have searched in vain for
any such intimation.
Reader, did you ever see or hear of a passage, in which it
was distinctly stated that the world would be converted before the second glorious appearing of our Lord?
But why this silence upon a subject so vast and important,
if true?  When our Lord was inquired of by his disciples,
when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of
thy coming, and of the end of the aion or dispensation?
He told them in reply, that " There shall be signs in the sun
and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress
of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those
things which are coming upon the earth: for the powers of
heaven shall be shaken.  And then shall they see the Son
of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory."
He gave them to understand that the dispensation which
was to precede his second advent, would be marked, in respect to the Jews especially, as a time of prolonged and unprecedented trouble; and by wars and rumors of wars
among the nations until the end. But never did he whisper a
word about the world's conversion.
Now if such a conversion, as many expect, when, for a
long period before the end, righteousness is to prevail, is
true, it is undoubtedly one of the most grand and glorious
events which is to precede the coming of the Son of man.




44               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
And if so, is it not strange that our Lord did not mention, or
allude to it as a most prominent event? And is not his entire
silence presumptive proof, at least, that no such event as the
world's conversion is to take place before his own glorious
appearance in our world a second time, without sin unto salvation?
Nor did the apostles ever mention the conversion of the
world, in all their predictions concerning the last times, as an
event to occur before the coming of the Lord.
They tell of apostacies, of the rise of Antichrist, and of the
prevalence of great and terrible wickedness; but never of the
reign of universal holiness and happiness, during the present
economy. Our Lord and his apostles never held up the conversion of the world as the great and grand incentive to benevolent effort. Their silence has a portentous meaning, and
proves that the world is not, according to scripture, to be
converted and restored, as predicted, during the existence of
the present dispensation. I see not how to avoid this conviction or conclusion.
4. But especially, and above all, it is believed that the conversion and restoration of our world is reserved for a new
economy or dispensation to be introduced at the termination
of the one under which we now live; because the scriptures
so teach most clearly and harmoniously. The proof of this
will be presented in the next chapter, to which the attention
of the reader is respectfully directed.
The present dispensation, which according to our Lord's
teaching is to be one of a mixed character up to the end,
and also one of suffering and trial till its close, was never expected to result in the conversion of all.
Its object is clearly set forth by the apostle in Acts 15:
14.  "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit
the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name."
And this agrees with the declaration of Christ, Matt, 24F




THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS.          45
14, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in
all the world, for a witness unto all nations; and then shall
the end come."
Also with the great commission given to the apostles:
"Go ye into all the word and preach the gospel to every creature: he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and
he that believeth not shall be condemned." Some have maintained, that in the commission to preach the gospel to all,
there is an implied promise that the world will all be converted, as the result.
But not so. The limiting and qualifying enactment accompanying it, shows that the conversion of the entire world
was not contemplated as the result of publishing it as a witness to all nations. " He that believeth shall be saved, but
he that believeth not shall be condemned."
Now, the reader will not understand us as opposed to missionary operations at home and abroad.
No, God bless Bible Societies, and Missionary Societies, and
Tract Societies, and the good and devoted men who conduct
and patronize them. They are engaged in a great and holy
cause, and have been raised up in providence to accomplish
his purpose in publishing the gospel to all nations as a witness, and in gathering that great multitude out of every nation, and kindred, and people, and tongue under heaven, to
whom the government of the kingdom is to be given. Their
labor shall not be in vain in the Lord; for his word shall not
return unto him void, but it shall accomplish that which he
has designed, and prosper in the thing whereunto he has
sent it.
Do we oppose missions because we maintain, in accordance with the scriptures, that all will not be converted during
the present economy?  What devoted minister now preaches
with the expectation of saving all to whom he ministers?
Are his labors therefore in vain?




46              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
There are three great motives presented in the New Testament, which bind every child of God to do all he can to
send the gospel to the nations, and to save all he can:
1. The command of Jesus-Go ye into all the world, &c.
2. The constraining love of Christ. 3. Love to dying man.
And now may not the millennarian be influenced by all of
these, as sincerely as others? May he not consistently with
his belief and expectation respect and obey the command of
his Lord? May he not love his Saviour as ardently as others,
and yearn over dying men with as true and deep a sympathy
as they who ridicule the truth he holds as sacred? Why
will good men misrepresent and pervert our views, and charge
their illogical deductions, drawn from perversion and prejudice, to our account? Many of the most devoted missionaries, such as the murdered Lowrie was, and the laborious
Poor of Ceylon now is, have been millennarians, and have
testified that their views did not diminish, but ministered to
their missionary zeal.




THE MILLENNIUM, A NEW DISPENSATION-DURING WHICH THE WORLD IS TO
BE CONVERTED, AND THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS TO TAKE PLACE.
IT has been shown that the world cannot be converted
and restored during the present dispensation, according to
its revealed purpose, and the teachings of our Lord; that it
is to exist in a mixed and corrupt form, even unto the end,
when the angels shall sever the wicked from among the just,
and the righteous then shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
of their Father.
The restoration of all things, it is believed, is reserved for
a new dispensation, which will open in effulgent splendor on
the world at the termination of the present.
In this new economy, the Old and New Testament prophecies will receive their full and most joyous accomplishment, without contradicting other scriptures, or clashing with
the doctrines and statements of our Lord and his apostles.
But what is a dispensation? and what is to be understood
by a new one? To allay any fearful apprehensions that some
new way of salvation is contemplated, in which prophets and
apostles never walked, we would definitely state in the outset, that by a new dispensation is not understood a new
church, or a new mode of saving men, or any new foundation, other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
The term dispensation, as indicated by the original word,
denotes a particular economy, or arrangement of things, acaccording to which the affairs of a household, or a government, are administered.




48              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
In the administration of his church in the world, God has
been pleased to pursue different methods in revealing his
truth, and in accomplishing the great purposes of his love
and wisdom.
These different methods of bestowing his grace and truth
are called dispensations. The number of dispensations under
which the Church has been placed, from Adam down, has
been variously estimated; but there have certainly been three
— the Patriarchal, the Jewish, and the Christian.
In regard to these dispensations, two things especially are
true, and common to them all.
1. God's method of justifying or saving men through an
atoning sacrifice-the Lamb slain in purpose, from the foundation of the world, is the same under each. Abel and
Noah, Moses and David, Isaiah and Malachi, and Paul and
the whole perfected company of the redeemed, will unitedly
ascribe their salvation unto him that loved them and washed them from their sins in his own blood. And in accordance with the same plan, and through the sanctifying influences of the Spirit, we expect that men will be saved in the
millennium.
2. Each successive dispensation has been marked by new
and more full revelations of truth, and by the establishment
of new institutions, by which former laws and ceremonies
have been set aside, to give place to that which was more
perfect and glorious. Thus the Jewish set aside the Patriarchal, and the Christian or Gospel dispensation has wholly
abrogated the Jewish or Mosaic.
In each of these succeeding dispensations, the Church and
the world have been placed under new circumstances of trial
and discipline, differing in many respects materially from that
which preceded.
Though the Church, under the Jewish and Christian dispensations is the same, yet those who live under the Gospel,




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               49
from the superior light enjoyed, and the more simple and
spiritual ritual to be observed, are placed in more favorable
circumstances, in respect to the kingdom of God, than those
who lived in former ages. Many prophets and righteous
men, said the Saviour, have desired to see those things which
ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things
which ye hear, and have not heard them.
Judging from God's dealings in the past, and from his
prophetic annunciations respecting the future, it seems clearly
to be his established method-his fixed plan, to carry his
church through successive developments, from glory to glory,
until all his purposes of mercy are accomplished.
There is nothing then contrary to the analogy of God's
dealing's with his church heretofore, to suppose that there
will yet be another dispensation after the present, in which
the world will be placed in still higher and more favorable
circumstances of grace and glory than are now enjoyed, and
in which new revelations may be made, corresponding to the
new order of things, and the fuller developments of love.
In fact, this is just what we might rationally expect from
all that God has done, and has purposed to do for our world.
Many good men have often felt the need of some more
powerful divine manifestations than have ever yet been experienced, to give the truth an all-controlling and subduing
influence over the minds of men, and to scatter forever the
film of error and sin which gathers over the mental and
moral vision.  Such manifestations, it is believed, will be
made in a new economy, distinctly foretold in scripture,
when means and agencies, appropriate and God-like, will be
introduced, designed and adapted to bring every thought
and feeling into subjection to Jesus Christ.
Now if God has promised, and will vouchsafe to accomplish all these things in their time, who can doubt or deny
that there is marked out in the prophecies a career of glory




50              MILLENNARIAN VIEWVS.
and blessedness for our miserable world, which must infinitely transcend all that the human mind has ever conceived?
To establish the truth of a new dispensation during the
millennium, it will be necessary to show,
1. That the world will be placed, during this period, in
such entirely new and different circumstances, that many
parts of the New Testament scriptures will be rendered
entirely unsuited to the times, and untrue in respect to the
state of things which will then exist. And that the light
and privileges then to be enjoyed will be far more glorious
than are now possessed, or than earth has ever before known.
And2. That it will be introduced by such marked interpositions of the power and providence of God; and the fulfillment of such predictions respecting Christ and his saints,
and the world, as to mark it off as an entirely new and distinct era or economy in the history of the church. Let these
positions now be tested by the word of God. And1. It is maintained, not only by millennarians, but by most
who are not, and who believe in the conversion of the world,
that Satan will be bound, or excluded from any evil influence
over the world, during the millennium. This, then, is held as
cordially by many who are spiritualists as others: and it is
scriptural and reasonable: for how can the world ever be
converted while he is permitted to sow tares among the
wheat, and left as a roaring lion to go about seeking whom
he may devour?
According to this, throughout all the happy years of the
millennium, he will not be permitted to tempt nations to sin,
or individuals to ruin.
But when this blessed period arrives, what will become of
all those portions of scripture which warn us against his
subtilty, power, and temptations? What of those which




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               51
direct us to the armor and the means we must employ in
resisting and repelling his assaults?
Here, then, by the very binding of Satan and his dejection
to the pit, during the thousand years, large portions of scripture will be entirely superseded, and have no application to
the world as it will then exist: for how could a minister
preach then from this text, "Be sober, be vigilant, for your
adversary the devil as a roaring lion goeth about seeking
whom he may devour?" or this, "Put on the whole armor
of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the
devil, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood," &c.?
Would there be any applicability, then, to all such scriptures, when there was no devil on earth to tempt or fear?
And besides these which speak directly of the devil and
his agency there are many promises, and exhortations given
to sustain believers under the persecutions, and trials, and
evils, prompted or inflicted by Satan, which are now of great
weight and importance; but which will have no force in the
times and circumstances of those then living. Now we beg
the reader to consider, that it is no invention, or speculation
of millennarians, which banishes the devil from the world
during the millennium, and which consequently declares that
all those scriptures which have respect to the devil and his
agencies will have expired by their revealed limitation.
The world will then be placed, in this respect, under entirely new and more favorable circumstances of salvation, than
now exist or ever have. Who can imagine what a world
this will be, when this one prolific source of moral evil and
ruin is removed from the sphere of the living? The binding
of Satan then alone, with all the multiplied causes for good
which will necessarily follow, will clearly indicate the introduction of an entirely new economy in our world.
But these scriptures which have reference to the devil
and his agencies, are only a small portion of the word of




52              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
God which will be superseded by the circumstances in which
the world will be placed during the millennial age.
When the knowledge of the glory of God shall cover the
earth, as the waters cover the sea-when every knee shall
bow, and tongue confess that Christ is Lord-when all shall
be righteous, and all press the narrow way that leads to life,
and none have cause to say to his brother or neighbor, know
the Lord, as the prophets foretell; what will become of the
Saviour's declaration, " wide is the gate, and broad is the
way which leadeth to destruction, and many there be which
go in thereat: and strait is the gate, and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it?" Will
these representations be any longer true?
How would a minister preach in the midst of a converted
world, from this passage, " strive to enter in at the strait gate:
for many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not
be able?" or this, " For many are called, but few are chosen?"
or, " Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life?" or this,
"' And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the
world, and men love darkness rather than light because their
deeds are evil?"
What will become of these, and many similar texts, when
all know and love the Lord?  Will they be any longer
true or applicable to men? Will they not, in fact, when the
millennium arrives, have expired by this statute of limitation?
And what too will become of the parable of the sower, when
the seed sown all falls into good ground? What of the parable of the tares and wheat? of the net and fishes? and of
the ten virgins? When this latter-day glory shall shine in
full-orbed, and meridian splendor on the world, and there are
no more tares, or bad fish, or foolish virgins?
These and all similar parables, now most correctly represent the progress of the gospel, and the state of things in our




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               53
world; but they will not, amid the shoutings of a ransomed
and restored world.
By the fulfillment of the predictions referring to this period,
and by the very circumstances in which a converted world
will then be placed, they will be rendered untrue, and unsuited to the times, and will in fact have expired by the ending of the dispensation to which they belonged. When all
are converted-all righteous, they can have no more reference
to the state of the world than the old Levitical law does to us
now.
They may be, and probably will be read, with great profit,
as showing the things that are past; and hence, by comparison, may be the means of showing the preeminently exalted
privileges and blessings of those who shall live in that pure
age, and of exciting the liveliest gratitude and joy; just as
the Christian now may be greatly benefitted and instructed by
a study of the old Levitical laws, though they have been abrogated by the introduction and revelations of the Christian
dispensations under which he lives.
Upon a careful examination and comparison of Old Testament and New Testament scriptures, it will be found that the
prophecies respecting the conversion of the world cannot
be fulfilled without annulling a great portion of the latter.
The great principles of the divine law, and of the gospel,
which must and will run through all dispensations, will of
course remain immutable through eternal ages; but those
applications of truth which have reference to a corrupt world,
mingled with Satan and sin, can have no place when all these
are removed.
Now by admitting a new dispensation, we do not bring the
prophecies respecting the millennium in collision with
those New Testament scriptures, as do those who maintain
that all are to be fulfilled under the present gospel economy. We give these New Testament scriptures their full




54              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
force up to the limits assigned them-the end of the aion, or
dispensation; and then beyond, amid the glories of a latter
day, when Satan and sin shall be banished, we look for all
that prophets amid visions of glory have foretold.
There will exist then a necessity for new laws and revelations in the new economy, adapted to the higher state of
perfection and blessedness enjoyed. And it is clearly affirmed
that these will be given, in that beautiful description of the
last days found in Isaiah 2: 2-6. " And many people shall
go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach
us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion
shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem."
This shows that when the exalted and happy period here
predicted arrives, there will be some new laws from heaven,
some clearer illuminations of eternal truth, by means of which
the peaceful results mentioned in the prophesy are to be accomplished, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, nor learn war any more.
And, oh, how will war and controversy die, and error and delusion disappear, and truth and love roll as waters of life over
the world, before the effulgence of truth beaming from the
Lord himself, when that new era shall dawn upon the world,
and upon mount Zion, the Lord reigns with his ancients gloriously!
~ The fact, then, that during the millennium the world will
be placed in such entirely new and different circumstances,
that many of the New Testament scriptures will be unsuited
to the times, and untrue in respect to the state of things
which will then exist, furnishes a strong argument for a new
dispensation in the millennial age: for, " It must be admitted that a state of things which supersedes a part of divine
revelation, hitherto enjoyed, and introduces men into a state




THE NEW DISPENSATION.                55
of things which is the consummation of that revealed, has one
grand characteristic of a new dispensation: if not, then the
introduction of the Christian era was not a new dispensation,
but merely a continuation of the Mosaic."
2. Another argument for a new dispensation is derived
from the parables of the tares and wheat, and the net and
fishes.
Our Lord, in his exposition of the parable of the tares, says,
the good seed are the children of the kingdom, and the tares
are the children of the wicked one. The tares must grow
with the wheat until the harvest.  The harvest is the end
of the world, and the reapers are the angels.
There are two words translated world in this parable, which
are very different in their signification, xogtos and aicwv, Kosmos and aion. The kosmos is the earth-the material world
in which, or on which men live, and where the wheat and
tares are sown.  Now it is not said that the harvest is the
end of the kosmos-the material world; but the end of the
aion-the age, or dispensation.
It is a great mistake, then, to suppose that the harvest is
literally at the end of the material world, and the closing up
of all human things on earth.  The word aion stands not in
scripture uniformly for the earth; but more commonly for
an age or dispensation.  Thus in 1 Corinthians 10: 11, it is
said, "Now  all these things happened unto them for ensamples," that is unto the Israelites in the wilderness; " and
they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of
the world are come, ra seXk s~wv aiwvwv, that is, they are
written for us who live at the juncture, or ends of the dispensations. The apostles and all of their time lived at the
consummation-the end or winding up of the Jewish dispensation, so that upon them, or in their times, the end of the dispensation had come. This is obviously the meaning of the




56              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
passage, for in no other sense did they live at the end of the
world, and in this they did.
Hebrews 9: 26. "But now once more at the end of the
world, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of
himself." The original is here the same as in the former
passage, and has reference simply to thelending or consummation of the levitical dispensation.  Christ appeared at
the time of the consummation of this, to put an end to
sacrifices for sin, by the offering up of himself without spot
to God. In no other sense is it true that he appeared at the
end of the world.
This special sense of aion, coincides, says Robinson, with
classic usage.
No violence, therefore, is done to the language, or to scriptural usage, in assigning this meaning, the end or consummation of the dispensation to cuvw-EX ESa rou ma0wvO, the aion
in the parables. The harvest then is the end, not of the
kosmos, but of the dispensation-of that one under which
we live.
And as the tares are not gathered out from among the
wheat until the harvest, nor the good fish separated from
the bad until the end of the present age, the harvest and
end must precede the millennium.
From the necessity of the case, we are compelled to give
these parables this interpretation and limitation. When all
the world is fully and perfectly converted, and Satan and all
his children confined to the pit, there will be no more tares
or bad fish here to be gathered from among the good.
When the will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven,
and all love and serve the Lord in the perfection of the
millennial age, the tares will have been all rooted up by the
command of the Lord of the harvest.
These parables cannot hence refer to the last acts of




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               57
judgment, when the dead, small and great, shall stand before
God; because the righteous and the wicked are, in respect
to the dead, separated at death.
The kingdom of God, for which we are taught to pray, is
in this world, and it is out of this kingdom that the tares,
the children of the wicked one, are to be gathered; for
there is no other kingdom in which they exist, mingled with
the good, except on earth. And when this takes place, then,
indeed, will the righteous shine forth as the sun, in the
kingdom of their Father.
While these parables, therefore, and all similar scriptures,
show that the world will not be converted according to
God's appointment during the prevalence of that dispensation, through the entire length of which they are to
have full force, they harmonize most perfectly with millennarian views, which provide for the rich abounding
mercy of God to the world, in due time, without attempting
to mar the symmetry of the gospel, or to stretch this dispensation beyond its revealed limits. And they show that, if
our lost world is ever restored, it must be in a new dispensation which comes after the end to which they refer.
3. A third argument in proof that the millennium will be
a new dispensation, and will exist under an entirely new
constituted order of things, is inferred from Isaiah 65: 17,
19, 25, and parallel passages:
" For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and
the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.
But be ye glad, and rejoice forever in that which I create;
for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a
joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people:
and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her,
nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence
an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his
days; for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the
4




58              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
sinner being an hundred years old, shall be accursed. And
they shall build houses and inhabit them; and they shall
plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not
build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another
eat; for as the days of a tree are the days of my people,
and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth for trouble;
for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their
offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before
they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I
will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and
the lion shall eat straw like the bullock; and dust shall be
the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all
my holy mountain, saith the Lord."
Isaiah 56: 22, 23. " For as the new heavens and the new
earth which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the
Lord, so shall your seed, and your name remain. And it
shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and
from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship
before me, saith the Lord."
There can be no doubt that these scriptures refer to the
millennium-to that "latter-day glory" which, according
to prophecy, shall yet dawn upon the world.
The facts and blessedness here described, have never
begun to be realized in our world, and they must therefore
be future.
But let it be distinctly noticed, that all that is here predicted is to occur under an entirely new constituted order of
things-so entirely new, as to be denominated "a new
heavens and a new earth."
In introducing the glorious theme, the Lord says, "For
behold,-mark well what I am about to say,-" For behold,
I create a new heavens and a new earth: and the former
shall not be remembered nor come into mind." And then,




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               59
as if to prevent any misunderstanding or misapplication of the
language, by referring its fulfillment to some spiritual state in
some other world, he immediately adds, " But be ye glad and
rejoice forever in that which I create: for behold, I create
Jerusalem a rejoicing and her people a joy;" and then he
goes on to describe, in detail, a state of blessedness and
prosperity on earth, in which houses are built, and vineyards
planted, and animals subsist in entire domestication.
Now I see not how language could more clearly or
strongly assert the reality of a new dispensation, to be
introduced when these glorious predictions, which point to
the conversion of our world, are fulfilled. A new heavens
and a new earth! in which the former, by reason of its
immense inferiority, shall not be remembered or come into
mind! Had God wished to have revealed the reality of a
new dispensation, how could he have done it more clearly
or directly! What else can answer to the language, or
correspond to the description given.
4. The millennium is clearly indicated to be a new dispensation in the fact that it will be introduced to the world by
the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven, in
sorme very peculiar sense.
Daniel 7: 13, 14. " I saw in the night visions, and behold,
one like the Son of man come with the clouds of heaven,
and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him
near before Him. And there was given unto Him, dominion,
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that
which shall not be destroyed."
If in a subsequent chapter, this great truth here so clearly
announced, is more fully, clearly, and scripturally demonstrated, it will follow conclusively, that that era which is introduced by the personal advent of the Son of man, must be




60              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
a new dispensation, as sublimely and miraculously introduced
as any one preceding.
5. The august, and solemn, and portentous manner in
which it will be announced to the world, and to all heaven,
by the sounding of the seventh angel of the Revelations,
shows that the universal reign of Christ on earth will be a
new era or dispensation, as clearly defined and marked off as
the Jewish or Christian ever were.
Rev. 11: 15. " And the seventh angel sounded; and there
were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this
world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ,
and he shall reign for ever and ever." How august and
grand the announcement! Does it not, in accordance with
the considerations already presented, clearly indicate the ushering in of a new economy to our world? And the events
described as immediately following this announcement, show
that they are altogether unusual, and unexperienced.
"And the four and twenty elders which sat before God
on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,
saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which
wast, and art, and art to come; because thou hast taken to
thee thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations
were angry, and thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead
that they should be judged, and that thou shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and
them that fear thy name small and great; and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth."
All that is here declared will, we believe, take place at the
introduction of the millennial age-the resurrection and
reward of the righteous dead, and the destruction of the angered, apostate nation, who will not that the Lord should
reign over them. These things will be definitely treated of
hereafter; and if such sublime and fearful events are to usher
in the redemption of our world, can the era which they announce be less than a new dispensation?




THE NEW DISPENSATION.              61
6. In confirmation of the argument thus far presented,
there are some passages in the writings of the apostles, upon
which the fact of a new dispensation sheds a flood of glorious light.
Eph. 1: 10. " That in the dispensation of the fullness of
times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, and are in earth, even in Him."
This, according to millennarian views, will be most strikingly
fulfilled when Christ, in the coming dispensation, shall gather
together' all his saints, above and below, raised and transfigured into one glorious and eternal kingdom.
It is thought also by many, that reference is made to this
new dispensation in Heb. 2: 5.-" For unto the angels, hath
he not put in subjection the world to come whereof we speak,"
that is, the new world or dispensation: for this is to be in subjection to the saints. "Know ye not," says Paul, "that the
saints shall judge " or rule " the world?" And the prophet
Daniel says, "And the kingdom, and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the most High."
And now what need have we of further testimony? Has
any other preceding dispensation clearer or more ample proof
to sustain it?
And in conclusion, may it not be asked, what is there unreasonable or unworthy of God, in the idea of a new and
more glorious dispensation of his abounding mercy as presented? It is not contended that there will be a new dispensation on the ground that the present one is unsuited to
its purpose, or unadapted to accomplish all that God has
designed.
By no means. Such an imputation would be an impeachment of the wisdom of the Lord. The present will accomplish all that was contemplated. Not one word of God shall
return unto him void, but shall accomplish all that he has




62              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
designed, and prosper in the thing to which he has sent
it.
But if we say that the Jewish dispensation was more
glorious than the Patriarchal, and that the Christian is still
more clear and glorious than the Mosaic, do we say that the
Patriarchal and Mosaic were unsuited to their times, and unadapted to accomplish all the purposes contemplated in their
institution? We believe, most assuredly, that they were most
wisely adapted to their times and ends; and so we believe
that the present is most wisely adapted to its end-to test
men, and to gather out of all nations a redeemed people for
his name, and to train, and discipline, and sanctify them, and
make them meet for the possession of his eternal kingdom.
The present dispensation has a great and glorious mission to
perform, in preparing the way for the future and everlasting
kingdom of God. And it will not have come to an end until
its work is fully, and according to divine appointment,
done.
But under the present gospel dispensation there exists
many and formidable difficulties. Though exceedingly rich
in the grace of God, and in the saving and sanctifying influences of his spirit, what errors prevail, and what apostacies!
Amid how many difficulties, and corruptions, and opposing
powers are men compelled to pass their probation for eternity!
What vast multitudes are seduced by the world, the flesh,
and the devil, to ruin! What crowds press the downward
road, and what dangers and complicated miseries press
around men's critical probation for eternity! Is there nothing better in reserve? Will not God in his love, when he
has accomplished all his purposes in the present economy,
introduce the world to higher privileges and blessings,
where, delivered from the temptations of Satan and sin, and
freed from all that can hurt or destroy, the generations of
men may walk perpetually in the light of God's countenance,




THE NEW DISPENSATION.               63
and enjoy the full-orbed glories of the Sun of Righteousness,
in a new and more glorious economy?
Would such a proceeding be unworthy of God, or derogatory to the glorious triumphs of the Redeemer? Such is the
hope which the millennarian derives firom the scripturessuch are his ardent anticipations in regard to the triumphs of'
the kingdom of God on earth. It is a hope full of immortal
glory, and sheds a brighter effulgence over Jehovah's name,
than does the idea that the present dispensation, mingled
with sin, must continue to the winding up of all earthly
things, when God, according to a common opinion, will burn
up the world as a worn out and an accursed thing. The
ideas which the scriptures give us of the infinite and eternal
results of the work of Jesus, as infinitely transcend these
narrow views as heaven is higher than earth.
But when this new dispensation of the kingdom of God
shall be introduced in the manner and form predicted, it is
not expected that a complete and perfect restoration of all
things, morally and physically, will be effected by a stroke,
or in an instant of time; but, on the contrary, some length of
time may be occupied in its perfection. We pretend not to
say how long it may take to accomplish the end. Though
the agencies employed will be most wisely adapted and
potent, yet, as God does not work miracles when ordinary
means will do the work, the causes then set in operation may
be left to work out in regular process their glorious results.
And hence it may take hundreds of years to wipe out every
stain of sin upon earth, and so perfectly to restore man's
physical nature as to annul the curse in every individual.
And it is probable that to this period, to the first years of
the millennial age, is to be referred the passage in Isaiah
65: 20:
1" There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an
old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die




64               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
an hundred years old: but the sinner being an hundred years
old shall be accursed."
This must refer to the first years of the millennium, before
the works of the devil, and the curse of sin and death, are
wholly destroyed. It cannot characterize the whole period
of the kingdom of God, or the new heavens and earth, for it
is positively affirmed that there shall be no more curse or sin
when the restoration is perfected, therefore there can be no
more any death when the curse ceases to operate.
It is furthermore affirmed, that there shall be no more
heard the voice of weeping or the voice of crying: but where
there are sin and death, there must be both; and hence, in
the new heavens and the new earth, when there shall be no
more weeping or crying, and when God shall wipe away
tears from all faces, there can be no more any sin or death.
It is also recorded, that there shall be no more pain, and this
shows that there can be no sin or death, when in the new
dispensation the restoration is perfected. And then again
we are told (Isaiah 25: 8), that when the Lord of Hosts
shall make unto all nations a feast of fat things in Mount
Zion, "He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord
will wipe away tears from all faces;" and this demonstrates
that when the great blessedness is enjoyed which is promised in this prediction, there shall be no sin, sorrow, or
death.
The passage, then, under consideration, must refer to the
first years of the new dispensation, while the work of restoration is in progress, and before it is perfected. Viewing the
passage in this light, it is rational and entirely consistent
with the expectation that, in this new economy, denominated
the new heavens and the new earth, there will be an entire
restoration of all things, intelligent and unintelligent, animate and inanimate, to Eden's purity, blessedness and immortality.




THE  NEIW  DISPENSATION.                      65
"The groans of Nature in this nether world,
Which heav'n has heard for ages, have an end,
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung,
Whose fire was kindled at the prophet's lamp;
The time of rest, the promised Sabbath, comes,
Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh
Fulfill'd their tardy and disastrous course
Over a sinful world; and what remains
Of this tempestuous state of human things
Is merely as the workings of a sea
Before a calm that rocks itself to rest;
For he, whose cars the winds are, and the clouds
The dust that waits upon his sultry march,
When sin hath roused him, and his wrath is hot,
Shall visit earth in mercy: shall descend
Propitious in his chariot pav'd with love;
And what his storms have blasted and defaced,
For man's revolt, shall with a smile repair."
4*




THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST TO REIGN UPON THE EARTH-WILL IT BE
LITERAL AND PERSONAL, AND AT THE INTRODUCTION OF THE NEW DISPENSATION, OR BEFORE THE MILLENNIUM?
THE answer to these inquiries cannot be a matter of indifference or of little consequence; for if the second predicted advent of our Lord is pre-millennial, it is a matter of
great and practical importance that those, especially, who
love his appearing, should rightly understand and act in
reference to his coming. If it is not true, it is undoubtedly
injurious to advocate it, and if it is truly taught in scripture,
it is equally injurious and disastrous to deny it. These questions cannot be settled by prejudice, or by their apparent
utility or inutility, in our darkened estimation; but by the
revelation of God, correctly understood and appreciated.
It is proposed, therefore, to subject these questions simply
to the test of scripture; and if inany sense we err, may God
pardon our infirmity, and lead us in the way of truth and
righteousness.
In looking to the past, it is manifest that each preceding
dispensation which has been or which now prevails on earth,
has been introduced by a literal and personal coming of God
in some visible manifestation. In Eden the Patriarchal was
introduced, and there God appeared to our first parents, and
personally placed them under that economy under which they
and their descendants lived for many generations.
When this terminated, the Jewish dispensation was introduced by the coming of God on Mount Sinai, in awful




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             67
solemnity and grandeur, and there amid the manifested insignia of eternal majesty, he proclaimed his own name and law
in the hearing of the people. But this dispensation, though
so fearfully and impressively introduced, was not designed to
continue perpetually; but was added only for a time, until
the promised Messiah should come and herald to the world a
brighter era.
Accordingly, when the Levitical terminated, the Christian
dispensation was introduced by the coming of God in the
flesh, to suffer, and bring in everlasting righteousness, for a
guilty world.
So in like manner, we sincerely believe that it is clearly
revealed in Scripture, that the new-the millennial dispensation, will be introduced by the coming of God, our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the clouds of heaven, as a gloriously triumphant Saviour to subdue all things to himself, and to add
this revolted world to his already immeasurably vast dominions, and to restore it to its proper place amid the unnumbered and obedient orbs which circle the throne of heaven.
The grand idea, then, of the pre-millennial advent, is manifestly in harmony with all the past, and, as we hope to
show, infinitely worthy of the love and wisdom and exalted
dignity of God.
The first passage of scripture which will be adduced to
prove the pre-millennial advent, is found inActs 3: 19-21. " Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; And he shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all his holy prophets since the world began."
It is a settled point, and believed by all evangelical Christians, that Jesus Christ has ascended into heaven, where he




68              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
now sitteth at the right hand of God, and whence he will
come to judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and
kingdom.
Now, we are definitely told in this passage, that the heavens into which he has gone, must receive, or contain him,
until a certain time, and that time is, the times of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all his holy prophets since the world began. According to the
clear import of this scripture then, it is certain that Jesus
Christ will be sent a second time to our world, at these
times of restitution spoken of by the prophets.
It has been shown in a former chapter, what is meant by
these times of the restitution of all things; and if we search
the prophets to learn of what they have so generally and
uniformly spoken, we can find no other restitution predicted,
but a restoration of our world to holiness, and happiness, and
immortality, and of creation, animate and inanimate, to that
state in which all would have been had sin never entered our
world.  This passage, then, furnishes clear and convincing
proof of the premillennial advent of our Lord.
2. The same conclusion is reached through a passage
found in Matt. 19: 27-28: " Then answered Peter, and said
unto him, Behold, we have left all and followed thee; what
shall we have therefore? And Jesus said unto them, Verily
I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit upon the throne of
his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel."
The regeneration here spoken of cannot refer to the general judgment at the last day, as that day is commonly understood; for who, then, or what, then, is regenerated? According to common belief, does not probation then end? Are
not the righteous then taken away to heaven, and the wicked
judged and banished to hell, and the world burned up?




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.              69
Surely there is no regeneration in all this. With the beatification of the righteous excepted, there is vastly more destruction than regeneration, which means to reform anything into
a new and better state.
But if we take this passage as referring to the restitution
of all things in our world, as was explained in a former
chapter, then all is plain. Our world is yet to be regenerated in all its parts, and all converted to God, so that the
will of God shall be done on earth as it is in heaven, and the
works of the devil entirely destroyed.
This being the most obvious and natural meaning of the
passage, it proves that at the conversion of the world, Christ
will sit upon the throne of his glory. His glorious appearing will then take place. He will come a second time without sin unto salvation. And why should he not appear at
the introduction of so great and glorious an event as that of
a world's complete and eternal redemption?
3. Another argument for the second personal appearing
of our Lord before the millennium, is derived from the revealed fact, that the destruction of Antichrist, the man of
sin, and all antichristian powers, is to be effected by or in
connection with the coming of our Lord.
It is not designed here to enter into the discussion of the
question, who is meant by Antichrist or the Man of Sin.
Protestant writers have very generally understood the Papacy, including, perhaps, all the nationalized hierarchies by
which the Church has been corrupted and become apostate.
But whatever Antichristian confederacies are designated
by the Antichrist, the Man of Sin, of scripture, it is certain
that these powers cannot exist during the millennium. When
all know and serve the Lord, from the least unto the greatest; when every knee shall bow, and tongue confess, that
Christ is Lord, and all the kingdoms of this world become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; everything that




70              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
opposeth or exalteth itself against God, must necessarily have
been removed out of the way.
But if it can be shown that all these Antichristian powers are to be overthrown by or in connection with the personal, visible coming of Christ, it will follow legitimately that
his second coming must be pre-millennial.
Let us see. 2 Thess. 2: 1-8.  "Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let
no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not
come, except there come a falling away first, and that Man
Sin be revealed, the Son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. And now ye know what
withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the
mystery of iniquity doth already work-; only he who now
letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then
shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume
with the spirit of his mouth, or by his word, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
Now is it not postively affirmed here, that this man of sin,
this son of perdition-this wicked one, shall be consumed
with the spirit of Christ's mouth, and shall be destroyed with
the brightness of his coming?
But what kind of a coming is here meant? Let us turn
back and see if we can determine by the connection. In his
first Epistle to the Thessalonians, 4: 13-18, we find this
record: " But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren,
concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even
as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus,




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.            71
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto
the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are
asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with
a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first.
Then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air:
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort
one another with these words. But of the times and seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as
a thief in the night. For when they shall say, peace and
safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as tiavail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."
It is not generally denied, by those who are not millennarians, that a real personal, glorious appearing of our Lord is
here intended. It is so uniformly understood and quoted.
From this representation, the Thessalonians very naturally
received the impression, that the descent of Christ from
heaven was nigh at hand, and perhaps immediately to take
place; and hence they were unduly and unnecessarily excited.
This, however, was not true. Christ was not then immediately to appear in the manner and for the purpose described; and his second Epistle seems to have been written
for the purpose of disabusing their minds, and giving them
some definite instruction as to the time when the glorious
appearing of the Son of man might be expected.
But yet it was a great, glorious, and fundamental truth
that the Lord was to come again to our world. And hence,
before correcting their impressions as to the time when it
would take place, he reaffirms the truth, in language most
solemn and impressive. 2 Thess. 1: 7-10:
"And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord




72              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Jesus shall be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels,
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God,
and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who
shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he
shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in
all them that believe."
Does any true believer doubt that a literal, personal coming of Christ is here intended? Is it not uniformly quoted
to prove the second advent of our Lord to judge the world?
Thus far certainly all is plain and undisputed. The apostle is speaking only of a personal and literal coming.
Three verses in advance of this, chapter 2: 1, and in continuation of the same discourse respecting the revelation of
Jesus Christ from heaven, he says, " Now we beseech you,
brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our
gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by
letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let
no man deceive you by any means: for that day, that is the
day of the Lord's appearing, shall not come, except there
come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son of perdition, &c."
Now is it not most manifest that the apostle here speaks
of the same literal, personal coming, of which he had
been speaking all along, and of which he had just reassured
them, a personal revelation in flaming fire? It is by this
coming that he beseeches them not to be soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled, under the impression that it would soon
break upon the world. And does not the fact that he declares that the Lord will not come until a great apostacy had
occurred, clearly imply that when that was fully revealed
or developed, his coming in flaming fire might be expected?
And now then, when he has described this Man of Sin, and




THE PRE-MII,LENNIAL ADVENT.              73
the full revelation of this wicked one, and then declares that
he shall be consumed with the spirit of Christ's mouth, and
destroyed with the brightness of his coming, does he not
manifestly mean the same personal coming of which he had
been speaking all along in his first, and in this second epistle? And hence, does it not prove that this Antichristian
power is to exist up to the time of the second coming of
our Lord, and hence that there will be no universal conversion of the world before he comes?
What other construction can the apostle's language consistently bear? Is it said that the apostate powers here
represented, are to be destroyed by their conversion, by
Christ's spiritual coming? But whence is such a meaning
derived?  From  the general tenor of Paul's discourse, and
the uniform sense in which he speaks of the revelation
of the Lord? or from  human imagination and invention?
Do not the connections of the passage clearly show that the
coming by which Antichrist is to be destroyed, is identically
the same as that of. which he had just before spoken? A
literal coming in flaming fire to destroy his enemies, and to
be admired in all them that believe?
And what right has any one to say, that in the first part
of this Epistle, and in the first verses of this chapter, a personal coming is meant, and that then, without any change in
the subject of the discourse, or any notice of the fact, in the
course of a few verses he speaks of a coming which is not in
fact a coming, and which is as widely different from the literal coming of which he had been all along speaking, as
heaven is from earth.? Surely, to give without authority
from the context or subject, such widely different meanings
to the same word, used in the same discourse, and in the
same unbroken connection, is to confound all consistency and
all certainty in language. What, according to such a mode
of interpreting scripture, might not be proved from the Bible?




74              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
And the fact that this wicked Antichrist is to be consumed
with the spirit of his mouth, does not show that he is to be converted by the Holy Spirit, or that Christ's coming is spiritual.
" The expression, spirit of his mouth, is literally the breath
or wind of his mouth. There is nothing here which necessarily determines it to mean the Holy Spirit. The spirit of
his mouth is not the title of the Holy Spirit, nor is the phrase
ever used to denote an influence of the Holy Spirit. It is
indeed in one place said that the heavens and all their hosts
were made by the breath of his mouth; but the idea is, very
obviously, that God created them by his word."
" There are two ideas which the phrase breath or spirit of
his mouth may literally express: either a mighty tempest or
a mighty voice."  "The expression, spirit of his mouth, as
used by the apostle here, may literally mean a mighty tempest,
or a mighty voice, or both. The apostle, in his first epistle,
had said the Lord should descend with a shout; and literally
this will be the blast or spirit of his mouth;" when he is
revealed from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on
them who know not God and who obey not the Gospel.
And this is all in accordance with prophecy oft repeated.
Isaiah says, 11: 4, of Christ, "And he shall smite the
earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his
lips shall he slay the wicked." Again, 30: 28, 30, 33, "And
his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to the midst
of the neck. And the Lord shall cause his glorious voice to
be heard, and shall show the lighting down of his arm, and
with the flame of a devouring fire. For tophet is ordained
of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep
and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath
of the Lord, or the spirit of his mouth, like a stream of
brimstone, doth kindle it."
Very many passages might be cited, to show that the
phrase, spirit of his mouth, is very commonly employed to




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.            75
denote those destructions and tempestuous judgments upon
the wicked which are effected by the word of his power.
So the heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and
all the hosts of them by the spirit of his mouth. When the
waters of the deluge came up and overpowered the earth, it
was effected by the spirit of his mouth. When he commanded the fires to descend on Sodom, the spirit of his
mouth as a stream of brimstone did kindle it. And so when
God at the judgment shall say to those on his left hand,
Depart, &c.-with the spirit or breath of his mouth will he
slay the wicked.
And in like manner Antichrist will be consumed by the
spirit of his mouth. It will be by the word or command of
the Lord that those agencies will be commissioned which
will entirely consume and destroy him, at the brightness of
his coming.
The sum of the argument then is this. The Antichristian
power or powers represented by the man of sin, of which the
apostle speaks, must necessarily be destroyed before the
millennium; because they cannot exist oh earth, when all are
converted, and the will of God is done on earth as it is in
heaven. But they are all to be destroyed by or at the coming of Christ, personally revealed from heaven, for this purpose among others, to destroy those from the earth who
obey not the gospel, and who will not that he should reign
over them. The second coming of our Lord, therefore, must
be by clear, logical, and unavoidable inference, pre-millennial.
The correctness of the exposition given of the above passage, and of the inference derived, is confirmed by the import and uniform use of the words here translated, the
brightness of his coming.
Tj srTqavsa Qrg CrapoulaC acurou. By the epiphany of his




76              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
coming, or his appearing and coming. The Greek word,
Epiphany, which signifies a glorious appearing, or appearance, always means a personal appearance of the object to
which it relates, and when applied to our Saviour, invariably
refers to his glorious personal appearing.
It occurs six times in the New Testament, in all of which
a literal appearing is always meant.
1 Timothy 6: 14.  "That thou keep this commandment
without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord
Jesus Christ;" EsXpI rq-) EsiJavEag. The commandment here
spoken of was not designed for Timothy only, but for all his
successors in the ministry until the coming of our Lord.
And hence addressed to a whole line or succession of persons, it was to be kept until the epiphany of the Lord.
2 Timothy 1: 10.  "But is now made manifest by the
appearing," the epiphany, "of our Saviour Jesus Christ."
This refers to his first advent, which was undoubtedly literal
and personal.
2 Timothy 4: 1. "I charge thee therefore before God,
and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and kingdom."
2 Timothy 4: 8. "Henceforth there is laid up for me a
crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge,
shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all
them also who love his appearing;" sqralpavsnav.
Titus 2: 13. "Looking for that blessed hope, and the
glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus
Christ;" sr$qpavsav -r-S o4gS.
2 Thess. 2: 8. " And then shall that Wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth,
and destroy with the brightness of his coming," or the
glorious epiphany of his coming. In each of the five passages preceding the last, reference is evidently had to the




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.               77
personal appearance of our Lord.  Must it not then in this
last passage, especially as the word is never used in any
other sense in the New Testament?
The same conclusion is forced upon us, from a consideration of the sense in which the original word translated coming
is employed in the New Testament; o7apouvna. It occurrs
twenty-four times in the New Testament, and in every instance refers to the actual appearing or coming of the object
referred to.  To avoid tediousness, the passages will be
omitted, and a reference only made to them in a note.*
Now if in none of the cases in which this word is used, a
spiritual or figurative advent of the object to which it relates
is meant, but in all cases a literal appearing or coming of
the object, must it not denote a personal coming of our Lord
in this passage, which declares that that Wicked shall be destroyed by his appearing and coming?
We see not, then, how the conviction can be avoided, that
Antichrist is to be destroyed by or in connection with the
personal coming of our Lord; and if so, his coming must be
pre-millennial.
All this receives additional confirmation, and accords most
fully with the fact recorded in the seventh chapter of Daniel,
that the power denoted by the Little Horn, which persecutes
and wears out the saints of the Most High, is to be destroyed
by the Son of man seen coming in the clouds of heaven, to
receive the dominion of earth.  Dan. 7: 11-14, and 25-27.
It also accords with the events which take place under
the sounding of the seventh angel, Rev. 11: 15. "And the
seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven
saying, the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms
* Matt. 24: 3-24: 27, 37, 39. 1 Cor. 15: 23-16: 17, 2 Cor. 7: 6,
7-10: 10. Phil. 1: 26-2: 12. 1 Thess. 2: 19-3: 13-4: 15-5: 23.
2 Thess. 2: 1-2: 8-2: 9. James 5: 7, 8. 2 Pet. 1: 16-3: 4, 12. 1
John 2: 28.




78              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever
and ever."
This ushers in the millennium; but it is not the only fact
announced: for it is immediately said, "And the nations
were angry, and thy wrath is come, that thou shouldst
destroy them that destroy the earth." This certainly teaches,
that at the time the kingdoms of this world become the
kingdoms of our Lord, there will be a destruction of those
who receive not the Saviour, and who have destroyed the
earth by their errors and persecutions. And who else are
likely meant here, by these angered nations, but those Antichristian powers who together constitute the Man of Sinthat Wicked, whom the Lord will consume by the spirit of
His mouth, and destroy by the brightness of His coming?
Another remarkable passage, in harmony with the foregoing, is found in Rev. 14: 6, which shows that at the time the
angel is seen in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Babylon,
the mother of harlots falls, and the Son of man is seen
coming on a white cloud, with a drawn sickle in his hand, to
reap the earth, and cast it into the wine-press of the wrath
of God.
Does not this also clearly assert the destruction of those
antichristian confederacies, which are symbolized by the
mystical Babylon, at the coming of the Son of man?
All these scriptures evidently point to one and the same
thing; and I see not how the conclusion can be avoided, that
these Antichristian powers will continue up to the time of
Christ's second advent, and then be destroyed, as irreformable and incorrigible, as were the inhabitants of the old
world, and of Sodom and Gomorrah.
As all these, then, must be removed before the millennium,
and as they are destroyed at the coming of Christ, the




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.            79
argument is conclusive, that his second advent must be premillennial.
4. A fourth argument for the personal coming of our Lord
before the millennium, and at the establishment of His kingdom in the world, is drawn from the parable of the nobleman. Luke 19: 11-27.
" And as they heard these things, he added, and spake
a parable, because he was nigh unto Jerusalem, and
because they thought that the kingdom of God should
immediately appear."
He said therefore, " A certain nobleman went into a far
country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.
And he called his ten servants, and delivered unto them ten
pounds, and said unto them, occupy till I come. But his
citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying,
We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came
to pass when he was returned,having received the kingdom,
then he commanded those servants to be called to whom he
had given the money, that he might know how much every
man had gained by trading," &c.
The apostles evidently believed that Christ had come to
set up a great and visible kingdom on earth; and it is a
remarkable fact, that if they were in an error in cherishing
this expectation, the Saviour never told them so, nor have
they ever acknowledged their mistake. If the Lord ever
did correct them in this respect, I have been sadly unfortunate in never finding the record of it. But they were in
great error in regard to the time of the appearance or setting
up of the kingdom; and upon this point our Lord aimed to
give them clear and definite instructions; and for this purpose this parable was spoken.
And he added and spoke a parable. What for? Because
they had imbibed from their scriptures the absurd idea, that
he would at some day receive the throne of his father David,




80              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and reign over the house of Israel forever? Not at all. But
because they were then nigh unto Jerusalem, and because
they thought that the kingdom of God should imlmediately
appear, and probably supposed that they were going up to
Jerusalem for that purpose.
But this was a mistake. His kingdom, which they rightly
and scripturally expected, was not immediately to appear;
but was to be reserved for a future age or dispensation. To
correct their mistake as to the time, and to show them that
His kingdom, visibly manifested on earth, was not to be set
up until his coming again to our world after his ascension,
was the design of the parable.
The nobleman represents our Lord, and his going into a
far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return,
represents his ascension to heaven to receive his kingdom,
and his second advent to reign over it, which kingdom, Paul
assures, in 2 Tim. 4: 1, is to be manifested at His appearing
to judge the living and the dead.
Viewing the parable in this light, which is most natural
and obvious, it furnishes a most striking proof and illustration of the second advent of our Lord, at the setting up of
his kingdom, or at the introduction of the Millennial age,
when He will call together, judge and reward His servants,
and destroy those who would not that he should reign over
them, agreeably to the statements of the parable.
And according to this interpretation, how admirably
adapted was the parable to answer the end designed —to
correct their mistake in supposing that he was about to set
up his kingdom immediately, and to show them that it was
not to appear until after his ascension and return to earth.
5. The evidence thus far presented in proof of the premillennial advent of our Lord, receives additional strength
and confirmation, from the revealed fact, that the conversion'Of the Rsovs,  and their rwctSratowAx tb the8r zwn land, whitcs




THE PRE-MIILLENNIAL ADVENT.            81
must take place before or at the commencement of the
millennium, are associated in prophesy with some remarkable
personal manifestation of the Messiah.
As the conversion and restoration of the Jews will be
treated of separately and distinctly in another place, but little will be said here.
Jer. 23: 5-8.  "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that
I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall
reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in
the earth. In his days shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely; and this is the name whereby he shall be called,
Tr1E LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, the Lord
liveth which brought up the children of Israel out of the
land of Egypt; But the Lord liveth which brought up, and
which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north
country, and from all the countries whither I had driven
them; and they shall dwell in their own land."
The conversion of the Jews in all their wide dispersion,
and their final restoration to their own land, are the subjects
of discourse in this prediction.  But let it be noticed that
these take place at the time that the Lord raises up unto
David a righteous Branch, who is denominated, The Lord
our Righteousness; and who is to execute judgment and
justice in the earth.
Interpreters, both Jewish and Christian, concur in the
opinion that Christ, the Messiah, is here intended. But a
righteous Branch, Jehovah, our Righteousness, has never
been raised up to David and Israel in the manner and at the
time here predicted.  It must, therefore, be yet future.
It could not have been fulfilled before the first advent of
our Lord; for Christ did not, and could not become a son of
David-a branch growing out of him as a tree or stock, until
after his being born in the flesh. It was when he took on
*7)




82               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
him the seed of Abraham, and was born in the line of the
family of David, a lineal descendant, that he became a branch
unto David and Israel.
Nor was the prophesy fulfilled at his birth, or at his death;
for he then came into the world to suffer, not to execute
judgment and justice in the land. Nor was it accomplished
at his ascension; for, at that time, the children of Israel were
not gathered out of all countries into their own land, but
were dispersed by the Romans into all nations.  Judah was
not then saved, nor did Israel dwell safely; but on the contrary their land was then desolated, and their towns and
cities burned with fire, and their children slain with the'sword;
and in no sense did the Lord our Righteousness then execute
righteousness and justice in the land as predicted.
That which is here foretold has then never been fulfilled;
but it will be at a time when Christ will be raised up to
David and to Israel in a peculiar and glorious sense. And
what else can be meant here but his personal and glorious
appearing to reign over the world, and thus to execute judgment and justice in the land? When this shall take place,
we are assured Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell
sorely.
A similar passage is found in Jer. 33: 14-16. " Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that
good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel,
and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at that time,
will I cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow up unto
David; and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in
the land.  In those days shall Judah be saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name wherewith he
shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.  For thus saith
the Lord: David shall never want a man to sit upon the
throne of the house of Israel."'  Verses 6-8. —" Behold, I
will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and will




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.               83
reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth.  And I
will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel
to return, and I will build them, as at the first.  And I will
cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have
sinned against me; and I will pardon all their iniquities
whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me."
Here the whole house of Judah and the house of Israel
are the subjects of the promise.  By a reference to the context, it will be seen that the restoration predicted is to be a
restoration from the land of their captivity to Palestine; its
mountains and vales, the cities of the south, the cities of Benjamin and Judah, and the whole land that had been desolate.
It is to be attended by their universal sanctification, and
universal forgiveness. The time, or period of its accomplishment, is the appearing and the reign of the Messiah on earth;
for it is expressly declared, that in those days, and at that
time, the Branch of Righteousness is to grow up, or to appear, and to execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
Nothing like all this was accomplished at the time of our
Lord's first coming; for, in connection with that advent, and
soon after the ascension of Jesus, destructions wide, wasteful,
and terrific, came upon the whole land and nation. And as
no conversion, sanctification, and restoration of Judah and
Jerusalem have occurred since the ascension of our Lord, the
whole prophesy must be yet future.
Now, it is a remarkable fact that whenever the conversion,
or restoration of Israel are subjects of prophesy, the promised
blessings are frequently associated, in some form, with the
manifestation or appearance of Messiah, their king.
Thus the apostle, in speaking of the final universal conversion of the Jews, says —Rom. 11: 26, "And so all Israel
shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Zion
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob"



84              MILLENNARIAN VIE~WS.
thus associating their conversion with the appearing of their
Deliverer, Christ.
Now, how strikingly harmonious are all these scriptures
with the doctrine of the pre-millennial advent, and reign
of Christ on earth! Deny the personal appearing and reign,
and you throw a veil of obscurity and utter uncertainty over
the meaning of all these prophesies; but admit these, and
they seem exceedingly simple and glorious. And hence, in
connection with other scriptures, they furnish a clear argument for the pre-millennial advent, and future reign of the
Lord our righteousness on earth.
6. That the personal coming of our Lord, is pre-millennial,
and for the purpose of reigning upon the earth, is further
manifest from all those scriptures, which declare that the
Lord God will give unto him the throne of his father David,
and that he shall sit upon the throne of David to order it
with justice and judgment forever.
When the angel Gabriel announced to Mary the birth of
Jesus, he said, Luke 1: 32-33, "He shall be great, and
shall be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God
shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he
shall reign over the house of Jacob forever: and of his kingdom there shall be no end."
Isaiah 9: 6, 7. —" For unto us a child is born, unto us a
Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders:
and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor,-the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the
increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment and with justice from
henceforth, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will
perform this."
Jer. 23: 15 and 17. In those days and at that time, will
I cause the branch of righteousness to grow up unto David;




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             85
and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land.
For thus saith the Lord; David shall never want a man to
sit upon the throne of the house of Israel."
The scriptures are many in which a direct mention or reference is made to the fact that Christ shall sit upon the
throne of David.
But what do all these mean?  In what sense, and when is
Christ to occupy the throne of David. He certainly did not
when he sojourned in humiliation and sorrow on earth. He
does not now, in any conceivable sense, sit upon David'4
throne, in his exalted and glorified state. He is set down, we
are told, with the Father in his throne, and the throne of God
was never David's. Jesus now is King of the universe. All
power in heaven and in earth is given into his hands, and all
made subject unto him, for the salvation of his people, and
the accomplishment of his great work in destroying the works
of the devil, and in restoring the race of man to holiness and immortality. But this was never David's throne, or government.
Nor will he sit upon David's throne when he comes upon
the throne of judgment, to judge the quick and the dead,
and assign them their eternal rewards. In what conceivable
sense, then, has any government which Christ has ever exercised over angels or men, things visible or invisible, been
the government of David? But it is said that as David
reigned over the Jews, the people of God, so Christ reigns
over the people of God-his spiritual Israel-and in this
sense he sits upon David's throne.
But this exposition, in no true sense, meets the conditions of the predictions.
1. David's government was a temporal government over
the Jews as a nation. He never was constituted the head of
the church, and never did exercise a spiritual government over
God's spiritual Israel. But Christ's government over the people of God now is spiritual. He reigns in their hearts by his




86              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
spirit, by faith and love. Hence it is, in no conceivable sense,
David's throne, which he now occupies in that spiritual government which he exercises in the hearts of true believers:
for David never sat upon this throne, and never exercised
this government  To say that he did, would be to give him
the place of God in the hearts of his people, and make him
an object of supreme love and worship.
2. The spiritual government which Christ exercises over
the people of God commenced with the first believer on
earth, and has never since been intermitted, and never will
be. Over Abel, and Enoch, and Noah, and the tens of
thousands who died in the faith, and went home to heaven,
before his first advent, the great Mediator reigned as effectually by his word and spirit, and dwelt in them by faith
and love, as over Paul, or the millions who have lived since.
His government over the people of God, then, in this sense,
dates back to the first believer, and runs thence downward
through all time, and onward through all eternity, and will
never terminate while redeemed sinners circle his throne
and shout the praises of his love.
But the throne of his father David which was to be given
to him, could not be given to him until after his birth:
for not until then was he a son of David; and accordingly
the promise given to Mary, was not spoken of as a present
reality, but as altogether a future thing.
"And he shall be great, and shall be called the Son of
the Highest; and the Lord God shall give unto him the
throne of his father David, &c."
The very wording and conditions of the promise show
that it was at that time future, and not yet possessed.
Hence it is demonstrable, that the government of Christ
spiritually exercised over the true Israel of God, is not the
throne of David promised to him: for this government of
Christ extends back to the creation, while the throne of David




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.              87
his father, could not be possessed until after he became a son
of David by being born unto him in the flesh, and hence was
declared to be a still future reality at the time of his birth.
The fact, then, that David reigned over the nominal people
of God externally and temporally, does not show that Jesus
occupies his throne, in reigning over true believers spiritually,
long before David was born, and long since. It would have
been extreme trifling to have promised a throne to Christ,
which he possessed already, and to style it the throne of
David when he never possessed it.  To my own mind these
prophesies and promises which guarantee to Christ the
throne of David, were entirely dark and unintelligible, until
the light of Christ's millennial reign dawned upon me.
Now all is plain.  When Christ, a son of David according
to the flesh-an heir to his throne in regular succession,
shall, in the times of the restitution of all things, reign in
Jerusalem, where was David's throne, over the restored Jewish
tribes, and thence over a redeemed and converted world-the
Lord will indeed, then, and in truth have given him the
throne of his father David, upon which he will reign forever.
These scriptures, then, furnish clear and striking proof of
the pre-millennial advent and reign of Christ on earth.
But when it is said that Christ shall reign in Jerusalem,
and upon the throne of David, we do not suppose that he
will have a great and splendid palace there, like an earthly
monarch, in which he will live, or a gold, or silver, or ivory,
throne built, upon which he will sit, in imitation of earthly
potentates; but simply that he will there visibly manifest
himself in some appropriate and God-like way, which we
would not attempt to explain, and there issue his laws, and
rule over the children of Israel and the world.
And this is no more unreasonable or undignified, than is
the recorded fact, that Jehovah did of old record his name
in Jerusalem.




88               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Did he not there dwell in a peculiar manner, and by some
visibly manifested glory between the cherubim?
And from thence did he not give forth his oracles, and
answer the prayers of his people? And on account of
the dwelling of God there, and his visibly manifested glory
in the most holy place, did not the pious Jews, wherever
they went, turn their faces towards Jerusalem when they
prayed?
And may not this have been intended as a type of the
more visible, glorious, and enduring manifestation of the incarnate God, in the new dispensation, when not simply to the
high priest once a year, in the most holy place, he will show
his glory, but openly as he appeared on the mount of transfiguration?
Surely there can be nothing more absurd in the idea of
Jehovah Jesus reigning in Mount Zion during future ages,
than there was in God's dwelling and reigning there in ancient
times.
And as Jehovah's visibly manifested glory there in the
most holy place, did not confine him to that one locality,
but left him free, as God, to fill the universe with his presence, and heaven with his more immediate smiles, so neither
will Christ's reigning in Jerusalem, upon the throne of David,
confine him there necessarily, but leave him at liberty to fill
and govern his mighty universe according to the counsels of
his own will. As God he will still fill all ]leaven, and in
respect to his human form, though it possess not ubiquity,
he may transfer it from earth to heaven, or fiom world to
world at pleasure, in company with his glorified saints, and
still consistently reign in Mount Zion, and there, at appointed
seasons, execute righteousness and justice in the earth.  We
confess we cannot see the absurdity and groveling sensuality
of the reign of Christ on earth which so many sneer at.
But



TIHE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.            89
7. A comparison of what the apostle Peter says in his
second epistle, 3: 13, with what the prophet Isaiah teaches,
65: 17, and 66: 22, shows that the coming of Christ must
be before the restoration of Jerusalem and conversion of the
world.
The apostle Peter, in the third chapter of his second
epistle, speaks definitely of the personal coming of the Lord,
as a thief in the night for unexpectedness, " in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works
that are therein shall be burned up."
There can be no doubt that this conflagration takes place
after the coming of the Lord. But the apostle goes on to
say, "Nevertheless," that is, notwithstanding this general
destruction by fire, the world will not be annihilated, but
"' we, according to his promise, look for a new heavens anrd a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness."
From the connection in which this passage stands, it is
manifest that the new heavens and the new earth of which the
apostle speaks, come after, and are the result of the Lord's
coming, as is evident from the verse following:
"' Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things,
be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without
spot and blameless. But this new heavens and new earth
are the fulfilment of a prophetic promise, for thus it is written,
We, according to his promise, look for a new heavens and a
new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness," or in which
righteous people will dwell.
Let us turn now to the original promise, and see how it is
given, and when it is to be accomplished. Isaiah 65: 17-19.
" For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and
the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.
But be ye glad, and rejoice forever in that which I create:
for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a.5 *




90               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people:
and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor
the voice of crying."
And then the prophet goes on to say, that they shall plant
vineyards, and build houses, and do other things which are
only appropriate to men in the flesh on earth.  And all this is
to occur when the wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and
the lion eat straw like the bullock.
The new heavens and the new earth, then, according to
Isaiah, consists in the restoration of Jerusalem, and in the removal of all weeping and sorrow from the earth, and in the
production of just that restoration of all things in our world,
of which God's holy prophets have so generally spoken, and
which manifestly constitutes the millennium.
But let it be borne in mind that Isaiah and Peter speak of
the same new heavens and new earth: for the apostle says,
that his are the fulfilment of those predicted by the prophet.
"We, according to his promise," that is, this promise of
Isaiah, "look for a new heavens and a new earth in which
dwelleth righteousness."
But Peter declares that his are after the coming of the Lord,
and the dissolving of the elements, and the burning of the
earth; and Isaiah teaches that his are before or at the commencement of a state of things which can only take place during the restoration of Israel and a converted world: therefore,
from a comparison of these scriptures, it is clear that the coming of the Lord must be before the conversion of the world or
millennium. For as Peter places the new heavens and the
new earth after the coming of the Lord, and Isaiah places
them before a converted world, is it not certain that the coming of Christ must be pre-millennial?  The conclusion cannot
be avoided, unless it is disproved that Isaiah and Peter refer
to the same new heavens and earth. But this cannot be:




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             91
for Peter declares, that he looked for the accomplishment of
Isaiah's prediction or promise after the conflagration.
The same conclusion is reached by a comparison of
1 Corinthians 15;: 54, with Isaiah 25: 6-9.
In this chapter, the apostle argues extendedly concerning
the resurrection of the dead. And then, when the dead are
raised, and the living changed to immortal, he says, " So when
this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to
pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in
victory."
It will not be doubted by any that all this takes place after
the second glorious appearance of our Lord. But mark, this
result is the fulfilment of a prophecy, "Then shall be
brought to pass, or fulfilled, the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory."
Now, this saying is found in Isaiah 25: 6-9. Let us read
it, and see when it is to be accomplished, according to the
prophet. "And in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts
make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on
the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well
refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the
covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread
over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and
the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the
rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in
that day, Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and
he will save us: this is the Lord; we have waited for him,
we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.
Now the prophet manifestly describes a state of things
which is to come to pass here in our world-a latter day
glory, in which great prosperity, holiness, and happiness
are to reign-a converted, a restored world-the millennium,




92               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
in which death is to be swallowed up in victory, and consequently a world in which tears shall be wiped away from
all faces, and the rebuke of God removed from off all the
earth.
This great, sublime, and glorious result, of which Isaiah
speaks, is evidently to take place here on earth, and during
the progress of the period represented. But the apostle
says, it is to be brought to pass after the coming of Christ,
and at the resurrection of the dead in Christ; therefore, the
conclusion is unavoidable, that the coming of our Lord must
be before the millennium: for as the apostle places it after
the coming of the Lord, and Isaiah places it before or during
the progress of a restored world, there is no other way in
which their statements can be harmonized, but by the premillennial advent of our Lord and Saviour. And on this
view of the subject they do harmonize most consistently
and beautifully. But
8. It is manifest that the second coming of Christ is
before the conversion of the world, from the consideration,
that in the New Testament we are continually exhorted to
look for, and be ready for the coming, or glorious appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ, as the great and grand event
in which the hopes of the Christian and the world centre.
It would occupy more space than is desired, to refer to all
the passages in which the second coming of our Lord is
presented, as an object of hope, and a motive to obedience,
in every good word and work; and especially as it is proposed to present them in another place, to show the practical
bearings of the system, they will for the most part be
omitted here. A few quotations only will be made.
Titus 2: 11. " For the grace of God which bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.               93
blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God,
our Saviour Jesus Christ."
This certainly teaches that our eye is to be continually
fixed upon the appearing of Christ, as our blessed hope.
Phil. 3: 20. " For our conversation is in heaven; from
whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile bodies, that they may be fashioned
like unto his glorious body."
1 Pet. 4: 12. " Beloved think it not strange concerning
the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange
thing happened unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are
partakers of Christ's sufferings; that when his glory shall
be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy."
1 Pet. 1: 13. " Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober
and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto
you at the revelation of Jesus Christ."
2 Tim 4: 1. "I charge thee, therefore, before God, and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick, and the
dead, at his appeauing, and kingdom."
These are only a specimen of the very numerous passages
which point us directly and steadily to the coming of Christ,
as the great event in which all scriptural hopes centre. And
they are to the point in showing, that no such thing as a
millennium or a converted world is to be expected before He
comes: for if all that the prophets have foretold, respecting
the redemption of our world, is to be fulfilled before the
second advent, why did our Lord and his apostles overlook
and overleap all such events, and continually direct us to
His appearing, for the consummation of all our hopes?
Their teachings and exhortations are certainly in striking
harmony with the millennarian expectations.
Well then, as the scriptures teach that this world is to be
converted, and perfectly restored to sinlessness and immortality, and yet never teach that it is to take place before His




94               MILLENNARLAN VIEWS.
second advent, but admonish us to be continually looking
for His coming, the conclusion seems to be unavoidable,
that the restitution of all things must be after his advent,
when he shall come a second time, without sin unto salvation;
that is, when he comes again, he will not come to offer Himself a sacrifice for sin, but He will come in triumph, as a
glorious Prince, to perfect and give universal success to his
salvation over the world.
Before closing the argument for the pre-millennial advent
of our Lord, it will be proper to notice some prominent
objections which are generally and frequently urged, as
triumphant refutations of all that can be said in its favor.
I. It is objected that the coming of Christ cannot be before the millennium-because the scriptures teach that the
Son of Man will not come until he comes to judgment at the
last day.
But it is in strict accordance with millennarian views, that
Christ will judge the quick and the dead at his appearing
and kingdom. The discussion of the judgment cannot be
introduced here, without anticipating what will be the theme
of another chapter.  If the reader, therefore, will bear a
little, it will be shown, that not a particle of all that the
scriptures teach respecting the judgment of the righteous
and the wicked, and of the time when it will occur, is denied
by the views presented.
2. It is objected to the personal reign of Christ on earth,
in a gloriously manifested kingdom, that it is contradicted by
the declaration of the Lord himself, before Pilate, John 18:
36, when lie said, " My kingdom is not of this world; if my
kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight,
that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now is my
kingdom not from hence."
But what did the Saviour mean by this? Did he mean
that his kingdom, which he came into this world to set up,




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             95
was not, or would not be in this world? that it would never
here in any sense be manifested? Or did he not rather
mean, that his kingdom was not of this world, in the sense
that others are, which are sustained by war, injustice, oppression and misrule?
It is manifest that the kingdom over which Christ shall
reign, in the new dispensation, cannot be of or from this
world from various considerations. And1. It will not be of or from this world, because he will receive it-not from the world, but fiom God, as the purchase
of his death.
2. It will be a kingdom set up, not by human authority,
power, or choice; but directly by Divine appointment; for,
" In those days shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom,
which shall never be destroyed."-Daniel 2: 44. It is hence
clearly not of this world.
3. It is not a kingdom of or from this world, in the sense
that other kingdoms are, in that it will be governed, not by
human laws, not by worldly principles or policy, but by the
laws of heaven, and the principles of eternal rectitude and
love. It will be a theocracy, a government, or kingdom of
God, and hence in no common sense of or from this world.
4. The kingdom of Christ is not of this world, in the same
sense that he says of his disciples, John 17: 16, "They are
not of the world, even as I am not of the world."
But in what sense were the apostles not of the world?
were they so spiritual that they could not be seen? so mysteriously internal that they were no longer in or upon the
world as a place of living and acting?
But though the apostles were not of the world, were not
devoted to worldly interests and pursuits in opposition to
Christ, yet they were personally in this world.  This was
the place of their abode, and of their labors and trials.
Just so, Christ's kingdom is not of this world; but yet it




96              MILLENNARI AN VIEWS.
is a kingdom in this world, and not in some other. It is for
a kingdom in this world that we are taught to pray, " Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
And it is out of this kingdom, here in this world, that the
tares are to be gathered, and in which the righteous are to
shine forth as the sun.
This declaration, therefore, of our Lord before Pilate, does
not at all conflict with the idea of a visibly and gloriously
manifested theocracy, or kingdom of God on earth.
The prophet Daniel clearly and incontrovertibly teaches
that the kingdom of the God of heaven is to have a visible
manifestation, and a subduing power on earth. In the second chapter of his prophesy, in interpreting the dream of
Nebuchadnezzar respecting the great image, he says, " that
the image, in its various parts, symbolized a succession of
kingdoms which would arise in the world, from his time,
down to the setting up of another kingdom  by the God
of heaven. This kingdom is represented by the little stone
cut out of the mountain without hands, which smote the
image upon the feet, and broke them to pieces. "Then was
the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken
to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summerthreshing floors; and the wind carried them away, that no
place was found for them: and the stone that smote the
image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth."
The kingdom represented by this little stone, which smote
the image, is thus explained by the prophet.
" And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven
set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the
kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break
in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, represented in the
image, and it shall stand forever."
Now it cannot be disputed that all the kingdoms, symbolized in this image, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             97
Macedonian, the Roman, and those which arose upon the
breaking up of the empire, were literal and temporal kingdoms here on earth.  Must not, then, that other kingdom
which the God of heaven will set up, which comes in their
place, and which is to stand forever, and by which they are
all to be broken in pieces and consumed, and driven away as
the chaff, so that no place is found for them, be a literal and
visible kingdom also? Does not the fact, that it destroys in
its growth all these kingdoms, and fills their place, prove
that it must have a real, visible, and glorious manifestation
on earth, through eternal ages, after its establishment?
The same great truth is clearly implied in all those predictions which teach, " That the kingdoms of this world are
to become the kingdoms of our Lord." So that, although the
kingdom of Christ is not of this world, in any such sense as
oppressive and worldly governments generally are, yet it is
in this world, and will here have a career of visible and
everlasting glory.
3. It is objected to the personal and visible reign of Christ
on earth, that he said, when he was demanded of the Pharisees, " when the kingdom of God should come," Luke 17:
20, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,
neither shall they say, lo, here! or lo, there! for behold the
kingdom of God is within you."
From this it is argued, that the kingdom of God is a purely
spiritual kingdom, existing only in the hearts of men, and is
therefore something which cannot be seen by outward observation.
But is this, or anything like it, the reason our Lord assigns why it will not come with observation?
The verses immediately succeeding show in what sense he
meant to be understood; but he does not intimate that the reason is because his kingdom is so spiritual. He says it will
not come with observation, because it will come so suddenly




98               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and unexpectedly. It will be as the lightning's flash, as it
was with the flood in the days of Noah, and as the descent of
fire on Sodom in the days of Lot. "And they shall say to
you, see here! see there! Go not after them, nor follow
them. For as the lightning that lighteneth out of one part
under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven,
so shall also the Son of- Man be in his day. And as it was
in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of
man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they
were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into
the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all."
Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot: " they did eat,
they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they
builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it
rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them
all: Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is
revealed."
The idea here presented is, that when the Son of Man is
revealed in his kingdom, it will be so sudden, and unattended
by any premonitory signs, that it will in no sense come with
observation. The whole course of nature will remain unchanged and move on as usual.  Iniquity will abound, and
the love of many will wax cold. Scoffers will arise, and on
every hand turn up the lip at those who are anxiously looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God our Saviour; and exultingly exclaim, "Where is
the promise of his coming: for since the fathers fell asleep
all things continue as they were from the foundation of the
world?"
In public and private life, all will be busy, as in times past,
in their schemes of selfishness, and pride, and pleasures.
Kings upon their thrones, or in secret conclave assembled,
will be consulting how their power and tyranny may be perpetuated; and around them the sea and waves of popular dis



THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.             99
content and commotion will be roaring, perhaps with unwonted restlessness.
There will be marrying and giving in marriage, buying and
selling, building and planting, cheating and robbing, sickening, and suffering, and dying; just as it was on the day that
Noah entered into the ark. Wickedness, as then, great,
perilous, and heaven-daring will abound; and in the church,
the wise and foolish virgins will be sleeping and slumbering
together, over the coming of the bridegroom.  False prophets and errorists of various names and pretensions will arise,
and in putting forth their claims cry, lo, here! or lo, there!
see here! or see there! and will delude many.
But suddenly at some unexpected moment, the Lord will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God, and on every hand the cry
will be heard, " Behold, the bridegroom cometh, Go ye out to
meet him!" Oh what a cry will that be in the ears of an ungodly and slumbering world! "And then will be seen the
sign of the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with
power and great glory; and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him."
Surely the kingdom of God will not come with observation.
It will be as when the lightning flashes; we cannot say, see
there! it comes; but, it is here.  It has come in all its
glory.
No one in respect to this kingdom, which will come at the
appearing of Jesus Christ, can say, Lo, here! or Lo, there!
which might be the case, were it such a kingdom as Spiritualists expect-a gradual development of the means in progress, until all shall ripen by slow progression "into the
noon-tide glories of the millennial day!"
Then it might be said, see here, this revival! see yonder,
the evangelization of an island! Lo, there, idolatry tottering!




1 00            MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
or, Lo, here, a whole nation converted! See what progress
is made; what light breaks forth on the darkness of ages,
and how the signs of the times indicate the coming and triumph of the kingdom of our Lord! Were this progress of
the gospel all that is meant by the kingdom of Christ, it
would indeed come with observation; but as it is to come at
the appearing of Jesus Christ, and this to be, for suddenness,
as the lightning's flash, it will not come with observation.
And this is in accordance with the' Saviour's own exposition,
and is in exact harmony with the millennarian's expectation.
When the Saviour said, in this connection, to the inquiring
and hypocritical Pharisees, who demanded of him, when the
kingdom  of God should appear, "the kingdom of God is
within you," He could not have meant that it was in their
corrupt hearts. He must have meant simply, that the kingdom of God was among them, as our Lord declared in Luke
10: 11: —" Be ye sure of this, that the kingdom of God is
come nigh unto you." It was offered to them. They might
have accepted the offered gospel, and thus have become
heirs of the kingdom, which is to be manifested at the appearing of Christ.
4. It is. frequently asserted that the personal reign of
Christ, over a gloriously manifested kingdom on earth, is,
or will be opposed to his spiritual reign. But how so?
When Christ comes to be admired in all them that believe,
will they admire him less on account of his presence? Does
lis personal presence and glory in heaven interfere with his
spiritual rule in their souls by faith and love?
Shall we love the Saviour less when we see him as he is;
and will his laws and spirit have a less potent influence in
bringing every thought, and feeling, and desire into conformity to his will? As we view the subject, the personal presence and manifested glory of the Redeemer, will be vastly
promotive of his spiritual reign, and give to it an efficacy




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.              101
which has never yet been witnessed on earth. It will be the
establishment of heaven's spiritual rule in this revolted world,
and will give it here an everlasting and indisputable supremacy.
5. It has been thought derogatory to the infinite glory
and exalted dignity of the Saviour, that he should leave the
heaven of heavens, fo fix his throne as a monarch on earth,
to preside in a city, and reign over this insignificant planet. It
is said, " The period of our Lord's humiliation is past. Now
he is seated on the throne of glory in the heavens.  Shall
he leave that throne to preside in a city, or reign even over
the whole earth as a kingdom?"
"But Millennarians, if we understand their views, do not
suppose that when the kingdom of God shall come on earth,
that it will be confined to it, or be limited in its duration to
a thousand years. Nor do they suppose, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the appointed heir of all things, who has ascended
far above all heavens, that he may fill all things, will, during
that period, confine his presence to earth, or his dominion to
the sons of Adam.  They do suppose, however, that at the
epoch in question, the kingdom, and dominion, and greatness
of the kingdom under the whole heaven, will be added to his
already immeasurably vast dominions.''he accession of the
Lord Jesus Christ, at his second coming, to this new kingdom, over which Satan has so long reigned, will not be the
relinquishment of his natural or hereditary kingdon as the
Son of God; nor of his mediatorial kingdom as the Son of
Man.  It will be no new  humiliation; but a triumph over
Satan, sin, and the curse, and the restoration of a lost world
to its proper place in the creation of God."
Cowper conceived more justly of the object of the Saviour's advent in his kingdom, in the following lines:
"Come thllen, and added to thy many crowns
Receive yet one, the crown of all the earth,




102               MILLENNARIAN VIEWVS.
Thou who alone art worthy! Thine it was
By ancient covenant ere nature's birth,
And thou hast made it thine by purchase since,
And overpaid its value by thy blood!
Come, then, and added to thy many crowns,
Receive yet one, as radiant as the rest,
Due to thy last and most effectual works,
Thy word fulfilled, the conquest of a world."
Other difficulties and objections to Messiah's reign on earth
vill be considered in subsequent chapters, and perhaps in
some of these the reader may find the one which obstructs
his own understanding and reception of the  views presented.
In the scriptures which have been presented to prove the
universal restoration of all things in our world, and the universal reign of Christ, it could hardly have escaped the
notice of any, that they uniformly assert, in a variety of
forms, that the kingdom which is to be here established, is
to be an everlasting kingdom, and is to exist absolutely without end.
This, it is true, is contrary to a very common opinion held
among men, that the kingdom of Christ on earth is at some
future time to come to an end, and the world to be burned
up and destroyed. But let God be true, though every man
is made a liar.
Daniel says, 2: 44, "And in the days of those kings shall
the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people,
but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms,
and it shall stand forever."  So in chapter 7: 27, he says,
"Whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."
Rev. 11: 15. "And the seventh angel sounded; and
there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdoms of
this world arle become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his
Christ; and he shall reignifjbr)ver and ever."




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.              103
The angel Gabriel said to Mary, Luke 1: 32, 33, "IIe
shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest;
and the Lord God shall give unto him  the throne of his
father David.  And he shall reign over the house of Jacobfor
ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end."  Does not
this language preclude the possibility of limitation?  There
is to be no end to that government which he is to exercise
over the house of Jacob in this world.
Psalms 72: 5-8.  "They shall fear thee as long as the
sun and the moon endure, throughout all generations: He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass; as showers
that water the earth.  In his days shall the righteous flourish: and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth.
He shall have dominion, also, from sea to sea, and from the
river unto the end of the earth."  2: 11-17. " Yea, all kings
shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him. His
name shall endure forever; his name shall be continued as
long as the sun, and men shall be blessed in him; all nations
shall call him blessed."
In these passages, it is not only declared that his kingdom
on earth shall endure forever, but shall exist as long as the
sun and the moon. Now, if, as will be shown in a subsequent
chapter, there is no such thing predicted in scripture as the
annihilation of these heavenly bodies, or of earth, it will follow that our world will be inhabited forever, and that during
eternal ages Christ will rule over it.
Isaiah says, 9: 7, " Of the increase of his government
and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David,
and upon his kingdom to order it, and to establish it with
judgment and with justice, from henceforth, even forever."
Let it be supposed, that after sin, and the curse, and all
the works of the devil are destroyed from earth, the generations of sanctified men in the flesh shall go on increasing,
eternally, and that as they fulfill their lot in life, they shall,




104             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
to make room for others, be transfigured to the glorified,
without tasting death, as were Enoch and Elijah, how literally and sublimely would this prediction of Isaiah be fulfilled.
" Of the increase of his government there would indeed then
be no end." And as the redeemed passed away from earth,
there would be room enough for them amid the bright orbs
above, or in those mansions in our Father's house which
Jesus has gone to prepare.
How this simple and scriptural view magnifies the salvation of Jesus! how it enhances the triumphs of Divine love!
what a sublime spectacle will be a redeemed world for the
universe to look upon through unending ages; and as the
holy thus continue to increase, how will the number of the
lost continue to diminish in comparison, until they shall be
only as the drop to the ocean to the saved. Then, indeed,
will the Crucified see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied.
Then, indeed, will the trophies of grace as far exceed the utmost stretch of human conception, as this mighty universe
does our limited vision. If these scriptures do not prove the
everlasting duration of Christ's kingdom on earth, then it
would be impossible to prove the eternity of God, or the
eternity of future happiness, or misery, from the Word of
God; for on the same principles by which any would explain
these scriptures to represent only a limited time, others of
the same kind, referring to the future world, might be limited.
How much more safe to take the scriptures according to
their literal and obvious import.
And now may I not ask, why should it be thought a
thing incredible, or unreasonable, that he who so loved the
world, as once to live in it, and to die for it, should again descend in mercy to perfect that work, which, from the foundation of the world, he commenced and loved-to subdue
all things to ]imself, and here to multiply his seed through
everlasting ages, freed from  sin and the curse, until their




THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT.                 105
numbers shall outswell the sands of the sea-shore, and
exceed the stars of heaven for multitude and glory? Can
any say that this would be unworthy of the love of God, or
degrading to his infinite dignity and power? Sublime and
beautiful, and glorious as is this vast scheme of redeeming
love, we would not dare receive it did it not appear to be
clearly predicted in the scriptures of truth; but believing it
here revealed, and seeing its entire harmony with all the
other recorded doctrines of scripture, we accept it as scriptural, rational, and infinitely worthy of God.
" Come, thou Desire of nations, quickly come!
Conqueror of death, break up the gloomy tomb;
Star of thine Israel, call the wanderers in;
Healer of Nature's wounds, thy work begin;
Thou nearest Kinsman, come, avenge our wrongs,
Our sorrows turn to joy, our sighs to songs."




TIE RESURRECTION, TRANSFIGURATION, AND REIGN OF THE SAINTS.
WITH the glorious appearing of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ to reign upon the earth, are associated various
events of great significance and grandeur.  Among these,
first in the order of time and importance are the resurrection
of the dead and transfiguration of the living saints, and their
adjudgment to thrones and crowns in his kingdom.
"For if we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout,
with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.  Wherefore comfort one another with
these words."- 1 Thess. 4: 14-18.
According to millennarian understanding of the scriptures, there are to be two resurrections of the dead widely
separated from each other in time and portentous significance. In proof of this, the passage in Revelations 20: 1-7,
will first be considered.
" And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the
key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And
he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
devil and satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast
him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.             107
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he
must be loosed a little season.
"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them; and I saw the souls of them
that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their
foreheads, or in their hands, and they lived and reigned with
Christ a thousand years.  But the rest of the dead lived not
again until the thousand ylears were finished. This is the
first resurrection.  Blessed and holy is he that hath part in
the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his
prison," &c.
The import of this passage seems to be very plain. Most
who are not millennarians, as well as those who are, have
understood it to teach that Satan is to be banished from the
earth, and effectually restrained from all evil influence in our
world during the period of time here designated.
In this all adopt the most obvious sense; and following the
same natural import, I see not how the conclusion can be
avoided, that there are to be two resurrections, the one preceding, and the other following the thousand years. Of all
who followed the Lamb, mentioned in chapter 19: 14, and
who had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, it is
said, "And they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years. But the rest of the dead lived not again, [or were not
raised as to their bodies from the dead] till the thousand
years were finished. This is the first resurrection."
It is clear that the two resurrections here named must
correspond to each other. If the first is a merely spiritual




108               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
resurrection, meaning a resurrection from sin to holiness,
then the second must be spiritual in the same sense, and
would show that those raised at the close of the thousand
years were to be also raised to holiness and happiness; but
if either one is a literal resurrection of the dead, then consistency and common sense require that the other should be
understood in the same sense. There is nothing in the passage to warrant us in saying that the first resurrection is
spiritual, and that the second is a literal rising of the dead.
But it is rendered certain that there is a literal resurrection of the dead spoken of at the close of the thousand
years: for the apostle immediately adds, verses 12, 13,
"And I saw the dead, srmall and great, stand before God.
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death
and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and
they were judged, every man according to their works.
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is
the second death.
Here, then, is evidence conclusive that the resurrection at
the close of the thousand years, is a literal resurrection of
the dead. And in addition to this, it is rendered certain
that it is in no sense a spiritual resurrection spoken of: for
upon them the second death does have power, which could
not be the case were their resurrection one from sin to holiness; and they are pronounced neither blessed nor holy, neither do they reign with Christ.
From the necessity of the case, then, one resurrection is
here clearly defined to denote a literal resurrection of the
dead, which must consequently determine the nature of the
other, and shows it is a literal resurrection of the dead in
Christ. The vast difference made between the destinies of
the two classes of persons here represented, cannot comport
with the idea of a spiritual resurrection in each case, but is
perfectly consistent with a literal resurrection of the bodies




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.             109
of the righteous and the wicked, as taught throughout the
Scriptures. For there is nothing incongruous, absurd, or
impossible in the idea that the holy should be raised before
the thousand years, judged and rewarded with offices of
glory in Christ's kingdom, and that when the thousand
years are finished, the unholy should be raised and punished.
This exposition is sustained and argued by Professor Stuart, and others equally learned, as necessarily required by
the very structure of the passage and the import of the
words employed. Though most decidedly opposed to millennarian views, he maintains that, according to a correct
exegesis of this passage, there must, and certainly will be a
resurrection before the millennium. The words will not
consistently and rationally bear any other construction. See
Com. on Apoc., vol. I. p. 357.
In arriving at the conclusion, therefore, that two resurrections are here taught, and that the saints are to be raised
before the millennium, we indulge in no vain speculations or
imaginations. The meaning which lies on the very face of
the passage is taken, that which is most obvious and clear,
and which we believe God intended to communicate. And
this conviction is strengthened from the consideration that
neither the Saviour nor his apostles ever taught anything
contrary to it, but much that is most strikingly and clearly
in harmony with it. In fact, there are some scriptures which
would have little or no force, except on the ground of the
two resurrections here maintained.
In 1 Corinthians,'chapter 15, the apostle Paul has presented an extended argument to prove the resurrection of
the dead. He says, in verse 22 and onward, "For as in
Adam all die,*even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But
every man in his own order: Christ the first fruits, afterwards they that are Chiist's at his coming." There is great




110               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
emphasis and distinctive meaning in these words, and they
undoubtedly imply that the wicked, or those who are not
Christ's, will not be raised at the same time. For where
would be the force or propriety in saying that they who are
Christ's are to be raised at his coming, if all who are not his
are to be raised at the same period?
Though all are at some time to rise and appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, the just and the unjust, yet there is
to be an orderly succession in these resurrections, and one,
too, which will appropriately accord with the widely different
destinies of the righteous and the wicked.
There is also a passage in Philippians 3: 8-12, which is
in striking harmony with these views, and upon which they
shed a clear and glorious light.
"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss
for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found
in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his
sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any
means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not
as though I had already attained; but I follow after, if that
I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of
Christ Jesus."
Let it be noticed, that the apostle declares that he suffered
the loss of all things, and made all the effort he here describes. "If by any means he might attain unto the resurrection of the dead," and that this was the work for which
he pressed.
Now what does this mean? What resurrection was this,




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.              111
to which Paul was so anxious to attain, and for which he
sacrificed so much?  It cannot refer to a spiritual resurrection, for to this he had already attained by being born of the
spirit, when he was made a new creature in Christ Jesus.
Nor can it consistently refer to a resurrection promiscuously of the righteous and the wicked: for to this he could
not help attaining, let him do what he might. God has
purposed and revealed that all who are in their graves shall
hear the voice of the Son of God and come forth.  It was not
necessary, therefore, that the apostle, or others, should make
any effort to secure this.  But to the resurrection, of which
he here speaks, there was a possibility of his not attaining.
To attain it, required all the self-denial and effort enjoined
in the gospel.  What then can it mean?
Behold, how simply and forcibly it harmonizes with the
doctrine of two resurrections, as set forth.  On the ground
that there are to be two resurrections, the one widely separated from the other in time, nature, and glory, and that
" Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, for on such the second death bath no power," and that
all such are to be kings and priests unto God, it is not wonderful that the apostle was anxious to attain to it; and it may
readily be seen why effort and holiness are necessary to participate in it.
0, who would not, did he believe in such a resurrection,
commend the apostle, and strive with him in equally ardent
and self denying effort to gain so great and glorious a prize?
IHow many will never be counted worthy to attain this resurrection of the just, and will be shut out from all its glories
into outer darkness, to comne forth only to the resurrection of
condemnation: because they never sought, or lived for it.
Reader, are you striving, like the great apostle, that you may
attain unto the resurrection of the dead?
This seems to have been the prize, too, for which the an



112              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
cient worthies contended. Of all those who died in the faith,
Paul says, Heb. 11: 35, "And others were tortured, not
accepting deliverance, that they might attain a better resurrection."  What resurrection?  Manifestly not the general;
for this they could not avoid, however wicked. Not a spiritual; for this they had already experienced, before they left
the world. Nor did they suffer what they did, merely that
they might live hereafter; for this they could not avoid. But
they were undoubtedly, like Paul, looking and living for this
first resurrection, in which the righteous only will be concerned, and be blessed and holy.
According to this view, it needs no philosophizing or spiritualizing to understand these scriptures, and to give them
a surpassing force and beauty.
The doctrine of a first resurrection, widely distinguished
from that of a general one, in which all the wicked are included, receives additional proof and illustration from several
passages in the teachings of our Saviour.
Luke, 14: 14. "But when thou makest a feast, call the
poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be
blessed: for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be
recompensed at the resurrection of the just."
Does not this imply that the resurrection of the just will be
something distinct from a general one, in which all will be
included? A promiscuous resurrection, in which a large
proportion, and perhaps a majority might be unholy, could
not, with truth and propriety, be termed the resurrection of
the just. And besides, the passage shows that the just are
not to receive their peculiar reward in the kingdom of God,
until the resurrection.  It associates their recompense, as the
scriptures uniformly do, with this great and glorious event.
Without doing any violence, therefore, to the passage, or
laboring to twist it from its most obvious import, it certainly




TIII REIGN OF THE SAINTS.             113
accords most perfectly i ith the doctrine of the two resurrections in question..Another wonderful passage, difficult to understand on the
ground of but one resurrection, promiscuous and universal,
but entirely fiee from all obscurity in the light of the views
presented, is found in Luke 20: 34-36:
" And Jesus answered, and said unto them, the children
of this world marry and are given in marriage: But they,
which shall be accounted worthy to attain that world, and
the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given
in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are
equal unto the angels; and are the children of God, being
the children of the resurrection."
Now read this passage in the light of the two resurrections, the first or that of the just, possessing all the glory,
and holiness, and blessedness ascribed to it in Revelations
20, and all is clear and beautiful.
When the just shall all be like Christ, and their vile bodies
fashioned like unto his glorious body, at his appearing and
kingdom, then it will appear, indeed, that they are the children of God, being the children of the first resurrection: for
none will be counted worthy to obtain this world, or this
resurrection, but the pure in heart. " Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection: for on such the
second death shall have no power."
But how would this passage read, or be explained, on the
supposition that the wicked are to attain to the resurrection
of the dead, at the same time, and in the same manner with
the righteous?
The evidence is then conclusive, that there is to be a first
resurrection, in which the just only will participate, and that
this is separated in time from that of the wicked, by a period
denoted by that of a thousand years.
And this conclusion is in no way weakened or set aside, by




114              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
those passages which declare, in general terms, that there will
be a resurrection both of the just and the unjust, without
determining the order in which, and the time when, they are
to take place.
John 5: 28, 29.  "Marvel not at this; for the hour is
coming, in the which all that are in their graves shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth; they that
have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that
have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation."
This and similar passages speak of the resurrection in
general terms, and undoubtedly include all classes of men
who ever have died or shall die in time tQ come; but it is
clear that they do not determine the times or the order of
the resurrection.
Should the scriptures, in other connections, declare that
the dead would be raised at two or twenty different times,
and in as many different lands, separated each by a month or
year, there would be no contradiction, for it would still be
true that all would hear the voice of the Son of God, and
come forth from their graves, though at different periods.
So neither do those scriptures which teach that the just and
unjust shall be raised up, in general terms, without fixing
the time, contradict the plainly revealed fact, that those
who are Christ's are to be raised up first, at his coming, and
that the rest of the dead will not live again until the thousand years are ended.
But should it further be maintained that the resurrection
of the righteous and the wicked, and all the scenes of the
last and eternal judgment, together with the burning of the
world, must necessarily take place at the same time, because
they are all associated in scripture with the second coming of
Christ-it is answered, that this does not follow as a consequence.
They will undoubtedly all take place at, or in association




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.            115
with the second coming of our Lord. But what are we to
understand by the coming of Christ?  Does it denote an instant of time-the twinkling of an eye; or all the time, be it
longer or shorter, which may be necessary for him to accomplish in orderly succession, all that he has said he will do?
Does the coming of Christ represent simply the length of
time which may be occupied in his descent from heaven to
earth, or that moment when he may appear in mid heaven?
And can we reasonably suppose that all the great events
predicted to take place at that time, are to occur and be
finished in that instant of time? Would it not be more consistently in accordance with these things, to conclude that by
the coming of Christ is designated all that period of time
which will be necessary to accomplish the work for which he
comes?
At the day of judgment, we are assured that every individual, of all the vast millions of mankind, from Adam down,
must give an account of himself to God, and that God will
bring every work into judgment with every secret thing,
whether it be good or bad. And this will be necessary, not
to inform God, or to enable him to render in each case a
right verdict, but that a created and intelligent universe may
see that God is just, and understand the mystery of his proceedings.
And let none be startled at the length of time which this
may occupy; for God has no need to be in a hurry. One day is
with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day, and there will be time enough in advance to accomplish all that he has said he will do.
Now, as all these predicted events, in detail, are to take
place at the coming of Christ, and as some length of time,
unrevealed, must transpire in their accomplishment, it is certain that the second coming of our Lord must denote, not
an instant, but a period of time long enough, at least, for




116              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
the accomplishment of all his acts of judgment and salvation.
And hence the scriptural representations respecting the
coming of Christ, and all the fearful solemnities of the judgment of the great day which cluster around his coming, do
not conflict with the doctrine that when Christ comes, he
will first raise the dead, and transfigure the living saints, and
then, by reckoning with them, adjudge them to thrones and
offices in his kingdom, and afterward, in orderly succession
and at the time appointed, do all which he has declared shall
be done at his appearing. This enlarged, consistent, and
rational view of the coming of our Lord gives full scope for
the full and ample accomplishment of all his predicted purposes, and harmonizes the various representations of scripture, as will yet be shown.
But when the just are raised immortal, incorruptible, and
glorious, at the coming of Christ, and the living saints on
earth transfigured into their glorified forms, and caught up
to meet the Lord in the air, for the purpose of judgment and
reward, they will be associated with him in the government
of the kingdom then to be fully set up.
The proof of this is abundant. A part only will be presented.  2 Tim. 2: 12. —  If we suffer, we shall also reign
with him."
Rev. 3: 21. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit
with me in my throne, even as I also overcome, and am set
down with my Father in his throne." These passages, with
others equally explicit, teach that those who suffer with
Christ, and who overcome sin and the world in their adherence to his cause, will reign with him. There would be
no definite meaning in these promises, were they not to reign
over some place or persons.
But there is nothing said here of the time when, or the
place where, or the persons over whom they are to reign.




THE REIGN OF TII  SAIN'rS.          117
They point, however, to the future, to some period beyond
the present, when in the faithfulness bf God all shall be
fulfilled.
If we turn now to Rev. 20: 4, we are definitely told of
the time when they are to reign with him. " And they
lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years," or during
the millennium.
But nothing is said yet of the place where this reign is to
be exercised or enjoyed. This point is settled by a reference
to Rev. 5: 9, 10.  "And they sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the Book, and to open the seals
thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us unto
God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings
and priests, and we shall reign on the earth."
This is the song of the four living creatures, and the fourand-twenty elders, the symbolic representatives of the redeemed saints in heaven, heard in vision by John.
They praise the Lamb for his redeeming blood, for his exalted mercy in making them kings and priests unto God, and
for that kingdom to which they are heirs, but of which they
are not yet put in possession. Their language is peculiar.
They do not say, we now reign before the throne; or, we
shall reign hereafter in heaven; but, we shall reign upon the
earth.
Now, what do all these scriptures teach, if it is not that
the saints, the redeemed now in heaven, or who shall be
there previous to the first resurrection, are to descend with
the Lord, when he comes, and in their raised and glorified
bodies to reign over men upon the earth?
Could language be more definite in affirming, that during
the millennium, "The kingdom, and the greatness of the
kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the peo



11S             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
pie of the saints."  " Know ye not," says the apostle, " that
the saints shall judge the world," or rule over it?
With this view of the subject accords most fully and beautifully the description given of the New Jerusalem, in its
descent from God out of heaven to our earth: Rev. 21
and 22.
The New Jerusalem is not manifestly a literal, material
city as some have vainly supposed; nor is it a representation
of heaven, that glorious abode of God, where the spirits of
just men made perfect are now assembled: for it is said to
come down from  God out of heaven to our earth, which
shows that it is something entirely distinct and separate from
heaven as a place or a state of blessedness. It would seem
from the description given, that there is no room left for
doubt or mistake in regard to its true scriptural import.
"And there came unto me one of the seven angels, saying,
Come hither, I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high
mountain, and showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God."-Rev. 21: 9, 10.
Here, then, is one point definitely settled, that the new
Jerusalem is the bride, the Lamb's wife, descending with him
from heaven, prepared and adorned for her husband.
But who constitute the bride? Let us turn a little back
In the same discourse, and see if any information is given.
Rev. 19: 6, 8. " And I heard as it were the voice of a
great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the
voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord
God Omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and
give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife hath made herself ready.  And to her it
was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean
and white: for thefine linen is," or represents " the righteousness of the saints."




THE REIGN OF THIE SAINTS.            119
Now, as it was given to the bride to be clothed in fine
linen, and this fine linen is the righteousness of the saints,
then it is here settled certainly and definitely that the saints
-the  congregated assembly of glorified spirits, constitute
the bride, the Lamb's wife. And this is in accordance with
the uniform representation of Scripture, and the common belief, that the church, composed of all the faithful and sanctified, is the spouse of Christ.
If, then, the saints are the bride of Christ, and the new
Jerusalem is also his wife as declared, then the new Jerusalem must necessarily be regarded as a symbol or representative of the saints, the redeemed church-as they descend
with him at his second coming. But what is meant by their
marriage? The apostle Paul teaches that when the saints
descend with Christ, their vile bodies are to be raised, and
fashioned like unto his glorious body; and that then they
are to receive their crowns of glory, and are to sit down with
him in his throne, agreeably to promise.
Now what could so beautifully represent all this as a marriage? The saints are now united to him by faith and love;
but the union is not perfect, and has not been publicly consummated. But when their vile bodies are raised and made
like his, and when in association with him, they are publicly exalted to thrones and offices in his kingdom, then
indeed will the marriage have come, and the union be perfected.
Accordingly, the whole description of the new Jerusalem
in its association with the unglorified in the flesh, shows the
influence and government which the saints are to exercise
over the world.
The following extract is taken from  Mr. Lord's work on
the Apocalypse:" As the city is the symbol of the Lamb's wife, the raised
and glorified saints adopted as joint heirs with Christ, exalted




120              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
to thrones and associated with him in his reign on earth, its
descent to earth symbolizes their descent from heaven after
their justification, and investiture as kings and priests in his
empire.
" The splendor of the elements of which it is built, denotes
the beauty of their persons and the perfection of their character; its magnitude, immensely transcending the vastest
extent over which the unaided eye can discern the most brilliant objects on the surface of the earth, denotes the incomprehensible greatness of their multitude; and the regularity
of its form, the harmony of its parts, and its massiveness
and strength, the symmetry of their relations to each other,
the unity of their spirit, and the energy of their sway.
"The gates symbolize the access to the glorified which
the nations are to enjoy. That there is to be no night there,
signifies that they are never to be without the visible presence of God; that its gates are never shut, denotes that the
nations are to enjoy uninterrupted access to the glorified.
" In the temple of Jerusalem, the mercy seat, the symbol
of the throne of God in the scene of the visible displays of
his presence, was in the holy of holies, wholly withdrawn
from the sight of the worshippers, and beheld only by the
high priest once a year.  That there is no temple in the new
Jerusalem, denotes, therefore, that the presence of the Redeemer is to be visible to the worshippers at large, not, as
under the Mosaic dispensations, veiled from sight.
"As the sun and the moon are symbols of the supreme
legislative and executive rulers in a state, that the city has
no need of the sun nor the moon that they may enlighten it,
for the glory of God enlightens it, and its lamp is the Lamb,
denotes that it is to have no need that the unglorified or
glorified saints should make laws for it, as God is to be its
law-giver, and Christ to supply it with all the commands
and counsels its exigencies are to require.




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.              121
"That the nations are to walk by its light, signifies that
they are to be guided by the teachings which Christ communicates to the glorified saints. That the kings of the
earth bring their glory and honor into it, implies that the
chiefs of the nations are to exercise their office in perfect subordination to the saints whom it symbolizes, and employ
themselves in subserving the ends which they enjoin.
" That no one is to enter it that is unclean, or that works
defilement, or falsehood, indicates that sanctification is requisite in order to that relation to the glorified which admission to its gates denotes, and thence as all nations are to
walk in its light, that the race is universally to be holy.
" The river of the water of life, proceeding from the throne
of God and of the Lamb, is the symbol, doubtless, of the renewing and sanctifying influences, by which the nations are
to be imbued with spiritual life.
" The leaves of the tree of life, which are for the healing of
the nations, symbolize the means of their restoration from
mortality; and the fruit of that tree, the pledge of their
transfiguration to glory; for there shall be no curse any
more."
For a further illustration of the New Jerusalem, the reader
is referred to the work from which this extract is made.
Now, whatever may be thought of the detailed application
here made, it is clear, that as the New Jerusalem is the symbol, or representative of the saints, as they descend to the
resurrection and marriage of the Lamb, there is indicated
here a most intimate, joyous, and glorious intercourse between the raised and glorified saints, caught up with Christ
into the air, and the unglorified nations in the flesh, over
whom the saints under Christ, are to reign.
The New Jerusalem state, then, is in perfect harmony with
the doctrine of a first resurrection, and the reign of the saints
over a redeemed and restored world in a new dispensation




122             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
It cannot be a representation of that glorious place, in some
part of the universe, called heaven, nor of a state of things
existing there; for it descends from God out of heaven to
our earth, and here the nations walk in its light, and kings
bring their glory into it, and the leaves of the tree of life in
the midst of it, are, not for the pure in heaven, not for the
healing of any there, for none there need healing; but for
the healing of the nations on earth. But how could you explain this New Jerusalem state, if you deny the reign of the
saints, and refer it to heaven alone? Will heaven itself as a
place descend to earth, and will there be nations there to be
healed, and kings there to bring their glory, and to walk in
its light?
For myself, I never understood anything of what was
really meant by the descent of the New Jerusalem, and the
glorious and happy intercourse between it and the nations of
the earth, until the light and beauty of the millennial reign
of the saints in a new dispensation dawned upon me.
But oh, how clear, and joyous, and consistent, with all the
truths and revelations of God in his Word, does it now appear!
The scriptures, thus far presented, in proof of the reign of
the saints on earth, are sustained by many others, upon which
we cannot much enlarge in exposition.
Matt. 19: 28. " In the regeneration, when the Son of Man
shall sit upon the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon
twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel."  What
does this mean? How strikingly does it fall in with the
view presented? In a regenerated world-the apostles raised
and glorified, will be elevated to great honor and usefulness
in the kingdom of Christ, in reigning over the converted and
restored tribes of Israel.  No one supposes that the apostles
are to have twelve literal thrones built somewhere in Jerusalem or Palestine, upon which they are to sit. Their sitting




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.              123
upon thrones, simply represents their exaltation as princes
over the restored tribes, just as the prophet Daniel represents
the archangel, Michael, as one of their chief princes.
1. Corinthians 6: 2.  " Know ye not that the saints shall
judge the world? know ye not that the saints shall judge
angels." How often has the question been asked, what do,
or can these texts mean? Can they mean, that at the last
great day, all the saints are to be associated with Christ in
judging the secrets of all men according to his gospel, and
in assigning them their eternal destinies?  What! shall the
saints be clothed with omniscience, and share in that awful
work which, in every other part of scripture, is ascribed only
to God?
But how simple and consistent these passages, when regarded only as declaring that the saints, under Christ, are
yet to rule over the world, in a similar sense, probably, in
which the angels now rule. And there is nothing absurd in
the idea, that when Christ shall exalt his redeemed, and
cause them, agreeably to his promise, to sit down with him
in his throne, over this world, that some of the angels may
not be as high as they, but subordinate, and that thus they
Rnay even judge or rule over angels.
Matt. 5: 5.  "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." How often is this promise repeated in the
prophetic scriptures; and yet, when have the meek, in any
sense, inherited the earth? The meek now often have the
least of this world, and are the most afflicted and tormented.
Do they then inherit the earth? And as the promise points
to the future, declaring that they shall inherit it, at some
time to come, when will it be, if the saints are not yet to
possess and reign over the world?
But when the meek of all ages, gathered now with the
Saviour in heaven, shall descend with him, at the marriage
of the Lamb, and be put in possession of the dominion of




124             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
earth, how truly will all these promises be fulfilled, that the
meek shall inherit the earth?
Isaiah 24: 33. " Then the moon shall be confounded, and
the sun ashamed," that is, the ruling powers of earth symbolized by the sun and moon, "when the Lord of hosts shall
reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously."
Zechariah, 14: 4, 6, 9. "And his feet shall stand, in that
day, upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem,
on the east. And the Lord shall be king over all the earth:
in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one."
Job 19: 25-29. " For I know that my Redeemer liveth,
and that I shall see him in the latter day upon the earth:
and though after my skin, worms devour this body, yet in
my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and
mine eyes shall behold and not another; though my reins be
consumed within me."
Did time permit, numerous other scriptures, and whole
chapters might be quoted, which concentrate to this one
point, and pour a flood of glorious effulgence over the future
reign of Christ with his saints.
And, now, if the reader would form a correct estimate of
millennarian views, and not pervert, or misrepresent them, he
must bear in mind what has been repeatedly and distinctly
referred to, that the raised and transfigured saints will be
entirely distinct from the unglorified men and nations in the
flesh. When the bodies of the dead saints are raised, and
the living saints transfigured, they will be caught up together
to meet the Lord in the air. This is according to express
scripture. Beneath them, then, and separate from them, will
be the earth with all the unglorified upon it, composed of
unconverted Jews and Gentiles, and apostate Christendom.
All those who receive not the Saviour, and who will not
that he should reign over them, will be destroyed from the




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.             125
earth, as were the inhabitants of the old world, and reserved
with Sodom and Gomorrah, unto judgment at the resurrection
of the wicked. All this will be proved and illustrated in a
future chapter.
But the Jews will then receive the Redeemer, and will
look on him whom they have pierced and mourn; and there
will be remnants of all the Gentile nations, and probably whole
heathen nations, who will receive him, and who by the wonderful outpourings of the spirit of God, will be converted.
Let the reader take these points for granted, for the present,
for the sake of illustration.
These unglorified Jews and Gentiles in the flesh, entirely
distinct from the raised and glorified, will build houses, plant
vineyards, and do all other things appropriate to men in the
flesh, and which their worldly circumstances may require;
and over these, Christ and his saints will reign.
All the prophetic promises, therefore, appropriate only to
men in the flesh, will have no application to the raised and
transfigured saints, but only to those living and multiplying
on the earth as men do now.
Hence the imputation often made against millennarians,
that they hold that the saints raised from the dead are to
live right down here flat upon the earth, and be confined here,
and jostle with men in the flesh, and live in houses, and multiply, is entirely untrue and out of character.
In the resurrection and transfigured state of the saints,
they will be as distinct from men in the flesh, as the angels
are from men now. And among them, there will be no marrying or giving in marriage, nor will their enjoyments consist
in sensual pleasures, in any degrading, groveling, or unheavenly sense; for the kingdom of God, as we hold, will not be
meats and drinks; but righteousness, peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost.
Nor do we suppose that the happiness of the unglorified in




126             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
that pure age, will consist in eating and drinking. Men will
then not live to eat; but eat to live-eat to fulfil the end of
their being, in accomplishing all the good purposes of their
Lord.
Now, if any inquire how, or in what manner, the raised
saints will mingle and associate with men, and exercise their
government over them, we answer we do not certainly know.
But this does not disprove their reign, any more than does
our inability to tell how, in all cases, the angels now minister
to those who shall be heirs of salvation, disprove their ministry.
But if I may be allowed to express my own idea, I would
draw an illustration from the angels.
You believe, Reader, that the angels are now all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs
of salvation-that the law was given on Sinai by the mediation of angels-that they continually encamp around them
that fear the Lord-and that all along down through the history of the Divine administration, as revealed in scripture,
they have been commissioned to do great and wonderful
things-directing the pestilence and the storm, and executing the purposes of Jehovah in nature, providence, and grace.
Now suppose the veil was drawn aside, which conceals all
these beings and things from mortal vision, and you were
permitted to see these angels, as did the young man with the
prophet Elisha, as they crowded the mountain around Samaria, as they encamp around the saints, and go forth in obedience to God, to fulfill their commissions of judgment or
mercy, over all the earth; and, in my humble judgment, you
would have an exhibition of the manner in which the saints,
under Christ, will fulfill their offices. They will, doubtless,
often hold personal, visible, and delightful intercourse with
the unglorified in the flesh, as the angels did with Abraham,
with Lot, and as Moses and Elisha did with Christ and Peter,




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.               127
James and John, on the mount of transfiguration. But
where in mid heavens, or amid the bright orbs above, they
may spread forth their bright pavilions, when not in actual
intercourse with the men on earth, is not revealed.
" It is often objected that the millennarian hypothesis robs
the saints of the glories of heaven and sinks their joys to the
level of sense. Their bodies it is said, will be spiritual and
glorious, and they cannot belong to a material world. Now
their spirits enjoy the beatific vision of God. They dwell
in his presence, where is fulness of joy; shall they be degraded from their thrones of glory to the things of earth and
sense?"
Millennarians are bound by their principles, to receive all
these scriptures, in their full and perfect and literal sense,
which describe the exalted, pure, and eternal blessedness
of the righteous; and hence their views do not degrade or
detract from the glory of the redeemed.
" To the question, which is often asked, how is it possible
for numbers so vast as those which will compose the redeemed church, when raised from the dead, to find a resting
place upon so inconsiderable a planet as this, Millennarians
answer, they will not; nor do their views of the kingdom of
God suppose they will. Being made like unto the angels, and
equal unto the angels, they will not be confined to the earth
by any necessity of their nature.  The heavens, the whole
realm of Christ, as the Son of Man, will be open to them.
Being heirs of God, and conformed to the body of the glory
of Jesus, and one with him, they will be with him wherever
he is, beholding his glory, and executing, as the messengers
of his power, his high behests throughout the kingdom of
God.
" It is a misconception, therefore, to suppose that the glorified saints will leave the heavens, and mingle and jostle with men
in the flesh, and share in their various occupations, as if they




128             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
were subject to the same necessities of food, raiment, or
shelter. Yet they do believe the glorified saints will have intercourse, perhaps frequent and intimate intercourse, with the
inhabitants of the earth, although the manner of it they are
unable to explain."
" If the spiritualist demands explicitness upon this point,
and many others which may be stated, touching the expected economy, the millennarian inquires in his turn of the
spiritualist, How could Moses and Elias appear to the disciples Peter, James, and John, on the holy mount? How
could they join in conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ,
both audibly and intelligibly to the disciples? How did they
so suddenly disappear from their view?
" The power of God, which raised up Jesus from the dead,
showed him openly from time to time during forty days, not
to all the disciples, but to chosen witnesses. Where was he
during the intervals of apparition? What was the manner
of his being as a man?  Could he be seen by others?  He
appeared and disappeared, in a manner quite unaccountable
to the disciples —suddenly standing among them and joining
in their conversation, and then vanishing out of their sight."
" These examples, and the instances of angelic intercourse
with men are relied upon by millennarians to prove the possibility of effective intercourse or interposition by the risen saints
in-yea, the most absolute control over the affairs of this world,
without supposing them confined to it. They deny that it
lies on them to show how such intercouse can or will take
place, because the spiritualist is equally unable to explain
these recorded facts which involve the same difficulty."
-Spirit of the Nineteenth Century, Extra.
There is nothing then more irrational or mysterious, in the
reign of the saints on earth or over earth, than there is in the
appearances and rule of angels as recorded in scripture, or
in the appearance of those who come out of their graves




THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.             129
after our Lord's resurrection and appeared unto many in
Jerusalem; or in the repeated apparitions of the Saviour in
his raised body before his ascension, and to Paul and John
afterward.
Nor is there, as shown above, any thing in millennarian
views, to prevent the saints, if so ordered or permitted by
their Lord, to visit on angel wings distant worlds and systems,
to perform some message of mercy there, or to behold, as
spectators, the glories of Godhead there revealed.
All this may be true, and vastly more, and yet in no way
conflict with that government of the saints over a redeemed
world in the new dispensation, which millennarians, in the
light of scripture, contemplate.
Why should it then be thought a thing incredible, therefore, that when the once Crucified, shall come to add this
revolted world, blood-bought, and cleansed, to his already
immeasurably vast dominions, and to restore it to its proper
place in the moral government of God, he should bring his
redeemed people with him, raise their dead bodies, and transfigure them into his own glorious form, and then associate them
with him in perfecting his great schemes of love to our world?
Does he not now thus subordinately employ his people on
earth, workers together with himself in saving men?  And
may he not exalt them to higher and more delightful powers
in this same work in his kingdom, where no exhaustion or
fatigue shall ever be experienced?
The scriptures, viewed in this light, teach that the glorified, are not to be mere idle spectators of Jehovah's glory,
or the mere passive recipients of bliss poured into them, forcing out new songs of praise; but active agents in doing their
Lord's will — -ministering spirits in conveying the mandates of
his love, or executing his pleasure in the government of the
world.  And there is accordingly a most wise adaptation in
labors of love, and benevolent effort here in life, to prepare
7




130             MILLEiNARIAN VIEWS.
us for the kingdom of God, and to fit us for those higher
services which we are to render in the future.
One more objection, often urged, must be noticed before
we leave this chapter.
Millennarians generally maintain that the kingdom of God,
or the kingdom of heaven, so much spoken of in scripture, is
yet future, and is to be set up in full at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. This is thought by some to be directly contrary to scripture, as the kingdom of God is -very often
spoken of as a present reality, and as therefore having been
set up at the introduction of the gospel dispensation.
But it is also as often referred to as a future and glorious
reality, in which the sanctified are to have their reward. To
reconcile these, the kingdom of God is made to mean one
thing in once place, and in the next passage another thing,
and in a third something entirely different.
Now all these divers representations of scripture are entirely harmonious with millennarian views. The kingdom is
a future reality, and yet a present one in purpose. Take an
illustration. Suppose here was to be erected a great and
splendid monument to Washington, from the voluntary offerings of all who wished to contribute; and to hasten the matter, suppose agents should be sent out into all parts of the
country to solicit donations.  Wherever they went, they
would speak of the monument-the monument-and urge
people to contribute to the monument, and thus their whole
language would be as though there was in reality a monument already-and then again they would speak of the
monument to be erected. Thus they would represent it as
a present thing and still future, both of which would be true,
rightly understood-existing in the present in plan or purpose, and to exist in the future as a splendid reality.
Or take another. Suppose here was a vacant territory, in
which it was proposed to establish a new kingdom, com



THE REIGN OF THE SAINTS.            131
posed of volunteers from all others. The king is appointed,
the constitution published, and the fundamental laws enacted. By consent, ministers are sent out into all the world to
persuade persons of a proper character to become members
of this kingdom. As they went forth, they would urge persons to come into the kingdom. They would praise the king
-explain the constitution and laws, set forth the great advantages- and blessings to be derived by its subjects, and thus
labor to induce men to enter. And thus they would necessarily speak of the kingdom as having a present existence,
while in fact it only existed in purpose, and was to be set
up at a future time, when the subjects to compose it had
been gathered.
Just so the kingdom which the God of heaven will set
up, exists now only in plan and purpose; but yet the Lord
and his ministers, urge men to enter it as a present reality,
and at the same time speak of it as future. Every true believer is a member of the kingdom, and Christ's ministers
are now, and have been throughout the world, urging men
to come in; and thus that great multitude is being gathered,
to whom the government of the kingdom under Christ is to
be given.
Now, let any one read the New Testament with this distinction clearly in his mind, and his eye on this future kingdom which the God of heaven will set up, and He will see
how all the various representations of the kingdom harmoniously blend, without violence, in this one great and grand
idea.
The existence of Christ's spiritual kingdom is not denied.
It has existed in our world from Abel, the first who died in
the faith, down through all succeeding time, and will continue
to exist forever in all the sanctified, and his personal presence
and visibly manifested glory, as in heaven, will only be the
means of giving it a complete and perfect sway. "Beloved,




132             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He doth appear, we
shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. And we
know furthermore, for it is revealed, that we shall be kings
and priests unto God, and shall reign upon the earth."Rev. 5: 10.
It may be proper before closing, to notice one more objection which has been raised against the doctrine of the two
resurrections advocated in this discourse. It is said, that
the view which places the resurrection of the righteous before the thousand vears, and of the unholy after this period,
makes no provision for the resurrection of those who are
righteous who die during the millennium. But we answer,
it will be in time to answer this objection when it is proved
that any of the righteous will die during this period. For
myself, I have never seen any scripture which teaches that
death will prevail among the sanctified, after the coming of
our Lord, or during the millennium. The passage in Isaiah
65, does not prove it. It speaks of the child dying a hundred years old, and the sinner a hundred years old dying accursed; but it is not said that any of these are righteous.
And hence the objection is founded only on an unauthorized
assumption, and has no weight.




THE JEWS —THEIR CONVERSION AND RESTORATION, AND THE CONVERSION
OF THE APPROVED GENTILE NATIONS AT THE COMING OF CHRIST.
To the Jews, under God, the Christian world is indebted
for all the religious blessings and the immortal hopes they
enjoy. Every sacred writer was a Jew. Patriarchs, and
prophets, and apostles, whose bright example we have for
imitation, and whose transcendent writings communicate to
us the knowledge of God and the will of heaven, were all
the seed of Abraham; and of them too, according to the
flesh, Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.
When all God's purposes of mercy towards our dying
world are accomplished, how truly and literally will the
promise to the father of the faithful have been fulfilled, "In
thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be
blessed." Can any fail to be interested in them, and in all
God's revealed purposes respecting them?
That great and wonderful results are to be accomplished
by them, and through them, in future ages, is clearly revealed, and for these God's providence has been over them,
and has preserved them from destruction amid wars and
revolutions, which have swept kingdoms and nations great
and mighty, and their proud oppressors into oblivion. No
powers leagued against them have been able to crush them
-no fires of persecution kindled upon them, have availed to
change or consume them; and no devices have succeeded in
inducing them to abandon their peculiarities as a people, and
become amalgamated with the nations among whom they




131             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
have been dispersed. Their preservation in their wide dispersion, through so many centuries and perils, is a miracle of
Providence, and clearly indicates some undeveloped destiny
for which they are intended in unborn ages.
However any may attempt to account for their preservation as a distinct and peculiar people, the true solution of it
is only to be found in the written word. In Jeremiah 31:
35-37, is the following declaration: "Thus saith the Lord,
which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances
of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which
divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; the Lord of
hosts is his name: if those ordinances depart from before
me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease
from being a nation before me forever.
"Thus saith the Lord, if heaven above can be measured,
and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will
also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done,
saith the Lord."
And again the Lord says, 46: 27, 28, "But fear not
thou, O my servant Jacob, and be not dismayed, O Israel:
for behold I will save thee from afar off, and thy seed from
the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return and be in
rest and at ease, and none shall make him afraid. Fear thou
not, O Jacob my servant, saith the Lord: for I am with
thee; for I will make a full end of all the nations whither I
have driven thee: but I will not make a full end of thee, but
correct thee in measure; yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished."
In these and similar passages, the reason is clearly assigned why no powers, combined against the Jews for their
destruction, have prospered, and why, while a full end has
been made of mighty nations among which they have been
scattered, they have been preserved.
How strong the language employed, and definite. Let




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             135
the nations put forth their power and skill against the ordinances of heaven. Let them, if they can, blot out the sun,
or roll it backward in its course. Let them pluck the moon
and the stars from their spheres, so that there shall be no
more day and night, no more seed-time and harvest. When
they can do these things, and not till then, will they be able
to destroy the seed of Abraham and Jacob as a people.
And how strong the assurance here given that while these
ordinances of heaven remain, and the sun, and the moon, and
the stars remain in their spheres, and shed their effulgent
glory on earth, the seed of Israel shall remain and multiply.
While a full end will be made of all the nations among whom
they are scattered and oppressed, they will stand the witnesses of a faithful, unchanging God.
The continued separate existence of the Jewish people,
and the revealed purpose of God, that they shall remain so
as firmly and certainly as the material universe, suggest the
inference that the Lord must have some great and glorious
end to be accomplished by and through them in the future.
But independently of the prophecies, or some divine revelation, we could never know beforehand what this end or purpose was. Here, however, it is all clearly revealed. The
good things which God has in store for them are as fully reveal as are the curses denounced, which have come upon
them.
In addition to the plain and obvious import of the language in which their future glorious destiny is written, we
have the assurance in the literality and faithfulness in which
all the curses denounced have come upon them, that all the
promises will be, in their time and order, as literally and
faithfully accomplished.
No one doubts the literal truth of the curses denounced
against them in the 28th chapter of Deuteronomy, and in the
prophets generally. "Now the Jew has found it to be no




136             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
overdrawn or chimerical picture, but a most certain and appalling reality that judgment was written against him in the
oracles of God. We conclude, therefore, by whatever truth
and consistency there is in these oracles of God, that the
same Jew must be destined to know it as an equally certain
and faithful reality, that he is written there also the subject
of distinguished favor, blessing, and glory."
" If, in reading the prophecies which have been put on
record concerning God's ancient people, I find it predicted in
terms the most express, that they were to be cut off from the
church, torn from their native land, dispersed among all the
nations, a reproach, a proverb, and a by-word, and still be
preserved amid all their calamities, a distinct and peculiar
people; and if, in searching into history, I also find that
the whole, to the very letter, has been verified-shall I
doubt, when on reading further in the same line of prophecy,
I find it written in terms equally express, that they are to
be reunited to the church of God, reinstated in their ancient
heritage, and there be invested with an honor and a glory,
which had no parallel in their days of by-gone magnificence?
" When I see that God has magnified his faithfulness in
giving to the dark side of their history the most literal and
complete verification, can I think so meanly of the consistency
of his prophetic word, as to suppose that he will not also
verify, to the letter, the other and brighter side, but allow it
to pass away into some vague generality?"
But the principle here advocated, is established by the authority of God himself. By the prophet Jeremiah, 32: 42,
it is thus written, "For thus saith the Lord: Like as I have
brought this great evil upon this people, so will I bring upon
them all the good that I have promised them."
Jehovah here declares that he will fulfill all the promises
of good that he has made to them, in the same manner that
he has accomplished upon them all the evil he threatened.




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             137
In the light, then, of God's own exposition, we have only
to read the prophetic promises he has made, to know of a
certainty for what the Jews are preserved, and what is to be
their future and glorious destiny.
We see that God has fulfilled his word thus far in their
remarkable preservation, and we may hence argue the remainder in its time.
1. It is predicted that the children of Israel as a nation
and people, shall all yet be converted to Christ, that they shall
yet be reingrafted into their own olive tree, from which they
were broken for unbelief after their rejection of the Messiah.
The limits assigned to this discussion, will only admit a
part of the testimony on this subject.
Jeremiah, 31: 31-34. "Behold, the days come, saith the
Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the
covenant that I made with their fathers, in the day that I
took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt;
which my covenant they broke, although I was a husband
unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know
the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them
unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive
them  their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no
more."
That this is a prediction of the future conversion of the
Jews as a people, is manifest from the whole discourse of the
prophet in connection with which it stands. The whole
house of Israel, the people, whom the Lord once took by the
hand, and led forth out of the land of Egypt, are the subjects,
7*




138              MILLENNARIAN VIEWTS.
and the only subjects, of the prediction; for they only are
named: and it manifestly has never yet been fulfilled.
No era in their history, either before or after the Babylonish captivity answers in any degree to that state of exalted
and universal piety here revealed. At this period, God's law
is to be put in their inward parts and written in their hearts,
and all are to know and serve the Lord, from the least unto
the greatest. No language could more definitely and certainly foretel their individual and universal conversion. And
as surely as the Lord has brought upon them all the great
evils they have suffered, in accordance with his denunciations,
so certainly will he yet accomplish for them all that he has
promised.
Hosea, 3: 4, 5. "For the children of Israel shall abide
many days without a king, and without a prince, and without
a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and
without a teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel
return, and seek the Lord their God, and David their king;
and shall fear the Lord and his goodness, in the latter days."
This is a remarkable prediction, and has, in part, been as
remarkably fulfilled. The prophecy declares that for many
days, or for a long time prior to their conversion, they should
remain without an altar or sacrifice, without a priesthood,
without any divine oracle, or any of the divinely constituted
ordinances of religion.
Now, how literally and affectingly has all this been fulfilled, since their last wide and melancholy dispersion.
When Christ suffered on the cross, their priesthood, and
their ordinances of divine appointment for the purposes then
constituted, were set aside by their fulfillment in him; and
by their persevering rejection of the Messiah, and the gospel,
they were left without any divinely appointed ordinances of
religion.
And this has remained for many days. Through 1800




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.               139
years of dispersion and sorrow, they have remained without
a priesthood, a sacrifice, or any means of grace appointed in
the gospel.
But this will not always be true of them. He who so exactly foretold their state during their dispersion, has said,
" that the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord
their God, and David their king, and shall fear the Lord and
his goodness in the latter days." How clearly and strikingly
is their conversion to Christ here foretold, under the name
and title of David their king. There cannot be a reasonable
doubt but that Christ, the King of Israel, to whom the Lord
God is to give the throne of his father David, is here meant.
"It was the usage of the Hebrews to transfer the name of
an ancestor to his posterity. Thus Jacob and Israel are used
as the names of the whole descendants collectively; and
Joseph, Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and others, as the names
of their several tribes. In accordance with this custom, the
name David, the parent of the monarchy of Israel, of which
Christ was to spring, is, in the judgment of commentators
generally, used as his denominative, as the prince of his
family, whom God was to raise up to sit on his throne forever. And it was peculiarly proper, inasmuch as he was
the only descendant of David who was to hold the sceptre
of that people, after the period of this prophecy; Zedekiah,
the last of that line, having already been deposed and carried
into captivity, and his sons, who might have inherited his
throne, had the nation regained  its independence, exterminated."-LORD.
In the latter days, then, when they are brought to fear
the Lord and his goodness, they are, in a peculiar sense, to
seek for David or Christ their king, who shall be their deliverer and salvation.
The prophet Ezekiel foretels, with great explicitness, their
conversion and entire and universal sanctification, 36: 21-31.




140             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
" But I had pity for my holy name, which the house of Israel
had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord God;
I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for my
holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen,
whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which
was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned
in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I
am the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified
in you before their eyes.
" For I will take you fiom among the heathen, and gather
you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own
land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye
shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your
idols, will I clean you. A new heart also will I give you,
and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away
the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart
of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause
you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments,
and do them.  And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to
your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your
God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness: and I
will call for the corn, and increase it, and lay no famine upon
you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of
famine among the heathen.  Then shall ye remember your
own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and
shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities,
and for your abominations. Thus saith the Lord God: In
the day that I shall have cleansed you from all your iniquities, I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the wastes
shall be builded.  And the desolate land shall be tilled,
whereas it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by."
The prophetic promises, contained in this most interesting




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.               141
passage, are often applied to the Gentiles indiscriminately
with the Jews; but for this there is certainly no warrant.
The Gentiles are not named in the prophecy, except as
those among whom the Israelites are scattered, and out from
among whom they are to be gathered, to be restored to Palestine.
The children of Israel are distinctly named-and they to
whom the promises are directed, are the people, who, for
their sins, were dispersed among the heathen. The restoration and universal sanctification here described, are manifestly
yet future, for they have never yet been fulfilled in the manner and to the extent predicted. The return of the Jews
from  their Babylonish captivity did not realize these promises, for they were not then cleansed from all their iniquities, and made holy, prosperous and happy, in their own
land.
The discussion of this subject by the apostle Paul, and his
quotations from these prophetic promises to prove his position, show that the predicted universal conversion and sanctification of Israel is yet future.
Romans 11: 25-28.  " For I would not, Brethren, that ye
should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in
your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to
Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so
all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come
out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness
from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall
take away their sins.  As concerning the gospel, they are
enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they
are beloved for the father's sake."
Let the reader notice, that it is the house of Jacob, the
children of Israel, who have been broken off from their own
olive tree, that the Gentiles might be grafted in, who are the
subjects of these prophetic promises.  It is not God's spirit



142             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
ual Israel, therefore, that is here meant, whose conversion
and salvation are foretold, but the literal Jew, to whom blindness in part hath happened for a time, until the fullness of
the Gentiles be come in. The Jews and Gentiles are carefully kept distinct in all these prophecies, and the portion
designed for each is given in order and due season. But2. Not only is their conversion foretold as a people, and
their universal sanctification, but the means especially by
which the great work is to effected. Ezekiel clearly intimates
these in a prediction already quoted, where it is declared,
that God, in a special manner, will interpose for their salvation by the agency of his Truth and Spirit.
The prophet Zechariah, 12: 9-14, and 13: 1, records a
remarkable promise of God to Israel, in the day when Jerusalem shall be made a cup of trembling unto all the people
round about, and when all who come against her, and burden themselves with her, shall be destroyed.
"In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of
Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day,
shall be-as David; and the house of David shall be as God,
as the angel of the Lord before them.
"And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek
to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And
I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications;
and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and
they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son,
and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born.
" In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon, in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the
family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart;
the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.              143
apart; the family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives
apart; the family of Shemei apart, and their wives apart;
all the families that remain, every family apart, and their
wives apart.
"In that day, there shall be a fountain opened to the
house of David, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin
and for uncleanness."
What a wonderful revival of religion is here predicted,
when all the families of Israel, by the appearing of Him whom
they have pierced, and by the outpourings of God's Spirit,
shall be convinced of their unbelief and sin, and shall seek,
in secret places, to pour out their agonized hearts in prayer
to God for pardon and salvation. And when the fountain
of God's revealed and promised love and mercy is opened
for them in that day, what acclamations of joy will be heard
ascending from thousands of renewed souls, and how,
through them will glory redound to God and flow through
the nations! In this prediction, we have all the characteristics of a genuine and powerful revival of religion, in which
the power of God and the renewing influences of his Spirit,
shall be put forth for the conversion of all Israel.
Many other predictions, having a special reference to the
conversion and sanctification of the whole Jewish people at
some future period, and for which they are preserved, might
be quoted, but these are sufficient to prove the point. No
language could foretel such a result, more clearly, than it is
affirmed by Him who cannot lie in these various scriptures.
Every one of them, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, is yet to know the Lord Jesus, and so universal will
this be, that no one shall have cause or occasion to say to his
brother or neighbor, know the Lord. But:3. Their restoration to their own land and their reestablishment there, in peace, purity and prosperity forever, is in




144             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
the promise, made consequent on their conversion, and uniformly and inseparably connected with it.
In the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, there are
many curses denounced against the Jews, should they ever
refuse obedience to God, and do the things forbidden. History informs us they did transgress, and the threatened curses have come upon them literally, and to the utmost. But
in chapter 30: 1, 7, Moses says, "And it shall come to
pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing
and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt
call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord
thy God hath driven thee; and shalt return unto the Lord
thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I
command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul; that then, the Lord thy God
will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and
will return and gather thee from all the nations whither the
Lord thy God hath scattered thee.
" If any of thine be driven out unto the utmost parts of
heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and
from thence will he fetch thee.
"And the Lord thy God will bring thee into the land which
thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it: and he will
do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers.
" And the Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the
heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
"And the Lord thy God will put all these curses upon
thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted
thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of the
Lord, and do all his commandments which I command thee
this day."
Here, then, is a most solemn pledge on the part of God,




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             145
that whenever, among all the nations whither they are driven
for their sins, they shall repent and return unto the Lord,
the Lord will restore them from their captivity, and bring
them again into the land which their fathers possessed,
even though they be driven out unto the uttermost parts of
heaven.
But, it has been shown, that they are all yet to be brought
to repentance, and to be universally and individually sanctified; therefore, when their conversion takes place, God will
be bound by his own solemn promise, recorded as a standing
testimony by Moses, to restore them, and to give them there,
in their own land, all the prosperity predicted. If he does
not, his word will fail; but this cannot be; for heaven and
earth shall sooner pass away, than one jot or tittle fail from
the law till all be fulfilled.
In accordance with the promise given by God through
Moses, we find that their complete and full restoration to
their land as an eternal possession, is almost uniformly foretold
in connection with their sanctification. Their predicted restoration is so explicit and circumstantial that it would seem
a proposition could not be framed to declare it more certainly.
Jeremiah 23: 1-8.  "Wo be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the Lord.
Therefore thus saith the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; ye have scattered my flock, and
driven them away, and have not visited them: behold I will
visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And
I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries
whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to
their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
"And I will set up shepherds over them, which shall feed
them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither
shall they be lacking, saith the Lord.




146              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and
prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.
In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell
safely: and this is the name whereby he shall be called, The
Lord our Righteousness. Therefore, behold, the days come,
saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth
which brought up and which led the seed of the house of
Israel out of the north country, and from all the countries
whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their
own land."
Commentators are uniformly agreed that the Lord Jesus
Christ is intended by The Lord our Righteousness in this
passage; and this fact clearly shows that the restoration predicted is still future; for "it was to take place after the
Messiah was raised up as a branch unto David, and therefore
after his birth. But no such restoration has been accomplished since Christ's first advent. So far from it, the final
dispersion of the Jews did not take place till after his ascension, and they and the other tribes still continue in exile
from their native land." And the futurity of its fulfillment
is still further manifest from the fact that it is not to take
place till Christ's second advent, as his reign, under which it
is to be accomplished, is to be on the earth. It is on the
earth that he is to reign and prosper, and execute judgment
and justice as the branch unto David; for it is on the throne
of David that he is to exercise his administration over Israel,
as is manifest from a parallel passage found in chap. 33:
15-17.
"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house
of Israel, and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at
that time, will I cause the Branch of Righteousness to grow
up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and right



THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             147
eousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be saved,
and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; and this is the name
wherewith he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness.
For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man to
sit upon the throne of the house of Israel."
"It is in the days of his reign on the throne of David,
therefore, in Judea, that this prophecy is to receive its accomplishment, and thence after his second coming." As
was shown in a previous chapter, "It cannot be said that
Christ now sits on the throne of David. Instead, he sits
with the Father on his throne.  David's throne was the
throne of the Israelitish nations in Palestine, not the throne
of the universe. To ascribe to him that throne, were to deify him by ascribing to him the prerogatives and government
of the Almighty."
This is clearly, then, a prediction of the return and reorganization of the Israelites as a nation, subsequent to Christ's
second advent, and commencement of his millennial reign on
earth.
There are many passages which show a yet future restoration of the seed of Abraham. On this point a few more
quotations only will be made.
Thus, in Jeremiah, chap. 30: 1-10, a restoration is predicted, which is never to be followed by any further subjugation to enemies or strangers.
"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thou
all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For
lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the
captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord.
And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to
their fathers, and they shall possess it. For it shall come to
pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, I will break his
yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him. But they shall




148             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I will
raise up unto them. Therefore, fear thou not, O my servant
Jacob, saith the Lord, neither be dismayed, O Israel, for lo,
I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of thy
captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest and be
quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee,
saith the Lord, to save thee: though I make a full end of all
the nations whither I have scattered thee, yet will I not
make a full end of thee; but I will correct thee in measure,
and will not leave thee altogether unpunished."
A comparison of this prediction with the miserable condition, and long and almost perpetual vassalage of the Jewish nation after their return in part from Babylon, will show
that this prediction did not meet its fulfillment at that period; and as there has been no return of captivity since, it
must yet be future.
And let it be remembered that God has said, "Like as I
have brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I
bring upon them all the good that I have promised them."
But should any doubt or deny the possibility of their restoration, or stumble at the difficulties which lie in the way,
on account of their wide dispersion and the apparent loss of
the ten tribes; even this despondency and unbelief were
foreseen, and its possibility and certainty demonstrated by
the Lord himself, that Jew nor Gentile might question the
ability of the Almighty to fulfill his word.
The vision of the resurrection of the dry bones, Ezekiel
37: 1-14, was designed to show to the Jews in their dispersion, and to all others, that the power of God is abundantly
able to accomplish all that he has promised respecting their
salvation and restoration.
" The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out
in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of
the valley which was full of bones, and caused me to pass




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             149
by them round about: and behold, there were very many in
the open valley; and lo, they were very dry. And he said
unto me, Son of man, can these bone live? and I answered,
O Lord God, thou knowest.  Again he said unto me,
Prophecy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry
bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord
God unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter
into you, and ye shall live: And I will lay sinews upon you,
and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin,
and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know
that I am the Lord. So I prophesied as I was commanded:
and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking,
and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
" And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up
upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there
was no breath in them.
"Then said he unto me, Prophecy unto the wind, prophecy,
son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord God:
Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these
slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded
me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood
up upon their feet, an exceeding great army."
But what does this vision illustrate, and to what was it designed to apply? Not to the conversion of sinners, or the revival of dead and dried up churches; but to the conversion
and restoration of Israel. For thus it is immediately added
in explanation, and application.
" Then said he unto me, Son of man, these bones are," or
represent, " the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, our
bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our
parts. Therefore, prophecy and say unto them, Thus saith
the Lord God; Behold, O my people, I will open your
graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and
brinq you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I




150              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, 0 my people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put
my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in
your own land: then shall ye know that I, the Lord, have
spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord."
Here, then, the design and application of the vision is rendered definite and certain. And that its design was to show
the certainty and possibility of the conversion, and especially
the restoration' of the whole Jewish nation to their own
land, is rendered also certain, from the fact that these are the
great themes of prophecy in the verses and chapters immediately preceding the vision.
It matters not, then, how many obstacles and difficulties,
in human estimation, are in the way of the literal and faithful accomplishment of these promises. God, who can raise the
dead to life, can bring them up, wherever dispersed, and
cause them to dwell in their own land. And when all these
things are fulfilled, what a sublime demonstration it will be,
before the world and the universe, of the truth and faithfulness of God: and how truly will all then know that the
God of Israel is the Lord, worthy to be trusted, and had in
reverence by all that are round about him!
But not only are the fact and certainty of their restoration
foretold, but the means and agencies, in many particulars,
by which it is to be effected.
Isaiah 11: 10-16.  "And in that day there shall be a
root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign to the people;
to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his rest shall be glorious.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set
his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his
people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt,
and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and Shinar,
and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea.
"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             151
assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The
envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of
Judah shall be cut off: Ephraim shall not vex Judah, and
Judah shall not vex Ephraim. But they shall fly upon the
shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; and they shall
spoil them of the east together: they shall lay their hands
upon Edom and Moab; and the children of Ammon shall
obey them. And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue
of the Egyptian sea, and with his mighty wind shall he shake
his hand over the river, and shall smite in the seven streams,
and make men go over dry shod.  And there shall be an
highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left
from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came
up out of the land of Egypt."
"And in that day thou shalt say, 0 Lord, I will praise
thee: though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned
away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation: I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah
is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the
wells of salvation." 12: 1-6.
Now there is no possibility of consistently accommodating
this prediction to the return of the Jews from Babylon, or to
their simple introduction to the Christian church, or any past
event in their history. For1. It is a second restoration that is spoken of, whereas
that from Babylon was the first.
2. It is a restoration that is to take place at the time that
a rod comes forth from the stem of Jesse, upon whom the
Spirit of the Lord is to rest, and who is to judge or rule the
poor with righteousness, and reprove with equity for the meek
of the earth; and also at the time that the wolf is to dwell with
the lamb, and the leopard lie down with the kid, and the




1.52             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters
cover the sea, and when there shall be nothing to hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain.
And all this shows that it is a yet future event, and is to
be brought about in a peculiar manner by the coming of
Christ, the Rod of Jesse-which shall stand for an ensign to
the people.
3. It is a restoration, which is to be effected with some
such miraculous displays, as was the deliverance of Israel
from Egyptian bondage; as is manifest from verse fifteen:
"I And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian
sea, and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over
the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make
men go over dry shod. And there shall be an highway for
the remnant of his people, which shall be left from Assyria;"
like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the
land of Egypt.
4. In accomplishing God's purpose in this restoration, the
children of Ammon and surrounding nations, are to be brought
to cocperate.
All these considerations show that it is a yet future glorious
reality that is pointed to.
The prophecies are very express in declaring that the Gentile nations shall all be workers together with God, in accomplishing the restoration of Israel —and if any will not, they
shall perish.
Isah, 49: 22, 23. "Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I
will lift up mine hand to the Gentiles, and set my standard
to the people: and they shall bring thy sons in their arms,
and thy daughters shall be carried upon their shoulders. And
kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing
mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward
the earth, and lick up the dust of thy feet; and thou shalt
know that I am the Lord: for they shall not be ashamed
that wait for me."




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.               153
This language is, no doubt, somewhat figurative, drawn from
the manner in which subjection was sometimes manifested,
in the times in which the prophet wrote; but the great idea
intended to be conveyed, is obvious, which is, that these Gentiles, with their kings and queens, will be made instrumental
in protecting, supporting, and restoring his scattered and
downtrodden people to their own land. Nor does the language imply, that the service which they will be called
upon to render, will be unwilling, degrading, or burdensome.
On the contrary, it will manifestly be in great love and kindness.
"' And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and thy
daughters or little ones shall be carried upon their shoulders."
Could kind attention and caressing tenderness be more touchingly expressed!
The ships of commercial nations are also to be employed,
and all the various means of conveyance in use, in different
countries.  In the sixtieth chapter of Isaiah, all this is beautifully and graphically foretold, in connection with their
entire sanctification, and the conversion of the Gentile nations who shall at that time submit to Jesus, and yield themselves obediently to the Lord.
Verses 8-22. The prophet seems to be represented as
standing on some eminence, overlooking the broad expanse
of the Mediterranean; and seeing it whitened with the
spreading canvas of numerous fleets, borne rapidly before
the breeze towards the shores of Palestine, he exclaims:
"Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to
their windows? Surely the Isles shall wait for me, and the
ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver
and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God,
and the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee.
And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their
8




154             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
kings shall minister unto thee; for in my wrath I smote thee,
but in my favor have I had mercy upon thee.
"Therefore shall thy gates be open continually; they shall
not be shut day nor night; that men may bring unto thee
the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be
brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve
thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted.
The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir-tree, the
pine-tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my
sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.
"' The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee: and all they that despised thee shall bow
themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call
thee, The city of the Lord, The Zion of the HIoly One of
Israel.  Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that
no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations.
s" For I know their works and their thoughts; it shall come,
that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall
come and see my glory.
" And I will set a sign among them, and will send those
that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, to Pul, and
Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javon, to the isles afar
off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my
glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
"And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering
unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots,
and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my
holy mountain, Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of
Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel unto the house of
the Lord."-Is., 66: 18-20.
What a sight will here be presented when the Lord shall
erect on Mount Zion, the ensign, and shall shake his hand
over the nations, and bid them bring his exiled people home




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.             155
and to Jerusalem, as an offering unto the Lord, for all the
injuries they have done them. Then, indeed, will he say
to the north, give up; and to the south, keep not back;
bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of
the earth.
Thus clearly is it predicted, that all Israel shall yet be
converted, and restored to their own land, and there made
an eternal excellency. And all this will be brought about
by means fully adequate to the great and grand result. The
Lord our Righteousness will himself appear for their deliverance and salvation, and will rule upon the throne of David,
and as his kingdom is a kingdom of means, he will, by the
mighty influences which he will bring to bear upon them,
cause all the Gentile nations joyfully to aid by every mode
of travel and conveyance, and by their combined wealth, in
their restoration and reorganization as a great and glorious
people, whose God, henceforth and forever, shall be the Lord
Christ.
But a small portion of the evidence upon this subject has
been presented. It is one of the great burdens of prophecy,
around which cluster the hopes of a world lying in wickedness, and the salvation of unborn and countless millions.
That all this will take place, in connection with the glorious personal appearing of the Son of David, is manifest —
1. From the fact, that his coming is to be pre-millennial,
as has been proved. The conversion and restoration of the
Jews are uniformly associated in scripture with the entire
conversion and restoration of the world.
Thus in Is. 60: 18-22, in connection with their restoration, it is said: "Violence shall no more be heard in thy
land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou
shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise. The
sun shall bhe no more thy light by day: neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee: but the Lord shall




156             MILLENNARTAN VIEWS.
be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory.
Thy sun shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon
withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light,
and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. Thy people
also shall be all righteous: They shall inherit the land forever,
the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I
may be glorified."
But the fulfillment of all this will be the millennium, and
as Christ is to come before this, it is certain that this glorious and perfect restoration and sanctification of the Jewish
people must be connected with the coming of the Lord.
2. It is evident that the restoration and rebuilding of Jerusalem must be after the advent, from the fact that they are
to take place in the new heavens and the new earth.
Is. 66: 17-19.  " For behold I create a new heavens and
a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor
come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that
which I create: for behold, I create Jerusalem a' rejoicing,
and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and
joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall no more
be heard in her, nor the voice of crying."  But this new
heavens and new earth, in which Jerusalem is to be made a
rejoicing, &c., according to the express teaching of Peter,
2 Epis. 3: 13, is to take place after the coming of the Lord,
and as the result of the conflagration there predicted; and
therefore the restoration of the Jews as a people, and their
sanctification, must be after his advent.
3. We are assured, in various scriptures already quoted,
that their conversion and restoration are to be at the time
that a righteous Branch-the Lord our Righteousness is
raised up unto them: and also at the time that the Lord
God will give unto him the throne of his Father David, and
at the time that Christ, as king, is to reign and prosper, and
execute justice and judgment in the land; and all these




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.           1U7
jointly prove the pre-millennial advent, and that the glorious
appearing of our Lord will mark the epoch of Israel's deliverance and eternal salvation.
4. In harmony with the' inference drawn from the above
scriptures, it is predicted that the appearance of the Lord
will be a means, in connection with the outpourings of the
Spirit, of their awakening, conviction and conversion.-Zech.
12: 10. "And they shall look upon me whom they have
pierced, and mourn."  Rev. 1: 9. "Behold he cometh with
clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which
pierced him."
The glorious appearing of our Lord will be just as wisely
and benevolently adapted to their awakening and conversion,
as was his appearance to the apostle Paul on his way to Damascus, and it is presumed will have just the same influence
and no more.
It is not to undervalue the Spirit, to ascribe an efficient
awakening and convincing agency to the coming of our Lord;
for does not God often employ solemn providences to awaken
sinners, now, and did he not employ miraculous demonstrations on the day of Pentecost? And when the Jews, in their
wide dispersion, shall have all their unbelief and delusions
scattered by the coming of the Son of Mian, and then indeed
look upon him whom they have pierced, and mourn-oh, what
bitterness of soul will overwhelm them in deep confession
and repentance! and how then will salvation flow to them as
a river, and righteousness as the waves of the sea!
But when the Jews are converted and restored, it will not
be for themselves alone, but only a fulfillment in an enlarged
sense, of the ancient promise to Abraham: "And in thee,
and in thy seed, shall all the nations of the earth be blessed."
When the Lord comes, there will be apostate nations, and
many perhaps among all, who will not receive the Saviour,
and who will be cut off from the earth. These will be treat



158             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
ed of in the next chapter. But all Gentile nations and remnants of nations, who receive the Messiah as their king and
Saviour, will be made sharers in Jerusalem's blessedness and
glory, and through all the long ages that shall follow, the
seed of Abraham shall be made a joy and blessing to the
world.
For proof, turn first to Isaiah 2: 2-5. And now, in reading this passage, let the reader suppose that the Jews are
restored, Jerusalem  re-built, and the Lord's house exalted
there upon the top of the highest mountain, in which the
personal presence and glory of the Lord is manifested; and
then, with this great idea in his mind, see how natural, and
simple, and beautiful is the description:
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the
mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top
of the mountains, that is on Mount Toriah, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And
many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to
the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob;
and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths:
for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the
Lord from Jerusalem."
And what shall be the result of all this? " And he shall
judge among these nations, that come up, and shall rebuke
many people:" and then, as the result, they shall go home,
"and beat their swords into plough-shares, and their spears
into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against
nation, neither shall they learn war any more."
Now, how clearly does this passage predict the participation of many Gentile people in Jerusalem's blessedness and
glory, when a king there shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute righteousness and justice in the earth? And what
a sight it will be for angels to look down upon, and for God
to smile over, to see the nations exhorting one another,




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.              159
" come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us his
ways, and we will walk in his paths." And will it be unworthy of God, the Saviour, to give the world such a demonstration of love and truth, by his personal presence and glory, as shall lead them thus joyfully to come up to receive
instruction from his lips, and to yield themselves obediently
to his laws? Is not such a manifestation just what the
world needs, and what we might, at some time, expect, from
a Being of infinite compassion and love?
The participation of the Gentile world in the blessedness
of Messiah's reign, when Jerusalem shall be restored, and
the Lord our Righteousness seated upon the throne of David, is described in strong and glowing language, in Isaiah
54: 1-4:
"Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth
into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with
child: for more are the children of the desolate, than the
children of the married wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the
place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of
thine habitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes: For thou shalt break forth on the right hand,
and on the left; and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and
make the desolate cities to be inhabited."
The blessings of Israel are here compared to a tent, which
they are required to stretch forth and enlarge, until its amplitude shall be sufficient to accommodate the world.  Thus
will the arms of Jacob's mercy and Israel's Redeemer be yet
stretched forth to embrace the wide world, when all nations
shall flow into the church, of which the restored and sanctified Jews shall be the centre and an eternal excellency.
And, oh, what acclamations of exulting joy will then go up
from a renewed world, and be reechoed through the universe!




160             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Turn over now to Isaiah 60: 1-7, and see how beautifully
and exultingly the same thing is there predicted. " Arise,
shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
risenaupon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the people; but the Lord shall
arise upon thee, and his glory shall be upon thee. And the
Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness
of thy rising.
" Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather
themselves together, they come to thee; thy sons shall come
from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Then shalt thou see, and flow together, and thine heart
shall fear and be enlarged; because the abundance of the
sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee. The multitude of camels shall cover
thee, the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah; all they from
Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and incense; and
they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. And all the
flocks of Kedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the
rams of Nebaioth shall minister unto thee: they shall come
up with acceptance on mine altar, and I will glorify the
house of my glory."
And, thus it will come to pass, as predicted, Is. 66: 23, that,
in the new heavens and the new earth, which God will create,
1" That from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me,
saith the Lord."
No language could more forcibly and clearly predict, that
in Israel's future glory and exaltation, all the world shall
participate, and that in the seed of Abraham, all the families of the earth shall be forever blessed.
Many more scriptures might be produced in proof; but
these are deemed sufficient. Should any object, that these
prophecies which have been quoted belong to the church, be




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.              161
it so, but they undoubtedly refer to a future condition and
state of the church; and at the time to which they refer, all
Israel shall be reingrafted into their own olive tree, and
hence they will be the church, to which converted Gentile
nations will be joined. As we view the matter, God has
never had but one church in the world, and never will have
but one, to which all true believers, and redeemed sinners
will belong from Adam down through eternal ages.
The restoration, and conversion, and exaltation of the seed
of Abraham, in the manner described in the prophets, will
be necessary to a fulfillment of the ancient promise. God
promised to give to Abraham and his seed the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. And now, what will
become of this promise, if his seed are forever to be exiled
from the land given them?
But take all these predictions according to their obvious
import, and every thing is made plain. Not one iota of
God's word shall fail. All this may be humbling to the
haughty Gentile in his contempt and oppression of the now
despised Jew; but the day will come when the lofty looks of
man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be
bowed down, and the Lord alone be exalted. —Isaiah 2:
10-17.
The prophet Ezekiel, from the fortieth chapter to the end
of his book, foretells the restoration of the Jews, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, and the reestablishment of the worship of
the Lord, in connection with the temple then to be erected,
with great minuteness and particularity. That which he has
here described has manifestly never been fulfilled. It must,
then, be future. MIillennarians suppose that all that is here
predicted will, in the manner and form intended, be yet accomplished, and that the great design of the temple services
and sacrifices there instituted, will be retrospective, and intended to keep before the minds of the successive genera8*




162              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
tions of redeemed men, that they owe their salvation entirely
to Christ, who died on Calvary that they might live.
It is a settled fact in revelation, that there remaineth no
more sacrifice for sin; that, by one offering, Christ hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. The world will
never need any other sacrifice, and no new atonement will
ever be made. Now, did millennarians ever so interpret the
prophecies as to teach that there would be, it would be certain proof that they were wrong. But a sacrifice instituted
as an atonement, and a sacrifice instituted as a commemorative ordinance, as was the Passover, and to answer the same
or a similar purpose as the Lord's Supper, are very different
things. Now, it is supposed that these sacrifices and offerings predicted by Ezekiel, will be entirely commemorative,
and will look back to Calvary as the Lord's Supper does now.
Will all this be unreasonable and absurd? Let us suppose
for a moment, that the world is entirely redeemed from sin
and the curse, and that the generations of men, hence, are
sanctified from the womb, and grow up as plants of righteousness in the garden of the Lord, to be transplanted to
heaven in God's own time and way.
Now, all these generations, through countless ages, will
owe their salvation to Christ. Should the inquiry be made
for or amid the redeemed and sanctified nations, Why is it
that we are sinless and grow up and ripen for higher glory,
without being called, as our fathers were in former ages, to
contend with temptation, and corruption, and death? the
answer will be, Jesus died, and as the purchase of his death,
and the travail of his soul, we inherit these exalted and
eternal blessings.
And now, as the kingdom of God is a kingdom of means,
is it unreasonable to suppose that the Lord will appoint
some appropriate service, which, in its nature, shall be adapted to remind them, and impressively affect them with this




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.               163
great truth?  And what could be more appropriate or impressive than a reinstitution, for another purpose, of those
sacrifices which, before the first advent of our Lord, typified
his atonement?  Will there not be an impressive adaptation
in these, to remind the nations, as they shall go up to Jerusalem to worship, from generation to generation, that all
their blessings flow to them by the Cross? And thus, as believers in former ages, were directed by their sacrifices to an
atoning sacrifice which was to be offered, so these, in the
future economy, will point the redeemed on earth back to
that same sacrifice already offered, once for all. And thus
the past and the future will be concentrated at one point,
and in one only Saviour.
Viewed in this aspect, should all that the prophets have
foretold be literally fulfilled, there would, to my mind, be in
the arrangement something inexpressibly beautiful and grand,
worthy of God, and adapted to the circumstances of a world
made holy through the atonement of Jesus.
Looking at the subject in this light, no truth, or doctrine,
or principle, clearly revealed in the scripture, is denied, nor
is anything detracted from its significance; but a more ample, and enlarged, and extended view is given to the whole
scheme of redeeming love.
It has been thought absurd by some, that all nations
should literally go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord, from
one month to another, and from year to year. But these
predictions would all be fully complied with, were the nations
to go up simply by their representatives, just as the United
States assemble in Congress by their representatives. And
then who can tell what new modes of travel may be in use
in the future?  Had it been told to our fathers, a few years
ago, that the time would come when men would travel
through the country by steam, at the rate of fifty or sixty
miles an hour, and across the Atlantic in nine or ten days,




164             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and transmit intelligence around the world in an instant of
time, no one would have believed it. But think you that we
have reached the utmost limit of improvement? It is possible, in view of the past, that such improvements may yet be
made, that all that is predicted about going up to Jerusalem
to worship from one new moon to another, may be pleasantly
and joyfully accomplished, and to a much larger extent than
we can now conceive. At any rate, we know that God can
do, or cause to be done, all that he has promised, and none
can hinder.
It is often objected to the restoration of the Jews to their
own land, and to the fulfillment of the prophecies in the manner and form presented, that there will be no use in it all.
There might not be any particular use in their restoration
and reorganization as a nation devoted to God, on some theories, but according to the millennarian view there will be
great and glorious results to be accomplished.
1. What a sublime demonstration it will furnish to the
world and the universe of the everlasting faithfulness of God,
and how it will tend to sustain the faith of the redeemed,
through eternal ages! God has shown his faithfulness in
the preservation of Israel as a distinct people to the present
time, and when in future ages he shall magnify his Word in
the conversion of all Israel, and in giving them the land of
promise, as an everlasting possession, and cause the nations
of earth to be eternally blessed through the seed of Abraham,
what an affecting exhibition it will be to angels and men, of
the certainty and stability of any covenant which God may
make.
And may not the redeemed with Christ, need some such
monument of the faithfulness of God, to assure them of the
eternity of their perfection and blessedness?
When the saved are put in possession of their eternal reward, how will they know that it will never, in any way, be




THE JEWS AND GENTILES.              165
wrested from them?  With the examples before them, that
angels once holy and happy fell, and that man in innocence
trangressed, how can they know that they will not, at some
point in their career, be tempted to sin, and perish? But
they cannot. Why? Because God has promised them
eternal life. He who cannot lie, has said, " They shall never
perish," and his word cannot fail. Now, in regard to the
saved, it will be their unwavering faith in these promises of
God, which will give them the assurance that no sin or ruin
shall ever sweep over them. And as God strengthens the
faith of his people by means, may it not be necessary that their
faith should be sustained unshaken, by some living, practical, and eternal demonstration of his faithfulness in the fulfillment of his word?
And will not such a demonstration be furnished in a
restored world, in the literal fulfillment of all the ancient
promises to the seed of Abraham, as through illimitable ages
they shall multiply, in their own land, and having fulfilled
their destiny on earth, shall, by transfiguration, go up to
mingle in higher scenes among the glorified?  Can it be
conceived that the Lord could give a more practical and
sublime exhibition of his faithfulness and love to the redeemed, or a stronger assurance that nothing should ever
fail to them of all that he had promised, than in Israel's
predicted exaltation and glory?
We make no positive declarations on points not clearly
revealed, but the suggestions are in accordance with facts,
and may prove a glorious reality in the world to come. But,
2. For ought we know, the restoration of the Jews to their
own land, converted and sanctified, as the great central point of
the redeemed church, around which the converted nations
shall be gathered, as participants in the river of life, which
shall flow from the throne of God, may be the very best arrangement of eternal wisdom and love, to unite all the fami



166                 MILLENNARIAN  VIEWVS.
lies of earth in indissoluble bonds of brotherhood and interest, and in perfecting the great scheme of salvation.  Can
we deny that this may be so? And though the utility of the
arrangement may not now appear to all, shall we question
the wisdom of God, or arraign his counsels at the bar of
human reason, and short-sighted ignorance? Better for us
to wait, under the assurance that what we know not now, we
shall know hereafter. The vision which God has given is
certain, and all his purposes will be fulfilled in their time.
"Behold the measure of the promise fill'd;
See Salem built, the labor of a God!
Bright as a sun the sacred city shines;
All kingdoms and all princes of the earth
Flock to that light; the glory of all lands
Flows into her; unbounded is her joy,
And endless her increase. Thy rams are there,
Nebaioth, and the flocks of Kedar there:
The looms of Ormus, and the mines of Ind,
And Saba's spicy groves, pay tribute there.
Praise is in all her gates; upon her walls,
And in her streets, and in her spacious courts,
Is heard salvation. Eastern Java there
Kneels with the native of the farthest west 
And Ethiopia spreads abroad the hand,
And worships. Her report has travel'd forth
Into all lands. From every clime they come
To see thy beauty, and to share thy joy,
O Sion! an assembly such as earth
Saw never, such as Heaven stoops down to see."




THE JUDGMENT DAY.
IT is clearly revealed in scripture, that God " hath appointed
a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness, by
that man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given
assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the
dead." In this great and solemn transaction all are concerned;
"for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in the body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."
These,'and kindred scriptures, are to be received in their full
and literal integrity, and any system of doctrine, professedly
derived from the Bible, which would deny their truth or explain them to mean something else, cannot be true.
But to give these predictions of a judgment to come their
full and consistent import, must we necessarily understand
the day of judgment to mean simply a day of twelve or
twenty-four hours? and must we restrict the great Judge to
this contracted period, and believe that all those great and
fearful acts which are to be accomplished at that day, and
the judgment of every individual, with every secret thing, are
to be circumscribed within one diurnal revolution? Suppose
we should understand the day of judgment to denote a definite and fixed time of judgment, comprehending a period of
time sufficiently long to accomplish in orderly and impressive
succession, all that God has said that he will do on that day,
would it be a denial of the great truth that we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ?




168            BMILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
The scriptures furnish many examples which show that a
day, in the language of God, is frequently employed to represent an indefinite or definite period of time, of longer or
shorter duration to be determined by the connection. Thus,
Eccl. 7: 14. " In the day of prosperity be joyful; but in the
day of adversity consider: God also has set the one over against
the other, to the end that man should find nothing after him."
Here, day is used to denote the time, however long or short,
during which posperity is enjoyed, or adversity suffered.
Is. 63: 4. "For the day of vengeance is in my heart,
and the year of my redeemed is come."  Ez. 7: 7. " The
morning is come upon thee, O thou that dwellest in the
land: the time is come, the dav of trouble is near."
Nahum I: 7. "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the
day of trouble." In these, and numerous other passages,
the word day denotes a period of time indefinite in duration.
John 9: 4. " I must work the works of him that sent me,
while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work."
Here, it stands for the whole period of the Saviour's life on
earth, and accordingly it is common to call every man's life
his day.-Heb. 3: 7, 8. "Wherefore, as the Holy Ghost
saith, To-day if ye will hear his voice, Harden not your
hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the
wilderness: When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and
saw my works forty years."  In this passage the day of
temptation is explained to mean forty years. And then immediately afterward we have it employed to represent the
season of grace, however long it may be: " While it is said,
To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as
in the provocation."
These passages might be indefinitely multiplied, in which
the word day is used to denote a term of trouble or blessing,
without limiting the duration. And this use of the word is
in accordance with all the usages of common life.




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               169
No violence is then done to the use of language, or to
scripture, when the day of judgment is understood to represent, not a period of twenty-four hours, but a time of judgment fixed in the purpose of God, and embracing a period
long enough to accomplish all that God has said he will do.
In fact, it is absolutely necessary that we should give this
extended import to the day of judgment; for how can every
individual give an account of himself to God, and every work
and every secret thing be brought into judgment, of all the
vast millions of men who have ever lived, in one short day?
And why should the Infinite be in a hurry? Is there -not
stretching on beyond the utmost limits of time, an unending
eternity?
And may not the Great Judge take time enough to spread
out before a finite universe, the grounds of his judgments
and the mysteries of providence, so as to produce an effect
most impressive and instructive, upon principalities and powers, who shall be spectators of the scene?
Accordingly, though the scriptures teach that God has
appointed a day of judgment, yet, should they inform us in
other places that this day denoted a hundred or a thousand
years there would be no contradiction in the statements.
And now, at this great period, this great day of God Almighty, when he will judge angels and men, should he
judge best in his wisdom, to divide the human family into
three bands, and then proceed to judge each in their order,
according to their works, and at such intervals as he might
determine, it would still be true that all would appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and at the day of judgment.
In accordance with these views, millennarians hold, as we
understand them, that there will be two great acts or times
of judgment corresponding to the two resurrections described,
and confirmed in a previous chapter; and these will both be
included within the period denoted by the judgment day.




170             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
At the appearing of our Lord, he will first judge the quick
or the living, and the dead, who are raised up at that time;
and then at the close of the thousand years, he will raise and
judge the wicked dead, with the devil and his angels. These,
with intermediate and attending events, will be considered in
order.
1. According to scripture, when Christ comes, he will
judge and reward his servants, raised and glorified, and in
intimate connection with them, he will judge among the living nations, and will consume Antichrist, and all who will
not that he should reign over them. It would be vain for
finite man to describe the order which these judgments will
take except as they are revealed; but the great facts in the
case, and the persons who are to be judged, at his appearing and kingdom, are definitely recorded.
Rev. 11: 15-19. " The sounding of the seventh angel, announces, that the kingdoms of this world are become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign
forever and ever." But this is not the only thing proclaimed,
at the ushering in of that glorious era: for it is immediately
added: "And the four and twenty Elders, which sat before
God on their seats, fell upon their faces and worshipped God,
saying, We give thee thanks, 0 Lord God Almighty, which
art, and wast, and art to come; because thou hast taken to
thee thy great power, and hast reigned.
"' And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come, and
the time of the dead, that they should be judged."  What
dead?  It is immediately explained. "And that thou
shouldst give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to
the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great,
and shouldst destroy them which destroy the earth."
Here we are definitely informed, that at the time the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord, the
saints of God, small and great, will be rewarded, and that at




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               171
the same time also there will be angry nations, who will not
that the Saviour should reign over them, who will be judged'
and destroyed from the earth, as were the Antediluvians,
and the Sodomites of old.
The same truth is brought to view in the parable of the
Nobleman.-Luke 19: 11-27. In this parable, our Lord is
represented, as calling together his servants, on his return to
earth, and reckoning with them, and rewarding them with
offices in his kingdom, according to their fidelity in improving the pounds committed to their care. But there were
those not numbered among his servants, who said, we will
not have this man to reign over us. And in regard to these,
he will say, " But those, mine enemies, which would not that
I should reign over them, bring them hither and slay them
before me." The representations of this parable are most
strikingly in harmony with the view of the judgment day
here advocated.
The prophecy contained in the second Psalm, also indicates a vast destruction of some who will not be reconciled
to Christ the Son.
" Ask of me, and I will give the the heathen," or the Gentile nations " for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for thy possession." What then? All converted
and saved? Read. " Thou shalt rule over them with a rod of
iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be
wise now, therefore, O ye kings: be instructed ye judges of
the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from
the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are
all they that put their trust in him."
At this period, then, when the Gentile nations shall be given
to the Son, there will be those who will not be reconciled to
him, and whom it will be necessary by judgments, to remove




172             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
from the earth, that it may be redeemed from sin. And
then, in regard to others, it is said:
" And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke
strong nations afar off, and they shall beat their swords into
plough-shares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war any more."
The same fearful judgment of the angered and apostate
living nations, is described in Rev. 19: 11-21. "And I saw
heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness
doth he judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of
fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name
written, that no man knew but himself. And he was clothed
in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called, The
Word of God.
" And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon
white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out
of his mouth goeth a sharp tow-edged sword, that with it he
should smite the nations: And he shall rule them with a rod
of iron." Ps. 2: 9. "And he treadeth the wine-press of the
fierceness and wrath of Almighty God."
"' And hath on his vesture and on his thigh, a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
"And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried
with a loud voice, saying, to all the fowls that fly in the
midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves together unto
the supper of the great God; that ye may eat the flesh of
kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men,
and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and
the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and
great.
"And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                173
their armies, gathered together to make war against him that
sat on the horse, and against his army.
" And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet,
that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that
worshipped his image. These were both cast alive into a
lake burning with fire and brimstone.
" And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that
sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth:
and all the fowls were filled with their flesh."
Now, no one supposes that all this is to be taken in a literal sense. The language is undoubtedly symbolical; but who
can doubt that a fearful destruction is here foretold, among
those nations who arraign themselves against the King of
kings, and who will not that he should reign over them? Is
not here a terrific judgment described, over apostates and
rebels, when Babylon shall come in remembrance, and fall
with violence?
And the fact here specified, that he shall rule them with
a rod of iron, identifies those spoken of with the Gentile
nations, described in Psalms 2: 9, who will not be reconciled to the Son, and whom he will rule with a rod of iron, and
break in pieces like a potter's vessel.
The summoning, too, of all the fowls of heaven to the feast
of the great God, representing a scene which has often followed the slaughter of battle, seems to identify the destruction here predicted, with the destruction of Gog and Magog,
described in Ezekiel 38 and 39, in which the same summons
is sent to birds and beasts, to come to the great sacrifice
which will be made by their slaughter. By a reference to
chapter 14: 6-20, we find that the same terrible judgment
among the nations, and especially among the apostate nations
represented by Babylon, the mother of harlots, are associated
with the flying of the angel through mid-heaven, having the




174             MILLENNARlAN VIEWS.
everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the
earth, and also with the coming of the Son of bMan in the
clouds of heaven.
Verses 14-20. "And I looked and beheld a white cloud,
and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having
on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
"And another angel came out of the temple, crying with
a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy
sickle and reap: for the time is come for thee to reap: for
the harvest of the earth is ripe.
"And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the
earth; and the earth was reaped.
" And another angel came out of the temple which is in
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle.
"And another angel came out from the altar which had
power over fire; and he cried with a loud cry to him that
had the sharp sickle, saying; Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes
are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the
earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the
great wine press of the wrath of God. And the wine-press
was trodden without the city, and blood came out of the
wine-press, even unto the horses' bridles, by the space of a
thousand and six hundred furlongs."
The symbols here employed are clearly of fearful' import,
and denote some terrible judgments, bloody and destructive,
which will yet come upon the nations designated. And they
are manifestly future, from the fact that they are associated
with, and immediately follow the publishing of the gospel
to the nations of earth, and are connected with the coming
of one like the Son of Man upon a cloud, the symbol of our
Lord's appearing.
And we are not left in doubt in regard to those who are
comprehended in these vast destructions. There is one in



THE JUDGMENT DAY.               175
fallible sign given, with which God points his finger, and
says, these are the people.
Rev. 16: 5-7. "And I heard the angel of the waters
say, Thou ait righteous, 0 Lord, which art, and wast, and
shalt be, because thou hast judged thus, For they have shed
the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them
blood to drink; for they are worthy."-18: 24. "And in
her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of
all that were slain upon the earth."
Can there be any doubt, then, in regard to the powers
meant in these fearful predictions? And do not all these
point to the same angered nations mentioned in chapter
eleventh, where it is said, that when God shall judge the
righteous dead, and give reward unto his servants small and
great, he will destroy those who have destroyed the earth,
by their apostasies and persecutions?
Now, how exactly do all these prophetic representations
correspond to the fact foretold by the apostle, that the Man
of Sin is to be consumed with the spirit of Christ's mouth,
and destroyed with the brightness of his coming?-and with
the prophecy in Daniel, that the Little Horn is to be judged
at the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven to
receive the dominion of earth?-and also, with the gathering
of the tares out from among the wheat at the end of the
dispensation?
Let not the reader be shocked at these revelations of future
destruction to apostate, persecuting and blood-stained nations, as though it would be derogatory to the character of
God, and the benevolence of Jesus, thus to deal with nations,
and providentially to suffer the blood of those to be shed,
who have wickedly shed the blood of the saints. What is
here threatened is no more than has repeatedly been inflicted
in the fearful judgments of the past. The old world was
destroyed with a flood. Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and




176              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
brimstone, and mighty nations denounced for their sins in
prophecy have perished from earth.  May not God yet carry
on this work of judgment, and sweep other nations, equally
corrupt, from the world without dishonoring his justice or
benevolence? It is possible for nations, as well as individuals, to become so corrupt, morally and physically, that their
removal from earth, by war, pestilence or famine, would.not
only be just, but an act of highest benevolence to the living.
It is recorded in scripture that God will render to men as they
have rendered to others, and accordingly we find it fearfully
illustrated in history, that they who have reared their thrones
amid the carnage of slaughtered nations, have, in process of
time, been overturned in blood, and have perished amid the
desolations of war.
So God has determined that they who have shed the blood
of the saints, shall have blood in return. By letting loose
upon them their enemies, and turning back upon them the
desolations of war, they will reap that which they have
sown.
In the prophets are numerous and fearful warnings to the
nations, and to the wicked generally, in view of this great
day of reckoning that is coming. Joel says, 3: 9-18:
"' Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles: Prepare war, wake
up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let
them come up: Beat your plough-shares into swords, and
your pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am
strong.  Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye Gentiles,
and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause
the mighty ones to come down, 0 Lord.
"Let the heathen be wakened and come up to the valley
of Jehoshaphat, for there will I sit to judge all the. heathen
round about. Put ye in the sickle for the harvest is ripe."
See Rev. 19: "Come, get you down, for the press is full,
the fats overflow, for their wickedness is great. Multitudes,




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                177
multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord
is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall
be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining," that
is, the reigning and oppressive powers of earth shall be overthrown, the heavenly bodies here standing as symbols for
them.
"The Lord shall rear out of Zion, and utter his voice from
Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but
the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of
the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the Lord
your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall
Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through
her any more. And it shall come to pass in that day, that
the mountains shall drop new wine, and the hills shall flow
with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters,
and a fountain shall come forth of the house of the Lord,
and shall water the valley of Shittim."
How can we avoid the conviction that there is a fearful
day of reckoning and judgment coming on the nations, in
which they will be broken to pieces as a potter's vessel, and
consumed with terrible destructions?  While, therefore, a
slumbering world is crying, peace, peace, God is sounding
an alarm in all his holy mountain, and admonishing the nations to be wise and tremble, and kiss the Son. The day of
wrath is coming, it is hastening on apace, when all who have
shed the blood of saints, will have blood in return, and when
all who will not that Christ should reign over them will be
cut off from earth, to take their places at a more remote judgment with Sodom and Gomorrah.
A careful comparison of these various predictions will show
that they are all associated and identified with the coming
of our Lord, the destruction of Antichrist, the sanctification
and restoration of Jerusalem, andl the conversion of the
world.
r9




178             MILLENNARIAN VIEIWS.
When they occur, the destruction of these enemies of
Christ and his people will, no doubt, be seen to be in great
mercy to the world. It is possible, as before observed, for
nations and individuals to become so wicked and corrupt, that
God cannot consistently with his government save them, and
their removal from earth will be in great mercy to the living,
as was the destruction of the old world, and Sodom and
Gomorrah. To cleanse the world and make it an abode of
righteousness, their removal will be necessary. And would
not this be better than to suffer them to remain here to perpetuate their wickedness and desolations?
But when these judgments come, they will not be universally inflicted; for Judah shall then be saved, and Jerusalem
shall dwell safely, and among all the nations there will be
salvation.
Even in the Apocalyptic Babylon, fallen and ruined, and
doomed to destruction, God will have a people whom he will
save in the day when she shall receive the reward of her
wickedness.-Rev. 18: 4. "And I heard another voice
from heaven, saying, Come out of her my people, that ye be
not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her
plagues."
There will be a sifting then among the nations, and a just
and benevolent discrimination; for God will not suffer one
who has given a cup of water in his name to lose his reward.
It is believed by millennarians, that to this judgment
among the nations, and this discrimination which will be
made at that time, by the Great Judge, when he thall sit
upon the throne of his glory, is to be referred the parable
of the sheep and goats, in the twenty-fifth of Matthew.
But, should the reader dispute this, and maintain that it
can only have reference to the last judgment, it would not
affect the arguments already presented, or disprove the doctrines advanced.




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               179
The great principles of justice and reward laid down in
this parable, will, no doubt, characterize all the judgments of
God; but there is a most striking manifestation of millennarian views in this parable. The parable does not intimate
that there are any included in the judgment at that time but
the living nations.
There is nothing said about any among those then judged,
who are raised from the dead. It is a very different thing
from the judgment described in Rev. 20: 12, where John
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and when the
sea and hell are represented as giving up the dead that are
in them, in order to judgment.
It is only the living nations, who are assembled before
him in this parable, and among whom he will judge and discriminate, and only these, who would not that he should
reign over them, are destroyed. And he will separate them
one from another as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the
goats. And to those who have not persecuted and oppressed his people, but who have shown kindness to them, and
succored them in time of need, or who have given to any a
cup of cold water because they belonged to Christ, he will
say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom,
this glorious kingdom now set up, prepared for such as you,
from the foundation of the world, for I was an hungered and
ye gave me meat, &c."
Upon such the gift of immortality will then be conferred,
the curse of death will never come upon them. Having fulfilled their lot and time on earth, they will be transfigured
to glory without experiencing death, as was Enoch and
Elijah in former times, and as were the living saints at the
resurrection of the holy dead.
The removal of the curse of death from our world is foretold by the prophets, and is symbolized in the tree of life in




180              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
the new Jerusalem, the leaves of which are for the healing
of the nations in the flesh.
Now, the fact that only those in this parable are rewarded,
who have fed, and clothed, and visited the brethren of Christ
in tribulation, shows that it is not a universal judgment here
described, for tens of thousands of the saved never had the
opportunity, or the ability, to do the things here mentioned,
as is the case with the infant race and others.
We think, then, the position is clearly sustained, that when
Christ comes he will first judge and reward his saints, and
that at, or in connection with the same time, he will judge
the living nations, and destroy Antichrist —those who have
shed the blood of his saints, and who have destroyed the
earth, by their oppressions and corruptions.
Probably most of these destructions will be effected in the
Providence of God, as in former times, by wars and revolutions, and fearful collisions; but it is clear, from scripture,
that the last act of crowning justice and judgment upon
earth, will be by fire-even by that last awful conflagration
described by Peter, 2 Epistle 3: 9.
In reference to this, Malachi says, 4: 1. "For behold, the
day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud,
yea, all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that
cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it
shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that
fear my name, shall the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as
calves of the stall. And ye shall tread down the wicked;
for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet, in the
day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts."
The description of Peter is equally vivid and awful. "But
the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word
are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.  But the day of the




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                181
Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the
heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also, and the works
that are therein, shall be burned up.
" Seeing, then, that all these things shall be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation
and godliness.  Looking for and hasting unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire, shall
be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat.
"Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look not for
annihilation, but for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness." Some have regarded this as a prediction of the entire destruction and annihilation of the material world.
But the scriptures must be consistent with themselves,
and any exposition which brings one part in contradiction
to another cannot be true. There are various scriptures
which show that nothing like an entire destruction or an annihilation of the material world is intended in these predictions.
1. It is absolutely and unconditionally affirmed that this
world is to abide forever.
Eccl. 1: 4.  "One generation passeth away, and another
generation cometh; but the earth abidethforever." Psalms
105: 5.-" Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it
should not be removedforever." It cannot therefore be taught
that the earth is at any time to be annihilated without contradicting these clear and positive annunciations.
2. It is certain that by the conflagration foretold by Peter
nothing like an entire destruction can be meant; because it
is to be followed, not by another, but by a new heaven and
a new earth, in which righteous people shall dwell. And
this will be the fulfillment of a prophecy of Isaiah, 65: 17.
And now if we turn to this promise, we shall find that in




182               MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
this new heavens and earth, Jerusalem is to be made a rejoicing, and her people a joy-that animals shall exist, the
wolf and the lamb feed together, and the lion eat straw with
the bullock.
3. The prophets repeatedly affirm and reaffirm in the most
formal and solemn manner, that when the dominion of Jesu's
Christ is perfectly established over this world, it shall exist
forever, and that of the increase of his government upon the
throne of David there shall positively be no end. But if
the earth is literally to be burned up and annihilated, in the
course of a few thousand years, as some maintain, then
Christ's kingdom on earth will not be everlasting, and to the
increase of his government on the throne of David there will
be an end. Hence it is certain that no such thing as an
entire destruction of the material world and the race of man
on earth can be intended by the apostle. To give a limited
meaning to the words, forever and everlasting, as applied to
the duration of the earth, and the perpetuity of Christ's
kingdom in the earth, would effectually destroy the argument derived from these terms for the endless perpetuity of
happiness and misery in the world to come.
4. The fact that it is a destruction produced by fire, shows
tbat it cannot mean annihilation. It is a well-established
principle in philosophy that fire cannot annihilate a single
particle of matter upon which it acts. It can only change
its form and chemical combinations. As, therefore, the nature of an effect must correspond to the nature of the cause
which produces it, it is certain that the world and every particle of which it is composed must remain here after the conflagration.
5. The discoveries of astronomy furnish a strong argument
for the stability and perpetuity of the earth, and the whole
material universe through infinite ages.
"The conjecture of Sir W. Herschell, near seventy years




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                183
ago, is believed to be verified, that our sun is changing its
position in relation to the stars, by a motion round a central
orb, like that of its own planets round itself; that it advances
along the line of its orbit more than 30,000,000 of miles a
year, and that the circuit on which it moves is so immense
that 1,800,000 of our years would be comprised in the period
of a single revolution."
Now, is it reasonable to suppose that our earth will be, or
may be blotted out of existence, before the system of which
it is a part has performed one of these mighty revolutions?
Does not its movement on such a line, around a grand central orb, furnish adequate ground for the inference that it is
to complete and repeat that revolution, as certainly as it was
the design of the Creator that our earth should perform
unnumbered revolutions round the sun?
In view of the sublime movements and immensity of the
material universe, and in consideration of the fact that it is
in the glory of these heavens, that the glory of God is manifested and declared to created beings, how unreasonable the
idea that the bosom of destruction is to sweep over all these
handiworks of God, and that the whole universe is to be
lighted up into one grand funeral pile, to waste in utter
nothingness. How much more consistent the idea that the
Saviour shall forever rejoice in this habitable world, and
preserve it to eternal ages, as a monument of redeeming
love, in which he will multiply his seed without end.
6. It is evident that the apostle Peter does not predict
anything like a destruction of the material world, from the
fact that it is to be a destruction of a corresponding nature
to that produced by the waters of the deluge.
Of the scoffers who, he predicted, would arise in the last
days, denying the second literal coming of our Lord, he says,
" For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of
God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of




184             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
the water and in the water: whereby the world that then
was, being overflowed with water perished: but the heavens
and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in
store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and
perdition of ungodly men."
Now, here is a comparison instituted, showing us, that as
the earth perished once by water, so in a similar manner,
and for the same reason will it, at some future time, perish
by fire. But in what sense did the earth perish by water?
Was one particle of matter annihilated? Did not the earth
still remain after the flood, with its mountains and valleys,
its oceans and rivers, and with its Ararat, upon which the
ark rested? Did anything in fact perish, except that for
which the flood was sent, the destruction of man, and such
animals as could not live in or upon water? It is clear
that the material world did not perish by the flood-it was
only the world of men and such other living things as God
designed. The flood was designed for the perdition of ungodly men; and for the same reason will be commissioned
the fires of the last conflagration: for, says the apostle, " The
heavens and earth which are now reserved unto fire, against
the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." And
hence7. It may be remarked, that as the design of God, in
this fire, is the perdition or destruction of ungodly men from
the earth, as was the flood, and as no others are named
among the things which are to perish, but ungodly men and
their works, the prediction does not assert or imply the entire
dissolution and destruction of the material earth. We might
just as logically argue, that because the old world being
overflowed with water, perished, therefore it was actually all
dissolved and annihilated, as to argue that because the
heavens, or the atmosphere and the earth are to be subjected




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                  185
to the action, in some sense, of fire, that therefore the whole
is to be blotted out.
As the fire is designed for the perdition of ungodly men
and their works, it will have accomplished its whole mission
when these ends are effected. But8. The description of the apostle shows that the predicted
fire is to be principally or wholly in the atmosphere, and is to
act only on the surface of the earth, for the purposes which
it is to accomplish. He says, " But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night: in the which, the heavens," that is the atmosphere, " shall pass," or rush " with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat,
the earth also, and the works therein, shall be burned," that is,
by being in contact with the electrical or other fires enkindled
in the air.
Again he says, "Looking for, and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat." Surely, there is no prediction of an annihilation here.
It is to be the atmosphere that is to be the subject and scene
of the fire.  "The earth is to be burned by the contact of
the kindled air with its surface, not by the enkindling of its
whole mass. This is indicated by the statement that the
works on it, that is, the works of men are to be burned." And
all this is rendered certain, from the fact already presented,
that there is immediately to be a new heavens, and a new
earth, " and their newness is to consist in their renovation; the
atmosphere, instead of pestilential, is to become congenial to
life; the earth, instead of being blighted with sterility, and
overrun with thorns, is to become fruitful. Wildernesses are
to bud and blossom as the rose, and deserts smile with verdure
and plenty. And in this new heavens and earth, Jerusalem
is to become a rejoicing, and her people a joy."-Is. 65: 17.
The great design of this fire, as recorded by the apostle,
9*




186             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and by Malachi, chapter 4, is to remove the incorrigibly
wicked from the earth, those who will not that the Lord
should reign over them, and to convert our world into an
abode of righteousness. It will be the great crowning act of
God's judgment among the living nations, when the wicked
will be removed, to appear at the resurrection of the wicked
and their final judgment, at the close of the millennium.
The great difficulty in regard to this subject, in the minds
of some, is this; —if men, and nations, and animals, are to live
upon the earth after the conflagration, as the prophets teach,
how can they, or are they to be preserved alive amid the
flaming fires of this great day? For one, I answer, I do not
know; but this I do know, that he who knew how to preserve man and beast, when the old world perished by water,
who could save Lot from a burning Sodom, and Shadrach,
Mesheck, and Abednego, from the flames of the furnace into
which they were cast, can easily save all men and animals
that he has purposed. And the fact that he has not revealed how he will do it, is no proof that he cannot, or will
not. Suppose when God revealed the great fact that he
would destroy the earth with a flood, but yet would save one
family, and a sufficient number of animals to repeople and
replenish the world, he had designedly withheld the information, as to the manner in which he would save them, could
it have been confidently argued, that the facts, as predicted,
could not take place, because there was no way revealed, in
which any could be saved from the devouring elements?
Neither can it now be rationally objected that men and
animals cannot live on the earth after the fires predicted,
because the mode of preservation is not disclosed.
The fact is, we know too little of the precise nature of the
conflagration, or how it will proceed, or how long it will last,
or whether it will be universal at the same time, to raise
many objections on this score.




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                187
If God has said, there shall be a new heavens and a new
earth, in which Jerusalem  shall be rebuilt, and in which nations and animals shall exist, as described in Isaiah 65: 1725, then, undoubtedly, all will be fulfilled.
The Almighty, whose power none can resist, could easily
collect all he intended to save in some prepared refuge or
hiding place, around and above which the lightnings might
play in fearful terror, and the elements burn with resistless
energy and leave them unharmed. And it is not improbable
that it is to these secret hiding places, which God will provide for man and beast, that reference is made in Isaiah 26:
20, 21, where God says, "Come, my people, enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself,
as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth
also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her
slain."
From the connection in which these words stand, and from
the fact that they refer to a final and thorough cleansing of
the earth from all violence and blood, it seems that they
were designed to point to those chambers of refuge and
safety which God will prepare, as he did the ark for Noah,
in which his people, being warned, will betake themselves
from the storms of fire and destruction which will rage without.  None will have cause to fear in this great day, but the
ungodly, who yield not to Jesus.
And now, is it not an exceedingly delightful thought, that
this world is never to be destroyed, but is to stand a monument of redeeming power and love through eternal ages?
Can we ever forget the home of our childhood, the world
whence commenced our immortal existence, in which Jesus
died, where we were renewed by the Spirit and trained for




188              MILtENNARIAN VIEWS.
immortal glories, and which has been the theatre of such
wonderous scenes?
O, as by permission, we may range this glorious universe,
and take our fill of joy amid the heaven of heavens, will it
not be pleasant sometimes to come back to earth, and visit
the spots around which cluster memories which can never be
erased? I doubt not the fires of the last conflagration will
leave the localities of earth so unchanged, that familiar and
cherished spots may be still to the holy associated with all
that is interesting and affecting.
And now, reader, as this is manifestly not unscriptural, is
it an unworthy, a degrading, and corrupting view of the subject? Is it indulging in groveling sensualities? And is it in
any way adapted to diminish from the bright anticipations of
future glory revealed in the scriptures?
Having now considered the judgment of the raised and
transfigured saints, and of the living nations on earth, at the
commencement of the thousand years, we will pass over the
millennium, during all which time the Lord will judge among
the redeemed nations, in righteousness, and truth, and love,
and come down to the resurrection and judgment of the
wicked who will then be raised.
Satan, we are assured, is to be bound a thousand years,
and when the thousand years are expired, he is to be loosed
out of his prison. Simultaneously with the loosing of Satan,
all those who have no part in the first resurrection are raised
up from the dead,-so it is recorded, "And the rest of the
dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished;"
and this certainly implies that they will live again upon earth
at that time. The design of the loosing of Satan at this
time, and the resurrection of the wicked, is in order to the
last scenes and acts of judgment. And accordingly, the
Revelator immediately adds: "And I saw the dead, small




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               189
and great, stand before God; and the books were opened:
and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and
the dead were judged out of those things which are written
in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave
up the dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in them: and they were judged,
every man according to their works. And death and hell
were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life,
was cast into the lake of fire."
It is the opinion of some millennarians, and of many who
are not, that after the thousand years of peace and purity on
earth, there will be a great falling away through the influence of Satan, who will be permitted to go out and seduce
the nations to sin; and that so great will be his success, that
the number of the seduced will be as the sand of the sea.
This sentiment is derived from the following passage:
"And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall
be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the
nations, which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog
and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number
of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the
breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints
about, and the beloved city, and fire came down out of
heaven and consumed them." It is supposed that this will
be permitted, to show that in the devils, the thirst of evil remains unquenched, " and that men, though in conditions
most prosperous to their obedience, will, when left by the
Spirit, and assailed by temptations, instantly, as in earlier
ages revolt, and thus renew the demonstration that their salvation who are redeemed, is wholly of God."
But there is another view of this subject entertained by
some, which we will give, and leave the reader to judge
which is probably correct.




190             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Who are the nations in the four quarters of the earth
whom Satan shall go out to deceive? It is replied, they are
the unholy dead, who are raised up simultaneously with the
loosing of Satan, in all parts of the world just where they
went down to the grave. Included in these vast nations,
the number of whom will be as the sands of the sea, will be
all the wicked who died before the flood, and who were
swept away by that catastrophe, the inhabitants of Sodom
and Gomorrah-of Tyre and Sidon, and all the vast nations
of antiquity, who were destroyed from earth for their sins.
Here, too, will appear the apostate nations, and Gog and
Magog, described by Ezekiel, who were destroyed at the
commencement of the millennium. Wherever their spirits
now are, when the resurrection of their dead bodies shall
take place, they will come up just where they died all over
and in the four quarters of the world. And they will be
just as wicked when they are raised up, and probably more
so, as when they passed away from earth, and just as liable
to be deceived; for wicked men and seducers shall wax
worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
These nations, now in the four quarters of the earth, Satan
will go out to deceive, under the delusion that, by their aid,
he can regain the dominion of the world, and again become
its god, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that
now worketh in the children of disobedience. And with this
design, it is supposed not to be unnatural that he should aim
to deceive, and form into a league with himself, those wicked
ones loosed from prison at the same time with himself, and
in their resurrection state, now in the four quarters of the
earth.
According to this view, it was not the design of God that
Satan should be loosed in order that he might tempt, seduce, and deceive the redeemed and sanctified nations; but
that he, and all his angels, and all the unholy dead raised




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               191
up, might come forth to judgment, and that -death and the
grave might be forever destroyed.  Accordingly we find
them immediately summoned to judgment. —Rev. 20:
10-15.
This view of the subject, it is thought, is rendered probably correct, from various considerations.
1. According to the account given, the wicked dead are
raised at the close of the thousand years simultaneously with
the loosing of Satan.
2. There is nothing said of any falling away or apostacy
among the redeemed nations.
3. It would seem hardly probable that the King of kings
would, having subdued all things to himself, resign his sovereign control, and suffer Satan, a conquered foe, to reusurp
the empire of the nations.
4. That there should be such an apostacy, is contrary to
prophecy, which declares that when the kingdoms of this
world have become the kingdoms of our Lord, he shall rule
over them forever, even forever and ever. And Daniel says,
that the kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up
shall never be destroyed, but shall stand forever. Now, if
such a fearful and general apostacy as is supposed should
occur, would it not contradict these and many other prophecies equally explicit?
5. This view of the subject does not contradict any other
part of scripture, and is in harmony with the purity and
blessedness which we may suppose will exist in the new
heavens and the new earth, after the restoration of a lost
world is fully established.
6. The beloved city and the camp of the saints against
which they go up to compass about, are, it is judged, the
new Jerusalem, the symbol of the raised and glorified saints,
who now, under Christ, have the government of the world.
This new Jerusalem —this camp of the saints, is not proba



192             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
bly on earth, but somewhere in mid heavens. If this is correct, then, it would be inappropriate for men in the flesh to
come against them, and impossible. But for Satan, and the
unholy dead in their resurrection state, to go up against
these glorified saints, would be possible; and as the design
of the devil is to wrest from them the empire of the world,
and defeat their benevolent and holy administration, they are
the ones against whom it might reasonably be supposed they
would go up. But it will be a deluded, frantic effort, for by
the immediately interposing power of God they will be
judged every one according to his works, and cast into that
place of punishment symbolized by the lake of fire. And
this last wicked and Satanic effort to defeat the good, will
show the necessity of their doom and vindicate the justice of
God in their condemnation.
7. As this view of the subject does not increase the number of the wicked, it accords with all the benevolent promptings of our natures. It would be melancholy to think that
after the world had been rescued from the grasp and power
of Satan and sin, it should, in a measure, be retaken, and
such vast millions perish. All this is obviated by this exposition. Not one more perishes by the loosing of Satan or
the resurrection of the unholy dead.
But whatever view of this subject may be adopted as
most scriptural and consistent, a difference in opinion here
cannot affect the great and fundamental principles and doctrines of the millennarian creed.
How long a time will be occupied in this last scene of
judgment is not known; but the great Judge will, no doubt,
take time enough to accomplish all his designs, and to make
the most impressive moral effect upon the universe. He
could, doubtless, in all his acts of judgment, pronounce an
unerring decision, and execute his pleasure in an exceedingly
short time; but as public judgment is not designed for God




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               193
himself, but that a finite aud dependent universe may see
and understand the rectitude of all his ways, he may, as in
many other things, cause the judgment to proceed in orderly
progression and development, until every mouth shall be
stopped, and all holy beings intelligently respond Amen to
all his judgments.
When the judgment is ended, all whose names are not
found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of
fire, which is everywhere exhibited as the symbol of the
place to which fallen angels and impenitent men will be everlastingly consigned, where they will suffer, not, as we believe,
the torment of literal fire; but where, away from God, and
the holy, and heaven, they will reap the fruit of their doingsthe miseries which sin unpardoned, and an unsanctified and
malicious nature, will produce. " The casting of death and
hell into the lake of fire denotes that no place of the dead is
any more to exist on earth." And thence, onward, the earth
will roll on in its endless and glorious career, under the rule
of the great King and Mediator between God and man; and
the generations of men as they come into the world and fulfill their allotted time and work, will be translated to the
glorified without tasting death, as the race of man would
have been had sin never entered our world, and had the
curse of death never been incurred.
" The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. And
when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the
Soil also be subject unto him that put all things under him,
that God may be all in all."-1 Cor. 15: 26-28.
It has been supposed by many, that what the apostle says
in this chapter respecting the delivering up of the kingdom
to God, even the Father, after all things are subdued under
him, has reference to the mediatorial kingdom of Christ, and
that consequently from this time onward he will cease to
be a mediator. But is it so revealed here, or ever intimated




194             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
in any other scripture, that Jesus will ever cease to be the
mediator between God and man? That Jesus Christ will
ever cease to be the mediator, must be seen to be a mere
assumption, which cannot be proved. His delivering up the
kingdom may mean nothing more than a public and formal
announcement that the great work of subduing all enemies,
and restoring a lost world, for which all power in heaven and
in earth was given unto his hands, is finished-perfectly and
forever accomplished.  And as that peculiar government
over all things, formally given to him for the subjugation of
all things, is no longer necessary now that the work is done,
it will revert back to the source from which it originated.
There is a mystery about this passage which will not probably be removed until the light of another world dawns upon
us. But one thing may certainly be affirmed here, that it is
not revealed that our Lord will ever lay aside his mediatorial
office and character.
When the Son of God so loved our world as voluntarily
to assume our nature, it was undoubtedly an eternal union
into which he entered with man. He died in our nature, he
arose from the tomb in our nature, he ascended on high with
our nature, and at the right hand of God, amid the adoring
hosts of heaven, he appears in a human form, as the Son of
man-the great and glorious mediator.
Now, it is never once intimated that he took upon him our
nature for a limited period only, with the design of then
casting it off forever as unworthy of him, and worthless;
but the whole tenor of revelation is adapted to leave the impression that he formed an eternal union with our nature,
and that as our vile bodies at the resurrection are to be
changed, and fashioned like unto his glorious body, and a
union consummated between him and believers, analagous
to a marriage relation, he will be forever presented to them,
and associated with them, in his human form, as their great




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               195
and loved mediator. It must of course be in a modified sense,
that he will be the mediator after the last enemy death is
destroyed. He will be called upon no longer to exercise his
office in the subjugation of sin and the devil; but may he
not be, as now, the glorious medium between God and man,
through whom all blessings will descend, and all services be
rendered?
Viewing the subject in this light, how wonderfully and
beyond all comprehension does it magnify the love of Jesus
to our world. To be willing to enter into an eternal union
with our finite nature, and in the view of principalities and
powers to be identified with our race forever, exhibits an
affection into which angels may well desire to look. Now, as
Christ is to retain our nature forever, he will be a mediator
forever, and through him as their Redeemer, the ransomed
and holy nations, who shall flourish through eternal ages,
will hold communion with the Father of spirits, and render
their adoring homage to the Most High.
In conclusion, permit a brief review of the millennarian
scheme as here presented, that it may be seen and estimated
in a single point of view.
The great and grand idea of millennarianism is the salvation of the world-the complete and eternal restoration of
all things to that perfection of holiness and happiness and
immortal glory which the scriptures give us to understand
would have prevailed had sin never entered. And could
any vision of glory and felicity for our miserable world be
conceived more beautiful and sublime than this? All else
revealed respecting the kingdom of God on earth is subordinate to this grand result, or are only the agencies and means
by which it is to be accomplished. For this the new dispensation is to be introduced with means and accompaniments most wisely and effectually adapted to the end designed.




196              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
To accomplish this great work, and to perfect it in righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ will come a second time to
our world, at the ushering in of the new economy, without
sin, or a sin-offering, unto salvation, to take to himself the
sole dominion of the world, and to reign over it forever. To
aid in this great work of redeeming love, the saints will be
raised and glorified, and as a reward of mercy will be associated with their Lord as his kings and priests, in the government of the unglorified upon earth. To hasten the work,
and to cut it short in righteousness, Satan and his hosts will
be banished from earth, and ungodly nations and individuals
who will not that the Saviour should reign over them, will
be judged and destroyed from the earth, as they have been
in times past. To renew and sanctify the heart the Spirit
will be poured out as showers that water the earth. To
cleanse the earth from all pestilential vapors and influences,
and to produce a new heavens and a new earth, in which
redeemed and restored men may dwell, the fires of the last
conflagration will be commissioned to do their work of judgment and regeneration. To administer to the grand result,
and to give unity to the race, and harmony to the system,
the Jews will be restored; and Jerusalem, rebuilt, will become
the place of divine manifestations, the seat of the Theocracy,
whence shall go forth laws and influences which shall preserve the generations of men in uninterrupted harmony, while
the Redeemer shall multiply his seed as long as the sun and
the moon endure.
Now, what is there low or groveling, earthly, sensual or
devilish, in such views as these? It is a scheme which gives
peculiar glory to God, and an infinite expansion to the great
designs of his love in human salvation. Is not the restoration of the world, in the sense described, worthy of the Son
of God, and worthy of all the agents and instrumentalities to
be introduced? How can it be reconciled with infinite love




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                197
and wisdom to suppose that sin will be suffered to exist here
to the end of time, and that, at last, the earth will be burned
up as an accursed thing, and annihilated from being? Would
this seem like a triumph on the part of the great Redeemer?
Would it not appear that the salvation of Jesus was not
equal to the ruin wrought by Satan and sin? But how different the aspect, and infinitely more grand and glorious the
whole scheme of Divine love and mercy, when viewed in the
light of the millennarian expectation? Oh, what a triumph
over Satan and sin, and the curse it will be, when this world
is restored to its proper place, amid all the happy orbs which
circle the throne of God; and when freed from sin, disease
and death, the seed of Christ shall multiply through eternal
ages, and thence rise, by transfiguration, to higher scenes in
the unfoldings of heaven's glory!
We receive these views, because they seem to us clearly
taught in the scriptures of truth. Ridicule, and misrepresent them, ye who will, our souls shall feast on these visions
of future glory, while, at the present time, we are called to
contend against Satan and sin in patient waiting for the kingdom of God.
The complete salvation or restoration of our world being
the great end to be attained, it may easily be seen that the
agencies and means revealed are fully adequate and wisely
adapted to its accomplishment.
1. To convert the world, there needs to be produced a
certain and indubitable conviction of the truth. One of the
most formidable obstacles in the way of the salvation of men
at present, is the unbelief which prevails in unnumbered
forms and degrees around the world, and the errors and diversities of doctrines which exist among those who profess
the truth. Something must be done to expel this skepticism,
and to drive away these fogs of error and delusion, which
have settled so densely around the minds of so many.




198            hILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Now, how'gloriously adapted to this end will be the personal appearing of the Son of Man! Oh, what.convictions,
certain and indubitable, would this produce! And now, if
our Lord should thus condescend to come, who dare say it
would not be a blessing, and would not, beyond conception,
subserve the cause of truth and righteousness? His appearing in personal glory would undoubtedly be just as wisely
adapted to convince men of the truth, as was his appearing
to Saul of Tarsus.
2. To effect a complete restoration of mankind to holiness
and happiness, it seems necessary that Satanic influence, and
those fearful temptations to sin which now are seen to exist,
should be removed from the world. So the scriptures teach,
that before the salvation of the world is attained, Satan shall
be bound and cast into the pit, and that all the tares, the
children of the wicked one, who are too deeply depraved to
be reformed, shall be gathered out of the world by the command of the Lord. Thus will the strong man be bound and
his goods spoiled.
3. Spiritual influences and agencies, such as have never
yet been enjoyed will be necessary to convert our fallen world
to an abode of righteousness. Accordingly we find it predicted in various scriptures that in the last days there shall
be the most abundant and remarkable outpourings of the
Spirit of God upon all flesh, who together shall see his salvation. And then in connection with all this there will be
the ministration of the saints raised and glorified, frequently
appearing and holding intercourse with the living, and guiding them by their instructions and influence, to holy and
happy pursuits.
And then these things will take place, too, in a physically
regenerated earth, where means for the restoration of man's
physical nature, in harmony with his spritual, will be provided,




THE JUDGMENT DAY.               199
in the leaves of the tree of life, which are for the healing of
the nations.
Thus, it is manifest that the agencies and means revealed
in scripture, are fully adequate to the end proposed, and
wisely adapted.
And then let it be borne in mind, that all these will be
added to all divinely appointed human instrumentalities on
earth. The converted Jews and Gentiles will joyfully and
harmoniously be workers together with God, in working out
their own and other's salvation, and hence all the powers of
heaven and earth will conspire to one and the same sublime
result.
It is altogether an unauthorized assumption, that God intends to convert the world simply and solely through those
agencies which are now employed. God intends, by present
means, in connection with the publishing of the gospel to all
nations, to gather out of them a people for his name, and to
prepare the way for the introduction of a new and brighter
era. And hence, it is a great and momentous work in which
we are engaged, in which we have the most abundant encouragement to labor and pray, in the hope that we may save
many from sin, and prepare the way for the kingdom of
heaven.
It is often said of millennarian views, that they have no
practical tendency, but discourage effort, and hence are only
evil in their tendency and influence.
These views teach us to associate the hopes of our world
with the second glorious appearing of Christ, and it is by his
appearing, or by considerations thence derived, that we
are exhorted in scripture to every good word and work, to
do his will.
To show the practical tendency of the second advent, and
the consequent importance of this truth, as a motive to all
that is good, attention is directed to the following scriptures:




200              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
By considerations drawn from the coming, the appearing,
or revelation of Jesus Christ, we are exhorted1. To repentance.
"Repent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may
be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come fiom
the presence of the Lord, and he shall send Jesus Christ,
whom the heavens must receive until the times of the restitution of all things," &c.-Acts. 3: 19, 20.
2. To love Christ.
" If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha "-which, being interpreted, is, Let
him be accursed when the Lord cometh.
3. To love one another.
" And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love
towards one another, and towards all men, even as we do
toward you: to the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." —1 Thess.
3: 13.
4. To mortification of worldly lusts.
"' When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye
also appear with him in glory. Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupisence, and covetousness, which is
idolatry."-Col. 3: 4, 5.
" The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men, teaching us, that denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this
present world; looking for that blessed hope, even the gloriou.
appearing of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ."
qiitus 2: 11-13.
5. To general obedience and holiness.
" For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and then shall he reward every man accordingn to his works.




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                201
"And now, little children, abide in him, that when he shall
apj2ear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before
him at his coming.' "We know that when he shall appear, we shall be like
him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that
hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure."
-1 John 2: 8, and 3: 2, 3.
6. To spirituality of mind.
4' For our conversation is in heaven; from  whence also we
look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall
change our vile bodies," &c.-Phil 3: 20, 21.
7. To watchfulness.
"Watch, therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord
will come. Therefore be ye also ready; for, in such an hour
as ye think not, the Son of man cometh." —Math. 24: 42-44.
e"But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day
should overtake you as a thief: ye are all the children of
light, and of the day; therefore let us not sleep as do others;
but let us watch and be sober." —1 Thess. 5: 4-6.
8. To patience and long-suffering.
"For ye have need of patience, that after ye have done
the will of God, ye might receive the promise: for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come and will not tarry."
-Heb. 10: 36, 37.
"Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the
Lord."-James 5: 7, 8.
"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fitre, might
be found unto praise, and honor, and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ." —   Peter 1: 6, 7.
"Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial
which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened
unto you; but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of
10




202              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Christ's sufferings; that when his glory is revealed ye may
be glad also with exceeding joy."-1l Pet. 4: 12, 13.
9. To ministerial fidelity.
Who is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath
made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due
season? Blessed is that servant whom his lord, when he
cometh, shall find so doing.-Matt. 24: 46.
"I give thee charge, in the sight of God, who quickeneth
all things; and before Jesus Christ, who, before Pontius
Pilate, witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this
commandment without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ."-1 Tim. 6: 13, 14.
" I charge thee before God and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and
kingdom, preach the word," &c.-2 Tim. 4: 1, 2.
These scriptures might be greatly multiplied in which we
are referred directly to the second coming of our Lord, and
the appearing at that time of his glorious kingdom, for the
most solemn and weighty motives to obedience, and to the
cultivation and practice of all that is good. How, then, can
any truthfully say that there is no practical tendency in millennarian views, which, in entire harmony with these scriptures, direct us continually to the coming of our Lord, as
our blessed hope, for motive to every good word and work?
Surely we cannot err far from the right way while we follow
the teachings of our Lord and his apostles, and warn, and
exhort, and entreat, and persuade men by the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ, with all his saints, to live soberly and
righteously in the present world, and to cherish all the
graces, and do all the works which he has enjoined.
Now, it is a remarkable fact, that while there are so many
scriptures directing us to the second coming of Christ, and
exhorting us to live and act in reference to it, there is not
one which exhorts or commniands us to expect, or to labor for




THE JUDGMENT DAY.                203
the conversion of the world before he comes. If there is, let
it be produced, and we will confess our error.
The fact is, nothing could be more eminently practical
than the millennarian expectation-nothing better adapted to
lessen our love for the present world-to humble us before
God, and to lead us, in the hope of his appearing, to purify
ourselves even as he is pure.
" Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh,
shall find so doing. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, come
quickly."




THE SEASON AND SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.
BUT when shall these things be, and what shall be the
sign of his coming, and of the end of the dispensation?
These have been the mysteries into which curiosity in
every age has inquired most diligently, and in respect to
which presumption has most widely and extravagantly erred.
During the life of our Saviour, the time when he was to
come, and when his kingdom was to appear, were subjects
of deepest interest to friends and foes. But to all such
inquiries our Lord gave but one general answer: "Of that
day and hour knoweth no man." " It is not given to you to
know the times and the seasons which the Father hath
placed in his own power." And in accordance with these
assurances that none can know definitely beforehand when
the Son of Man will come, and when his kingdom will appear, our Lord uniformly exhorted, "Be ye also ready, for
in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man will come."
" And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts
be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares
of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares. For
as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of
the whole earth. Watch ye, therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things
that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of
Man."
It is clearly the design of God that " That day should be
unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security,




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.        205
and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour
the Lord will come; and may be ever prepared to say,'Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.' "-Confession of
Faith.
Now, just here has been the fatal rock upon which many
have made shipwreck, in attempting to fix that which God
in revelation has not fixed, and to reveal what the Father has
seen best to reserve to himself. History shows that the
great error and prolific evil on this subject has not been in
" looking for that blessed hope, even the glorious appearing
of the great God our Saviour," but in fixing the day or the
hour, which no man can know. And is it any wonder that
when men attempt to be wise above that which is written,
that God should leave them to wide mistake, delusion, and
shame?
But though our Lord has definitely taught that the time
of his advent and the appearing of his kingdom will not be
known to men until it bursts in literal splendor on the world,
yet, to gratify a reasonable curiosity, and to sustain and
strengthen the faith of his people, and exalt their hopes, he
has in prophecy laid down certain infallible signs which are
to indicate the near approach of his glorious appearing and
kingdom.
And there is no contradiction between the statement that,
of that day and hour knoweth no man, and the fact that our
Lord has given certain great predicted signs and chronological epochs which are to foreshadow his approach. It would
be perfectly proper to say of any man, that of the day and
the hour of his death, none know; but that his declining old
age, his faltering steps and failing powers, would indicate the
rapid advance of dissolution. So, also, the fact that our Lord
and his apostles and prophets have foretold some of the
great events which are to come to pass before his advent,
and which are to indicate its near aproach, does not conflict




206             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
with the truth, that of the day and hour of his coming knoweth no man. Some of the events which are immediately to
precede and foreshadow our Lord's coming are of a most
fearful and afflictive character; and had they not been announced in prophecy, so that their relation to the coming
kingdom might be known, they might have overwhelmed the
people of God in hopeless despair; but as they are announced as indicating his coming, they furnish the strongest
ground for faith and hope.
As it is not designed to go into any particular exposition
of the symbolical prophecies of the Revelations, we shall
confine our remarks to some of the more obvious teachings
of our Lord and his apostles.
1. One prominent premonitory sign which will indicate the
near approach of the end of the present dispensation, and
the coming of our Lord, will be the preaching of the gospel
unto all nations as a witness. Matt. 24: 14. "And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached into all the world,
for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."
What end is here meant?  Not certainly the end —the
racXos —the consummation of the Jewish dispensation; for
that certainly was consummated at the crucifixion of our
Lord, when on the cross, he cried out, "It is finished," and
died. And this was before the gospel was preached to the
Gentile nations, and into all the world.  Hence, it is certain
that the termination of the Jewish dispensation is not intended here.
Nor can it mean, we judge, the destruction of Jerusalem,
and the dispersion of the Jews into all nations; for what
relation could the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom
into all the world as a witness have to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Israelitish nation?  And,
besides, it has never yet been proved that the gospel was
preached literally unto all the world, before the breaking up




THE SIGNS OF CHRISTVS COMING.         207
of the nation of the Jews; and if it was not, then the declaration of our Lord that the end would immediately, or
soon come after the publication of the gospel of the kingdom
into all the world as a witness, must refer to some future
event.
This declaration of our Lord is, we judge, identical with
the prophecy of Daniel, that as the time of the end draws
near, "Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be
increased."
Daniel 12: 4.  "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words,
and seal the book, even to the time of the end: Many shall
run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased."'Take whatever view we may of the import of this passage,
none can fail to see how literally it is being fulfilled at the
present, in connection with the efforts in every Christian land
to publish the gospel as speedily as possible unto all nations.
Never, since the creation of the world, was there an age like
the present, when knowledge upon every subject was so rapidly and universally diffused. The world seems to be in a
whirl, as if in preparation for some great event. Many are
literally running to and fro on railroads, and steamships, and
magnetic telegraphs, and through the activities of the press,
as if the time was short, and in anticipation of some undefined grand developments in the future.
Or, if we confine the prophecy within narrower limits, and
restrict it to the increase of gospel knowledge, its fulfillment
is no less remarkable. How wonderfully has the Christian
world waked up in these last days to their obligations to the
heathen, and how, in obedience to the dictates of the love
and command of Jesus, are many hastening into every accessible nation, and into every island of the sea, to teach and
to publish to them the glad tidings of a Saviour's love! The
preachers and missionaries of the gospel are even now running to and fro, from north to south, and east to west, into




208             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
almost every part of the habitable world. How remarkably
and wonderfully do all the activities of the present day accord with the scriptures'of truth, and harmonize with millennarian expectation!  "Verily, we have in these things a
spirit-stirring and portentous sign of the coming of the kingdom of God, when, if the nations will not embrace the gospel, and submit to his sway, He shall break them with a rod
of iron, and dash them in pieces as a potter's vessel."
As the time of the end draws on, this last fact will probably be associated with the publishing of the gospel to all
nations, as a fearful and portentous reality, as indicated in
Revelations 14: 6:"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue,
and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give
glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come." Already this is being extensively done, and not only millennarians, but many who are not, are predicting that some fearful'
and desolating revolutions will soon sweep over the despotic
and apostate nations of Europe especially, and perhaps embrace in their outer circles other and distant nations.
The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom, then, in these
last times, into all the habitable world, and the rapid and
vast increase of gospel and other knowledge, as predicted to
precede and foreshadow the end of the present dispensation
and the coming of the Son of Man, furnish conclusive indication that we are drawing nigh to the great crisis in human
affairs, and the realization of the world's glorious hope.
2. Another premonitory symptom which will indicate the
near approach of the Son of Man, will be the increase and
wide-spread of skepticism in regard to the truth of God in
general, and in respect to the second coming of our Lord in
particular.




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST' S COMING.          209
The apostle Paul says, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils."
-1 Tim. 4: 1.
" But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken
before, of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that
they told you there should be mockers in the last times, who
shall walk after their own lusts." —Jude 17: 18.
" For the time will come, when they will not endure sound
doctrines; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away
their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."2 Tim. 4: 3, 4.
These scriptures, in connection with many others, indicate
the-wide and rapid spread of infidelity in various forms, in
the last times of the present dispensation. And, now, what
are the facts in the case? Never, since the times of the apostles, has infidelity been so painfully and alarmingly prevalent
as at the present day. It is not our intention to attempt to
trace the causes of this, or to give statistics on the subject.
The fact is very generally acknowledged and felt.  Infidels
themselves boast, and truthfully too, of their own rapid
increase, and most who are conversant with the world are
forced, from painful observation, to believe. Everything seems
to be made tributary to its increase. A perverted view of
the sciences, phrenology, mesmerism, spiritual rappings, in
connection with the divided state of the Christian church,
all are made subservient to the denial of the truth. Tributary also to this vast stream of unbelief which is spreading
over the world, are the prolific issues of the press, of a light,
corrupt, and demoralizing literature, which is more eagerly
sought and read by the great masses, than any other. And
this infidelity is not only seen outside of the church, but
1Q0




210              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
within its bosom is witnessed, in many cases, its undermining
process.
The prospects would be exceedingly discouraging, and we
should almost yield ourselves to utter despondency, did we
not know that the Lord reigns, and were we not assured that
this increase and wide spread of infidelity, is one of the signs
which is to precede the ushering in of a brighter day, when
truth beaming from the personal presence of the Sun of
righteousness, shall dispel error and delusion from the world.
Let skeptics then be warned, that that same word which
predicts their rise and spread, foretells their overthrow and
ruin at the last. Let them not, then, rejoice too loudly or
boast too confidently, for they are only a sign of a coming
God, and a solemn retribution.
But this infidelity without and within the church, is to be
especially manifested in opposition to the second literal and
personal coming of our Lord. Peter says, {"Knowing this
first, that there shall come, in the last days, scoffers, walking
after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of
his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation."-2
Peter 3: 3, 4.
Let it be noticed that this is to be one of the characteristics
of the last days.  And is it not true of the present time?
Infidels universally deny the coming of our Lord, and often
employ the very argument here predicted, drawn from the
stability of nature's laws, to refute the Christian.
From the fact that the second coming of Christ is becoming a prominent theme in the church, infidelity is found to be
arrayed against this article of faith in particular.
And then, in addition to all this, there are various sects,
one of whose prominent article is, a denial of the second
literal coming of Christ. Swedenborgians deny this as




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.          211
one of their fundamental principles. Universalists deny the
coming of our Lord to judgment, and so of other sects
equally important. And then, too, in many evangelical
churches, it is a subject seldom dwelt upon, as having any
practical importance in the publication of the gospel. These
things are certainly portentous, and show that we are verily
living in the last days. And the more the enemy triumphs,
and the more generally the coming of our Lord is denied and
ridiculed, the more ardently and confidently shall we look
for his glorious appearing soon to take place.
Painful, then, as are the developments of infidelity, delusion, and error, Christians should not be disheartened or discouraged, knowing that in proportion as scoffers arise in the
last times, the day of redemption draweth nigh. Let us
watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation, and are
not seduced from the simplicity of the truth as it is in Jesus,
by the devices of the wicked one.
3. The time of our Lord's coming, he assures us, will be
indicated by violent political agitations and revolutions, and
a season of unwonted distress and perplexity among the
nations.
In the twenty-first chapter of Luke, having described the
destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews into
all nations, in the twenty-fifth verse and onward, he foretells
the signs which are to precede and denote the near approach
of his second advent.
"'And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon,
and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with
perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which
are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be
shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in
a cloud, with power and great glory.  And when these things




212             AI1LLENNARIAN VIEWVS.
begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads:
for your redemption draweth nigh."
The signs in the sun, moon, and stars, and earth, do not
denote mere phenomena of the material world; but are manifestly employed as symbols of great political revolutions, and
popular tumults, and disastrous commotions, on earth. The
sun, moon, and stars, represent monarchs, princes, nobles and
subordinate rulers, who exert a power and influence over
men, analagous to that which the heavenly bodies exert upon
the material world; while the sea and the waves roaring
represent the people in insurrection, and commotion, and
tumult.  Understanding the symbols in these senses, no
language could more forcibly describe a series of fearful and
violent political convulsions and revolutions, by which monarchs and princes, and officers of state, these powers of heaven shall be shaken, and their thrones be tossed and dashed
by popular violence, as vessels upon the bosom of raging
billows. It is easy to conceive that amid such disastrous
commotions, there may be upon the earth great distress of
nations with perplexity. Men will not know what to do, or
what course to take, and their hearts will fail them for fear,
and for looking after those things which are coming upon the
earth. Now, when such a state of things shall come to pass
on the earth, then we are assured that the coming of the
Son of Man is nigh, even at the door.
And from indications, such a state of things seems to be
not far distant from the European nations. As coming events
commonly cast their shadows before them, so the shadows
of vast political revolutions, and insurrections and blood, have
fallen on the minds of most men who are acquainted with
passing events. There are, at this time, fearful apprehensions on the minds of very many. Already there is perplexity and a portentous looking after those things which are




TIHE SIGNS OF CHRIST S COMING.        213
coming upon the earth. A few years will perhaps develop
scenes of revolution and blood such as the world has never
before witnessed. Europe has vast arrears to settle with the
God of providence. She has shed the blood of the saints,
and she shall have blood to drink. These nations have downtrodden and cruelly oppressed the Jews, and God has said
that he will make a full end of the nations that have oppressed them. Whoever is looking for peaceful and happy
republics in Europe, then, will look in vain. Nought but
oppression, revolution and blood, await them until the coming of the Son of Man.
Should the revolutions and wars which are now so generally anticipated, correspond in their perplexing and distressful character to the description of our Lord, then we might
confidently look up, and lift up our heads, knowing that the
Redeemer of men was nigh his coming.
To show the relation of these things to the time of his
advent, he spoke a parable: " And he spake to them a palable; Behold the fig-tree, and all the trees; when they now
shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand. So likewise ye, when ye see these
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is
nigh at hand. Verily, I say unto you, This generation shall
not pass away, till all these things be fulfilled." From this
last declaration it has commonly been supposed that our
Lord spoke only of the destruction of Jerusalem, and attending events, and that all must have occurred before those then
living had all passed away from earth. But there is no necessity for such a construction. The word translated generation, X ysE'sC, does not uniformly denote the men of a particular time or age, but a posterity of any man, a line of descendants, a race, or class of people, extending in regular
descent over indefinite ages. Did time permit, many examples might be given of the use of the word in this sense.




214             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
The term, in this sense, then may denote the Jewish race,
or descendants. The Saviour meant this race of people, the
Jews, should not pass away, or be destroyed, till all was fulfilled. And now, what are the facts in the case? The Jews,
as a race or generation, still remain.  No powers have been
able to crush or annihilate them. They live a miracle of
providence, and witnesses to his truth, that all will yet be
fulfilled which is predicted.
Their literal preservation as a race furnishes an assurance
of the correctness of the exposition given.
Intimately associated with the violent political revolutions
and distress of nations, spoken of in the above prediction,
and perhaps identified with them, is the time of unprecedented trouble predicted by our Lord, as recorded in Matthew, and by the prophets Daniel and Jeremiah.
Matt. 24: 21, 22.  "For there shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this
time; no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should
be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the
elect's sake those days shall be shortened."
It is commonly supposed, that this time of trouble was
experienced at the destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jews by the Romans. But there are certain intimations in the passage itself, and in other parallel scriptures,
which show that if this was included it was by no means all
that was meant. The prophet Daniel says, 12: 1, 2, "And
at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which
standeth for the children of thy people: And there shall be
a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation,
even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be
delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.
And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall
awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt."




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.          215
Jeremiah says, "Alas! for that day is great, so that none
is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall
be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day,
saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off
thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no
more serve themselves of him: But they shall serve the Lord
their God, and David, their king, whom I will raise up unto
them."
Now, here are three different sacred writers who predict
a time of trouble in respect to the Jews especially, of which
it is said: There shall be none like it-such as never was
since there was a nation, or from the creation, or ever shall
be. But there can be only one such time of trouble, of which
it can be truly said, there is none like it, or that it is greater
than all others. Hence it is certain that our Lord, Daniel,
and Jeremiah, must refer to the same time or season of
trouble; for it would be charging our Lord, or the prophets
with untruth in their representations, to assume that they referred to different times, when each declares of the time of
which he speaks that there is, or will be, none like it.
Regarding this, therefore, as a settled point, that but one
time of unprecedented trouble is referred to in these separate predictions, there are some marks here which show that
neither our Lord nor the prophets referred to the destruction
of Jerusalem.
1. Both Daniel and Jeremiah associate their time of trouble
with the salvation of the Jews. "At that time," says Daniel,
"shall thy people be delivered;" and Jeremiah says, "but
Jacob shall be saved out of it." Now, these could not refer to
the trouble experienced at the destruction of Jerusalem, for
the people were not then delivered or saved, neither did they
then serve the Lord their God, and David, their king, or
Christ, as predicted, as an immediate consequence and result
of this time of trouble, according to Jeremiah.




216              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
2. The time of trouble of which Daniel speaks, and of
which he says, there was never any like it, is associated with
a resurrection of the dead. " And many of tlrem which sleep
in the dust of the earth shall awake." As there was no
resurrection at the time of Jerusalem's destruction, and the
dispersion of the nation, it is clear that the prophet must
have had his eye on some event long after this, which is to
occur immediately preceding a resurrection. But as our Lord
says, of his time of trouble, that there shall never be any so
great afterward; and as the prophet declares of his, that it
shall be so terrible, that never before was there anything
like it, it is rendered certain that they must both refer to
the same terrible scene, and that it must be in the last times,
immediately preceding a resurrection of some of the dead,
and the deliverance of the Jews from their unbelief and dispersion.
3. These conclusions are confirmed by what our Lord says
of his: " And except those days should be shortened, there
should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days
shall be shortened."
Now, the days of Israel's troubles were not shortened, but
the destruction of their city, and the dispersion of the nation,
were only the beginnings of sorrow, which have been perpetuated through eighteen centuries. Let any one carefully
examine their history, and he will see that they have suffered
repeatedly as great and accumulated sorrows as at the first.
Now, as their time of trouble was not shortened, and as our
Lord declares, in regard to the time of trouble of which he
speaks, that it shall be shortened, it follows that ft was not
really to the troubles attending the destruction of Jerusalem
that he referred, but to that represented by Jeremiah and
Daniel, when Israel shall be delivered and saved.
4. And then the troubles attending the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, was limited to one nation, but the




TIlE SIGNS OF CHRIST S COMING.         217
time of trouble of which our Lord speaks, is to be so wide,
circling, and comprehensive of all nations, that unless these
days of sorrow were shortened, no flesh should be saved.
This shows that a time of trouble, far more terrible, widewasting and desolating, than has ever been experienced, is
meant-a time of trouble so dreadful, that unless the Lord
interposes, and cuts short the days, one universal ruin would
sweep over the world.
There is, then, according to prophecy, a day of fearful trial
and tribulation, and darkness, yet to come upon the world,
before that brighter day, when the Lord shall reign on Mount
Zion, and execute righteousness and judgment in the earth.
Men may cry, peace, peace; but God hath said, thereis no
peace to the wicked, and he has never said there shall be
peace until the Lord comes.
And with these things agree all the prophets. Joel says,
"Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my
holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble:
for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: A
day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of
thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains:
a great people and strong; there hath not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many
generations.  A  fire devoureth before them; and behind
them a flame burneth; the land is as the garden of Eden
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness; yea,
and nothing shall escape them. Before their face the people shall be much pained: all faces shall gather blackness.
The earth shall quake before them; the heavens shall tremble: the sun and the moon shall be dark, and the stars shall
withdraw their shining: And the Lord shall utter his voice
before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong
that executeth his word: for the day of the Lord is great




218             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and very terrible; and who can abide it?"-Joel 2: 1-3,
6: 10-12.
It is manifest, that the prophet Joel here refers to, and
describes the same time of trouble and destruction, as did
Jeremiah, Daniel, and our Lord; for he gives the same unprecedented characteristic respecting it, "There hath not
been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it." And
he also associates it with the deliverance and salvation
of Israel, especially, as any one may see by reading the
chapter.
And, according to the clear intimations of prophecy, it
would not be surprising if we should see the beginnings of
this sorrow in our own days, or if not, that they should occur in the days of our children. And how strikingly does
all this harmonize with the annunciation of the angel of the
Apocalypse, commissioned to preach the everlasting gospel
to the nations!
" And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on
the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, saying, with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory
to him: for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship
him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."-Rev. 14: 6, 7.
Now, should such a time of trouble come upon the world
as is here predicted, the faithful should not despond, but regard it as an omen of the near approach of a peaceful and
glorious day.
4. Intimately associated with this unprecedented time of
trouble, and perhaps in connection with it, and a part of it, it is
believed by many that the time of our Lord's advent will be
preceded by a simultaneous, terrible, and bloody persecution
of the true worshippers of God, or the two witnesses spoken
of in Revelations 11: 3, 13. The two witnesses are the two




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.            219
olive trees, and the two lamps representing the teachers or
preachers of the true gospel, and the faithful who receive
and live according to their teachings. The prescribed limits
of this work will not permit a discussion of this subject. All
that can now be said is, that there is reason to believe from
prophecy, that there will yet be a combination of papal,
apostate, and infidel powers, against the true spiritual worshippers of the Lord, and a bloody slaughter. And it would
seem as if we were permitted already to hear the rumbling
of their distant thunder, and the menaces of their wrath.
But, when these enemies have done their worst, their triumph shall be short, for, "For the Elect's sake, those days
shall be shortened," and God the Redeemer will appear for
the deliverance and triumph eternally of his people.
We are aware that this is a painful view of things, but
what can be gained by closing our ears from the admonitory
voice of God, and thus suffer that day to come upon us unawares and unprepared? Let all men, let the nations know
that God has written these things in his book, that when
they come to pass, they may know that God is true and just.
And ye professed disciples of Jesus, "Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with
surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so
that day come upon you unawares. For, as a snare shall it
come on all them that dwell on the face of the earth."
5. The prophecies give us to understand, that prior to our
Lords coming there will be an effort to restore the Jews,
and a partial restoration probably take place. Should we
see any such movement, we should regard it as a clear scriptural sign of our Lord's near approach.
6. It is believed that, as the time of the end draws nigh,
and as iniquity abounds, the love of many in the church will
wax cold, and a very general declension in true, self-denying,
spiritual religion take place. Our Lord alludes to this, when




220              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
he says, in Matthew 24th, "And because iniquity shall
abound, the love of many shall wax cold." And the apostle
Paul probably looked down to this, as well as to all the
apostacies which have occurred under the Christian dispensation, when he said" This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall
come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, pre-eminently selfish, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural
affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,
despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded,
lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; having a form
of godliness, but denying the power thereof."
The vices which are here named are most of them detailed in the first chapter of Romans, as characteristic of the
heathen world; but from the fact that he here states that
these vices are to prevail among those who have a form of
godliness, while they deny the power thereof, it appears that
it is a state of things particularly in connection with the
church or professors of religion that is described. These
vices have always prevailed among men, and do now; but
they are to have a peculiar and perilous manifestation under
the garb of godliness.
From many considerations which might be dwelt upon, it
would really seem that we are rapidly falling upon the times
here denoted.  The vast revivals of formalism, and the increase of those sects which repudiate the influences of the
Spirit, together with the unwonted incentives to worldliness,
lust, and pleasure, which exist at the present day, are tending
to the very results predicted. Whether the world is really
growing better or worse, is a question which does not belong
to, or in any way affect the main points of millenarianism,
and perhaps it would be difficult for us who live and act in
the midst of present scenes to determine. But men are apt




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST S COMING.           221
to be amazingly deceived by external appearances, and to
mistake the progress of mere worldly knowledge and improvement for that vital godliness which sanctifies and prepares for heaven.
There is, no doubt, a vast increase of knowledge, and there
are equally great improvements in the arts of civilization, in
the facilities of intercourse, and the general supply of human
wants. But whither are these things tending? Are men,
within and without the church, becoming less selfish, less
worldly, less sensual, less in love with things of time and
sense, and more and more Godlike, and devoted to the things
which pertain to the kingdom of God?
We are to bear in mind that there is no religion in railroads, steamships, magnetic telegraphs, printing-presses, or
in the progress of the arts and sciences, in themselves considered. Unsanctified and unappropriated to the glory and
service of God, they may all become instruments of unrighteousness, and may afford such powerful stimulus to avarice,
to worldliness, to selfishness in every form, and pleasure, that
God, and the world to come may be left wholly out of view.
And there is ground for serious apprehension that such are,
in fact, the practical effects which are being produced.
When we speak of the world growing worse or better, we
speak only in respect to religion, pure and undefiled before
God-that religion which purifies the heart, and overcomes
the world, which rejoices in the truth, and which kindles in the
heart hungering and thirsting after righteousness, as the
object of supreme desire. Is there such a growing holiness
in the church, including all the sects in Christendom? IDo
the world take knowledge of Christians that they are less
covetous, less devoted to the love of the things of time, more
upright in their dealings, more conscientious, more punctual
and faithful in all their engagements, more self-denying for
the cause of Jesus, more solicitous for the glory of God than




222             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
themselves, and more anxious to secure eternal life for themselves and others, than anything in the form of wealth, or
honor, or pleasure, which this world can present? Alas, we
fear the reverse is too true.
Undoubtedly, this is an age of benevolent effort, and there
are many bright examples of self-sacrifice in the devoted men
who have gone forth to publish the gospel to all nations,
and also in those at home, who sustain them. But is this
the case generally? 0, how hard it is, and how many agents
and agencies are required to draw out from the churches the
little that is necessary to meet the demands of a perishing
world.
We maintain that, in no gospel sense, is the world growing
better, or the church becoming purer, only in proportion as
men love God and keep his commandments, and seek as their
great object to lay up treasures in heaven and not on earth.
Let any minister sit down candidly, and ask himself, Do I
find in my experience that Christians are growing in love for
one another, that mutual confidence is increasing, that true
spirituality and heavenly-mindedness are acquiring a greater
and greater ascendancy, that revivals are consequently more
frequent, deep and permanent, and that the love and obedience of Christ are becoming the great and all-controlling principle of action, to an unwonted and delightful extent? Or
does it rather require all my efforts to resist, if possible, the
downward tendency of things, and to strengthen the things
that remain and are ready to die? and we believe there will
be but one verdict in respect to the aspect of things.
Now, our hearts would sicken and die, were we not permitted to read in the book of prophecy that in the last days
great vices shall prevail under a form of godliness, that perilous times shall come in respect to true piety, and that because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax
cold; but that just beyond is a brighter day, when the ene



THE SIGNS OF CHRIST'S COMING.           223
mies of the truth shall be confounded, and the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his beams, to scatter forever the
darkness of error and sin.
Let skeptics and hostile sects rejoice, then, if they will, over
the decline of vital godliness in Christian churches, and say,
Aha! So would we have it; we know that as surely as God
reigns, these are only one of the signs which are to precede
and foreshadow the dawn of a millennial day.
" Behold, I come as a thief.  Blessed is he that watcheth,
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see
his shame. He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed
in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the
book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father,
and before his angels."
7. As another indication which shall mark the near approach of our Lord, He says, "For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, or teachers, and shall show great
signs and wonders; insomuch, that if it were possible, they
shall deceive the very elect. Behold I have told you before.
Wherefore, if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the
desert, go not forth; behold, he is in the secret chambers,
believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east,
and shineth even unto the west, so also shall the coming of
the Son of Man be."
In view of these things, we are not surprised to see such
pretenders as the various Mormon prophets, as A. J. Davis,
and other professed spiritual mediums arise, and by showing
signs and wonders deceive many.
Nor are we surprised to see false teachers of various names
and pretensions, rising up thick and numberless around,
propagating all kinds of errors, and giving birth to all kinds
of absurd opinions.
We expect, as the day of deliverance draws on, these will
multiply, and their adherents increase; and many of them




224             MIImLENNARIAN VIEWS.
will seem so reasonable, and so pleasing, and will show such
signs and wonders that they shall deceive, if it were possible, the true people of God. Let all who love the truth,
then, beware of false teachers, and let them watch and pray
lest they enter into temptations, and be seduced from the
faith once delivered to the saints, for it is certain that the
devil will yet come down, with many lying wonders, and
great wrath, knowing that his time is short.
8. The chronological data which the prophecies give, furnish intimations that the time is short when all that is predicted shall come to pass.
One of the most prominent periods fixed for the termination of the 1260 years so repeatedly brought to view in the
prophecies of Daniel and John, is 1866. This clearly does
not mark the time of the coming of the Son of Man, for that
time none can know; but according to prophecy, within the
limits of some four years from that time, preceding or succeeding, may be expected a great crisis in the political affairs
of the nations, and great revolutions, which may dissolve
the relation between church and state in Europe, and have a
most important bearing upon the Jewish people, in preparing
the way for their ultimate restoration in part to their own
land.
Precisely what course these political events are to take, it
would be hazardous to state, for it is not revealed; but there
is clear intimation in prophecy that Russia is yet to gain an
entire ascendancy over continental Europe, and have all the
powers thereof under its control, in accomplishing its vast
schemes of ambition and war. And in its fully-developed
form, Russia will probably constitute the great Gog of scripture-Gog.the prince of Rosh of Meshech and Tubal, who is
described by Ezekiel, and who will be destroyed in the great
battle of Armageddon as predicted. The present aspect of
things in Europe looks suspiciously in this direction.  But




THE SIGNS OF CHRIST S COMING.        225
whatever may be true in respect to these things, there can
be no doubt that, according to prophecy, we are on the eve
of vast political revolutions, in which probably blood will
flow as described in apocalyptic vision. But these things,
as they come to pass, will only hasten on the day of deliverance and salvation.
9. The very general expectation upon the minds of most
persons, that we are approaching some great crisis, is an
indication of the coming Saviour.
Forthcoming events cast their shadows before them. So
do these shadow forth the near approach of the Son of Man,
and our children may see the day if we do not. May God
hasten it, in its time. It is our hope and joy. Amen.
I!




THE FACT, NATURE, AND RATIONALITY OF THE RESURRECTION OF OUR
MATERIAL BODIES.
TIHE following discourse does not form an essential part of
the argument, contained in the preceding chapters, and
might therefore be left out without injuring its proportions.
But, as much is said in them respecting the resurrection of
the dead, and as, in the minds of many, there is much doubt
and perplexity in regard to the resurrection; it has been
thought that it might be useful, and serve more clearly to
illustrate the themes already discussed to insert it.
It is manifest from the teachings and writings of the apostles of our Lord, that the doctrine of the resurrection of the
dead was in their estimation fundamental to the whole Christian system, and to all the hopes inspired by the gospel.
The apostle Paul says, 1 Cor. 15: 12-17. —"Now if
Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ
not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching
vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found
false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God
that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be
that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not
Christ raised; and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain;
ye are yet in your sins."
No language could more strongly declare the essential
importance of this doctrine to the Christian system than this,




THE RESURRECTION.                 227
and its intimate and necessary connection with all our immortal hopes. And hence the apostles, wherever they went,
bore witness to the reality of the resurrection of Christ from
the dead, as the crowning miracle in the chain of evidence
submitted in proof of the gospel, and as a sure pledge of all
that God had promised of a blissful immortality in the world
to come.
It is then a matter of infinite moment to all who have fled
for refuge, to lay hold on the hope set before them in the
gospel, to hold fast the resurrection of our material bodies
from the dead, and to understand all that Heaven has been
pleased to reveal respecting its nature and glory.
In presenting this subject it is proposed to prove the fact
of the resurrection of our material bodies, and to illustrate
the Bible doctrine respecting it; and
2. To show that it is in harmony with reason, with our
immortal and aspiring natures, with all the works of Jehovah,
and opens before the believer a career of immortality inconceivably grand and glorious.
1. The Bible teaches that it is that which dies which is to
be raised from the dead, and consequently it teaches that the
resurrection from the dead is the reconstruction and reanimation of our material bodies.
Some who deny the resurrection of the body, say that the
resurrection is only the elimination, or the rising of the spiritual part of man from the body at death. This we believe,
is the doctrine of Swedenborg. But this is no resurrection
of the dead, and is clearly not the doctrine of scripture.
Nothing could be taught more definitely by human language,
than is the fact that it is that part of man which dies, which
is to be raised up. In proof of this we present1. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In many
scriptures it is explicitly declared that the crucified Jesus
did rise from the dead. But in what did his resurrection




228             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
consist? Unquestionably in the reanimation of that body
which died-which was taken down from the cross, and laid
in the sepulchre of Joseph of Arimathea. Of this there is
the most positive and abundant proof.
In the second chapter of John's gospel we are told, that
on a certain occasion, when the Jews demanded of our Lord
a sign in testimony of his authority for doing what he did,
He said, " Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise
it up."  The Jews misunderstanding his reference, said,
"Forty and six years was this temple"-the temple at Jerusalem-" in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?"
But he spake of the temple of his body. When, therefore,
he was risen from the dead, his disciples remembered that
he had said this unto them; and they believed the scripture
and the word which Jesus had said."
In this passage the question is put beyond all rational controversy, that the Saviour, in predicting his own resurrection
on the third day, had respect to his material body; for it
was that which the Jews could and would destroy that was
to be raised up. But the spiritual nature of Christ they
could not touch or destroy, and hence it was clearly not his
spiritual body which was predicted to rise, but his mortal,
material body. And all this is fully illustrated and confirmed
in the events that followed.
When our Lord said to the Jews, Destroy this templethis body of mine, and in three days I will raise it up, He
fully committed himself on a point from which there was no
retreat, and in regard to which there was no room for evasion.
The truth of his claims, as the Messiah, was fully and deliberately staked upon this single fact, that if they put him to
death, as he knew they meditated, he would rise again to
life in that same body on the third day. If he arose, then,
agreeably to his own prediction, it would demonstrate his
pretensions; if not, the failure would prove him an impostor.




THE RESURRECTION.                229
This point, those who were instrumental in his death well
understood, and they determined to put his claims here to
the most rigid scrutiny. And hence we find this recordMatt. 27: 6-2: " Now the next day that followed the day of
the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together
unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver
said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise
again. Command, therefore, that the sepulchre be made
sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and
steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from
the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first."
Now all this arrangement could have reference only to
that body which had died, and it showed a determination to
test the truth or falsehood of the Saviour's pretensions to the
utmost, confident of a triumph over him whom they regarded
with abhorence.
When the dead body of our Lord was therefore laid in the
tomb, and the stone which closed the door sealed-around
that sepulchre the most wakeful suspicion prevailed, the
most watchful vigilance was exercised, and every precaution
was taken to guard that body, in order to decide the fact
whether that body which died, and was laid in the grave,
should continue there lifeless beyond the specified time, or
rise to life again as predicted.
It was a time of deep anxiety and suspense. The powers
of light and darkness all around were awake and watching
the result. The soldiers silently paraded about the tomb,
and the chief priests and Pharisees anticipating a triumph,
awaited the issue with deep and anxious emotion.
Hour after hour rolled away. The first and the second
nights were passed and all was still. But the third day
came, and that temple which had been destroyed was rebuilt-that body which was laid in the tomb was reanimated,




230             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and reunited to that immortal part which went with the soul
of the penitent thief to paradise on the day of his death.
Of this there is the most ample proof in the several accounts given by the evangelists, appointed as witnesses of
his resurrection.
Passing over many incontrovertible circumstances which
demonstrate the resurrection of that material body of our
Lord which was crucified and died, we will first notice his
appearance to his disciples at Jerusalem, recorded in Luke
24: 36-46. He had appeared to two of the brethren on
their way to Emmaus, and was made known to them in the
breaking of bread. While these two were relating to the
eleven what things were done in the way, and how he was
made known to them, Jesus himself suddenly stood in the
midst of them, and said, "Peace be unto you. But they
were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had
seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye terrified? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?  Behold
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and
see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have.
And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands
and his feet, bearing the marks of the nails. And while they
yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them,
Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a
broiled fish and of a honey-comb. And he took it and did
eat it before them."
This is an exceedingly interesting passage, and one which
demonstrates, by a series of facts, the reality of the resurrection of the material body of our Lord.  The disciples
affrighted, supposed it was a spirit they saw; but to correct this impression, the risen Saviour exhorted them not to
be troubled, but to come and satisfy themselves that he was
not a spirit, by beholding his hands and his feet-the very




THE RESURRECTION.                 231
scars of the wounds which had been made by the piercing of
the nails and the spear: showing that it was the same body
that was crucified, that had been raised, and in no sense a
merely spiritual, ethereal, or sublimated substance.
2. The Saviour positively declared that he was not a spirit,
but had a body with flesh and bones as other men.  "Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me
and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me
have." He shows us here, a distinction between body and
spirit. A spirit hath not flesh and bones. It is something
distinct from matter. But he, in his resurrection body, had
flesh and bones, and therefore manifestly had a material
body.
3. And then, further to demonstrate to them this great
fact, which he seemed anxious to impress upon them, that
he was not as pirit, but had a material body, He said, " Have
ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled
fish, and a honey-comb, and he took it and did eat it before
them." Now the Lord did, in truth, eat this fish and honeycomb, or he did not.  If he did not, he was guilty of practicing upon them a gross deception. If he did eat them, it
demonstrates that he had a material body as really as before
his crucifixion.
It is then certain, from this scripture, as well as from other
parallel passages, which he who doubts should consult, that
it was that part of our Lord which died, which rose again.
And this proves that the scriptural doctrine of the resurrection is, that it is that which dies, which is raised, or is to be
raised; for, says the apostle, " Now is Christ risen from the
dead, and become the first fruits of them that sleep." His
resurrection is a proof and pledge, and an illustration of that
of others, which could not be, were his not of the same nature and character as all others.
In determining, therefore, that the resurrection body of




232             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
our Lord was a material body, we have decided the question,
that our resurrection bodies will also be material. For we
are definitely informed by the apostle, in his Epistle to the
Philippians, 3: 21, "That when the Lord comes, he will
change our vile bodies that they may be fashioned like unto
his glorious body, according to the working of his mighty
power, whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself."
In this passage the pattern is given according to which
our bodies are to be formed in the resurrection; so that
whatever was the nature of the resurrection body of our
Lord, such will undoubtedly be ours. But it has been
shown that he rose in his material body —in a body that
could be handled-that bore in it the prints of the nails and
the spear, and which could eat and drink; and it is therefore
demonstrated from scripture, that the resurrection of all
others will be material.
This is still further confirmed by the express teachings of
our Lord, in John 5: 25-28. In asserting his high authority
and power in this most interesting passage, Christ says,
"' 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." Now mark, it is that which
is dead, not the living spirit, which is to hear the voice of the
Son of God and live. From the fact that our Lord says, that
the hour is not only coming, but now is, when the dead shall
hear his voice, some have argued that only a spiritual resurrection was here intended. But there is no ground or necessity in the passage for any such conclusion. Was it not a
fact, that at that hour or time, the dead did hear the voice
of the Son of God and live? Did he not frequently, during
his ministry, raise the dead to life? Did not Lazalus, and
the son of the lone widow of Nain, and the daughter of Jairus, and many others who were dead, hear the voice of the
Son of God miraculously put forth, and live? Our Lord,




THE RESURRECTION.                233
therefore, in affirming that the dead at that time heard his
voice, was only declaring what was everywhere, in Judea,
known to be the fact. And to show his power to do all that
he had said respecting the resurrection of the dead universally, he refers to these facts which were at that time repeatedly occurring, in answer to the voice of the Son of God.
But he goes on to say; "Marvel not at this: for the hour
is coming in which all that are in their graves shall hear his
voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good unto
the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto
the resurrection of damnation." It is here clearly predicted
that those who are to hear the voice of the Son of God, are
those who are in their graves. But the bodies only of the
dead are in the grave-therefore the resurrection of the material body is certainly taught. The scriptural testimony in
favor of the resurrection of our material bodies, is so abundant, that it would be impossible to consider it in one short
discourse.
The resurrection of our material bodies from the grave, is
undoubtedly purely a scriptural doctrine, and must depend
entirely on its testimony. And yet in the light which the
Scriptures shed upon this subject, a presumptive argument
may be drawn in its favor from the wonderful mechanism
and powers of the human body. The mechanism of the
human frame is exceedingly curious, and intricately wonderful. The body is a temple or dwelling place of the immortal
mind, and was designed as a combination of instruments
through which its development and external manifestation
was to be made to the world, and its divinely derived powers
exercised and exhibited. Now, the wonderful powers of the
human body, and its wisely and nicely-adjusted adaptation
to the faculties and destiny of the mind, seem clearly to indicate that its existence will be necessary to the full development of mind in a future world, and to its highest welfare.
11*




234             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
1. Consider what astonishing and wonderful powers the
members of the body possess, as instruments of the soul, as
manifested in all the beautiful, the useful, the noble and
grand productions of mechanical art, as seen in the world.
Who rears the beautiful mansion, the gorgeous temple, and
adorns them with all their splendid and architectural members and proportions? Who forms and puts together the
complicated, the highly-finished, and nicely-adjusted parts
of a steam engine, and other machinery by which the elements of nature are appropriated to the use of man, and by
which the most beautiful and astonishing results are produced? By what agency has the magnetic telegraph been
constructed, by which the lightning is made to answer to the
call of man, and to furnish a highway of thought for the
nations? The answer is, by the instrumentalities of the
members of the human body. The mind conceived and devised these combinations of wisdom, utility and beauty, but
the mind could never have executed its conceptions, or have
given form to its ideas in external nature and development,
had it not been for its mechanical agent, the body, furnished
for its use by the Great Creator.
In every triumph of mechanical art, we see not only the
manifestations of active intellect, but the wonderful powers
and adaptations of the human body to all the conceptions
and combinations of the ever-active and aspiring mind. It is
manifest that the body is now necessary to the development
and highest achievements of mind, and essential to its welfare and happiness. Will it not be so hereafter? Will not
the mind need a body, with powers similar to those now
possessed, refined and augmented, as its minister or agent in
the execution of those wonderful schemes which will be devised and enjoyed in its enlarged and eternal development?
Will the mind, in a future world, be able to do its will, and
accomplish its pleasure independently of a body as now




THE RESURRECTION.                235
possessed, and better attain the high destinies of its being?
Certainly xe are not warranted in such a conclusion by any
thing we can see within or about us in the present world.
The body, with its various mechanical organs and powers,
is now essential to the mind. What could the spirit do
without it? What execute of good or evil? Now, the
fact that the body is so essential to the operations of mind
in the present world, seems clearly to intimate that a body
must be essential to its highest well-being in any world.
And this truth the Scriptures declare in the doctrine of the
resurrection; and hence it may be seen that the doctrine is
rational, and in accordance with the nature and wants of the
mind.
But if the' mind, as some suppose, will rise to a higher
state of perfection when emancipated from the body-if it
will then be free from all that impedes and clogs its upward
progress, why was it ever connected with the body? Is it
not an impeachment, virtually, of the wisdom and goodness
of the Creator, to say that the body is a clog to the mind,
and that it will better attain its highest end when disconnected with matter? We repeat the inquily, Why, according
to this supposition, did God form for man a material body,
with such wonderful mechanical powers, and associate it
essentially with the mind in all its present pursuits, probation and enjoyments? Did lie do it that lie might simply
dash it to pieces at death, as a vile vessel? Or only that in
it, he might imprison and impede, afflict and torment the
spirit?  How unreasonable!
In many cases the association of mind with the body in
this life answers no valuable purpose. How many die in
infancy and childhood! How many by bodily diseases and
deformity only suffer! Did God make these in vain? Now,
there is no way in which we can conceive that the wisdom
and goodness of God can be vindicated, in the construction




236             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
of the human form, and its essential association with mind,
but on the ground of the scriptural doctrine-that he intended the body to be as immortal as the mind and its
eternal associate and helper. Had man never sinned, according to scripture, his body would have lived on in immortal bloom, as long as his mind.
But sin for a time has interrupted the order of Heaven,
and death has entered our world. But the second Adam
will restore the ruins of the first, and reestablish the union
of mind with matter, in an ever-endeared, immortal, and glorious form.
But there are other and higher powers of the human body
than these which have been named; which also seem clearly
to intimate its high and glorious destiny. How wonderful,
for example, are the powers of eloquence! What vast multitudes have been charmed, and enchanted, and swayed to
and fro as the trees of the forest before the tempest by the
eloquence of such men as Demosthenes and Cicero in ancient times, and in modern times, by such men as Whitefield
and a Patrick Henry! And yet there have been multitudes
in the world equally as eminent in their sphere as these.
Now all this power of eloquence is not merely the effect
of mind: for could the mind be thus eloquent, and produce
these thrilling effects independently of the body? Surely
not. To produce the result, the lungs heave, the muscles of
the throat contract and dilate-the tongue moves obedient to
the will-the lips open or are compressed-the countenance
beams, and the eye lightens and sparkles with emotion, and
the whole body moves and gestures the sentiments and passions of the soul. Could the mind then be eloquent without
the body?
Now all these things go to show the wonderful powers of
the body, and its perfect adaptation to the nature, and desires, and designs of the presiding spirit. Can the mind do




THE RESURRECTION.                  237
without these aids and powers in another life?  Who that
was authorized has ever said that it can?
And then, too, see the power of music performed through
material organs, to charm  and elevate and enrapture the
soul. It would seem that God has raised up a Jenny Lind
for the purpose of showing what the human voice can do, and
what it may become under favorable circumstances. What
thousands hang in ecstacy upon the thrilling notes which
warble from her throat! How strangely wonderful that
organism which can produce these exciting and pleasing
effects! And yet, no doubt, there are thousands equally
gifted in the wide world, unknown and uncultivated; for,
" Full many a gem of purest ray serene,
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear;
Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."
Will their sweetness never be known?  Is there not another life where their fragrance will be exhaled, producing
delighted emotions? Now, if such thrilling effects can be
produced by music on earth, performed through material
organs, oh, what will be the music of that great multitude,
which no man can number, around the throne, whose voices
in the resurrection state will, as now, be the result of material organization, tuned to sweetest harmony and love, as it
comes over the soul as the rushing of mighty waters, or as
the whispers of the gentlest zephyrs! Can it be that this
bodily organism, capable of such wonderful effects, is only
destined to live during life's short years of suffering and
trial?  Or does not rather nature intimate that a body so
marvelous in its construction, and so wisely adapted to the
uses and desires of the mind, should live and accompany the
immortal spirit in all its eternal progress?
All these considerations serve to show the entire harmony




238             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
of the doctrine of the resurrection of our material bodies, as
taught in scripture, with the nature of the human soul, and
its highest development and welfare.  And this harmony
and adaptation might be further argued from the exquisite
arrangement and power of the nervous system to communicate the most intense pleasure to the soul, as is often seen,
and from the activities of all the senses in bringing the mind
into intimate communication with the perfections of God,
manifested in the boundless material creation.
To the resurrection of our material bodies there are some
objections constantly urged by the unbelieving, which it will
be important to consider, before we proceed to consider
more extendedly the glorious and immortal results of the
doctrine.
1. Our bodies die, and are in the course of dissolution resolved into their original elements. Often the substances of
which they are composed are scattered, and borne in particles and fragments to widely different parts of the earth;
and in the processes of nature enter again and again into
the composition of vegetables and animal bodies indefinitely.
Now, from this, unbelievers have maintained that it is an utter
impossibility and an absurdity, that the dead should be raised,
whose bodies have been dissolved, dissipated and formed
into countless new combinations. But this objection rests
upon a false assumption in regard to what is necessary to
constitute personal identity, and a perverted view of the
teachings of scripture. It supposes that all, and the very
same particles of matter which compose our bodies when
they die, or before death, must necessarily be gathered from
their wide dispersion throughout the world, and extracted
from every other combination, vegetable, animal, or human,
into which they may have entered and reconstructed, if the
dead are ever raised. But as some of the substances which
compose the body of one man, when he dies, may have en



THE RESURRECTION.                239
tered into the body of another when he died, the resurrection
of the self-same body is regarded as utterly impossible.
But the scriptures do not teach that the same particles of
matter in all respects will enter into our future bodies, or
be at all necessary to the resurrection. When they declare
that the dead will be raised, they use the language of common life, and mean that our raised bodies will be the bodies
that died, in the same sense that our bodies are the same at
different periods of our lives. When it is said that a man
has the same body now that he had twenty years ago, nothing absurd or that is contrary to consciousness is uttered.
Every one feels and believes that he has at all times the
same body in a popular sense, however great the changes
produced by waste and supply. It beas every scar, or
mark, or deformity once made permanently upon it.- And
yet it is well known that, philosophically speaking, a man
has not a body composed of the same particles of matter at
any two distinct periods of his life. But yet a full knowledge of this does not alter his consciousness that he is
always the same being in soul and body.
At one period of a man's life, he is in the bloom of health,
and then in a short time he is reduced by disease to a mere
skeleton, and then again the return of health clothes him
with new flesh and vigor. And yet through all these
changes, he feels and knows that he has the same body, as
a matter of consciousness, and in accordance with the language of common life.
It is supposed that our bodies by waste and accretion
undergo an entire change once in seven years. And yet
have I not the same body I had seven years ago? I feel
that I am myself, and recognize my body as the same.
Now the sum of all this is, that the same identical particles
of matter or substances, are not necessary at all times to
constitute personal identity. Any human form may throw




240             MILILENNARIAN VIEWS.
off by piece-meal, the whole of the matter contained in its
formation, and take to itself new substances of the same
kind, and according to the same laws of organization, and
still preserve its conscious identity. All this we know to be
true.
So in the resurrection, it will not be necessary that all the
same substances should enter into the raised bodies, which
were in them at death, to constitute them the same. This
the scriptures abundantly declare, and they are thus in harmony with constantly observed facts in physiology. In 1
Cor. 15, the apostle Paul teaches most definitely that our
resurrection bodies will not be composed of all the same
particles of matter as in life.
In answer to the question, "How are the dead raised up,
and with what bodies do they come?" He says, "Thou
fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die:
and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body
which shall be, but it bears grain; it may chance of wheat
or some other grain. But God giveth it a body as it hath
pleased him, and to every seed his own," or its own body; that
is, he gives to wheat the body of wheat, to corn the body
of corn, and so on from whatever kind of seed is sown there
springs a like body.
The apostle does not intend to say that there is a perfect
analogy between grain sown and human bodies buried in the
grave; but he does mean to teach, that as from grain sown,
and which dies in the ground, there springs another body or
grain of the same kind, though not containing the same particles of matter: so from our dead bodies buried in earth,
there will at the resurrection spring another body of the
same kind, and containing perhaps enough of the old body
to render the new one the same. " It is, perhaps, a twentieth part of a grain of wheat which is sown and dies in the
ground, which springs up and forms a part of the new grain;




THE RESURRECTION.                 241
the rest rots in the ground and remains. It is not needed
in the new body which God gives the wheat, and is not
called forth again. So we are taught, our bodies which die
will not be the same as to particles of matter as those
which rise." Old particles will be dropped, and for ought we
know, new ones assumed, in that wonderful change which is
to fit us for the high destinies in reserve.
If, then, all the same particles of matter which constitute
our present bodies, do not, or will not enter into our future
bodies, the argument against the resurrection founded upon
the assumption that they will, and that they cannot be gathered up, entirely fails; for they are not necessary to accomplish all that the Scriptures predict.
Admitting, then, that large portions of the human body
after death do enter into the composition of other living
bodies, so that it would be impossible to gather them up to
reincorporate them in the new ones, the whole difficulty
vanishes at once on the scriptural doctrine that all the same
particles will not be raised. As God can give to the wheat
a new body, and yet it be wheat still possessing the same
nature; so he can in the resurrection, if need be, give new
bodies, and yet preserve our personal identity.
The scriptures teach that our resurrection bodies will not
only not contain all the matter they now do, but that, in
many respects, they will be very different from what they
now are, and far more beautiful and glorious. They will
pass through a wonderful change or transformation, in their
resurrection and transition to immortal glory. This wonderful transformation is clearly and beautifully intimated in the
apostle's description. He says of the body, " It is sown in
corruption, it is raised in incorruption: it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness, it is raised
in power: it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual
body."  And again, he says, "Behold, I show you a mys



242              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
tery: 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality."
This language certainly denotes a most wonderful and glorious change in the raised bodies, yet not such as to destroy
our conscious and acknowledged identity.
1. It is sown in corruption. All the tendencies of the
body at death are to loathsome corruption and dissolution.
In life, we are subject to disease and decay, and our dead
we are compelled to bury out of our sight. But it will be
raised in incorruption. It will then be so changed that it
will be no longer subject to disease, decay and death.
2. It is sown in dishonor. It is laid in the grave an unsightly object, and it dies as a malefactor under the righteous sentence of Heaven. But in the resurrection it will be
exceedingly beautiful. It will be raised in glory. It will be
fashioned like unto Christ's body, and made resplendent with
his beauty.  As God forms the diamond so beautiful from
charcoal, the blackest of substances, so he will of the corruptible' and inglorious body, form one in the resurrection
surpassingly beautiful, and resplendently glorious.
3. It is sown in weakness. And how exceedingly weak it
is! How incapable of resisting the attacks of disease, or the
thousand agents at work for its destruction! How the strong
man bows and sinks a helpless thing into the embraces of the
tomb! Surely it is sown in weakness; but it will be raised
in power. In the raised state, it will, no doubt, be endowed
with wonderful powers-with the power of resisting all evilwith vastly-increased powers of locomotion-with powers
fully adequate to:11 the wants and energies, and pure desires of the aspiring mind. It will know fatigue no more,




THE RESURRECTION.                243
nor exhaustion, and will not need to be invigorated by sleep
and tender care as now.
4. It is sown a natural body. It is now a body possessed
of many merely animal instincts and sensual propensities and
appetites. It hungers and thirsts, and is subject to many
vile affections by which the mind is often degraded and enslaved.  But not so in the resurrection.  It will be raised a
spiritual body-that is, a body freed from all merely animal
and degrading propensities. It will be a body entirely and
perfectly adapted to the wants and pursuits of the mind
which is spiritual, and entirely under its control. It will hence
be a spiritual body-a body entirely adapted to, and subservient to spirit, and no longer under the dominion of the
flesh. Hence we are assured by the Saviour, that in the
resurrection we shall neither marry nor be given in marriage,
but shall be all as the angels of God, and equal one to another.
From the fact, that in the resurrection our bodies are to
be spiritual, some have argued that they would no longer be
material. But this cannot be true; for it has already been
shown that it must and will be material. The term spiritual
here is not used in opposition to that which is material, but
to that which is merely natural or animal. The phraseology
of the passage shows conclusively that this spiritual body is
material still; for, let it be noticed, it is the corruptible body
that is changed into the incorruptible the loathsome dishonored body which becomes the beautiful, and glorious, the
weak that is changed into the powerful, and the natural body
we now have, which rises to the spiritual; for, says the apostle, we must all be changed. Now, is there any evidence
that God ever does, or can, change matter into spirit?
The fact that it is this corruptible, natural body, which we
now have, that is changed into the spiritual, shows that the
spiritual body cannot be spirit. It is a body denominated




244             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
spiritual, we judge, because it will be adapted, in a high degree, to spirit. Freed firom all merely animal and groveling
propensities, it will become subservient preeminently and
only to the higher destinies of the immortal mind. It will
be material still after its transformation, only in a state of
higher perfection than we now possess. The resurrection
body of our Lord was no doubt spiritual, and yet we have
seen that it was material, having the distinctive properties of
matter, and bearing about in it the infallible marks that it
was the same that was crucified. And the scriptures give
us no intimation that his body was changed from matter to
spirit, at his ascension. Now, as our vile bodies are to be
changed, and fashioned like unto his glorious body, it is certain that they must be material. A body entirely subservient to mind, and the minister and executor only of its holy
and benevolent purposes, may with great propriety be called
a spiritual body. And such may be the control of the spirit
over the body in the resurrection state, that it may transport
it, at will, from place to place, or from world to world, as our
Lord seemed to have conveyed his, without the usual slow
process of locomotion.
Again, the apostle assures us, 1 Cor. 15, " That flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." From this, some
have supposed that material bodies, such as the Saviour had
after his resurrection, cannot enter heaven.  But there are
many forms and modifications of matter which are not flesh
and blood, and therefore the declaration that flesh and blood
as they are now constituted, unchanged, and unpurified, cannot inherit the kingdom of God, does not assert that material bodies, in some form, may not enter. Let these vile bodies
be so changed that they shall no longer be flesh and blood
as they now are, and the declaration of our Lord would no
longer apply.
But the connection in which these words are found, and




THE RESURRECTION.                245
the qualifying and explanatory exposition given, shows what
the apostle meant, and that he had no idea of teaching that
our bodies would not be material as much so as they now are.
He says, " Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood
cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption
inherit incorruption. Behold, I show you a mystery: We
shall not all sleep (or die,) 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 incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruption
must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruption shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death
is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin;
and the strength of sin is the law; But thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ."
Now, is it not manifest from this description of the apostle,
that he did not contemplate the dropping or laying aside of
the material body, but only its change from mortal to immortal, from corruption to incorruption. He meant to say that
flesh and blood as now constituted, or the human body in
its present gross, mortal, and corruptible state, could not
partake of the pure and refined pleasures of an immortal, incorruptible state. To fit it for these, it must undergo a change
in order to adapt it to its higher and more glorious sphere of
being and enjoyment. It is manifest that the apostle meant
nothing more than this; for he says " that when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have
put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written, -Death is swallowed up in victory. 0 death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" Now.
if it is not the material body that is raised, then there is no




216              MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
triumph over death or the grave. Death holds all he ever gets,
and the grave continues to sway his cruel sceptre over the generations of the dead forever. This exulting and triumphant
language can have force only in application of the resurrection of the material body which dies. In its resurrection, a
change will be produced in it miraculously, by the power of
God, to fit it for a higher sphere; but it will be material still,
and may have flesh and bones, as the Saviour had after his
resurrection, if it has not flesh and blood in its present corruptible and mortal constitution.
We have in nature many emblems of the transformation of
our mortal bodies, which strikingly and beautifully illustrate
the changes through which a body may pass in fitting it for
a higher sphere of being, without changing its material nature, or destroying its identity. Innumerable worms, and the
loathsome caterpillar, which we would, perhaps, shudder to
touch, creeping beneath our feet, are transformed from the
larva to the beautiful chrysalis, and thence to the gaudy
butterfly; whence it rises to a new sphere of life, subsistence,
and enjoyment, winging its way on downy wings over smiling nature, and sipping at every flower which God has opened
for its pleasure. Now, that worm is just as much material
in its higher state of development, as in its lower, and were
it endowed with memory and intelligence, it would, perhaps,
feel conscious that it was the same identical being through
all its changes.
So, in the resurrection, we may pass through just as great
a change, as does the caterpillar, and still preserve our materiality and conscious identity. In that change from mortal
to immortal, from corruption to incorruption, from weakness
to power, which is to fit us for our higher sphere of being,
our bodies may be as much more beautiful than they are
now, as the butterfly is than the caterpillar, and our powers
of locomotion and sphere of enjoyment may as greatly




THE RESURRECTION.                247
transcend those now possessed, as do those of the soaring
butterfly, the crawling worm. What is there, then, unnatural, unreasonable, or undesirable in the resurrection of our
material bodies?
But without dwelling longer on the proof of the resurrection of our material bodies, or its illustration, we will proceed to consider briefly, some of the glorious consequences
and manifold results of the resurrection. And1. One of the most obvious consequences of the resurrection of our material bodies, will be, that we shall be forever
connected with the material universe-with all these wonderful works of God, unlimitable, and unsearchable, which exist
in the world, and in the universe around us: and this, too,
under circumstances most favorable for investigation, improvem.ent, and boundless enjoyment. Our bodies will be material
bodies, rendered immortal, incorruptible, perfect, beautiful,
and glorious, with all the senses complete and perfect, and
in full exercise, and all under the control of a holy mind.
Our minds are now too generally the servants of the body.
Too often, all their noble faculties and powers are enslaved
by a degrading sensuality, or by the necessary wants and
craving of our now mortal and weak natures.
But in the resurrection it will not be so. It is easy to
conceive of the reverse of all this, when every sense, and faculty, and power of the body shall become wholly subservient
to the highest intellectual and moral enjoyment; when the
eye shall not only bring to our knowledge and enjoyment
everything that is beautiful in the glorious universe, but be
employed as an instrument in making observations upon
God's wondrous works, from those mighty orbs which roll
unnumbered around us, down to the smallest insect; and
from the mysterious laws which bind suns and planets into
harmonious systems and motions, down to the hidden principles which govern universal nature in all its productions.




248             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
Then the ear shall not only listen with enraptured emotion
to the melody and harmony of sweet sounds, and exulting
music as it bursts from the swelling anthems of the redeemed,
but shall be a means of social intercourse, of the reception of
knowledge and enjoyment, and endless improvement.
Then the tongue, no longer an unruly member, full of
deadly poison, shall be the means of conveying to others the
pure sentiments of the soul, the knowledge we have acquired,
and the discoveries we have made, as well as an instrument
by which we shall join in the music of heaven and speak forth
the praises of Jehovah. And so all other senses developed
or undeveloped, under the control of a holy mind, and
in connection with the material universe, may be employed
in the highest pursuits and purest enjoyments.
All this flows necessarily as a consequence from the nature
of our resurrection. And it is easy to see that the scriptural view of the resurrection of our material bodies, placing us
thus in connection with the material universe, under the most
favorable and exalted circumstances, gives to our future existence a reality and a substantiality which no other view
can, and opens before the mind visions of glory inconceivably
grand and magnificent. It does not separate us from matter,
and all the loved forms and objects of the material universe,
as do all merely spiritual theories, and place us in communication with a world of ghosts, of phantasies and phantasms;
but it brings us in connection, and identifies us with God's
glorious universe, the delighted spectators of his mighty
works, and the students of his vast and now incomprehensible designs.
This leads to another remark and consequence of the resurrection, which is, that our knowledge of God, and of his
attributes, will be acquired in a future state as now, for the
most part, through the works of his hands.
It is manifest that we now have no knowledge of God,




THE RESURRECTION.                 249
which was not derived primarily through the medium of sensation, from our contact and intercourse with the material
world. Whatever God has been pleased to reveal of himself
in his Word, has a direct reference to his works, or to the
objects and operations of nature by and through which his
incomprehensible perfections are exhibited. And when he
would reveal to us more clearly his moral character, and
commend to us more attractively his love, he did it not simply by abstract announcement, but by manifesting himself in
the flesh, and thus seeking through the medium of a material
body to illustrate himself to his creatures.
Is it not true, therefore, that the clearest, brightest views
we have of God, or that creatures have ever enjoyed, are
those of God manifest in the flesh? And how tender, affecting, and soul-clheering, is the knowledge and condescension here communicated! In what other way could the Infinite and the Invisible so clearly and becomingly have made
himself known? It seems, therefore, certain that all correct
knowledge of God and his attributes is now derived, in
some form, from his works, or through material form, and all
our ideas of him are materialized, being clothed in drapery
Irawn from the external world.  Will this be so hereafter?
It will, according to the doctrine of the resurrection. In all
our employments, investigations, and enjoyments in a future
world, we shall be constantly concerned with material objects,
as well as conversant with spiritual beings.  There will then
exist a most striking resemblance between our present and
our future existence. The one will be but the continuation
of the other, in a higher and purer state than any earthly
mind has ever conceived.  Nor is there anything unreasonable in all this. It is all in entire harmony with the nature
and capacities of the mind, and with the works of God in
their adaptation to the mind through a material body. And
it is highlv probable, if not certain, that our bodies will be as
12




250             MILILENNARIAN VIEWS.
necessary to the full development and action of the mind in
a future life, as here. To accomplish all that God has designed in our creation, we shall need the agency of all our
senses and bodily members as now, or God would never raise
the dead, as it is predicted he will. The doctrine of the resurrection, then, is in entire harmony with all that we can
now see or know, and with our immortal aspirings.
And what a field for seeing, for thought, and enjoyment,
will God's boundless universe open to us in the resurrection
state. Suppose our bodies were now free from all disease,
infirmity, or imperfection, and rendered incapable of corruption, pain, weakness, or fatigue, and were endowed with the
power of ascending, by the will of God, to any world, to see
the wonders of Godhead there displayed, or to speed our
way on some mission of love to some distantqorb, would not
this be a glorious prospect? And with a God to minister
to our wants, and to direct our career, what higher perfection
or felicity could we desire? Such is the resurrection state,
and such its glorious consequence.
Another consequence of the resurrection of our material
bodies, will be, that our bodies which have been associated
with us in all our trials, and conflicts, and sufferings in life,
will share with us in all the rewards of the world to come;
and all the dear forms which we have here loved, rendered
glorious and immortal, will still be embraced in bonds of
sweetest friendship and love.
All this would seem to be only a matter of justice.
Through life, the body has been the companion of the mind,
and has been associated with it in all its probation, and in all
its pursuits of righteousness or unrighteousness, in training it
for the destiny for which it is fitted. And is it not right
that it should share with it in that destiny? Does not justice seem to demand that the two which have been united on




THE RESURRECTION.                 251
earth should be indissolubly united in the world to come, and
mutual sharers in its destinies?
The beings, then, that shall inhabit the future world will
be no mere ghosts or spirits, whom no one can touch or embrace. Theirs will be no mere shadowy, gauzy existence, but
a tangible, and bodily reality. There will be the warm
embrace of friendship, and the real song of praise performed
through material organs, giving utterance to the ardent devotions of sinless souls. Eye will sparkle to eye, and heart
will beat to heart, and hand will be joined in hand, amid the
assemblies and communings of the just in that better land
and purer state.
The doctrine of the resurrection, as presented in scripture,
is strikingly in harmony with the views advocated in the preceding chapters.
It is in entire harmony, as we have seen, with the perpetuity of the earth, and the material universe through eternal
ages; for, if our material bodies are to be raised and glorified,
then clearly there must exist, also, a material universe with
which they shall be associated.
The doctrine also shows how it is that the raised saints may
hold intercourse with the unglorified on earth, and reign over
them as ministering agents, without involving any absurdity.
The idea which some entertain, that it would be inappropriate for the raised and transfigured saints, to dwell in a material world, finds no resting-place according to these views.
And such an idea is manifestly unscriptural. Heaven is, no
doubt, a place which has a distinct locality, and so are the mansions in our Father's house, which Jesus has gone to prepare.
And if they are places, they must be material places; for,
can a place be made of spirit?
Reader! ponder these things, and if you search the scriptures, you will find that with the resurrection are associated
all for which God, in his word, has authorized you to hope,




252             MILLENNARIAN VIEWS.
and all that he has promised to give. The resurrection should
be a prominent theme of discourse, and a never failing source
of consolation to the pious. "For our conversation is in
heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord
Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may
be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the
working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto
himself."-Phil. 3: 20, 21.