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 A CRY 
 
 FROM 
 
 THE DESERT. 
 
 ' BEHOLD, THE BRIDEGROOM COMETH," 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 ORRIN ROGERS, 67 SOUTH SECOND STREET. 
 
 E. G. Dorsey, Printer. 
 
 1841. 
 
 I 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 "There shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts 
 (inclinations), 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 Pet. iii. 3. 4. 
 
 "Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare; 
 before they spring forth I tell you of them." — Isai. xlii. 9. 
 
 "Who will hearken and hear for the time to comeT' — Isai. xlii. 23. 
 
 "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye, that the 
 kingdom of God is nigh at hand." — Luke xxi. 31. 
 
 "Seek ye out of the book of the Lord, and read." — Isai. xxxiv. 16. 
 
 "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, 
 and keep those things which are written therein; for the time is at hand." — 
 Rev. i. 3. 
 
 "Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he 
 seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are 
 far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus sailh the Lord God, There shall 
 none of my words be prolonged any more; but the word which I have spoken 
 shall be done, saith the Lord God." — Ezekiel xii. 27, 28. 
 
 "To whom shall I speak and give warning, that they may hear? Behold 
 their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold the word of the 
 Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." — Jer. vi. 10. 
 
 "thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach csl" 
 
 "one thing I KNOW, THAT, WHEREAS I WAS BLIND, NOW I SEE." 
 
 — John ix. 34, 25. 
 
 Aqiiilla. Well, Philander, as we have now once again taken 
 up our residence in the country, and are free from all the tu- 
 mult and confusion of town, I hope you will allow me to re- 
 fer to the subject which appears to have absorbed so much of 
 your time and attention, — the study of the prophetic Scrip- 
 tures, to which, as I have before hinted, I think you attach 
 undue importance. I have, on a former occasion, expressed 
 my opinion, that the Christians of the present day have little 
 interest in the Prophecies: indeed, I am persuaded it never 
 was the design of Providence, that the mysteries which the 
 prophetic writings contain should ever become the subject of 
 curious research. It appears to me, that the spirit with which 
 the subject is now prosecuted is little short of impiety: "Secret 
 things belong unto God." 
 
4 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 Phila?ider. I am fully aware, Aquilla, of the host of objec- 
 tions with which I have to contend, whilst defending the study 
 of that portion of Holy Writ which, if I am not mistaken, has 
 not only proved a source of the most gratifying occupation to 
 my mind, but which has materially tended to wean my 
 thoughts and affections from the delusive and unsubstantial 
 ' 'things" which are "visible," and to fix them on those 
 ^'things" which, although invisible, alone deserve the name of 
 reality. I will candidly confess, that I have always felt, and 
 still feel, much hesitation in entering into argument upon this 
 subject, even with you: for, although it would be difficult for 
 me to convey, in adequate terms, the astonishing force with 
 which these glorious truths impressed my mind, yet I felt so 
 deeply my own general incapacity to cope with you in argu- 
 ment — and as I learnt, so in proportion was I convinced of 
 my utter ignorance of Divine things — that I ever felt disposed to 
 evade the question: but I can assure you, that as I become 
 acquainted with its mysteries, so are the eyes of my under- 
 standing opened as respects the true meaning of Scripture. 
 
 *jiqiiilla. I acknowledge I have allowed myself to view the 
 peculiar doctrines which are advocated by a certain party in 
 some respects as a "new light;" and my prejudices, if you 
 please, immediately rise against innovations in our generally 
 received faith on the grand doctrines of religion. 
 
 Philander. I am as jealous as 5- ou express yourself to be, of 
 any "new system;" but I think it would be found an easy 
 task to prove, that those views of Scripture which you term a 
 "new light" was the lamp which burned bright and clear in 
 the first and purest ages of the Christian church, the realization 
 of which was the grand hope of the Apostles and Martyrs; the 
 theme upon which they constantly discoursed, and which sup- 
 ported them in their severest trials; — the coming of our Lord, 
 "and the restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by 
 the mouth of all his holy Prophets since the world began." 
 (Acts iii. 21.) 
 
 Aquilla. I cannot but feel some interest in a subject which 
 has excited so much of my friend's enthusiasm, and I feel 
 every wish to prosecute the inquiry: at the same time, I can- 
 didly admit that I have imbibed the opinions which are gene 
 rally entertained and sanctioned by the divines of the present 
 day. 
 
 Philander. I am convinced, that, however firmly rooted 
 your prejudices may be on certain points, you will bring to 
 this subject the true feelings of a Christian. "The justifica- 
 tions which are now advanced by Christians as excuses for 
 their ignorance and neglect of the prophetic writings, are truly 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 5 
 
 unaccountable: the objection perpetually occurs, 'These are 
 the secret things of God:' and this shallow pretext is made a 
 covert for negligence, and in some instances for an affected 
 Christian modesty, and to fix a charge of presumption on 
 others who are anxious to search into and penetrate, if possi- 
 ble, the 'deep things of God,' as they are often called. But, 
 is it true that Prophecy forms any part of 'the secret things 
 of God?' Is it not, in fact, the transcript of his own revealed 
 mind J and the very test on which he stays his own eternal 
 sovereignty, and the truth of his Prophets, by solemnly assert- 
 ing that all things shall come to pass, according to their words; 
 and in declaring his mind to the Jews, and by them for the 
 benefit of all generations then to come, did he not forcibly 
 command every individual of the human race, to consider his 
 message and to inquire into the meaning of what was 'the 
 burden of the Lord.' I do not hesitate to state the conviction 
 of my own mind, that without a knowledge of the prophetic 
 writings, it is impossible that any man can entertain a just con- 
 ception of the scheme of mercy by God, for the benefit of 
 man, or of the ultimate results of the mysterious dispensation 
 under which we now live. I am equally convinced, that, 
 through a similar ignorance of the nature and power of the 
 language of symbols, the most unfounded assertions are every 
 day made, and the most erroneous opinions perpetually 
 broached."* 
 
 Aqidlla. I have been ever accustomed to consider that the 
 principal events which the Prophecies foretold have already 
 received their fulfilment; and are recorded only as a standing 
 evidence and argument of the truth of religion, against the 
 objections of infidels. And with respect to those which re- 
 main unfulfilled, their accomplishment is removed at too 
 remote a period to interest our inquiries. 
 
 Philander. In the objections which you have just advanced, 
 I perceive three of the usual answers which are given to those 
 who advocate the study of the Prophecies, and to which I 
 will endeavour to reply with such arguments as may present 
 themselves to my mind; and I hope I shall be enabled to con- 
 vince you that such objections are wholly untenable from 
 Scripture authority. 
 
 1. That the principal portion of Prophecy has already re- 
 ceived its fulfilment. 
 
 2. That the unfulfilled is removed at too great a distance of 
 time to interest our inquiries. 
 
 3. That the Prophecies were never intended to be under- 
 
 * Teacher's Magazine. 
 
6 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 stood until after their accomplishment, as furnishing evidences 
 of the truth of Revelation. 
 
 I feel little hesitation in replying to the Jirst objection, in 
 asserting as positively, that a very small portion of the Pro- 
 phecies have received their final accomplishment. The error 
 has arisen entirely from ignorance of the prophetic method, 
 which will be found, on attentive examination, to be uniformly 
 systematic; and which rule of Prophecy is laid down in Deut. 
 xviii. 21, 22. There are f^ew, if any, prophecies in the Scrip- 
 tures which have in view only one event. The Prophet is 
 charged with a "burden from the Lord;" the grand and ulti- 
 mate object of which is to describe the events of ''the latter 
 days," in which nearly all the Prophecies centre: but the test 
 of the truth of the Prophecy is a more immediate accomplish- 
 ment. Take, for example, the promise of the land of Canaan, 
 as an everlasting habitation and possession to the seed of 
 Abraham; or the destruction of Babylon, Jer. 1., li. ; Isai. xiii., 
 xiv. After reading the promise in the one case, and the pro- 
 phetic denunciation in the other, and comparing it with the 
 historical records which we possess, can any one deny that 
 only a partial fulfilment of either has taken place? and if so, 
 what must be the conclusion, but that the first part having been, 
 accomplished, most assuredly the latter will be completed to 
 the very letter, in God's own time? "No one of these shall 
 fail, none shall want her mate." (Isai. xxxiv. 16.) 
 
 The grand point in which all Prophecy is concentrated, both 
 of the Old and New Testament, is the coming of our Lord in 
 glory and majesty, the restoration of the Jews as a nation, and 
 the destruction of the mystical Babylon; and then, hut not till 
 (hen, will the period arrive when "the earth shall be full of 
 the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." 
 (Isai. xi. 9.) 
 
 In reply to your second objection, I think you would find it 
 difficult to produce even the shadow of a reason why the ulti- 
 mate fulfilment, to which I have before referred, is necessarily 
 removed beyond our generation; and I am persuaded, were 
 the numerous individuals who urge this comn)on-place excuse 
 for neglecting the inquiry, narrowly to trace the motive which 
 suggests it, and which they allovv so blindly to operate on their 
 conduct, they would find it proceeded from a cause they little 
 suspected — a decided disinclination to believe "that the time 
 isathand." Of this truly it may be said, "they willingly are 
 ignorant." (2 Pet, iii. 5.) And what does this truth teach 
 us? That those who ought to be looking and longing for their 
 Lord "are eating and drinking, and marrying and giving in 
 marriage." The summons for the marriage-supper has gone 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 7 
 
 forth; but the children of the kingdom are variously occupied, 
 "and cannot come." 
 
 The cause of the infidelity of the church, on the subject of 
 the' second advent of our Lord, and the fulfilment of the many 
 important prophecies connected with that glorious event, is 
 well expressed in the words of Peter. "Where is the promise 
 of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things coiitinue 
 as theij Tcerefrom the beginning of the creation.'^ Notwithstand- 
 ing all our high professions, our faith in God's word amounts 
 to little more than practical atheism. If we do not altogether 
 say the world, its elements, and its various forms of society, 
 were originally formed and are held to their present condition 
 hy chance, we go far to believe that God has established a cer- 
 tain order of cause and effect, and has left the world to be thus 
 governed, without any further interference on his part; and 
 this system, as we imagine, continuing unaltered for so many 
 revolving ages, furnishes us with conclusive proof on the sub- 
 ject. As if He who established and sustains this order of 
 things cannot, or is now too weak or too indifferent to change 
 it; as if He who created nature's laws, were not Lord also of 
 nature. We boast much of our sagacity and intellect; but I am 
 persuaded, that were our wisest and most prudent men severely 
 to scrutinize and nicely analyze the motives which influence, 
 and the basis upon which their most popular notions are 
 founded, they would not only find them opposed to all true 
 philosophy, but would themselves blush at the utter imbecility 
 of all human wisdom. A child who is taught by the Spirit of 
 God is a far better philosopher, and of a far higher order, than 
 our wisest men who are not thus instructed. They lay down 
 hypotheses, and form theories, assume their infallibility, and 
 argue from these, instead of betaking themselves to a Grand 
 First Cause, and thence dozv?izcards : they expect to bend the in- 
 finite wisdom and eternal purpose of God to their own puny 
 wretched attempts to reduce them to their ideas of method and 
 order; and thus it is that our wise men expend their nights, 
 and days, and years, in trifles; their own learning and intellect 
 proving stumbling-blocks; whilst the child of the Spirit grasps 
 and comprehends the deepest truths, which can be known only 
 to the spiritual mind. This is sufficient reason why God 
 always speaks with such contempt of human wisdom, and why 
 the simple minded, though a fool, shall utterly confound all 
 the accumulated learning and research of every school esta- 
 blished on such principles since the world began. Let reason 
 follow in its proper place, and not presume to lead. If an 
 individual's sight /oZ/ozo the rays of the sun's light on an ob- 
 ject, he will see it with all the vividness of which his vision 
 
8 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 is capable; but let him oppose himself to its rays, and it becomes 
 confused and indistinct. As it is with the sun, the source of 
 light, so is it with God, the fountain of all wisdom! 
 
 In reply to your third objection, there can be no doubt that 
 one end for which the prophetic writings were designed, was 
 to confirm the faith of the wavering church in all ages, and to 
 furnish them with an unanswerable argument against the dar- 
 ing scepticism of infidels: indeed, but a slight acquaintance 
 with the Prophecies themselves will prove to you, that they 
 bear internal evidence that tJiis was only a comparatively 
 subordinate use, and not their grand and ultimate object. I 
 have before remarked, nearly all, if not all, the Prophecies 
 centre in the final overthrow of the present existing order of 
 things, the establishment of the kingdom of our Lord and 
 Saviour, and the "restitution of all things;" which fact being 
 admitted — and none will deny it, who have even carelessly 
 read them, — how can they be given exclusively for the con- 
 firmation of the faith of wavering Christians, when their grand 
 accomplishment is at that period when faith itself will be 
 changed into sight? Could Jonah's prophetic mission to the 
 inhabitants of JNineveh have been exclusiveh' for the confir- 
 mation of the faith of believers? Or rather, was it not a threat- 
 ening of punishment for their sins, for the sole purpose of 
 instigating them to acts of humiliation and repentance? Was 
 Noah's prophetic voice to the Antediluvians for the confirma- 
 tion of the faith of believers? Was it not rather a witness 
 agai?ist the zcicked, and a warning to them, that, if they re- 
 pented, they likewise might be saved? 
 
 Do we not read, that Daniel learnt from books that the 
 termination of the Jewish captivity in Babylon was at hand, 
 and therefore set himself to prayer and fasting? and do we not 
 read the heavenly approbation in the words of the angel who 
 was sent to him? "O Daniel, greatly beloved, understand 
 the words that I speak unto thee; for unto thee am I now 
 sent; for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to 
 understand and to chasten thyself before th}' God, thy words 
 were heard, and lam come for thy n-ords." (Dan. x. 11. 12.) 
 And because he had diligently searched into these things, was 
 the angel sent "to tell him (and the church after him), what 
 should befall his people in the latter days." 
 
 There can be no doubt that Simeon, and Anna the pro- 
 phetess, and such as waited and expected the first advent of 
 our Lord, had their hopes excited by the prophecy of the 
 sdVenty weeks of Daniel; and that such an expectation existe,d 
 generally amongst the Jews, and through them extended to 
 the Heathen nations, history attests: and which anticipation of 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 9 
 
 the Jewish people for the appearance of their Messiah, was 
 more immediately confirmed by John the Baptist's preparatory 
 and prophetic mission. 
 
 Had the Christians of the first a^es regarded the prophecy 
 of our Lord, of the speedy destruction of Jerusalem, ''only of 
 use after its fulfilment to confirm their faith," they would 
 have perished at the siege, as did the Jews; instead of availing 
 themselves of Christ's warning, which ilieij believed, and fled, 
 and were saved. They put the true construction on his mer- 
 ciful prediction; and when they saw the signs of the times 
 spoken of in Matt. xxiv. they took refuge in Pella, a village 
 in the neighbourhood, and were exempt from the horrors 
 which were transacted at Jerusalem, and which fell on the 
 unbelieving Jews. So now, our gracious and glorious Head 
 has revived this prophetic voice, that his true church may be 
 apprised of "that strange act," which he is about to bring to 
 pass on the nations of the earth, and of which the destruction 
 of Jerusalem was but a feeble and imperfect type; and, not- 
 withstanding all the infidel scoffing of our public papers and 
 magazines, and the cool contempt and indifierence of false 
 brethren, the true church xvill eve?itiially give ear to it, and zcill 
 make ready to receive her Lord, who hath himself pronounced 
 a peculiar blessing on those whom, when he comes, he shall 
 find thus waiting for his appearance: "He will make him 
 lord over his whole household." The old bottles cannot 
 easily receive the new wine: yet there will be many, who, like 
 the guileless Nathaniel, hastily question if "any good thing can 
 come out of Nazareth," with a swelling heart will afterwards 
 exclaim, "Thou art the Son of God, thou art the King of 
 Israel." 
 
 Aquilla. I acknowledge. Philander, that in concurring with 
 the opinions which I have expressed, I have probably rather 
 too carelessly received the common notions on these subjects, 
 as they have been taught, without examining how far they are 
 consistent with Scripture; and until your remark suggested it 
 to my mind, I really was not aware how ill prepared I am to 
 give a sufficient reason why the latter days may 7iot be close at 
 hand. 
 
 Philander. I have little doubt but, in proportion to the re- 
 flection you give the subject, "you will be convinced of the 
 utter fallacy of resting on such unsupported assertions. A 
 careful examination of the Prophecies will not only convince 
 you that the great Head of the church intended to warn his 
 true disciples, when these latter days should be at hand which 
 were to precede the deliverance of his church, but that every 
 sign spoken of by our Lord himself, or his Apostles, is mani- 
 
10 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 festly before our eyes. Look at the political state of the Eu- 
 ropean nations; the mystical Babylon; the consummation of 
 that wicked apostacy; the state of the East; and then turn 
 your eyes to the condition of the professing church at home, 
 and to the ripeness for judgment which we see every where 
 around us, and ask yourself if the time be not arrived, spoken 
 of by all the Prophets, and by our blessed Lord himself, when 
 the church is directed, after discerning these signs, to "look 
 up and lift up her head, for her redemption draweth nigh. It 
 is even at the doors." 
 
 Our infidel newspapers have unwittingly turned commenta- 
 tors of Scripture, fulfilling the predictions, that "men's hearts 
 should fail them;" — "looking for the things which shall come 
 upon the earth." And even in this privileged land of ours, 
 where the true Gospel is preached, can you not apply each 
 verse, as you read it, descriptive of these last times? "This 
 know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come," 
 &c. &c. (2 Tim. iii. 1.) Let us, however, see what light 
 Scripture will throw on this subject. — In Gen. xviii. 17. we 
 find God thus addresses Abraham, who at that time constituted 
 the whole of the visible church; "And the Lord said. Shall I 
 hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" 
 
 Jer. xxiii. 20: "In the latter days ye shall consider it 
 perfectly." 
 
 Dan. xii. 9, 10: "Go thy way, Daniel, for the words are 
 closed up and sealed imtil the time of the end, and none of the 
 wicked shall understand, hut theu-ise shall imdersta?2d." 
 
 Zech. xiv. 5 — 7: "And the Lord my God shall come, and all 
 the saints with thee; and it shall come to pass in that day, that 
 the light shall not be clear nor dark. But it shall be one day, 
 which shall be known to the Lord; not day, nor night: but it 
 shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." 
 
 Hosea says, prophesying of that day, in chap, xiv., when 
 God will heal the backsliding of Israel: ninth verse, "Who 
 is wise, and he shall understand these things; prudent, and he 
 shall know them?" 
 
 John XV. 15: ''Henceforth I call you not servants; for the 
 servant knovveth not what his Lord doeth: but I have called 
 you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I 
 have made known unto you." 
 
 1 Thess. v. 2 — 5: "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, sudden destruction cometh 
 upon them. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that that day 
 should overtake ?/0M as a thief: ye are all the children of light 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. X 1 
 
 and the children of the day; zve are not of the night nor of 
 darkness." 
 
 Rev. i. 3: "Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy, and keep (observe) those things 
 which are written therein." 
 
 To the above quotations may be added, the prophetic cha- 
 racter of the church, since its commencement in faithful 
 Abraham down to the Revelation of John, and which prophetic 
 office, as part of the priestly, the church has not lost, neither 
 will it wholly lose it, although its faithlessness has well nigh 
 forgotten it. But " by this also we know that the last times 
 are come." 
 
 Aquilla. But is it not said, "Of that day and hour knoweth 
 no man; no, not the angels in heaven?" (Matt. xxiv. 36.) 
 'How, then, can we presume to fix so momentous a period, 
 after such a prohibition to inquiry on this subject from our 
 Lord himself? 
 
 Philander. I am astonished that such texts of Scripture, as 
 you have now quoted, are ever produced to establish the opin- 
 ions which you entertain; for it is very remarkable, that, in 
 every instance where similar passages occur, the signs of the 
 latter times are given with peculiar minuteness and force. 
 Each chapter bearing its own evidence, that they were in- 
 tended to warn those addressed, that it was not for them ''to 
 know the times and the seasons," but for the disciples upon 
 whom the ends of the earth should come. For it is to be ob- 
 served, that Christ never reproved his disciples for making the 
 inquiry; but after directing their attention more immediately 
 to their own time, concluded by the signs of the latter days. 
 Christ says certainly, "But of that day and hour knoweth no 
 man; no, not the angels of heaven; but my Father only;" 
 and therefore I believe, of that darj and hour no man or angel 
 will know: but that the disciples should be forewarned of the 
 timej we cannot but conclude, from the following quotation 
 from the same chapter: ''Now, learn a parable of the fig tree: 
 when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye 
 know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see 
 all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. 
 Verily, I say unto you. This generation shall not pass, till all 
 these things be fulfilled." By which last verse I learn, that, 
 as in the primary fulfilment of this prophecy, in the destruc- 
 tion of Jerusalem, the judgment almost immediately followed 
 the signs — so in the last consummation, the generation in 
 which they are perceivable to us will not pass, before we see 
 the whole accomplished. 
 
 f^ 
 
12 A CRY FROM THE DESERT, 
 
 Many have objected to the application of the prediction in 
 this xxivth chapter of Matthew to the destruction of Jerusa- 
 lem, because the "Son of JNIan was not seen coming in the 
 clouds of heaven, with power and great glory:" that this more 
 especially referred to the second advent, is really granted; but, 
 at the same time, I have no doubt there was a foreshewing 
 at that period also. It will not be suspected that Josephus, the 
 Jewish historian, would record any fact that he supposed would 
 add weight to the authenticity of the Gospel of Jesus Christ; 
 to whom he bore so unwilling, yet so important a testimony 
 in his writings: yet he records in full, that, at the siege of Je- 
 rusalem, and all over the country of Judea, chariots and armies 
 were seen fighting in the clouds, and besieging cities. [See 
 also Tacitus Hist. lib. 5. c. 13.] 
 
 Aquilla. And do you then deny that the present is a period 
 of great "Gospel light," and that much progress has been ef- 
 fected in circulating Evangelical truth? 
 
 Philander. There can be no question, that, within the last 
 thirty years, the knowledge of the Scripture has been much 
 extended; but during that period, religion has been hi fashion: 
 its outward profession required few restraints but what would 
 be paid by regard to common propriety of conduct. The per- 
 secutions which attended our fathers' religious career have 
 now dwindled into tales for the nursery; and the consequence 
 has been, during that period, a wide extension oi religious pro- 
 fession, which is too readily mistaken for a corresponding 
 growth of vital godliness. But the conclusion is opposed to 
 the experience of the church, since its formation; and against 
 the experience of human nature, since its creation. Can our 
 soldiers become tried and hardy veterans by the state of inac- 
 tion of winter quarters? Have our sailors obtained their cha- 
 racter for bold and noble daring, otherwise than by becoming 
 familiar with dangers and contention, and inured to toil? Is 
 a state of ease consistent with moral improvement? Has not 
 history presented us with an answer? Has not the downfall 
 of every empire been preceded by a state of luxury and re- 
 pose? — Methinks I can trace an astonishing resemblance be- 
 tween the present state of the church and that in which our 
 Lord found it. The Pharisees were loudest in their zeal for 
 the glory of God, when they took up stones against our Sa- 
 viour, who, discerning the hypocrisy of their zeal, said to them, 
 "If God were your Father, then would you love me: he that 
 is of God, heareth God's words; ye therefore hear them not, 
 because ye are not of God." And Satan has now so blended 
 falsehood with truth, which has ever been his subtle device, 
 when he could not openly oppose it, that it should seem almost 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. X3 
 
 necessary, in the absence of persecution for Christ, to give some 
 watchword to h is followers, lest theij become altogether confound- 
 ed by this strange but general amalgamation. And what if that 
 touchstone of true discipleship should be, "Behold the Bride- 
 groom Cometh?" The wise and the foolish virgins are now un- 
 distinguished by mortal eye; but should such a cry arise from the 
 church, would not the wise virgins straightway arise, trim their 
 lamps, and make ready to meet their Lord? whilst the foolish, un- 
 mindful of the summons, would slumber on, dreaming of their 
 security, until they awake when the door is shut, with the 
 despairing cry of "Lord, Lord, open unto us:" but, alas! it will 
 then be too late; for when he invited, they turned a deaf ear 
 to the gracious message; and now the door is forever closed: 
 "Because I have called, and ye refused; 1 have stretched out 
 my hand, and no man regarded; but yet have set at naught all 
 my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh 
 at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh." Prov. 
 i. 24 — 26. My brother, that summons is now going forth, of 
 the coming of our Lord and King, from more than "one voice 
 in the wilderness;" that the once despised Nazarene is coming 
 to redeem the ignominy of his church, and exalt them to glory 
 and honour. And how is the message received? Why, those 
 whose professions ought to induce them eagerly to welcome 
 the joyful tidings, are ready to stone the heralds; and whilst 
 vociferating their attachment to the meek and lowly Saviour, 
 they put their fingers into their ears (as the Jews did of old), 
 when they hear of the expectation of his near approach, as 
 their triumphant King. But by this do we know that the last 
 times are come; for it is written, "/« ihe last days there shall 
 come scoffers, saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?" 
 2 Peter iii. 4. 
 
 Aqidlla. But surely, my friend, you will admit that preach- 
 ing the Cross of Christ is the grand and fundamental doctrine 
 of the Gospel, and ought to be kept more prominently in view 
 than any other Divine truth. 
 
 Philander. Most assuredly it should be so: it is the grand 
 foundation stone of the building; for other foundation can no 
 man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ:" but the foun- 
 dation stone is not the superstructure; and I protest against that 
 constant attention to one portion of the Gospel to the utter 
 exclusion of the rest. We are to preach not merely the death 
 of Christ, but, "his resurrection from the dead, and the life 
 everlasting." But are we to suppose human nature so wonder- 
 fully improved, as to render the inquiry wholly unnecessary? 
 "May we not be vehemently contending for the letter of a doc- 
 trine, whilst its spirit may be unknown to us?" Think you, 
 VOL. III. — 7 
 
14 
 
 A CRY FROM THE DESERT, 
 
 my brother, the Scribes and Pharisees, who sought to imbrue 
 their hands in the blood of the Lord of Life, would not have 
 considered you a very illiberal and ignorant enthusiast, had 
 you lived in those times, and suggested to their views the pos- 
 sibility of their 7zo^ being influenced, in their conduct, by pure 
 zeal for the true worship of God? Do you not see that the 
 Jewish nation, having in their dispensation the forms and types 
 of the incarnation of the Son of God, crucified Him who was 
 the concentrated object of them all? And is it not possible 
 that we, whilst contending for some portion of our dispensation, 
 to say, by our conduct and in our hearts, "^'We will not have 
 Him to reign over us?" The Jews crucified the Prince of 
 Glory, because he came not according to their expectations of 
 his advent, although it was fully written of, in their Prophets; 
 and the Gentile church, which, it is evident, is likewise to end 
 in an apostacy, will reject Him the second time, because he 
 comes not as their Scribes teach them to expect him. The 
 stumbling-block of the Jews was his humility; the stumbling- 
 block of the Gentiles will be his glory; — the two churches thus 
 forming an awful analogy; with this exception, — the former, 
 being an offence against the Son, will be forgiven; but the lat- 
 ter, constituting the rejection of the Holy Ghost in the spiritual 
 dispensation, will not be forgiven. In each case the visible 
 church regards the emblem, and discards the reality. The 
 Gentile church seems as much blinded to the mystery of its 
 rejection, as the Jewish church was in our Lord's time. The 
 Mosaic economy was but the shadow of the blessings of our 
 Lord's incarnation, which ushered in the everlasting Gospel: 
 it was due, and was therefore first offered, to the Jews: it was 
 ''only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that Christ was 
 sent;" for "the promise was unto them and their children;" 
 but they rejected the gracious offer. And it was therefore of 
 jiecessity to preserve the truth on the earth, that God should 
 seek another depository. The Jews refused the sacred trust, 
 and God turned to the Gentiles. The glory of the millennial 
 kingdom is by the same inheritance peculiarly the promise of 
 the Gentile church; and to them there will be ample invitation 
 to enter into the possession; but they will not give heed to the 
 summons, and God will again turn to his ancient people. The 
 Gospel! The Gospel! is as much shouted nozu as "INIoses and 
 the prophets" were of old: but churches lose sight of the true 
 signification, of which the Law first and then the Gospel was 
 the precursor, the freedom of the everlasting Gospel in the 
 former case, and the glorious blessings of the millennial king- 
 dom in the latter. 
 
 The present church is like the Pharisees of old; who have 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 15 
 
 come "to make clean the outside of the cup, and of the plat- 
 ter; and have not cleansed that first which is within the cup, 
 that the outside may be clean also." This cometh of looking 
 to man rather than God. ''Judge not according to the appear- 
 ance, but judge righteous judgment." Christ said he ''judged 
 no man;" and yet it appears to me that every man now is sit- 
 ting in judgment on his brother. The modern church seems 
 to have wrested the power from the hand of God, and each 
 party to have its "Shibboleth;" by which they coolly pro- 
 nounce a man to be within, or exclude him from, the pale of 
 salvation. If this be a truth, where are God's hidden ones?" 
 If they are to be found amongst those of most reputed sanctity 
 in the religious world, God in these last days hath changed his 
 dispensations. There was but one family saved in Jericho, and 
 that was a harlot's. Ten men were cleansed from leprosy, and 
 only one returned to give thanks unto God, and he was a de- 
 spised Samaritan. Christ chose a blind beggar to testify his 
 name before the Jewish Sanhedrim; and passing by the master 
 in Israel, who came to inquire of him, he revealed the mystery 
 of his being the Son of God, to a "woman of Samaria, who was 
 a sinner." In a word, whilst the Pharisees, who stood high in 
 reputation, in the estimation of man, rejected Christ, he found 
 disciples prepared to receive him in publicans and sinners. 
 And think you, Aquilla, there are no Pharisees now to reject the 
 second coming, and no publicans and sinners to receive it? 
 
 One of the many evil consequences resulting from this de- 
 marcation is, that those who have passed the ordeal, and are 
 admitted within the invisible rendered visible by man; are apt 
 to rest too securely in that, which at best is but the mere ap- 
 pi'obation of their fellow-sinners, which I find no where in 
 Scripture inculcated, but the reverse; for it is written, "Woe 
 unto you when all men speak well of you;" and thus they 
 rarely suspect that their hearts may be wholly estranged from 
 God; and devoted to this world, notwithstanding a most con- 
 sistent walk in the sight of man. It is a great mistake, and 
 pregnant with much evil; to suppose that we are to find the 
 Pharisees of the present period answer to the same descrip- 
 tion of character that called forth so much of the censure of our 
 Lord. The hypocrite of a carnal dispensation was a carnal 
 reprobate, and the hypocrite of a spiritual dispensation will be 
 found to be a spiritual reprobate. 
 
 Aquilla. You have drawn, Philander, a touching picture of 
 the present era of the church, in your comparison with its state 
 at the termination of the Jewish economy; and, I acknowledge, 
 with more appearance of assimilation than I could imagine 
 them capable of bearing. If such a picture be true, it is an 
 
1(3 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 awful one indeed; and I will confess that I have been much 
 impressed with the strong disinclination that exists in the 
 minds of professing Christians, upon the subject of the second 
 advent; but how is it that so many learned and pious divines 
 have erred in these things? Upon what principle can it be ac- 
 counted for? 
 
 Phila?ider. Because they have "made the Scriptures of none 
 effect by their traditions," falling into that error against which 
 St. Paul cautioned the Colossians: "Beware lest any man spoil 
 you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of 
 men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ." 
 Col. ii. S. The Mosaic economy was not more incumbered by 
 Talmudical fables, than our Christian faith is perverted from 
 the simple word of God. You will find the first inquiry now, 
 not. What saith the word of God on this subject? but, What 
 
 saith Mr. A , or Dr. B. ? ^'Have the rulers believed on 
 
 Him?" Thus have we, like the Jews of old, allowed the tra- 
 ditions of the Fathers and the precepts of men to be regarded 
 as a better standard of orthodox faith than the Spirit of God, ' 
 as discerned in his word; and few are aware how unsupported 
 the general opinions are, on scriptural evidence, until they 
 bring them to that test. "Have ye never read. Out of the 
 mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" 
 Matt. xxi. 16. 
 
 1 protest against this system of pinning our faith on the sleeve 
 of other men, and our opinions to the most popular magazines 
 and reviews; which latter, I maintain, have quite a contrary 
 effect to what is alleged. Instead of increasing and diffusing 
 real knowledge, it reduces the number of those who otherwise 
 would think for themselves. I grant it does extend a sort of 
 colloquial — superficial — information which passes in society, and 
 which a man may soon acquire from our periodicals, and practise 
 with a tolerable share of assurance. But surely such thinking 
 and judging, however it may answer the temporary purpose of 
 the men of this world, ought not to be named amongst Chris- 
 tians; yet still nothing is more common than to have judgment 
 pronounced on a work of the most vital importance, merely 
 because it may have been severely criticized by a Review, not 
 thinking that it is possible a religious work may be reviewed by 
 an irreligious man, and therefore a most incompetent person. 
 "Spiritual things are spiritually discerned:" unless, indeed, 
 you maintain that a subject of religion may be handled equally 
 well by an individual merely qualified by talent, as may any 
 scientific or philosophical question; an idea so monstrous, how- 
 ever prevalent, that argument is thrown away in attempting 
 to remove it. But this is only one of the manifestations of 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. J7 
 
 that infidelity, with which the whole mass of society is in- 
 fected. 
 
 Every review that I have read on this subject has rather 
 been a review of the writer than the work. The latter has been 
 generally quickly dismissed, to give place to cutting sarcasm 
 and bittter irony. But "rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for 
 great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the 
 prophets which were before." It ever has been thus, and ever 
 will be, towards those who will boldly declare the truth in the 
 midst of a crooked and perverse generation. 
 
 Aquilla. Will you state to me the principal points in which 
 you consider the present belief to be inconsistent with scrip- 
 tural testimony? 
 
 Philander. With much pleasure; and in placing before you 
 the dissimilarity in the doctrines taught by the ''precepts of 
 men," and those which I conceive are the true meaning of the 
 Spirit, and which I believe was clearly defined and understood 
 by the apostles of our Lord, and the fathers in the first ages of 
 the church, I cannot adopt a better or clearer mode of distinc- 
 tion than my stating by own former opinions, in opposition to 
 those which I now entertain, and which, I believe, will contain, 
 with tolerable accurac}^, the creed of the majority of our pro- 
 fessing Christians; for which, you are aware, my friend, I 
 was once a most strenuous advocate — "a Pharisee of the Phari- 
 sees." 
 
 The material points, I think, will be found in the following 
 three heads; and if I am incorrect in stating them, you will be 
 good enough to suggest wherein I am in error. 
 
 First, That the whole habitable globe is to be gradually 
 evangelized, and that through the instrumentality of the pre- 
 sent popular religious societies; and that no judgments are to be 
 inflicted on the living, before the end of the zcorld, because the 
 inhabitants, progressively increasing in virtue and religion, are 
 proportionably advancing in the divine favour. 
 
 Secondly, That when at length the ''end of the world" 
 arrives, the general resurrection will take place, of the just and 
 of the unjust. 
 
 Thirdly, That after the day of judgment, which is generally 
 understood to comprise a period of time (if not exactly con- 
 fined to a duration of twenty-four hours, yet only sufficient to 
 award the final destiny of each soul,) the present world will be 
 utterly consumed, burnt up, and annihilated, and the souls of 
 believers will "go up into heaven with Christ; and the souls of 
 unbelievers will depart into hell, with the devil and his angels." 
 
 Before proceeding to state my belief on the above highly 
 7* 
 
13 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 important and interesting topics, will you correct me if I have 
 in any respect misstated them? 
 
 Aquilla. I have nothing to object to in your statement of our 
 belief; and I am prepared to listen, with much attention, to any 
 arguments you may adduce, in support of a contrary position; 
 I think you will find it somewhat difficult to confute our sys- 
 tem, considering that it has received the sanction of the divines 
 of the present and many preceding ages, and forms, indeed, 
 the general belief of the church of Christ." 
 
 Philander. You say well, Aquilla, in "many of the preced- 
 ing ages," which I unhesitatingly admit; but I must find abet- 
 ter and a higher authority than the sanction of our holy fathers 
 in the church. I will admit no argument drawn from a cor- 
 ruptible and fallible source, whilst 1 can resort to the same 
 high and unerring channel from which they draw all their 
 knowledge. 
 
 I will not yield, therefore, to the authority of fathers, when 
 I can go, like them, to the book of God, and have the same 
 liberty of access to his directing and all-sufficient Spirit, to give 
 me discernment. But, allowing this authority to be good, 
 (and, unquestionably, it is much to be respected, in the absence 
 of all higher,) the argument you ought to deduce from it, is 
 quite opposite from that which you h^ve drawn. It proves, 
 on careful examination, the very reverse; for is it not to be ad- 
 mitted that the purest doctrines would be found in those autho- 
 rities of the church, who lived nearest to the period in which 
 the Christian Religion was established? And but a slight 
 acquaintance with the history of the writings of the earliest fa- 
 thers immediately succeeding the apostles themselves will fur- 
 nish the reader with ample evidence, that, if we, eighteen hun- 
 dred years after the foundation of our religion, can look back 
 to accumulating centuries of increasing error, "as good autho- 
 rity" for persisting in our blindly adhering to the precepts of 
 men, rather than give heed to the words of God, it was neither 
 their practice nor their belief. 
 
 Indeed, it is well known to those acquainted with church 
 history, that these doctrines which are now designated by the 
 epithet of "New Light" were the universal and undisputed 
 belief of the first three centuries of the Christian church; and 
 it continued so, until the doctrine of the Millenarians became 
 abused by wicked heretics, and the council which was called 
 to put down the gross heresies which were then taught, in 
 sinking the base superstructure, destroyed the foundation itself: 
 in their resolute zeal to sweep away the error, they likewise 
 struck down the truth. 
 
 Aquilla. Before entering further into the discussion, will 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 19, 
 
 you be good enough to state simply your opinions, as opposed 
 to the articles of belief which you have just named? 
 
 Philander. I beg pardon for my digression, but rest assured, 
 that none will ever truly comprehend the glorious mysteries 
 which they contain, until the Spirit of truth gives them dis- 
 cernment, and "anoints their eyes with eye-salve, that they 
 may see;" as it is written in Isa. xxviii. 9, "Whom shall he 
 teach knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand doc- 
 trine? Those that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from 
 the breast." Isai. xxix. IS: "Surely shall the deaf hear the 
 words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of 
 obscurity, and out of darkness: they also that erred in spirit 
 shall come to understanding; and they that are unlearned, 
 shall learn doctrine." 
 
 Endeavour to become a fool in your own eyes, that you 
 may receive heavenly wisdom: this is the first important les- 
 son, ere we are prepared for the Divine teaching, "If thy eye 
 be single, thy whole body shall be full of lig.ht. " "The fear 
 of the Lord is but the beginning of wisdom." 
 
 In opposition to the first, it is my belief that the Scriptures 
 teach, that the object which the spread of the Gospel is in- 
 tended to effect, in our dispe?isatio7i, is for a zuitness against the 
 naiions; and ?iot to convert them; and that the world will 
 gradually increase in wickedness and crime, but more particu- 
 larly that portion of the habitable globe the Roman earth, 
 which contains the Papal Apostacy, until God shall be able no 
 longer to endure such monstrous depravity, and "shall come 
 out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth;" which 
 he will do — first, by heavy visitations of his providence, on 
 the papal nations, and then, more manifestl}-, by the appearance 
 of the Lord Jesus Christ, who will consume the remnant with 
 the infidel Antichrist, "by the brightness of his coming." In 
 producing my authorities from the word of God, I beg you to 
 observe, that I quote such texts, not as isolated proofs in sup- 
 port of my own particular opinions and tenets, but such as I 
 believe to express the "mind of the Spirit," for which we 
 are to search the Scriptures; for I maintain, that there is no 
 error so pernicious, and which has proved so productive of evil 
 consequences in the church, as that opinion, "That where a 
 text can be produced, there a doctrine may be founded." 
 Scripture must be quoted to support Scripture, and not to op- 
 pose it: neither can I admit any inferences deduced from 
 single texts, if I do not see the particular doctrine inculcated, 
 from Genesis to Revelation; and therefore 3'ou will not fall into 
 the error, that the scriptural proofs which I now quote are the 
 only instances which occur in support of my belief. I produce 
 
20 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 them, more as expressions and declarations of doctrines, to 
 which I find the whole of the Scriptures strictly corresponds. 
 The following passages, I think, are all in which Christ has 
 accompanied his command, of preaching the Gospel to all na- 
 tions, with any approach to explanation for what end it was 
 intended; and here it may be observed how gracious it was 
 to withhold a knowledge of the ill success, according to 
 man's apprehension, that would attend his obedience to the 
 heavenly mandate, until the times of the Gentiles should be 
 fulfilled, when this mystery should be understood. 
 
 Matthew xxiv. 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." 
 
 Luke xxiv. 47, 48: "x'Vnd that repentance and remission of 
 sin should be preached in his name among all nations, begin- 
 ningat Jerusalem; and ye are witnesses of these things." 
 
 Acts i. S: "And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
 Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me, 
 both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto 
 the uttermost parts of the earth." 
 
 Mark xvi. 15, 16: "Go into all the world, and preach the 
 Gospel unto every creature. lie that believeth and is bap- 
 tized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not, shall be 
 damned." 
 
 To assist us in attaching the true meaning to the above, let 
 us consult other parts of Scripture, and commence with the 
 prophetic inquiry of our blessed Lord himself — 
 
 Luke xviii. 8: "Nevertheless, when the Son of man cometh, 
 shall he find faith upon the earth?" 
 
 Psalm ii. 2, 9: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and 
 the rulers take counsel together against the Lord, and against 
 his anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and 
 cast away their cords from us. Thou shalt break them with 
 arod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's 
 vessel." 
 
 Psalm xlv. 51: "Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, most 
 mighty! Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's 
 enemies, whereby the people do fall under thee. 
 
 Isaiah xxiv: "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, 
 and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth 
 abroad the inhabitants thereof. The land shall be utterly 
 emptied, and utterly spoiled: the haughty people of the earth 
 do languish: the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few 
 men left. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord 
 shall punish the host of the high ones that are on high, and the 
 kings of the earth tipon the earth.'^ In what day? — Ver. 23: 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 21 
 
 "When the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion, and in 
 Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." 
 
 Isaiah xiii. 9 — 12: "Behold, the day of the Lord comethj 
 cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; 
 and shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. I will make a 
 man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden 
 wedge of Ophir." 
 
 Isaiah xxxiv: "Let the earth hear; and all that is therein: 
 for the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations; his fury 
 upon all their armies: the sword of the Lord is filled with 
 blood; for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year 
 of recompense for the controversy of Zion." 
 
 Joel iii. 13: "Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe: 
 come, get ye down; for the press is full, the fats overflow, for 
 their wickedness is great." 
 
 Isaiah xxvi. 20, 21: "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." 
 
 2 Thess. i. 7, 8: "When the Lord 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." 
 
 2 Thess. ii. 7, 8: "For the mystery of iniquity doth al- 
 ready work: only he who now lelteth, 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, 
 and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him 
 whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power 
 and signs and lying wonders." 
 
 Rev. xi. 18: "And the nations were angry; and thy wrath 
 is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, 
 and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the pro- 
 phets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small 
 and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the 
 earth." 
 
 Rev. xvi. 19: "And the great city was divided into three 
 parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon 
 came into remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup 
 of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. And there fell 
 upon men a great hail out of heaven, and men blasphemed 
 God because of the plague of the hail: for the plague thereof 
 was exceedingly great." 
 
 I have no illustration to oSer to the above. I simply ask 
 y, the question, who, believing in the Divine inspiration of the 
 
22 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 Bible, reading attentively the above passages and their con- 
 texts; and all Scripture breathes the same strain; who can 
 maintain, in opposition to the direct word of God, ihat, when 
 Christ cometh, he will find the world evangelized? Are not 
 the contrary conclusions obvious, that there will be so little 
 faith as to make it a question if there be even any? And who 
 will affirm, that when he comes, he will not come in judgment? 
 If you persist in your present belief, you contradict the testi- 
 mony of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 Aquilla. You appear to have made out a very strong case; 
 and though I am not prepared to refute your conclusions, yet, 
 previously to my yielding my assent to them, I should like to 
 ponder over the matter. Indeed, I think hasty changes, both 
 of opinions and characters, are generally to be regarded with 
 some degree of doubt. I refer more particularly to the subject 
 of religion, wherein observation has taught me to prefer the 
 gradual, it may be apparently slow, growth of the Christian 
 character, to that hasty assumption of Christian experience 
 which we sometimes find in 3'oung converts. 
 
 Philander. I fully accede to the propriety of your remarks; 
 and I am more satisfied with your assurance to ''ponder over 
 the matter," than by an immediate concurrence with my 
 opinions. I wish I could obtain the ear of as patient listeners 
 as my friend has proved himself; and I am well assured I 
 should at least secure sincere examiners. And let us not for- 
 get the example of the Bereans, "who were more noble than 
 those at Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all 
 readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily, whether 
 those things were so; and therefore^^ (it is recorded) "many of 
 them believed." — But to proceed: The common expression, 
 the "e?zf/ of the rcorld," and which is understood to mean its 
 conflagration and annihilation, I believe has been elsewhere* 
 satisfactorily proved to be the end of this "age'' or "dispensa- 
 tion,'' and not of the material visible world, which, I shall have 
 to prove, in my answer under the third head, is ?iot to be an- 
 nihilated. My purpose I now confine to produce scriptural 
 evidence, that, at that period, which all will admit is at the 
 next coming of our blessed Lord, the general resurrection does 
 not take place, but the first resurrection 07dy, perfectly distinct 
 from the second, or general resurrection, both as respects time 
 and character, inasmuch as the first applies to the saints only, 
 and is at the commencement of the J\lille?inium; and the 
 second includes all that have ever lived upon the earth, and 
 
 * See Ba«iliciis' Letters on the Scriptural Expectation of the Church. See 
 Vol. 1st of the Literalist. 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 23 
 
 takes place at the end of the Millennium. Under this head, I 
 shall not occupy much of your time by various quotations from 
 Scripture, contenting myself with only one, which is so dis- 
 tinct and conckisive, that, if language means any thing at all, 
 two opinions can scarcely be supposed to exist upon the inter- 
 pretation of this passage, however others may be open to the 
 ingenuity of those who are determined to wrest the Scriptures 
 to suit their own views. And here I cannot refrain from re- 
 marking, with what little consistency the charge rests on us, 
 of explaining the word of God to apply to particular doctrines, 
 and with how much greater propriety the accusation remains 
 on our accusers; for it is the very principle of our interpreta- 
 tion, that its plain and obvious meaning is to be taken literally, 
 unless the connexion points out its figurative character. We 
 do not constrain, but rather endeavour to prevent constraint. 
 The passage to which I will refer you is Rev. xx. 4, 5: "And 
 I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was 
 given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were be- 
 headed 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." — Such 
 a plain declaration needs no attempt at explanation; and when 
 I find nothing in Scripture to oppose the only intelligible con- 
 clusion which every one must draw from such a simple and 
 unequivocal statement of facts, but, on the contrary, collateral 
 proofs in support of it, I feel no hesitation in believing the 
 words of that book, which I hold in my faith with more reve- 
 rence because it is our blessed Lord himself, the great Head of 
 the church, who has peculiarly identified himself with it; and 
 that he regards it as more highly important than any previous 
 prophetic communication we may collect from the prefatory 
 blessing pronounced on him "that readeth and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy" (Rev. i. 3), and the concluding 
 denunciation on "any man that shall take awa}^ from the words 
 of the book of this prophecy," in Rev. xxii. 19. Until good 
 and sufficient reasons therefore are rendered me, why I should 
 attach a different interpretation to what the words evidently 
 convey, I am content to rest my belief on this declaration of 
 my blessed Lord himself; and that, at the first resurrection, 
 only the saints will be raised, and be re-united to their glori- 
 ous bodies, and "will reign with Christ a thousand years on 
 the earth;" and this is that glorious King "who shall reign in 
 righteousness," and these are those "princes who shall rule in 
 
24 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 judgment" (Is. xxxii. 1), spoken of by all the Prophets, the 
 burden of every inspired writer from Moses to St. John. I 
 fear to enlarge on this soul-reviving object of our hope and 
 expectation — the exchange of this "corruptible for incorrup- 
 tion," — lest the interesting inquiry should induce me to wan- 
 der from my present purpose, yet I am bold to affirm, that 
 there is no opinion so false as that we hear continually urged 
 in this age of pretension, than that these things form part of 
 the hidden mysieries of God, which we are not to presume to 
 search into. The arch deceiver! he knows they are our most 
 valuable jewels; and, as his custom is, he leaves us to amuse 
 ourselves with fancied treasures, whilst his arts are directed 
 to conceal from our view the 'Hrue riches.'" — There is much 
 revealed on this subject, as well as upon many others deeply 
 interesting to the Christian, purposely hid from the careless in- 
 different inquirer, but which God, by his Holy Spirit, whose 
 express office it is to "shew things to come" (John xvi. 13), 
 will reveal to those who inquire reverently, with simplicity of 
 mind, and singleness of eye. My brother, God forbid that 
 we should be like those Hebrews who needed "to be taught 
 again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and 
 become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat." 
 Why should we continue children in knowledge all our lives? 
 And if we wish to learn what this strong meat consisted of, 
 let us consult St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, and we shall 
 find that it was no other than this despised doctrine of the 
 Melchizedec reign of Christ on the earth: see chap. v. — vii.; 
 of which Paul acknowledges to the Hebrews, "They are 
 things hard to be uttered, seeing they were dull of hearing;" 
 and St. Peter assures us likewise, that these "things were 
 hard to be understood." What wonder is it then, that, if the 
 primitive Christians could scarcely attain sufficient spiritual 
 strength to feed on such food, and were for their weakness re- 
 proved by the tvi^o apostles, that the church, in its present 
 sickly condition, should reject such food as wholly incompa- 
 tible to its digestive powers? What wonder that we who can 
 scarcely take milk should refuse strong meat! 
 
 Aquilla. The passage you have quoted from Revelations ap- 
 pears to carry with it conviction on this point; and I cannot 
 withhold my full consent to your deductions. I am anxious 
 to hear how you establish your opinion of the continued exist- 
 ence of this globe. At the same time, I protest against any 
 alterations of our English version: I think too much respect 
 cannot be paid to our present translation. 
 
 Philander. Forgive me, my dear Aquilla, if I differ from you 
 in your last observation: too much respect may be extended to 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 25 
 
 our or to any version of the Holy Scriptures. I would ap- 
 proach such ground reverently, and observe a most jealous cau- 
 tion: yet I would rather be influenced by a pure desire to 
 learn "the mind of the Spirit," than pay undue deference 
 to any version authorized by man. Our translation is so ex- 
 cellent and generally so correct that I should tremble to see 
 any revision attempted; and yet it would betray a blind and 
 ignorant prejudice, to pronounce it faultless: and where a few 
 mistranslations can be detected by the classical scholar, they 
 are such as not to affect, in the slightest manner, the grand doc- 
 trines of salvation; but, on the contrary, a more correct ren- 
 dering would make many important passages unanswerable, 
 which are now open to the doubts and obscurities of the scep- 
 tic. I will instance one passage in support of my observation; 
 the expression in 2 Pet. i. 1; "of God, and our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ," should have been thus translated, "of God our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ;" and it has been well observed, "that St. Peter calls 
 Jesus God, in the most proper term."* And this same error 
 has occurred in many other of the Epistles, which, if corrected, 
 would furnish every Christian, however illiterate, with a ready 
 answer to the sophistry of the Socinians. It has been most 
 clearly proved, that in very many instances in which "world^^ 
 occurs in the New Testament, it does not mean this visible 
 world; but, variously, the class of men usually denominated 
 the world, in contradistinction to the Church. In this sense 
 we are to understand Christ, when he says, in John xvii. 9, •'I 
 pray for them (his disciples): I pray not for the world," or, 
 we interpret the term, the Roman earth; as in Luke ii. 1: 
 "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a de- 
 cree from Csesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." 
 Now, it is very evident that Augustus could not tax all the 
 world, for only a portion of it was known to the Romans at 
 that time; and could refer to no other nation, knovvn or un- 
 known, which was not under the Roman government. Also, 
 in Heb. ix. 26, the original word does not convey the meaning 
 which we attach to "/Ae world:'' it should be thus; "Now 
 once in the end of the age (or dispensation) hath he appeared, 
 to put away sin, by the sacrifice of himself" I offer these 
 observations, because I think many good people possess a 
 species of idolatry for the English translation of the word of 
 God; preferring it to "the mind of the Spirit," which ought 
 to be more highly reverenced than any human authority. 
 
 These observations introduce me to the third head of doc- 
 trine, wherein I shall have to maintain that this globe is not to 
 be annihilated. Be good enough to refer to the following. — 
 
 * Baxter's Comprehensive Bible. 
 VOL. III. S 
 
25 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 Psalm xciii. 1: ''The world also is established, that it can- 
 not be moved." 
 
 Psalm xcvi. 10: "The world also shall be established that it 
 shall not be moved." 
 
 Psalm civ. 5: "Who laid the foundations of the earth, that 
 it should not be removed for ever," 
 
 Psalm Ixxviii. 69: "The earth, which he hath established 
 for ever." 
 
 Now, in further support of the simple doctrine laid down 
 in the above passages, I beg to refer you to Dan. ii. 44: "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; and it shall stand for ever." 
 Dan. vii. 13, 14: "I saw in the night visions, and beheld 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 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." 
 1 Cor. XV. 24, 25: "Then cometh the end, when he (that is, 
 Jesus Christ) shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, 
 even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and 
 all authority and power. For he must reign until he hath put 
 all enemies under his feet." 
 
 These prophecies all refer to a kingdom to be established 
 upon the earth; and the latter glances at the end of the INIillen- 
 nium; and yet I can learn nothing of amiihilation of the mate- 
 rial world by fire. "The grand work of redemption is to 
 manifest the goodness of the work of creation," — to recover and 
 not to destroy. How can a thing be redeemed which is annihi- 
 lated? If it were so, Satan, and not God, would have the tri- 
 umph; for he would have succeeded in the destruction of one of 
 God's works. 
 
 Aquilla. But does not the following text from the inspired 
 Psalmist, rather interfere with the conclusions which you are 
 drawing from your quotations? Psalm cii. 25 — 27: "Of old 
 hast thou laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are 
 the work of thy hands: they shall perish, but thou shalt endure; 
 yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt 
 thou change them, and they shall be changed: but thou art the 
 same, and thy years shall have no end."* Also in Rev. xxi. 
 1: "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first 
 
 * See Charnock on the Attributes, Discourse "VI, for an explanation of 
 this text. 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 27 
 
 heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was 
 no more sea." Pray, how can you view these texts, in con- 
 nexion with your quotations? Do they not altogether contra- 
 dict your position? 
 
 Philander. Certainly not; but confirm it, as St. Paul and St. 
 Peter shall satisfactorily prove to you; and I pray you to pay 
 particular attention to their explanations of this same passage. 
 St. Peter (2 Pet. iii. 6, 11), quoting this text, says, "Whereby 
 the world that then was, being overflowed with water, pe- 
 rished." Verse 11; 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." Compare this passage with St. Paul's quotation of the 
 same text, in his Epistle to the Hebrews, and I think you will 
 find no difficulty in concluding that both St. Paul and St. 
 Peter understood the term ''perish'^ as only a material altera- 
 tion in the outward visible form of the earth, and that can be 
 effected by fire in the second destruction, as it was in i\\Q firsl 
 by water, without moving the foundations of the earth, much 
 less annihilating the whole globe. 
 
 Aquilla. There still remains one interesting subject, which 
 branches out of your third division, and which, I have ob- 
 served, is regarded with more prejudice by many professing 
 Christians than any other which your belief embraces — the per- 
 sonal reign of Christ on the earth. I shall feel indebted to you 
 if you would favour me with the Scripture evidence on which 
 this part of your faith is grounded, although my present opi- 
 nions rather incline to the truth of the doctrine. 
 
 Philander. My omission in minutely adverting to this topic 
 has been intentional. I purposely avoided a more particular 
 allusion than the nature of our various discussions absolutely 
 required. Aware of the popular prejudice against this scrip- 
 tural truth, I did not feel quite assured that even my friend 
 Aquilla would patiently hear me, in attempting to establish 
 this point; neither did I feel much inclined to expose a doc- 
 trine which I hold so near my heart, to the customary scorn 
 and mockery with which it is generally received; and that pro- 
 ceeding from an affected anxiety that the character of our 
 blessed Saviour should not suffer, as they are pleased to say, 
 by a belief so derogatory to his glory, and so degrading to their 
 notions, of the future inheritance of the saints. But, are we 
 not to look for light in this revealed truth, in "the law and 
 the testimony," rather than "the traditions of the elders?" I 
 
23 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 feel no hesitation in saying, that, notwithstanding all our zeal 
 for the circulation of the holy Scriptures (and it is a zeal well 
 deserving of commendation) the practical belief of the pro- 
 fessing church in the Bible — as proceeding directly and imme- 
 diately by inspiration of the Holy Ghost — was never at a lower 
 ebb. We know not what it is to tremble at the word of God, 
 and to receive it into our faith with simplicity of mind — and 
 that more especially if it should be opposed to our own precon- 
 ceived opinions. It is true there is a sort of superstitious fear, 
 as respects many parts of God's holy word, which he hath 
 vouchsafed us for our instruction; and which is manifested in 
 that slavish dread which renders it unapproachable, and thus 
 entirely defeats the gracious purposes for which it was designed. 
 But this feeling is far removed from true reverejice. — In suggest- 
 ing to your reflection a few texts which occur to me, as appli- 
 cable to your inquiry, I will offer no argument drawn from 
 human ingenuity. I would, however, make one preliminary 
 remark, that, if Christ and his church are to be attenuated into 
 a merely spiritual existence of happiness and glory in the eter- 
 nal ages, it should seem an unnecessary provision, or, rather, 
 incumbrance, of Divine Providence, that Christ should still 
 retain his'glorified human nature, consisting of tangible "flesh 
 and bones," as we learn from Luke xxiv. 39; and that his 
 saints should look forward to the consummation of their happi- 
 ness on their re-union to their bodies, at the first resurrection. It 
 was the object to which St. Paul aspired: "if by any means he 
 might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Phil. iii. 11. 
 It was the bright hope held out by Christ himself, as an en- 
 couragement to his suffering church," "And he that overcom- 
 eth, and keep my works unto the end, to him will I give power 
 over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: as 
 the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers; even 
 as I received of my Father; and I will give him the morning 
 star," and constituted the blissful anticipation of the church 
 now in heaven, forming the choral of the glorious company of 
 martyrs, "And we shall reign on the earth." Rev. v. 10. Indeed, 
 all Scripture proves, that this despised doctrine "of the per- 
 sonal reign of Christ with his saints on the earth," was the 
 grand hope and expectation which our great Head intended 
 should, and is, to those who receive it, eminently calculated, 
 and peculiarly adopted, for encouragement to their faith, dur- 
 ing their hard contest with Satan, the world, and the flesh; 
 the character of the hope set before us being admirably adjusted 
 to the form of trial: and, moreover, of the state beyond — after 
 the millennial reign — when "the kingdom is delivered up to 
 the Father," there is little or nothing revealed. The im- 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 29 
 
 mediate succeeding future state approaches in its enjoyments 
 nearer to our present sympathies than we are aware of. But 
 we have allowed ourselves to be beguiled by Satan; and, in- 
 stead of keeping this in the eye of faith, we deem it of little 
 value, and have formed for ourselves an ideal state of happiness, 
 in a remoter dispensation, of which I have little doubt, in our 
 present state of existence, our faculties are not capable of con- 
 taining even one solitary conception. And what is the conse- 
 quence of our thus presumptuously rejecting God's scheme, 
 and erecting one for ourselves? We are bewildered in fanta- 
 sies of our own creating, upon which our hopes can take no 
 hold; and thus it comes to pass, that, having no heavenly estate 
 upon which our thoughts can dwell with delight, we lose the 
 expectation altogether, and become earthly minded, having our 
 conversation in this world, and not where every Christian's 
 ought to be, "in heaven; for where our treasure is, there will 
 our heart be also." None but those who receive these true 
 doctrines, contradictory as it may appear, can have an idea 
 what a noble field for contemplation — what a range for lofty 
 thought, they continually present to the mind. It is this be- 
 lief alone that can introduce the Christian into that perfect 
 freedom from the oppressive and degrading bondage of this 
 world, which all should have, who are the free-born sons of an 
 immortal King and heirs to the kingdom of glory. Ought the 
 constant vicissitudes incumbent on this state of existence, to 
 make even a transient impression on those who profess to have 
 "an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, that fadeth not 
 away, reserved in heaven?" Did we feel we were but "pil- 
 grims and sojourners, having no continuing city, but seeking 
 one to come;" and that we possessed an imperishable treasure 
 in heaven; could we be so base, as to allow our affections even 
 to glance at the mammon of this world, which we have such 
 varied proofs is so calculated to degrade the mind, and corrupt, 
 if not wholly destroy, every nobler faculty of the human soul? 
 Should we suffer ourselves to be affected by the evanescent 
 changes and temporary allurements of this life, were we ever 
 conscious that we are of the royal family of Heaven? Alas! 
 who are found now to exclaim with St. Paul, "None of these 
 things move me; neither count 1 my life dear unto me, so that 
 1 finish my course with joy." And the reason ivhy we are so 
 much under the influence of "the things which are seen," is 
 because we have lost sight of the land-marks of the Prophets 
 and Apostles, which more clearly presented to our faith "the 
 things which are tzo^ seen." 
 
 1 will now read to you the texts to which I refer, and leave 
 you to draw your own inferences. The first passage to whicii 
 S* 
 
30 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 I direct your attention, is that remarkable prophecy from which 
 the Jewish nation drew their expectation of their glorious 
 Messiah, who was to restore their kingdom; and it is neces- 
 sary that you should bear in mind, what you can learn from 
 any Jew, that they expected the Messiah, as a glorious prince, 
 who should reign in visible splendour, on the literal throne of 
 David; and, keeping this in view, I think we shall find, that 
 the Prophets, and Christ himself, with his Apostles, confirmed 
 this belief, which is now esteemed so capital an error. 
 
 1 Chron. xvii. 11 — 14: ''And it shall come to pass, when 
 thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, 
 that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy 
 sons; and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build me an 
 house, and I will establish his throne for ever. I will be his 
 Father, and he shall be my Son; and I will not take my mercy 
 away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee. 
 But I will settle him in my house and in my kingdom for ever; 
 and his throne shall be established for evermore.'' 
 
 This prophecy was partially fulfilled in Solomon, king Da- 
 vid's son; but that it was not wholly accomplished in him, the 
 following texts — still speaking of this King, of which Solomon 
 was but a type — will sufficiently prove. Isaiah having pro- 
 phesied about 250, Jeremiah about 380, and Daniel about 400 
 years after Solomon flourished. 
 
 Psalm Ixxxix. 35 — 37: "Once have I sworn by my holiness, 
 that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall endure for ever, 
 and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established 
 for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven." 
 
 Isaiah ix. 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 for ever." 
 
 Isaiah lix. 20: ^^ And the Redeemer shall come to Zio??, and unto 
 them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord." 
 
 Isaiah Ix. 12, 13: "For the nation and kingdom that will not 
 serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wast- 
 ed; and I will make the place of my feet glorious." 
 
 Jeremiah xxiii. 5, 6 : "Behold the days come, saith the Lord, 
 that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King 
 shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice 
 in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall 
 dwell safely; and this is his name whereby he shall be called, 
 The Lord our Righteousness." 
 
 Zech. vi. 12, 13: "Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, 
 Behold the man, whose name is the Branch: and he shall grow 
 up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the Lord; 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 31 
 
 even he shall build the temple of the Lord; and he shall bear 
 the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne; and he shall 
 be a priest upon his throne." 
 
 Zech, ix. 10: "And he shall speak peace unto the heathen; 
 and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the 
 river even to the ends of the earth," 
 
 Zech. xiv. 3, 4: "Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight 
 against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 
 And his feet shall stand in that day on the mount of Olives." 
 Verse 9: "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in 
 that day there shall be one Lord, and his name one." 
 
 Hosea iii. 4, 5: "And I said unto her. Thou shalt abide for 
 me many days: for the children of Israel shall abide many 
 days without a king, and without a prince; afterwards 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." 
 
 Zech, xiv. 17: "And it shall be, that whoso will not com.e 
 up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship 
 the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain." 
 
 Daniel ii. 44: "And in the days of these kings shall the 
 God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be de- 
 stroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but 
 it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms, and it shall stand 
 for ever," 
 
 Luke i. 30 — 33: "And the angel said unto her. Fear not, 
 Mary; for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, 
 thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and 
 shalt call his name Jesus, He shall be great, and shall be 
 called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give 
 unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign 
 over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there 
 shall be no end." 
 
 John i, 49: Nathaniel addresses Christ, and recognizes him 
 in the following expression of his faith: "Rabbi, thou art the 
 Son of God; thou art the King of Israel." 
 
 John xviii. 37: "Pilate, therefore, said unto him, Art thou 
 a king then? Jesus answered. Thou sayest that I am a king. 
 To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the 
 world, that I should bear witness unto the truth," 
 
 It will be scarcely necessary to point out, even to a careless 
 peruser of the New Testament, that this darling hope of the 
 Jew was constantly in the view even of the disciples, who 
 were continually urging him on this point; and he repeatedly 
 taught them, that He, as well as they, must first suffer humilia- 
 tion and death, before they inherited the kingdom. Even 
 
32 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 after his resurrection, before his ascension, at the last inter- 
 view, they still inquired of him, as you shall find by consulting 
 with me. Acts i. 6, 7: "When they therefore were come to- 
 gether, they asked of him saying. Wilt thou at this time restore 
 again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them. It is 
 not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father 
 hath put in his own power." 
 
 The train of argument adopted in the whole of the 2d chap- 
 ter of Acts is so admirably calculated to produce conviction on 
 this head, that it is weakening the effect to transcribe a portion 
 of it. I cannot, however, refrain from directing j'our particu- 
 lar attention from the 29th to the 36th verses inclusive; keep- 
 ing in your eye thedriftof the Apostle's reasoning, That Christ 
 must necessarily rise from the dead, as in him was to be ful- 
 filled the prophecies given relative to David's Son, and yet 
 David's Lord. "Men and brethren, let us freely speak unto 
 you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, 
 and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore, being a 
 prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him. 
 that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would 
 raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake 
 of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, 
 neither his flesh did see corruption. Tl)is Jesus hath God 
 raised up whereof we are all witnesses. Therefore, being by 
 the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Fa- 
 ther the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this 
 which ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into 
 the heavens; but he saith himself. The Lord said unto my 
 Lord, sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy 
 footstool. Therefore, let all the house of Israel know assur- 
 edly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have cru- 
 cified, both Lord and Christ." 
 
 Rev. xix. 11 — 16: ''And I saw heaven opened, and behold. 
 a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and 
 True; and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His 
 eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; 
 and he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. 
 And he was clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and his name 
 is called The Word of God. 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 sword, 
 that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule ttiem 
 with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the wine-press of, the 
 fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his 
 vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and 
 
A CRY PROM THE DESERT. 33 
 
 Lord of lords." Rev. xxii. 16: "I am the root and the off- 
 spring of David, and the bright and morning star." 
 
 And now having directed your attention to a connected series 
 of texts from the original prophecy down to Revelation, where 
 Christ applies the expression, "1 am the root and offspring of 
 David" to himself; allow me to ask you to point out to me, in 
 what epoch of the prophetic history, this Davidical reign is 
 shadowed down to a mere spiritual reigfi; for surely in such case, 
 the prophecies themselves to be faithful, must assume likewise 
 a spiritual character. 
 
 For a fuller development of this glorious scheme of the final 
 restitution of all things under our great Head and Captain, the 
 Father of the age to come, I would refer you to the Book of 
 Psalms, and especially to the iid, xth, xxivth, xxixth, xxxviith, 
 Ixvith, Ixviiith, Ixxid, Ixxxixlh, xciid, ciid, &c. &c., which are 
 full of this doctrine, as also all the Prophets: and I will defy 
 any man to read the greater portion of the Bible with under- 
 standing, who does not see the whole scheme of redemption 
 centre in this comprehensive truth. I would also recommend 
 you to read Mr. Irving's Preliminary Discourse to Ben Ezra, 
 of which, it has been well observed, "/Ais age does not produce 
 such a master-piece of theology." — Oh! how hath Satan beguiled 
 us of our most noble privileges; of our most exalted promises! 
 how has he degraded tiie truth by his base mimicry: and in 
 man, perversely blind man, he has found a willing dupe. God 
 teaches man by things, and by his providence, more than by 
 words; so that every truth in nature contains the embryo of an 
 eternal truth; so that things seen, are but the emblem of things 
 yet unseen, but which alone are truly substantial: "for the in- 
 visible things of Him, from the creation of the world, are 
 clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." 
 Rom. i. 20. Even this Satan has imitated; but, as the de- 
 ceiver has nothing good of his own, he has applied his malice 
 to deface God's noble works; and I think it would not be 
 found difficult to shew, that there scarcely exists one grand 
 fundamental truth which he has not encumbered by his spuri- 
 ous attempts to imitate. He has invested many of his faithful 
 servants with a sickly foretaste of the millennial rest, which 
 we may perceive by their exemption from the primeval curse, 
 "Thou shalt eat thy bread with the sweat of thy brow;" and 
 in all the possessions of the men of this world, of which they 
 are but the temporary usurpers. And the work is worthy of 
 himself: it is the banquet of a charnel-house! And whilst he 
 has invested his own servants with these habiliments of pride, 
 how well has he succeeded in stigmatizing with disgrace and 
 contempt the true followers of Christ! whereas, what is the 
 
34 -^ CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 truth? His servants are truly abject, low and mean, succumb- 
 ing to an inflexible tyrant, and a base usurper, for a few tem- 
 porary, selfish, and ignoble possessions; while Christ's servants 
 are the truly noble minded and great, disdaining compromise, 
 and scorning all temptations to violate their fealty, — the true, 
 and staunch, and faithful adherents of an absent, but beloved 
 King, — an heroic band of devoted warriors, firm to their alle- 
 giance in the midst of general disaffection and revolt. 
 
 And now, my friend, I have one more argument to present 
 to your mind, which I will not omit, in addition to the above 
 authorities, because the church seems to require as much de- 
 monstration upon a subject of religion as upon any proposition 
 of Euclid, — forgetting that, if such an unreasonable requisition 
 were complied with in the inspired volume, it would wholly 
 abolish the exercise of faith, and the divine teaching of the 
 Holy Spirit, and render every truth and every prophecy deter- 
 minable by clear-headed logical deductions. — My friend, we 
 live in an age of sight and of evidence, and not of faith; the curse 
 of unsanctified intellect, which is too wise and prudent to take 
 any thing for granted simply because God says it. Our fore- 
 fathers, I suppose, who believed God, did not possess the rea- 
 soning powers to which we have attained by our superior 
 mode of education. I can scarcely repress my indignation, 
 when I hear a mere boy, who has just escaped from the tram- 
 mels of a schoolmaster, tell you, with all the gravity imagi- 
 nable, that "he has not sufficient evidence to C07ivince his un- 
 derstanding of such and such a truth!'' which perhaps may 
 have proceeded, in all its naked beauty, from the lips of Truth 
 itself, confirmed by the united testimony of Apostles, and 
 sealed with the blood of martyrs; and which, forsooth, because 
 we live in an intellectual age, is to be exposed to indignity, by 
 attempts at reducing it to the level of his diminutive intellect! 
 "Oh! how strange, how passing strange," that one who has 
 made such proficiency in mathematics and logic, and can read 
 Euripides and Cicero, should not comprehend infinity! — In 
 this doctrine of the second advent, however, I am bold to af- 
 firm, that there is to be collected more satisfactory proof than 
 in most prophetic truths; as if the Holy Ghost, foreseeing the 
 scepticism of the church on this head, had provided for it an 
 appropriate remedy. In order, therefore, to shew you, that 
 the texts which I have quoted (amongst a variety) do, in fact, 
 contain clearer evidence than accompanies many other pro- 
 phetic announcements, I must beg your attention to the first 
 advent of our Lord, which, I presume, you admit was personal. 
 
 Afjuilla. Certainly; it has become an historical fact. 
 
 Philander. Supposing this fact was not admitted, I ask you 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 35 
 
 to shew me, from the Old Testament Prophets where this 
 event is spoken of, any conclusive evidence to prove it to be a 
 personal manifestation — I mean when his advent in humility 
 is foretold, unconnected rvilh his glorious advent; and whenever 
 it is prophesied of an intimate connexion, the inference which 
 you must draw for a personal accomplishment in the first in- 
 stance, I claim an equal right ii) support of a similar fulfilment 
 in the second. If I were therefore disposed, for argument 
 sake, to dispute a first personal advent, you would find that a 
 careful examination of the Prophets would furnish you with 
 slender proofs to support your position; and this circumstance 
 adds incredible weight to the conclusion, that, if the first ad- 
 vent has been a personal and literal fulfilment, when even the 
 prophecies themselves do not bear that obvious construction, 
 then the second, most assuredly, will receive a precisely simi- 
 lar accomplishment, literally and truly, when such a collection 
 of inspired authorities combine to give it this character. Christ 
 came first to relieve his church from spiritual bondage; that 
 is, from Levitical ordinances; he will come again in person, 
 to liberate us from that bodily bondage which oppressed Paul, 
 and will continue to afflict all his true church, until our De- 
 liverer come to our emancipation. 
 
 Aquilla. There are one or two passages in the New Testa- 
 ment, which I think militates against your putting a literal 
 construction on the texts which you have quoted; and on the 
 authority of our Lord himself; and has hitherto furnished my 
 mind with ample evidence that the kingdom of Christ will 
 consist of merely a spiritual kingdom in the hearts, and in- 
 fluencing the lives, of the majority of mankind; and I believe 
 this has been the general view entertained by Christians on 
 the doctrine of the Millennium; that the church will then 
 have the ascendency over the world, which we now so pal- 
 pably see invested in the latter. 
 
 Philajider. I am happy, Aquilla, to find you are supporting 
 your opinion by a reference to scriptural authority; for no 
 doctrine or tenet in theology is to be held by mere assertion: 
 but this is a mode of argument to which I have found few dis- 
 posed to resort, whenever I have conversed on the subject; or, 
 if referred to, the texts have been so frittered and explained 
 away, as certainly to mean any thing but the idea which the 
 language would convey, if adopted in the expression of other 
 ^subjects. I am anxious to hear your authorities, and I will 
 endeavour to reply to them. Before naming your texts, how- 
 ever, I would offer one remark on the prevalent notion, that 
 the Millennium will merely consist of a high state of religious 
 prosperity. I will direct your attention to three passages in 
 
36 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 the Revelations, proving that this dominion of the resurrection 
 of the saints over the earth is what we learn from Divine reve- 
 lation on the subject. Christ is addressing the church atThya- 
 tira, and says (Rev. ii. 26 — 28), "And he that overcometh, 
 and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give 
 power over the nations: (and he shall rule them with a rod 
 of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shi- 
 vers:) even as I received of my Father." Rev. v. 10, the 
 saints in heaven are rejoicing, saying, "And we shall reign on 
 the earth." Rev. xi. 18: "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 (or 
 corrupt) the earth." If the texts above mean any thing, it is, 
 that every saint that has ever lived will participate in the glo- 
 rious happiness of that day, when the sons of God will be 
 manifested. I will just glance at Job's and Daniel's expecta- 
 tions on the same subject, and then await the proofs to which 
 you have alluded. Job xix. 25 — 27: "For I know that my 
 Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon 
 the earth: and though, after my kin, worms destroy this body, 
 yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, 
 and my eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins 
 be consumed within me." Dan. xii. 13: "But go thou thy 
 way, till the end be; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot 
 at the end of the days." Now, assuming the Millennium to 
 be the blessed period to which these holy men directed their 
 hopes; and if it is merely to consist of a higher state of perfec- 
 tion of the present spiritual dispensation — as you appear to 
 maintain — what "part or lot" hath Job and Daniel in the 
 matter? They were most wofully deceived, and will be most 
 cruelly disappointed, in their participation of the joys of that 
 happy time. If you deny that their hopes, expressed in the 
 above passages, did refer to the Millennium, you must reject 
 those portions of holy writ m toto, or find some other period of 
 fulfilment, which I have yet to learn that any have had the 
 hardihood to attempt. Thus we see the Prophets of old lived in 
 the anticipation of these things; and that we do not, is one of 
 the thousand signs of the times, that we have wholly perverted 
 the truth and turned unto fables. 
 
 Aquilla. The passages to which I beg your attention, are 
 the following: — Luke xvii. 20, 21: "And when he was de- 
 manded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God shbuld 
 come, he answered them, and said. The kingdom of God 
 cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 37 
 
 or Lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." 
 Also, John xviii, 36: "Jesus answered, 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." 
 
 Philander. I was fully prepared for these quotations; and I 
 cannot omit noticing, that if I converse with one Christian on 
 these subjects, I have conversed with all: for I uniformly 
 meet with precisely similar objections and remarks, and 
 founded on the same texts, except when the shallow evasion 
 is presented to you, and which is most frequently the case, of 
 a personal practical application to yourself The correctness 
 of this observation must occur to every one who has inter- 
 ested himself in the discussion of these doctrines; and it evi- 
 dently detects the impoverished resources which those have 
 who maintain an opposite opinion. To your first, I have thus 
 to reply: You will observe, from whom the inquiry came, and 
 to whom the answer is addressed — those Pharisees to whom 
 Christ ever spoke in parables, and who were ignorant, negli- 
 gent, and altogether destitute of that spiritual kingdom which 
 has its seat in the believer's heart. For an illustration both of 
 Christ's manner of address in this instance to the Pharisees, 
 as also of his true meaning, I refer you to John iii. 5: "Verily, 
 verily, I say unto you. Except a man be born of water, and 
 of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Ver. 
 9 — 12: "Nicodemus answered, and said unto him. How can 
 these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him. Art thou 
 a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, 
 verily, I say unto thee. We speak that we do know, and tes- 
 tify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. If I 
 have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye 
 believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?" By which passage, 
 and Luke xvii. 20, I learn two things: First, That it was ne- 
 cessary to receive the spiritual kingdom in the heart, ''which 
 Cometh not by outward observation," before we can enter into 
 the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and Christ's reply to 
 the Pharisees was therefore most appropriate;— seeing that they 
 lacked that which alone could introduce them to the kingdom 
 for which they inquired. And secondly, I learn that Christ 
 "threw not his pearls before swine: neither does he teach his 
 own servants truths before he has prepared the soil of the heart 
 for their reception and full comprehension, as we find in Nico- 
 demus' case, who was undoubtedly a good man, and a sincere 
 inquirer: and, mark me, though a ruler in Israel, a babe in kncnu- 
 ledge, to whom our Saviour did not enter into discourse upon 
 "heavenly things,'^ seeing that he was dull of hearing, and could 
 
 VOL. III. — 9 
 
3g A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 not receive even "earthly things." According to your views, 
 therefore, the "heavenly things" which Christ in the above 
 passages clearly applies to his kingdom, uill never arrive; for you 
 make the Millennium to consist only of a high state of spiri- 
 tuality, whichChrist considers and teaches as being only "earthly 
 things." — You see into what perplexing dilemmas and direct 
 contradictions of Scripture the popular notions on these sub- 
 jects must inevitably introduce you; and what can more plainly 
 mark them as Satan's deceptions, than that they are all opposed 
 to the word of God? 
 
 Besides, the term '^within you," in the 21st verse of the 
 chapter, reads in the margin '■'amojig you;'" and in this sense, 
 John the Baptist preached that the kingdom of heaven was at 
 hand, and did come to the Jews, though they saw it not. As 
 he was a King then, though in disguise, so was his kingdom; 
 not then manifest to outward observation: he had received the 
 kingdom, but its possession was deferred. In this instance, as 
 I am persuaded in every other particular of the first advent, 
 our Lord's life contained the types of those things which shall 
 be revealed at his second coming. The expressions also in John 
 xviii. 36, "My kingdom is not of this world;" and, "but now 
 is my kingdom not iVom hence," furnish me, when closely ex- 
 amined, ample authority to reject your interpretation, as exclu- 
 sively applicable to the spiritual kingdom, which every true 
 disciple has within himself. The word now is undoubtedly 
 significant of time present in contradistinction to the future, so 
 that the present tense being used by our Lord. "JNIy kingdom is 
 not, and now is my kingdom not from hence," do most clearly 
 imply, by fair inference, that at some future period, it u-illbe 
 from hence, and on this earth. 
 
 And shall we say, that, because we admit to its fullest extent 
 the truth of the spiritual kingdom in the heart, therefore there 
 is no other kingdom? Does the invisible then necessarily de- 
 stroy the visible? Certainly not — and we believe in both: but 
 you receive the one, and reject the other. Pray do me the favour 
 of reading at your leisure carefully a continuation of the pass- 
 age from Luke xvii., and you will find, that our Saviour, though 
 he spoke of a spiritual kingdom, without observation, zchich 
 then ii-as, yet likewise directed his disciples to a future king- 
 dom, the manifest token of which he plainly foretels them. 
 
 To establish, however, the truth of this position, beyond all 
 controversy, that the kingdom of God, which cometh without 
 observation in Luke xvii. 20, is not intended by our Saviour to 
 exclude the visible kingdom for which I am contending, with- 
 out in the least infringing on the spiritual kingdom, to which 
 you exclusively confine the expression, I refer you to Luke 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 39 
 
 xii. 31, 32: '<But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all 
 these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; 
 for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 
 Luke xxii. 29: "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my 
 Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink 
 at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the 
 twelve tribes of Israel," It is evident that Christ was ad- 
 dressing those who had already received the spiritual kingdom 
 in their hearts; and yet he directs their attention to a future 
 kingdom, which they were to receive, and for which he teaches 
 his disciples to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done 
 on earth as it is in heaven." That this was the precise view 
 entertained by the Apostle Paul on this subject, we can have 
 little doubt, from his Epistle to the Ephesians, i. 13, 14: "In 
 whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that 
 holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance 
 tintil the redempiion of the purchased possession,^' which we know 
 to be the ''uttermost parts of the earth:" that is, we know this 
 to be Christ's inheritance; and therefore ours. Thus the spi- 
 ritual kingdom in the heart, in which we are contented to cen- 
 tre all our hopes and expectations, Paul only regarded as the 
 earnest: the writings of the estate; but essentially necessary to 
 qualify us to enter into its full possession. 
 
 Jesus Christ, when speaking of his kingdom, it is to be re- 
 marked, quoted the language of Daniel, and often represented 
 it as not immediately at hand, or impending, though on this earth, 
 as we shall find by the following, which I think, with what I 
 have already advanced, will satisfy you in my reply to both 
 your texts. 
 
 Mark xiii. 34 — 37: "For the Son of man is as a man taking 
 a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his 
 servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the por- 
 ter to watch. Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not when 
 the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight, or at the 
 cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he 
 find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, 
 Watch." 
 
 Luke xix. 12, 13: "A certain nobleman went into a far coun- 
 try to receive for himself a kingdom, a?id to returti.^' 
 
 Luke XX. 9: "A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it 
 forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long 
 time." 
 
 Matt. XXV. 14: "For the kingdom of heaven is as a man tra- 
 velling into a far country." Verse 19: *' After a long time 
 the lord of those servants cometh." 
 
 You will find in every part of the prophecies, this kingdom, 
 
40 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 which is to last for ever, is to subvert all other kingdoms, 
 which are to "become like the chaff of the summer threshing 
 floor, and the wind to carry them away, so that no place shall 
 be found for them." Dan. ii. 35. 
 
 This cannot be realized at the present moment, as we see all 
 these kingdoms still in existence; although politicians admit, 
 neither does it require any assistance of the prophecies to per- 
 ceive, that they are tottering to their base: and every thinking 
 man is anxiously awaiting their final overthrow^, little dream- 
 ing of the "everlasting kingdom" which is to be ^'set up iti the 
 days of these kifigs,'' and upon their ruins. It follows, there- 
 fore, by consequence, and forms an important feature of the 
 last times, that the establishment of this kingdom is indeed 
 near at hand. 
 
 Aqiiilla. You press me so hard, that I am constrained to ad- 
 mit my complete defeat. 
 
 Philander. The second advent of our Lord in flesh, affords 
 me a key to the fuller comprehension of the mystery of his 
 humanity, which, before I entered into this doctrine, I never 
 was able to attain unto. I now see the end for which Christ 
 "took not upon him the nature of angels, but the seed of Abra- 
 ham;" and has united human nature, to his eternal Godhead, 
 the God-Man, the only manifestation of the blessed Trinity, 
 for whom, as well as by whom, *'all things were made, both in 
 heaven and earth." To what heights of surpassing glory will 
 those be raised "who are faithful unto death!" If Adam was 
 pronounced by his Divine Maker, when he came forth from 
 his hands, to be "very good," how far more glorious will that 
 incorruptible body be which we receive from the Second Adam ! 
 Truly, "it hath never entered into the heart of man to con- 
 ceive what God hath prepared for those who love him;" see- 
 ing that he hath taken our own nature into his essential being. 
 — God does every thing in order. The incarnation of the Son 
 of God was the first stepping-stone towards the exaltation of 
 human nature. The next grand effort in j)rogression towards 
 its high destiny, will be the millennial kingdom of Christ: 
 what may constitute the next, in the Divine purpose, I know 
 not; but this I know, that he that "overcometh and endureth 
 unto the end" is an "heir of God, and joint heir of Christ;" 
 who is now, as our earnest of the inheritance, "set down at 
 the right hand of God, in the heavenly places, far above all 
 principality and power and might and dominion, and every 
 name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that 
 which is to come; and hath all things put under his feet: "for," 
 he says, "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth." 
 Seeing then that God hath put no limits, who shall prescribe 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 41 
 
 man's noble destiny? Who will say his vicegerency shall not 
 extend, yet, to the utmost reach of God's universe; to worlds, 
 and systems of worlds, which now cannot find a place even in 
 the thought of man? 
 
 Jlquilla. It has often occurred to me, that the church, by los- 
 ing sight of the risen humanity of Christ, has robbed itself of 
 its grandest and most appropriate consolation. In this light, 
 the views you entertain of the second advent strike me with 
 peculiar propriety. There is certainly an incompleteness and 
 insufficiency in the belief that Christ will again visit this earth, 
 only to pronounce a hasty condemnation, and effect a speedy 
 execution of annihilating judgment, wherein he endured with 
 such patience and long suffering, the deepest humiliations and 
 degradation from the powers of this world. It were but an 
 unsatisfactory triumph, if he does not, on the very field of his 
 sufierings defeat and baffle the enemies which then oppressed 
 him, and his church after him; if he does not reign on the 
 throne of his glory, triumphing over the world, and ruling the 
 nations with the breath of his mouth. ''And he shall smite 
 the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of 
 his lips shall he slay the wicked." Isa. xi. 4. 
 
 Philander. I am delighted to see your mind is disenthralled 
 from that egregious error — that Christ's dignity would be di- 
 minished by his again visiting this earth; by which it is con- 
 ceived, that tliis world is so sunk in corruption, as to render its 
 redemption from the curse out of God's power to effect, and 
 therefore he must necessarily annihilate it. But who shall 
 presume to call that unclean which God hath pronounced to be 
 "very good," Who hath corrupted the earth? "Cursed be the 
 ground, for thy sake," was a part of the original curse; and 
 the inspired Apostle, four thousand years after, confirmed the 
 same grand truth: "for true and righteous are thy judgments; 
 for he hatii judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth 
 with her fornication." Rev. xix. 2. And we know that when 
 "he hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand, and 
 purified the earth by fire,'' that forthwith a new order of things 
 will spring into creation, "wherein dwelleth righteousness." 
 Did Christ then die to redeem only the souls of men? It were 
 but a partial redemption, if all be not redeemed, which have 
 fallen under the curse; material as well as immaterial. — Christ, 
 we learn from St. Paul, is "to gather all things unto himself." 
 But let us examine the consistency of this objection, and we 
 shall find it wholly untenable. The same individuals will 
 doubtless grant, that if they be the children of God, their bodies 
 are become the temples of the Holy Ghost: "whose temple 
 ye are, if ye abide in the faith." How comes it, my brethren, 
 9* 
 
42 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 that you so willingly allot that body of sin and death which is 
 by nature so full of corruption, and all manner of abonnina- 
 tions, as the habitation of one Person in the blessed Trinity; 
 and so blindly contend, that the inanimate and unconscious 
 earth is alone so irremediably sunk under the curse as to» be 
 wholly incapable of being renewed unto a fit and holy habita- 
 tion for the Divine presence, in the second Person in the Tri- 
 nity. In which, think ye, the mighty power of God is most 
 manifest; in regenerating this perverse heart to righteousness 
 and true holiness, by the "working of the Holy Ghost," or 
 effecting a purification and redemption of the unresisting ma- 
 terial world? It is true this visible creation fell from its pris- 
 tine beauty and comeliness, when man, who was its responsi- 
 ble head, and destined for its lord, fell under his Creator's 
 displeasure by disobedience: but, as in Adam, all thi?)gs were 
 included under the curse, so in Christ shall all things be redeem- 
 ed from the curse. Then "the wilderness and the solitary 
 place 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." Isa. xxxv. 1. "The mountains 
 and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all 
 the trees of the field 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." Isa. Iv. 12, 13. 
 And when he comes, how will he come? As a mighty Man 
 of War! "The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man: he shall 
 stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea roar: he 
 shall prevail against his enemies." Isa. xlii. 13. "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 and very terrible, and who can abide it?" Joel 
 ii. 11. "For the Lord most high is terrible: he is a great King 
 over all the earth." God is gone up with a shout: for God is 
 the King over all the earth." Psalm xlvii. See also Joel, chaps, 
 ii. iii. "Hear, all ye people: hearken, earth, and all that 
 therein is; and let the Lord God be witness against you; yea, 
 the Lord from his holy temple. For behold the Lord cometh 
 forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the 
 high places of the earth; and the mountains shall be molten 
 under him, and the valleys shall be cleft as wax before the fire, 
 and as the waters that are poured down a steep place." Micah 
 i. 2 — 4. See also Isa. Ixiii. 1 — 4. "Behold, I will send my 
 Messenger; and he shall prepare the way before me: and' the 
 Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even 
 the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 43 
 
 he shall come, salth the Lord of hosts. But who may abide 
 the day of his coming; and who shall stand when he appeareth? 
 for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fuller's soap." Malachi 
 iii. 1, 2. 
 
 Having replied in regular order to the three divisions of 
 your belief, you will allow me to enlarge on another propheti- 
 cal truth, which the Gentile church seems wholly to have for- 
 gotten, or, with grasping selfishness, and the most perverse and 
 blind misconstruction, has appropriated to herself. The re- 
 storation of the Jews, as a nation to their own land, which is 
 immediately to precede, and continue, as the visible manifesta- 
 tion of that blessed period, "for which the whole creation 
 groaneth and travaileth," except self-satisfied man! What a 
 glorious order of things will then be established! Then will 
 the Ten tribes suddenly emerge from their mysterious hiding 
 place; and then also will blazen forth in glorious apparel, to 
 the utter confusion of the infidel, the tens of thousands of saints 
 who have been crying to God to "avenge their blood on them 
 that dwell on the earth." Then will be revealed the true 
 Cyrus, who will deliver his people from the Babylonish yoke: 
 and having punished the princes, who oppressed his people, 
 will he establish that kingdom spoken of by Daniel, which 
 "shall never be destroyed:" of which, fhe beloved clhj shall be 
 the centre. "There he shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Je- 
 rusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." Then shall come 
 to pass that Scripture, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and 
 the glory of the Lord is risen upon 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 seen 
 upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kinos 
 to the brightness of thy rising." Isa. Ix. 
 
 My difficulty in proving this truth from Scripture is not to 
 search for passages, but to select the most appropriate from an 
 almost innumerable collection. 
 
 Deut, XXX. 1: "And it shall come to pass, when all these 
 things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, that the 
 Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion 
 upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations 
 w^hither the Lord thy God hath scattered 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 multi- 
 ply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will cir- 
 cumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy seed; to love the Lord 
 thy God with all thine 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 per- 
 
44 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 secuted thee; and thou shalt return and obey the voice of the 
 Lord, and do all his commandments, which I command thee 
 this day." 
 
 Isa. xiv. 1: "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and 
 will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the 
 strangers shall be joined with them." 
 
 Isa. xxvii. 13: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that 
 the great trumpet shall be blown, and they shall come which 
 were ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts 
 in the land of Egypt, and shall worship the Lord in the holy 
 mount at Jerusalem." 
 
 Isa. xxxiii. 20: "Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a qiiiel habi- 
 tation, a tabernacle that shall not be taken down. Not one of 
 the stakes thereof shall ever be removed; neither shall any of 
 the cords thereof be broken." 
 
 Isa. Ixv. 18: ''Behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and 
 her people a joy; 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 peo- 
 ple, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of my hands." 
 
 Jer. iii. 17: "At that time they shall call Jerusalem the 
 throne of the Lord, and all the nations shall be gathered unto 
 it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem." 
 
 Jer. xxxii. 37: "Behold I will gather them out of all coun- 
 tries whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my 
 fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto 
 this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: and they 
 shall be my people, and I will be their God. Yea, I will 
 rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in 
 this land assuredly, with my whole heart, and with my whole 
 soul." 
 
 Ezek. xxviii. 25, 26: '-Thus saith the Lord God, When T 
 shall have gathered the house of Israel from the people among 
 whom they are scattered, and shall be sanctified in them in 
 the siglit of the heathen, then shall they dwell in their land 
 that 1 have given to my servant Jacob; and they shall dwell 
 safely therein, and shall build houses and plant vineyards; 
 yea, they shall dwell with confidence when I have executed 
 judgment upon all those that despise them round about them; 
 and they shall know that I am the Lord their God." 
 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 24, 2S, 33—35: "For I will take you from 
 among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and 
 will bring you into your own land. And ye shall dwell in 
 the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my peo- 
 ple, and I will be your God. Thus sailh the Lord God, In the 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT, 45 
 
 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. And they shall 
 say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of 
 Eden; and the waste, and desolate, and ruined cities, are be- 
 come fenced, and are inhabited." 
 
 Ezek. xxxvii. 21,22,25,27, 28: "Thus saith the Lord God, 
 Behold, I will take the children of Israel from among the hea- 
 then, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, 
 and bring them into their own land. And I will make them 
 one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one 
 king shall be king to them all: and they shall be no more two 
 nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any 
 more at all. And they shall dwell in the land that I have 
 given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; 
 and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and 
 their children's children, for ever; and my servant David shall 
 be their prince for ever. My tabernacle also shall be with 
 them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
 And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, 
 when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for ever- 
 more." 
 
 Zech. ii. 12: "And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion 
 in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again." 
 
 Zech. viii. 20, 23: "Thus said the Lord of Hosts; It shall 
 yet come to pass that there shall come people, and the inhabi- 
 tants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to 
 another, saj'ing, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, 
 and to seek the Lord of Hosts; I will go also; yea, many 
 people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of 
 Hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith 
 the Lord of Hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that 
 ten men shall take hold out of all languages, of the nations, 
 even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying. 
 We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with 
 you." 
 
 Zech. xiv. 16: "And it shall come to pass, that every one 
 that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem 
 shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the 
 Lord of Hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it 
 shall be, that whoso will not come up, of all the families of 
 the earth unto Jerusalem, to worship the King, the Lord of 
 Hosts, even upon them shall be no rain." 
 
 Malachi iii. 12: "And all nations shall call you blessed; 
 
4(5 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. ' 
 
 for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord God of 
 Hosts." 
 
 Aquilla. The literal restoration of the Jews to their land, 
 and their re-establishment in political power, I have never 
 questioned. There does not appear to be a very great distinct- 
 ness in those passages of Scripture which speak of the second 
 coming, such as we meet in Revelations, i. 7: "Behold he 
 Cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they 
 also which pierced him, and all kindreds of the earth shall 
 wail because of him." If we compare this passage with many 
 parts of the Old Testament prophecies, there appears to be a 
 contradiction. For instance, take Isa. Ixvi, 18, 19: "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 
 I will send those tliat escape of them unto the nations; to Tar- 
 shish, Pul and Lud, that draw the bow, to' Tubal and Javan,to 
 the isles afar off, that have ?iot heard mij fame, neither have seen 
 ■niij glory, and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles." 
 I can scarcely reconcile the consistency of these two passages; 
 for if the Second Advent be "when every eye shall see him," 
 not only this portion of Isaiah, but many of the prophecies, 
 appear contradictory and confused. 
 
 Phila?ider. There is much force and propriety in your objec- 
 tion; and I believe it is one which has occasioned much per- 
 plexity to our modern commentators, and at one period was a 
 serious difficulty to my mind, but which I have since over- 
 come to my own satisfaction. I will simply suggest the idea 
 to your consideration, and, admitting its truth, I think you will 
 find a natural and easy solution of such apparently contradic- 
 tory passages of Scripture. We find the first advent of our 
 Lord spoken of by the Prophets in such intimate connexion 
 with his second, that, until the fulfilment of the Jirst had iden- 
 tified it, as being distinct and separate, it was utterly impossible 
 to mark a distinguisliing line: tliis was the universal method of 
 the prophecies — a more grand and important event, projecting 
 out of the immediate vision; and, as I have before observed, 
 each successive fulfilment, containing the whole of the pro- 
 phecy condensed, but yet complete in all its parts, including 
 and shadowing forth a miniature representation of the final ac- 
 complishment. This must be so apparent to even a casual 
 reader of the prophetic writings, that it is scarcely necessary 
 to point out particular instances. For you can scarcely refer 
 to a prophecy of the INIessiah, but his humility and glory are 
 most closely interwoven. It was this that misled the disci- 
 ples themselves, who enjoyed the benefit of our Lord's j^erso- 
 nal instructions: much less should the Jews, as a nation, be 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 47 
 
 exempt from the error, when the Lord's immediate followers 
 ''trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed 
 Israel" at that time. Luke xxiv. 21. Looking back, therefore, 
 on this as an established fact, why may we not find, to our 
 dispensation, a third ma?nfestalio7i of Jesus Christ, distinct 
 from the second, and yet so blended as to render it difficult 
 to distinguish them? We shall find that a close examination 
 of Scripture strengthens this idea. I have already established, 
 to your full conviction, a second resurrection at the end of the 
 Millennium, when all the dead shall be judged. I now direct 
 your attention to Rev. xxii. 7: "And when the thousand years 
 are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison." The 
 8th, 9th, and 10th verses contain an account of the last Apos- 
 tacy. Verse 11: "And I saw a great white throne, and Him 
 that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled 
 away, and there was found no place for them: and I saw the 
 dead, small 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 
 were 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." 
 Now we know that He that sitteth on the great white throne 
 is Jesus Christ; for the Father judgeth no man, having de- 
 livered all judgment unto the Son. And as Christ is the only 
 manifestation of the Deity, it cannot hence be the Father, but 
 the Son. Here, then, there is a plain succinct account; and on 
 this authority, amongst others, I rest my belief. There are not 
 many instances in the prophetic writings wherein the style 
 descends to this minute description: nor are we to expect it. 
 When God, however, has graciously condescended to give it, 
 as an assistance to the devout inquirer, we are fully justified 
 in bringing other prophecies to the test, and model our inter- 
 pretation accordingly. Whenever I meet with separate pas- 
 sages which appear contradictory, I do not think I act wisely, 
 because I cannot instantly reconcile them, to pronounce them 
 as utterly incomprehensible, and virtually to believe neither: 
 but I rather collect that there is a deep and important truth 
 concealed, too precious to meet the eye of the indifferent in- 
 quirer, and which, whilst it confounds the self-sufficient scep- 
 tic, offers a rich revvard to such as grudge not the patience and 
 labour to extract the gem that lies concealed. For I am per- 
 suaded that, however difficult we may find it to connect many 
 seeming inconsistencies, yet that the Scriptures will be found 
 
48 A CRY FROM THE DESERT, 
 
 to be an united chain of harmony and beauty. And were this 
 simple rule more adhered to by Christians, we should not so 
 continually hear the Bible pronounced a "sealed book," full of 
 enigmatical mysteries and "dark sayings," which, I am per- 
 suaded, it never was the design of God that it should be, but 
 rather to serve as "a lamp to our feet, and a light unto our 
 path." Let any man, whose eyes are enlightened in the pro- 
 phecies, compare this idea with Scripture, and I think he will 
 find much to sanction it. The gift of prophecies and under- 
 standing mysteries, we know, is of the Spirit of God, and, like 
 all other gifts of the Spirit, is personal, and jiot communicable. 
 It is not to be conveyed by argument, nor to be transmitted 
 from one Christian to another, except employed as a means, 
 under the immediate influence of the Spirit himself to confer 
 his own especial gift. 
 
 Aquilla. The idea which you have just opened to me is de- 
 serving of consideration, and I will not fail to give it. There 
 is one reason often urged by Christians, who delay inquiry into 
 these subjects, that "there is no time lost; and when these 
 coming judgments shall be close at hand, the signs of their 
 near approach will be so apparent, that sufiicient time will be 
 afforded them to get their house in order, ere the Master 
 arrives," 
 
 Philander. Alas! alas! that such causes are assigned; but let 
 not the church deceive herself The antediluvians who scorned 
 Noah'swarning,zt)ere a/50C072Z)i«cerf when the "windows of heaven 
 were opened upon the earth; but it was then too late. God gave 
 them ample time for repentance; but those who scorn his warn- 
 ing, and fly to him only for safety, will find that "God also will 
 laugh at their calamity, and mock when their fear cometh." 
 The Egyptian king, who hearkened not to the words of Moses, 
 neither regarded the peaceable signs of his authority, hardened 
 his heart when they came \n judgment. Those who are saying 
 by their conduct, "Shew us a sign of these things," may also 
 learn another lesson from this king, whose magicians, working 
 miracles and signs, by the power of Satan, confirmed him in 
 his determined wickedness. We likewise read of devils working 
 miracles; and let the church beware lest God gives her a sign, 
 but gives it in judgment, for her infidelity. 
 
 Aquilla. I am much indebted to you, my dear friend, for 
 many views of Scripture which have been opened to me in this 
 conversation; and I admit, that generally your observations 
 have struck me with much force. I cannot, however, wholly 
 concur with you in your severe strictures on the present 
 church; and though I am disposed to admit, in many instances, 
 that there is too much cause ibr censure, yet is it, do you think, 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 49 
 
 quite becoming, or wise, to state so plainly your convictions; 
 and is it, do you think, exhibiting that spirit of love which is 
 the essence of the blessed Gospel? Are you not falling into 
 the same error "of judging" which has just called forth so 
 much of your animadversion?" 
 
 Phil. We must be careful, in our great anxiety to avoid the 
 stigma of being considered censorious, that we do not fall into 
 the other extreme of shrinking to declare the truth /rom year 
 of man, and thus connive at and sanction error. Universal 
 commendation is not Christian love, but want of discrimina- 
 tion, or something worse. It is Satan's wily counterfeit, which 
 he who is taught by the Spirit of wisdom may easily detect. 
 The accommodation of the truth, to suit the prejudices and 
 conveniences of men, is but little removed from temporizing 
 with principle. We are grown so tender and delicate, that the 
 naked truth cannot now be spoken without offence. We have 
 a hundred consequences to dread, which troubled not the apos- 
 tles and martyrs. A bold, faithful, and humble servant will 
 perform his Lord's commands, and ?20t questioji their wisdom: 
 and yet nothing is more common, than to advocate the partial 
 suppression of a faithful testimony with, <'Is it quite wise to 
 affirm so much, lest such a consequence result from so plain a 
 declaration?" which, under the false guise oi love and humility, 
 presumptuously apologizes and qualifies the determinate will of 
 God, and arrogantly sits in judgment on his eternal wisdom. 
 But know ye not, that Satan can assume the appearance of an 
 angel of light? It is this unhealthy squeamishness, this false 
 spirit of love, this prudent temporizing with probable conse- 
 quences, that have combined to introduce the church into its 
 present state of "peace and safety," when the clouds are thick- 
 ening around her, pregnant with sudden destruction and over- 
 whelming judgments. God has various duties for his several 
 servants: if all were to preach only of love and mercy, there 
 would be none to "cry aloud" of righteousness and judgment 
 to come. Which is the true friend? he that fearlessly tells a 
 truth and warns of danger, or he that sweetly confirms an error, 
 and lulls into false security? Which is the kind physician? 
 he who cuts out the gangrenous part; or he who, from weak 
 commiseration, relieves his patient with opiates, and glides 
 him into the slumbers of death? 
 
 Think ye, there were no well instructed scribes in Jerusa- 
 lem, and, to all human wisdom, far better calculated for the 
 service of testifying before the learned doctors, when Christ 
 sent the blind beggar? Doubtless they thought the beggar very 
 unbecoming and presumptuous; and certainly such a fearless 
 and most noble testimony was not squared by the modern cal- 
 
 VOL. III. — 10 
 
50 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 culations of human policy and prudence: and not suspecting 
 what he saw — though he had been blind, that they, with all their 
 learning and wisdom, were blinder to the truth than he had 
 previously been insensible to the light — no wonder, with such 
 views, they exclaimed, "Dost thou teach us!" So now let the 
 church beware lest they also reject the truth of God's testi- 
 mony, because the instrument may possibly like him, have 
 been "altogether born in iniquity." But take ye heed, lest 
 those whom ye think blind should see, and ye who think ye see prove 
 to be blind. 
 
 Aquilla. There is one common-place objection which is often 
 urged, in opposition to those who so continually preach the 
 second advent; "Wherein consists its practical good?" 
 
 Philander. I am sorry to say it is a common objection, and 
 as wicked and presumptuous as it is ignorant. Are ue to sit in 
 judgment on God's holy word, and dictate to him what is, and 
 what is not, of practical tendency? It is sufficient for me to 
 perceive that it was the grand, if not the only stimulus to 
 watchfulness, perpetually urged by Christ and his Apostles. 
 
 The following examples — that the coming of the Lord was 
 the continual incitement to watchfulness — are but a specimen 
 of what abounds in the Gospels and Epistles. 
 
 Mark xiii. 34, 37: "Watch ye, therefore; for ye know not 
 when the master of the house cometh, at even or at midnight, 
 or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming sud- 
 denly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you, I say 
 unto all. Watch." 
 
 1 Thess. V. 2, 6: "For yourselves know perfectly, that the 
 day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night: therefore 
 let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and be sober." 
 
 2 Peter iii. 14: "Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look 
 for such things, be diligent, that ye may be found of him in 
 peace, without spot, and blameless." 
 
 Titus ii. 13: "Looking for that blessed hope, and even the 
 glorious appearing of the great God, even our Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 Luke xii. 35, 36: "Let your loins be girded about, and your 
 light burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for 
 their Lord." 
 
 And we know from the following passage that though he 
 will, to the church and to the world, come suddenly, and as a 
 thief, yet that there will be a faithful remnant, who will be 
 waiting and longing for his appearing. 
 
 2 Tim. iv. 8: "Henceforth there is laid up for me a cro-wn 
 of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 5X 
 
 give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also 
 that love his appearing. 
 
 Heb. ix. 28: "And to them that look for him shall he appear 
 the second time, without sin, unto salvation." 
 
 The fact is, the church is fancying herself " rich, and in- 
 creased with goods, and knows not that she is wretched and 
 miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." God forbid that 
 in that day I should be found clothed with one fdthy rag of my 
 own righteousness. Our eyes have been so much directed to 
 the outward manifestation — the visible fruit — that we are fast 
 falling into a forgetfulness of the inward visible work of grace 
 in the heart; in our great anxiety and solicitude, as it were to 
 force out some precocious and sickly fruit. Who knows not, 
 that is not less than a babe, that "without holiness no man can 
 see the Lord;" and yet for this reason, is our eye to be exclu- 
 sively fixed in the zvork, and not rather on Him on whom its 
 progress depends? Did Paul ask the Holy Ghost, who inspired 
 his writings, "What was the use of the doctrine of salvation 
 by grace alone, without the deeds of the law?" And did he 
 quibble from an affected regard to the honour of God, about its 
 probable practical tendency? What awful, impious presump- 
 tion, under the false guise of humility ! Who art thou, man, 
 who shall bandy words with thy Maker? Surely, the times 
 are come, spoken of by Paul, in his Epistle to Timothy, "when 
 they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts 
 shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and 
 they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be 
 turned unto fables." 
 
 "Prophesy unto us smooth things," say they; "prophesy 
 deceits." But woe be to that shepherd who gives heed to the 
 cry of their flocks. Woe be to "the dumb dogs that do not 
 bark," as it is written in Ezekiel xxxiii. 2, 6: "When I bring 
 a sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of 
 their coasts, and set him for their watchman; and if the watch- 
 man see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the 
 people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person 
 from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity, but his 
 blood will I require at the watchman's hand." 
 
 As God is my witness, I would not for any earthly conside- 
 ration sustain the weight of responsibility which rests on those 
 men, who, week after week, stand up in their pulpits, and so 
 far from sounding the alarm of the coming judgments, syste- 
 matically hide their report from the people's ears, and scorn 
 those who do sound it. They amuse their hearers with inge- 
 nious religious essays, and intellectual sermons; and they are 
 well pleased with them, saying, "Peace! peace!" 
 
52 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 But is there no analogy to this in the history of God's pro- 
 vidence? Hath God, then, never utterly confounded a church 
 and nation, and visited them with a judicial blindness? What 
 is that then that is written by Isaiah the Prophet? "For the 
 Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and 
 hath clothed your eyes: ihe prophets, and your rulers, ihe seers 
 hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as 
 the words of a book that is sealed." And has it not rather 
 come to pass also, in our days, according to that saying of 
 Christ? "I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, 
 that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and 
 hast revealed them unto babes." And if it were not so, the 
 following quotation from Luke's Gospel would not he true. "But 
 let God be true, and every man a liar." "And as it was in 
 the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of 
 Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they 
 Avere given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into 
 the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Like- 
 wise 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. Eveji thus 
 shall it be in the day zvhen the Son of Man is revealed.^' 
 
 Aquilla. Your conversation, Philander, has interested me 
 more than I can express to you, and will furnish me with mat- 
 ter for reflection for some time to come. I cannot yield my 
 assent, without maturer deliberation; but, in many respects, I 
 have been fully convinced, as your reasons have been presented 
 to my view: and in all you have advanced, your arguments ap- 
 pear so clear, that unless I am enabled to controvert them satis- 
 factorily to my own mind, I can have no alternative than yield- 
 ing my former opinions, however nearly they may approach 
 to deeply rooted prejudices. In the mean time, accept my 
 thanks, for directing my attention to subjects which I had ad- 
 mitted as established truths, and therefore never inquired into 
 the stability of the foundation on which they were built, — on 
 the word of God, which is the only true test to which all doc- 
 trines must be brought. 
 
 Phil. And with this assurance I must rest satisfied; for it is 
 not mine to give you discernment to perceive, neither to be- 
 stow the believing heart to receive these glorious truths. It 
 will be, however, at most fearful hazards that you slight the 
 scriptural arguments which I have produced in support of the 
 opinions I have advocated: for bear in mind that the "coming 
 of the Lord," which I have this day set before you, is "no 
 cunningly devised fable," no idle speculation of the brain, 
 
A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 53 
 
 or fanciful flight of the imagination, which the church may en- 
 tertain, or discard, at her own option. It is either a grand and 
 most important doctrine, or a fallacious and most dangerous 
 heresy; in eitiier case, well worthy of most weighty conside- 
 ration. Suffer not yourself, neither allow others, to beguile 
 themselves, and thus dismiss this most vital question with the 
 careless admission of faith in the second advent, as a universal 
 truth; neither with the customary evasion, that "it is enough 
 for them to look to the day of their death." The Jews, who 
 scourged and crucified "the King of Glory," would likewise 
 have contended, whilst in the act of mocking Him "of whom 
 prophets spake," and who was himself the fulfilment of all the 
 prophets foretold, that they also believed in Christ, and waited 
 for their Messiah. So now, it well becometh those who pro- 
 fess "not to be of this world," to take heed, lest they be found 
 opposing the establishment of that kingdom, with the prayer 
 in their mouths, "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on 
 earth as it is in heaven." This inquiry does indeed assume 
 the appearance of most momentous interest, and involves the 
 most awful responsibility, when we learn, that those who re- 
 fused to recognise John the Baptist's mission, who was sent 
 *'to prepare a people for the Lord," were found likewise to 
 reject Him of whom he was but the harbinger. See Luke xx. 3 
 — 8. It does indeed become a subject deserving of most in- 
 tense anxiety, lest that testimony which ought to convince, 
 should be found to condemn. Behold! I can discern the feeble 
 rays of a more brilliant day, which, as it advances, will dispel the 
 <'gross darkness" in which the world and its inhabitants are now 
 enveloped, the deep and general gloom being but slightly varied 
 by an occasional glimmering of a faint gleam of faith, scarcely 
 distinguishable even to the surrounding darkness. Welcome, 
 thrice welcome, blessed dawn of a more blessed day. Welcome, 
 though it be but the partial foretaste which faith alone can ap- 
 prehend, of that kingly dispensation, brighter and nobler far, 
 as power and great glory is transcendently superior to suffering 
 and humility. And if the great Head of the church be now 
 directing her expectations to the crown; who is so base, who 
 is so servile amongst us, as to spurn the glorious endowment? — 
 It strikes me with the most profound astonishment when I see 
 Christians disputing the offer of their rich inheritance with a 
 perverse tenacity, as though their liberal Master were requir- 
 ing them to submit to bondage and slavery, instead of opening 
 the door and conducting them "to the glorious liberty of the 
 sons of God." It seems to convey the murmurings of ill-re- 
 quited service, rather than the expression of those glad hosan- 
 nas with which heaven and earth will resound, and hail the 
 
54 A CRY FROM THE DESERT. 
 
 approach of their Eternal King. "Let the heavens rejoice, 
 and Jet the earth be glad ; let the sea roar, and the fulness there- 
 of; let the fields be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall 
 all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for he Com- 
 eth, for he Cometh to judge the earth; he shall judge the world 
 with righteousness, and the people with his truth." Ps. xcvi. 
 11 — 13. This dulness of apprehension, this reluctance of be- 
 lief, and coldness of heart, but ill accords with the sublime 
 reception with which the inspired Psalmist anticipates this most 
 glorious epoch in the history of the universe. "Lift up your 
 heads, ye gales, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and 
 the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King of Glory? 
 the Lord, strong and mighty; the Lord, mighty in battle. Lift 
 up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting 
 doors, and the King of Glory shall come in. Who is this King 
 of Glory? the Lord of Hosts; he is the King of Glory?" Fs! 
 xxiv. 7 — 10. 
 
 And now, Aquilla, I have this day witnessed a good confes- 
 sion before you, and not only to you, but to all who hear this 
 sound of approaching judgment, and the kingdom of our Lord; 
 and should none other ever reach them, than what this feeble 
 voice contains, they will find themselves utterly without ex- 
 cuse, should "that day come upon them unawares, and over- 
 take them in surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this 
 LIFE." And what, think ye, those servants who were bidden 
 will say, when they "see the poor, and the lame, and the halt, 
 and the blind," sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb, 
 and they themselves shut out? 
 
 "Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation:" 
 fly, oh fly, unto the Saviour, whilst his hands are still extended 
 to receive you, for "the time is at hand;" and if ye have not 
 "laid hold on the hope set before you," how will ye exclaim, 
 with bitterness of soul in that day, "The harvest is past, the 
 summer is ended, and we are not saved!" 
 
 Your blood, reader! will be upon your own head. Take heed, 
 therefore, that your loins be girt, your lamp trimmed, afid your wed- 
 ding garme?it prepared; for now hath the midnight cry entered 
 ALSO into YovK ears. "Behold the Bridegroom cometh!" 
 ".^men! Even so, come. Lord Jesus." 
 
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