^- \ t \ » ^x> Qy (jn_AA,A /).\ •VY. iJVti h nil Of oy N » 'lA JLl-CiA^. •Axt^^^ v^i^ PRINCETON, N. J. tkJ. -^^ Wk^ "^ V 0 ^ H': CL!^iL.vjxA^JU I J^-s- 5/^^^ BR A5 .B35 1854 Hampton lectures ; >/ . ^. '/ % NEW TESTAMENT MILLENNARIANISM: OR, THE KINGDOM AND COMING OF CHRIST A3 TAUGHT BY HIMSELF AND HIS APOSTLES. NEW TESTAMENT MILLENNARIANISM: OR, THE KINGDOM AND COMING OF CHRIST BY HIMSELF AND HIS APOSTLES; SET FORTH IN EIGHT SERMONS PREACHED BEFORE THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD, IN THE YEAR 1854: AT THE LECTURE FOUNDEI^^Y THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, Lscf Urfi^S /g CANON OF SALISBURY. / BY THE / HON. AND REV. SAMUEL WALDEGRAVE, M.A. RECTOR OF BARFORD ST. MARTIN, WILTS, AND LATE FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE. " Hujiis itaque ultimi Judicii Dei testimonia de Scriptiiris Sanctis quoe ponere institui prius eligenda sunt de libris Instnimenti novi, postea de veteris. Quamvis enim vetera priora sint tempore, nova tamen anteponenda sunt dignitate Nova igitur ponenda sunt prius, quiP ut firmius probemus, assumenda et vetera. . . . Hunc et ipse Jesus Christus ordiuem servandum esse demonstrans, ' Scriba,'' inquit, ' erudilus in regno Dei, similis est viro jjalrifamilias, proferenti de thesauro svo nova et Vetera.' Non dixit, vetera et nova: quod utique dixisset, nisi raaluisset meritorum ordinem servare quaiu temporum." Aagustinus De 0. D. lib. xx. cap. iv. LONDON : HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO. MDCCCLV. BAXTER, PRINTER, OXFORD. WILLIAM, EARL WALDEGRAVE, THIS ATTEMPT TO VINDICATE FROM ENTANGLING PERPLEXITIES THE SCRIPTURAL SIMPLICITY OF THE CHRISTIAN S HOPE IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY HIS SON. EXTRACT FR03I THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF THE LATE REV. JOHN BAMPTON, CANON OF SALISBURY. " I give and bequeath my Lands and Estates to " the Chancellor, Masters, and Scholars of the University " of Oxford for ever, to have and to hold all and singular " the said Lands or Estates upon trust, and to the intents "and purposes hereinafter mentioned; that is to say, *' I will and appoint, that the Vice-Chancellor of the " University of Oxford for the time being shall take " and receive all the rents, issues, and profits thereof, " and (after all taxes, reparations, and necessary deductions " made) that he pay all the remainder to the endowment " of Eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, to be established " for ever in the said University, and to be performed " in the manner following : " I direct and appoint, that, upon the first Tuesday " in Easter Term, a Lecturer be yearly chosen by the " Heads of Colleges only, and by no others, in the room *' adjoining to the Printing-House, between the hours " of ten in the morning and two in the afternoon, to " preach Eight Divinity Lecture Sermons, the year fol- " lowing, at St. Mary's in Oxford, between the com- " mencement of the last month in Lent Term, and the " end of the third week in Act Term. Vlll EXTRACT FROM CANON BAMPTON S WILL. ** Also I direct and appoint, that the Eight Divinity " Lecture Sermons shall be preached upon either of " the following Subjects — to confirm and establish the " Christian Faith, and to confute all heretics and schis- " matics — upon the divine authority of the Holy Scrip- " tures — upon the authority of the writings of the *' primitive Fathers, as to the faith and practice of the ** primitive Church — upon the Divinity of our Lord and " Saviour Jesus Christ — upon the Divinity of the Holy " Ghost — upon the Articles of the Christian Faith, as " comprehended in the Apostles' and Nicene Creeds. " Also I direct, that thirty copies of the Eight Divinity " Lecture Sermons shall be always printed within two " months after they are preached, and one copy shall be ** given to the Chancellor of the University, and one copy '* to the Head of every College, and one copy to the " Mayor of the City of Oxford, and one copy to be put " into the Bodleian Library ; and the expense of printing " them shall be paid out of the revenue of the Land or " Estates given for establishing the Divinity Lecture "Sermons; and the Preacher shall not be paid, nor be " entitled to the revenue, before they are printed. " Also I direct and appoint, that no person shall be " qualified to preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons, " unless he hath taken the Degree of Master of Arts at " least, in one of the two Universities of Oxford or *' Cambridge ; and that the same person shall never " preach the Divinity Lecture Sermons twice." PREFACE. The importance of the matters discussed in the following lectures cannot well be over-estimated. For every one who looks by faith to that complete redemption which was achieved by Christ, when he came the first time in great humility, must regard with deepest interest the objects for which that same Jesus shall come again the second time with power and great glory. \ Shall this earth and this dispensation pass away when he returns ? shall sin, the world, and Satan, from that hour, for ever cease from troubhng ? Shall the redeemed then at once enter upon the perfect and eternal fruition of their glorious rest ? Or shall the earth continue ? and shall generations of men continue? and shall sin, the world, and Satan be merely placed in abeyance, but not yet be utterly vanquished? In short, shall "the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ" be "the end" and consummation " of all things," or shall it not ? These are the questions involved in the Millennarian controversy. And they are questions of an eminently prac- tical character. For the several articles of the Christian faith have a mutual dependence one X PREFACE. upon another ; and each should be preserved in its simple integrity, its right place, and its due proportion ; else will the general soundness of our whole ministerial teaching be imperilled. How much more so, when tenets really incompatible with the first principles of the doctrine of Christ are (inadvertently) propounded as Scriptural truths. Nor let it be affirmed, that herein we refer to extreme cases. For the author has taken pains to make himself acquainted with the Chiliasm of the present day, as taught by its most able and most soberminded advocates. And, even when he has thought it right to • advert to the volumes of their more imaginative brethren, he has ever been careful to note where the latter stand alone in their speculations. He can truly say, that he has, in every instance, scrupulously endeavoured to deal fairly by his opponents. If it shall be proved that he has in any case failed in the attempt, no one will regret it more deeply and acknowledge it more readily than himself. For, though personally acquainted with but few among them, he has always re- garded them as men of God, worthy in many points of all respect and imitation. Nor will it be found that he has been backward to do homage to the talent which is displayed in some of their treatises ; and to shelter himself beneath the authority of many important statements which those treatises contain. PREFACE. XI " But then," be has been asked, '^ why have you, regarding as you do these authors as brethren in Christ, availed yourself of this opportunity for engaging in controversy with them ?" He can but reply, that a long residence at Oxford taught him to take an affectionate interest in the younger members of the University. That interest has been already proved, by his bringing before them on past occasions the leading truths of the Gospel of Christ. In the years 1847 and 1848 especially, he delivered, in the discharge of his duty as a select preacher, a course of sermons, afterwards pubhshed under the title of " The Way of Peace," on the ruin of man by sin and his recovery by grace. For he was fully persuaded, that it is only where these truths are Scripturally held and faithfully preached, that sinners can be saved and saints built up in their most holy faith. The lapse of time has but increased the soli- citude with which he regards these future pastors of our Church : while larger experience has taught him how much their ministry, even though sound in the main, may notwithstanding suffer by the admixture of specious error. And there are at this moment many among the most hopeful of these our younger brethren, whose warm religious affections render them peculiarly susceptible to its fascinations. For their sakes therefore he did not hesitate to avail himself of the opening given by Xll PREFACE. his appointment to the office of Bampton Lecturer, to indicate, as he has now done, the many respects in which he believes the doctrine of a personal reign to be at variance with the plain teaching of Holy Scripture. Nor, with reference to those who are not members of the University, can the author (when he calls to mind the prestige under which for many years past the tenets he has endeavoured to combat have been urged upon the attention of the Church) regret, that a pulpit, from which he could speak with authority, was expressly appointed for the discussion of subjects like the present. For some such adventitious aid was required to com- pensate for the unpopularity of his cause ; a cause which he deeply feels to have been worthy of a more learned and a more skilful advocate. In the pursuit of his object, the author has appealed to the Lord and his Apostles, as they speak in the literal portions of the New Testament volume, for information upon the several questions involved. For he is convinced, that they constitute the one divinely appointed court of arbitration in all such matters of exegetical controversy. He has then in each case proceeded to enquire, whether the Pre-Millennarian exposition of pro- phecy is compatible with the instruction thus communicated. Where the reply has been in the negative, he has gone on to ask, whether there be not an interpretation of the Prophetic page more PREFACE. Xlll in harmony with the direct testimony which the greatest of the Prophets has been fouml to yield. He trusts that this volume will in consequence commend itself to some at least of his readers, as not being justly Hable to the charge (so commonly brought against anti-Millennarian works) of deal- ing exclusively in negations. He has, for example, not only reasserted the ancient doctrine of a general resurrection and an universal judgment at the coming of the Lord ; he has also endeavoured to exhibit the true character of the previous king- dom of Christ, as pourtrayed in the records both of the earlier and later covenants. In other words, it has been his aim to satisfy his readers, that another theory than that which the advocates of the personal reign would have them adopt is hermeneutically possible. Meanwhile the practical addresses which his lectures contain will prove, that the preacher did not fail, in the discussion of his immediate subject, to bring to the remembrance of his audience, as opportunity occurred, the same humbhng, but withal wholesome, truths which he had on pre- vious occasions proclaimed from the University pulpit. He laments much that the delay of publication has been so great. It was caused, partly by the labour involved in revising the lectures and pre- paring the notes, and partly by family affliction. His hearers however will, he hopes, acknowledge XlV PREFACE. that it lias not been without its advantages. For it has given the author the opportunity of improv- ing his discourses in many points, while the gene- ral argument has been altered in none. With these introductory observations he com^ mends his work to the impartial consideration of the ministers and people of God ; humbly pray- ing, that the Master whom he rejoices to serve may be pleased to pardon all its infirmities, and to make use of it to his own glory and the good of his Church. June 27, 1856. CONTENTS OF THIS VOLUME. LECTURE L Page I— 3fi. THE RIGHT ORDER OF SCRIPTURAL ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE MILLENNIUM. LECTURE IL Page 37—79. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AS NOW EXISTING, THE PROPER KINGDOM OF CHRIST. LECTURE in. Page 80—139. THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, AS NOW EXISTING, THE TRUE KINGDOM OF HIS FATHER DAVID. LECTURE IV. Page 140—] 85, THE INGATHERING AND GLORIFICATION OF THE CHURCH. LECTURE V. Page 186—250. THE JUDGMENT OF QUICK AND DEAD AT THE COMING OF THE LORD. XVI CONTENTS. LECTURE VI. Page 251— 33;'^. THE RECOMPENSE OF REWARD TO BE CONFERRED UPON THE SAINTS AT THE SECOND COMING OF THEIR LORD. LECTURE VIL Page 336—402. THE THOUSAND YEARS AND THE LITTLE SEASON. LECTURE VIIL Page 403—495. THE TRUE BURDEN OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. APPENDIX TO THE LECTURES. Page 497—653. INDICES. I. OF TEXTS REFERRED TO AND OCCASIONALLY ILLUSTRATED. 655 II. OF AUTHORS CITED. 670 III. OF MATTERS DISCUSSED IN THIS VOLUME. 673 EERATA. Page 379, line 5, /or interpretation, read interruption. 607, 7, Heb. ii. Heb. xi. LECTURE 1 THE RIGHT ORDER OF SCRIPTURAL ENQUIRY CONCERNING THE MILLENNIUM. Acts iii. 22. MOSES TRULY SAID UNTO THE FATHERS, A PROPHET SHALL THE LORD YOUR GOD RAISE UP UNTO YOU OF YOUR BRETHREN, LIKE UNTO ME ; HIM SHALL YE HEAR IN ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER HE SHALL SAY UNTO YOU. The Second Advent is a leading subject in Holy Scripture. It should also be prominent in the preaching of all Christ's Ministers ; else are they disobedient to him, and unfaithfld to his church committed to their charge. Disobedient to him,- for it is his express command that they should " preach unto the people, and testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the judge of quick and dead^" Unfaithftd to his church, — for what subject can there be more edifying, more invi- gorating, more consoling, than " that blessed hope, a Acts X. 42. Z THREE VARIETIES OF OPINION L. I. and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ'' ?" In proportion to the prominence which is due to this topic is the importance of a right judgment concerning it ; and yet how many the varieties of opinion which the mere mention of it recalls to the mind ! For the second coming of the Lord cannot be fully discussed without some reference to the Millennium of the Apocalypse ; and how many the questions which are agitated concerning that thousand years of Satan's binding! Is the period thus predicted already past ? Is it now running its course ? Or is it wholly future ? Again, if yet future, shall it come before or shall it follow after the personal advent of the Lord ? With regard to these several questions I need not tell you, that, in the first place, there have been found, in all ages of the Church, men of loving heart and holy life who, fully expecting a Millennial Sabbatism, have not brooked that it should interpose any delay between themselves and the return of their Lord*". " The Church," they say, " is bidden to live in hourly expectation of his coming. But how can she do so, if she know for certain that ftiU a thousand years must '' Titus ii. 13. Tov fieyaXov Qeov kol croiTrfpos rjfiatv^lrjtjov Xpicrrov. <= The names of many such excellent men will occur in the course of these Lectures. For the present it is enough to mention Mede. Daubuz, Bp. Newton, Cuninghame, Bickersteth, Habershon, Elliott, Birks, Gumming, and the late heavenly- mind«ed James Haldane Stewart. L. I. CONCERNING THE MILLENNIUM. 6 elapse before his appearing ? No ! this cannot be. Isaiah has pourtrayed the glories of the kingdom, — John has announced its duration, — but the King himself must come to establish it. The saints with the weapons of their present warfare are unequal to the task, — their work is but preparatory, — it is by the preaching of the Gospel to gather out an elect remnant. Yet a little while, and the Captain himself of the militant host shall be seen approach- ing in the clouds of heaven, — all enemies shall be trodden under his feet, — the Devil himself shall be shut up in the bottomless pit, — and then shall Jesus reign for a thousand years with his risen and glorified saints over an earth physically and morally renewed. Then one last, one desperate outbreak of hellish evil more, and for ever God shall be all in all." To others^ however, in the second place, it has seemed that these anticipations, fascinating though they be, are the offspring of a misapprehension of the language of Holy Scripture more excusable under the shadows of the Mosaic dispensation, than in the clear shining of Gospel days. " Even if a period of bliss, greater far than any that has yet been seen on this our earth, be before us, it will, it can be brought about," they say, " only by the same agents and the same instrumentalities as those which have achieved the past triumphs of the Gospel. Christ may indeed yet go forth con- ^ e. g. Whitby, Vitringa, Faber, Wardlaw, Brown, Marsh, Gell. b2 4 OF THESE PRE-MILLENNARIANISM L. I. quering and to conquer, — but his coming will be testified, not by a visible manifestation of his person, but by the more abundant outpouring of his Spirit. To proclaim any other advent than this before the final consummation of all things, is not to prophesy according to the proportion of faith ^" And, differing from both of these, there is yet a third class of Apocalyptic expositors^, — there are those who believe that neither party has rightly understood the binding of Satan and its associated symbols. They maintain, that that memorable passage in the twentieth chapter of the Revelation prefigures a state of things in the Church's history very different from that which is so commonly anticipated ; a period in fact which, if it be not already past, is, at the least, fast hastening to its close. Now it is obvious that the manner in which the Second Advent is preached must, in every case, be more or less affected by the judgment which has been formed with regard to this the Millennial question. It is however by the first of the tenets which I have enumerated that the most powerful influence is exerted. For it is impossible, either * Romans xii. 6. ' e, g. Augustine, Luther, Parteus, Foxe, Brightman, Ussher, Hall, Baxtei', Lightfoot, and more recently Gipps, Wordsworth, Hengstenberg. See for further information on this subject Lecture VII. and the Notes appended to it. L. I. CALLS MOST FOR EXAMINATION. 5 in theory or practice, to separate from the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ the doctrines of the resmTection of the body, the judgment of quick and dead, and the hfe everlasting. Now behevers in a past and behevers in a future Mil- lennium can,- — so long as they are agreed in placing the personal advent of the Lord after that predicted period, — with almost equal force proclaim these awful verities exactly as the Creeds of the Universal Church proclaim them. Not so when the Personal Coming of Christ is made to usher in that myste- rious age. For then, as I shall have abundant opportunity of shewing you, must another sense than that which seems most natural be given to the authoritative statements of those Creeds ; yea, and to the inspired language of the very Apostles themselves. Nor are those elementary truths, those "principles of the doctrine of Christ^" which I have just mentioned, the only portions of the faith which are seriously affected by the Pre- Millennial Advent. " The deep things of God^\" the very doctrines of grace themselves, must, as I shall also have occasion to demonstrate', be reduced to harmony with it. I shall therefore be acting in strict accordance with the expressed design of the Founder of this Lecture, if, while I do not omit to examine Mil- lennarianism in its two other chief modifications, I should devote my principal attention to the 8 Heb. vi. 1. "^ 1 Cor. ii. 10. ^ Lecture IV. 6 OUR APPEAL MUST BE L. I. tenets of a Pre-Millennial Advent and a Personal Reign. Are those dogmas Scriptural and sound ? Then the Lord our God is bringing back to the minds of his people many long-neglected but most precious truths. But are these tenets unsound ? Then have we reason, as faithful watchmen, to warn you against a bewitching but by no means harmless phantasy. Nor is the mischief lessened by the fact, that the advocates of the Pre-Millennial Advent are found, as they most certainly are, among the best men of our day, and the most faithfid sons of our Church. As regards the teachers, — their testimony for the truth is weakened by the subtle admixture of specious error. As regards the disciples, — mistaken opinions pro- pounded by such men, with all the seeming autho- rity of abundant Scripture reference, find an easy lodgment in minds predisposed for their reception by lively imagination and warm religious affection. And, when once implanted there, germinate with the less suspicion of danger, because the personal piety of their original propagators has prevented, in their case, the fidl developement of all the tendencies of their system. But let me not be misunderstood, when I speak of the " seeiTiing authority of abundant Scriptural reference." I only wish to remind you, that a Scriptural reference is one thing, a Scriptural proof is another''. I have no desire to disparage '' " The texts introduced in this pubhcation, which is en- L. I. TO SCRIPTURE ALONE. / the authority of Scripture itself. For the contro- versy before us is, of all others, one which Scripture alone can determine. We may not appeal for its decision to Tradition, whether Rabbinical or Patristic. We may not rely upon a progressive developement of truth, nor may we look forward to a new revelation. The one only question is this, " What saith the Scripture ?" And to this our Pre-Millennarian brethren cordially agree. Some of them indeed do appear at times to place greater reliance on such external authorities than is either consistent or wise\ Still they all unite in professing that it is their honest desire to be tried by the written word, and by that alone. To titled the Second Coming, the Judgment, and the Kingdom of Christ, being Lectures delivered during Lent at St. George's church in Bloomsbury, are numerous, and drawn from all parts of the sacred volume. It is obviously important how- ever, in the discussion of a grave question like this, that each of these texts should be examined singly with a reference to its context, and with a calm deliberate inquiry into its precise meaning as it stands, before it can be properly used as a basis for further conclusions. There should be, in an investigation of this kind, a severe scrutiny of words and phrases, and a clear exhibition of the scope and design of every passage, so far as it can be ascertained, analogous to the cautious system of induction which is practised in the exact sciences ; and every thing, like hasty assumption and the mere juxtaposition of similar passages, without a close and critical examination of each, should be carefully avoided." Essays on some of the Prophecies in Holy Scripture which remain to be fulfilled. By E. G. Marsh, M.A. London, 1 844. Seeleys. Essay I. p. 7. ^ See Note A in the Appendix. 8 TWO FIRST RULES OF L. I. that word then let us betake ourselves. And may God the Holy Ghost be graciously pleased to bestow upon us "the sph'it, not of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind""." Before we begm our Scriptural researches, it is most important that the principles according to which they are to be conducted should be clearly defined. For there is no controversy in which fixed laws of biblical interpretation are more needed, — there is none in which they have been less observed. I shall therefore confine myself in the present discourse to the task of enunciating and illustrating the very simple, but most valu- able rules, by which, in my judgment, all our investigations should be ordered. Those rules are embodied in the two following axiomatic pro- positions. First, — in the settling of controversy, those passages of God's word which are literal, dog- matic, and clear, take precedence of those which are figurative, mysterious, and obscure. Secondly, — in all points upon which the New Testament gives us instruction, it is, as containing the full, the clear, and the final manifestation of the Divine Will, our rightful guide in the inter- retation of the Old. Simple though these principles are, they will exercise a very material influence upon our pre- sent discussion. For they will direct our investi- m 2 Tim. i. 7. L. I. SCRIPTURAL INVESTIGATION. 9 gations into a course the very reverse of that which is usually followed by Pre-Millennarians. For it is a fact, more or less perceptible in all their works, that they lay the foundation of their argument and erect their superstructure with materials taken almost exclusively from the Apo- calyptic and Prophetic domains of figure and imagery. The unfigurative portions of the divine word are not indeed left unnoticed ; but I am guilty of no injustice, when I say, that reference is generally made to them, with the view rather of accommodating their statements to the conclusions thus established, than of testing those conclusions by their unambiguous teachingf. But is this a sound line of reasoning ? We think not. Let us recur to the first of those laws of interpretation which I have just enunciated. None will care to dispute it. It declares, that, " in the settling of controversy, those passages of God's word which are literal, dogmatic, and clear, take precedence of those which are figurative, mys- terious, and obscure.!!- This is the statement of a self-evident truth °. But mark its necessary con- " See note B in the Appendix. ° "It appears to me a fair and reasonable principle of inter- pretation, one, indeed, which might be laid down as a genuine canon, not admitting of dispute, — that, when we find passages of Scripture, historical or epistolary, which are literal in their terms and explicit in their statements, we may conclude with certainty, that we must be under some mistake in our ex- planation of the prophetic and symbolical, when such ex- planation is at variance with the unconstrained and obvious 10 11 Most High under the Christian dispensation, which a succession of seers was raised up to fulfil among the tribes of Israel during the ages of the Jewish oeconomy. But the question is not whether the Apocalypse shall be studied at all. It is this ; — " how shall it be studied aright ?" Now it is, by the confession of all, a book of symbols from the fourth chapter and onwards. Nor are there want- ing writers of good report who hold it to be sym- bolical throughout. It may be that in some cases, — as for instance in the vision of the final judgment', — the thing prefigured is its own symbol. Still as a symbol, and as a symbol only, it appears on that inspired page. Its meaning must be made the subject of hermeneutical research ^ Hence, in a matter controverted (if I may so speak) between the Apocalypse and other portions of the Divine r Rev. XX. 11 — 15. » " The opening words of the title tell us, that the book was a prophecy of ' things which must shortly come to pass,' and that the angel conveyed it by signs [ea-rjfiavi) to the Apostles The utmost which the literal exposition, pro- perly so called, can do, is to place us in the position of the Seer at the time when the visions were seen. But to interpret the signs is a deeper question of spiritual wisdom and scrip- tural research, not of grammatical skill It is true that, in some cases, the sign may be the same with the object signified : but even in such cases the maxim of adopting the literal meaning has, properly, nothing to do with our con- clusion ; which must be drawn, purely on grounds of general reasoning, from the nature of the sign employed.". . . . Birks, Rev. T. R. First Elements of Sacred Prophecy, chap. x. p. 253. London, 1843. 12 IN INTERPRETING PROPHECY L. I. Word, that book cannot by itself determine the question ; — appeal must be had to authority higher, not in point of inspiration, but in point of literality of doctrinal statement upon the subject under discussion. The postulate which thus removes the decision of the Millennarian controversy out of the pro- vince of the Apocalypse, would, as I have already hinted, seem also to require that that controversy be referred to other arbiters than the Old Testa- ment prophecies and passages in the New Testa- ment, which, like the Magnificat and the Nunc Dimittis, are couched in the language, and be- long to the period, of the elder dispensation. But this is not so readily granted by our opponents. Old Testament Prophecy is the very stronghold of their system ; — nor are they willing to make a concession which is tantamount to its surrender. Some ardent minds boldly take their stand upon the ground of an universal literalism, and from thence denounce us as the allegorizing adherents of an equally universal spiritualism. But more sober writers feel and acknowledge, that this is by no means a fair representation of the case. They know that it is simply impossible to be either uniformly literal, or uniformly spiritual, in the interpretation of Prophecy'. They confess that ' Ultra-literalism and ultra-spiritualism " are as tlie Scylla and Charybdis, between which the expositor of prophecy has L. I. WHEN MAY WE BE LITERAL ? 13 the cases are by no means rare in which different passages in the same book, — different verses of the same chapter, — yes, and • different words in the very same verse, require to be explained on different principles'^. Here we may be literal, ther^ we cannot refuse to discern the language of imagery. " All," say they, " for which we would contend is this, that we should be literal w^herever it is possible to be so." Nor can we impugn their assertion. " I hold it," says Hooker, ''for a most infallible rule in the exposition of Scripture, that, where the literal construction will stand, the furthest from the letter is commonly the worst." But how shall we know when the literal construction will stand ? By what law shall the judgment be guided in deciding upon each case that comes before it ? Or, to put the matter in a more popular form, to what court of arbi- tration shall we appeal, when, with regard to any given passage, the question is debated whether figures exist in it or not^ ? carefully to steer." Brooks, Kev. J. W. Elements of Pro- phetical Interpretation, chap. iv. p. 111. London, 1836. " No one maintains that all Scripture is literal, or that all is figurative. It is at once admitted by all, that it contains numerous instances of both of these kinds of writing." Bonar, Eev. H. Prophetical Landmarks, chap. xiii. p. 274. London, 1847. " See note C in the Appendix. * " The maxim of Hooker is doubtless important, when restricted within its just limits ; but, without the help of other principles, it will be found quite insufficient to ensure 14 THE NEW TESTAMENT L. I. The answers sometimes given to these enquiries do not, I think, by any means come up to the exigencies of the case. For example, one author affirms, that we must be literal wherever the nature of things^, another, wherever the require- ments of the immediate context % admit of our being so. Both surely forget that one-ness of Scriptural Truth, without the recognition of which it were idle to enter upon these investigations at all. The literal sense of a passage may not militate either against the nature of things, or against the tenour of the immediate context, and yet may, at the same time, come into serious collision with " the proportion of faith." But is there no better, no sufficient, court of arbitration ? Must we either close the volume a sound and just interpretation." Birks. First Elements of Sacred Prophecy, chap. xii. p. 317. " All adnait that there is much that is literal, and much that is figurative in Sci'ipture. From this admission, all reasoning on this matter ought to start. Proceeding from this, two great questions meet us : first, how are we to ascertain what is literal and what is figurative? secondly, how are we to interpret what is ascertained to be figurative ?" Strange that the Author of an Elementary Treatise on Prophecy should add, " I do not mean to examine and answer these questions minutely ; I content myself with a few general remarks for their solution!" Bonar. Prophetical Landmarks, chap. xiii. p. 274. y Bickersteth, Eev. E. Practical Guide to the Study of the Prophecies, chap. vii. p. 88. London, 1852. ' Brooks. Elements of Prophetical Interpretation, chap. iv. §. ii. p. 129. L. I. MUST DETERMINE THE QUESTION. 15 of Prophecy, or enter upon its study without chart or compass ? The former we may not do, — for " all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable''." The latter we dare not do, — for then shall we be in danger of being " tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine^." Thanks be to God, we are not reduced to so disastrous a dilemma. The statements of the New Testament upon the points at issue are many and clear; — in them we have all the guidance that we can reasonably desire. For, to remind you of my Second Rule of Prophetic Interpretation, *^in all points upon which the New Testament gives us instruction, it is our rightful guide in the interpretation of the Old." I do not ground this assertion, as well I might, so far at least as prophecy is concerned, upon the obvious fact, that in the New Testament, figure is the exception, literality the rule. I would fain take another, a wider, and a loftier basis of argu- ment. The New Testament has this distinct and incontestable claim to the right of arbitration, that it is the inspired record of the words of that Great Prophet, of whom it was said, "him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." And this leads me to the direct consideration of my text ; for a brief examination of it will at a 2 Tim. iii, 16. •> Eph. iv. 14. 16 JESUS THE GREAT PROPHET L. I. once illustrate and confirm the proposition which I have ventured to enunciate. Peter is speaking to the multitude gathered around him in Solomon's porch. He quotes the words of Moses, with a special and a repeated reference to those Old Testament prophets, the true meaning of some of whose predictions is the real subject of our present debate. Yea more, — the very predictions in question are the sayings of their's to which he expressly alludes. Standing, under these circumstances, in the midst of a Jewish audience, he thus speaks ; " Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear in all things what- soever he shall say unto you." I scarcely need to tell you, that Jesus of Nazareth was undoubtedly the prophet thus fore- told. Some indeed have ventured, in spite of the plain declarations of the Holy Ghost by the mouths of Peter and Stephen", to treat this quo- tation as a mere accommodation, and to allege other accomplishments of the prediction of Moses. But the failure of their attempt has sufficiently rebuked their presumption*^. For certainly, Joshua the son of Nun fulfilled not the terms of the prophecy ; nor did any or all of the successive c Acts vii. 37. ^ See the matter well handled in Sherlock on Prophecy, Discourse vi. p. 185 — 195. London, 1725. L. I. FORETOLD BY MOSES. 17 seers, who from Samuel downwards ministered to the chm'ch of Israel. Of these none was sent to publish a new revelation, — none appeared in the character of mediator, — none was prepared for his errand by famihar intercourse with Jehovah him- self,— none was attested by such an accumulation of signs and wonders. But in the incarnate Word the promise did receive an abounding, an exuberant accomphsh- ment. He was, like Moses, commissioned to make known the counsels of Jehovah ; and this, not as the illustrator of an already established religion, but as the promulgator of a new and a nobler revelation. He was, like Moses, instructed in his message by direct communication with the Most High. From the very " bosom of the Father" he came forth fo "declare*"' him to the sons of men. And were not his credentials of the highest possible order ? Fulfilling from the manger to the grave a long series of minute and varied prophecies, he far outshone Moses himself by the multitude, the diversity, and the splendour of his miracles of love. And it was but right that it should be so. For how much greater the glory of the message, how transcendent the dignity of the messenger. The message was " the ministra- tion" of "life'," the messenger — " God manifest in the flesh «." e John i. 18. f 2 Cor. iii. 8. 0. ^ i xim. iii. 16. C 18 HIS WORDS RECORDED L. I. But where are the words of this great Prophet recorded ? Where does he speak that we may hear and obey him ? It is in the New Testament as a whole, and not merely in those gracious words which fell directly from his lips, that the voice of Jesus is heard. And this an examination of that holy volume will clearly demonstrate. To begin with the four Gospels. In them the story of the Prophet's life is told, — his credentials are displayed, — and much, very much, of his teaching is given. The words of St. Luke when referring to his own Gospel are descriptive of the writings of his brother Evangelists also. Each of these Gospels is a treatise " of all that Jesus began both to do and teach \" And truly each contains enough and more than enough to establish him for a Prophet " mighty in deed and word before God and all the people'." Reflect only upon the specimens of his teaching which the Evangelists record. The sermon on the mount, — the dis- courses at Capernaum and at Jerusalem, — the parables, — the prophecies, — to say nothing of the countless words of grace which in passing fell from his lips, — how full to overflowing all these of the treasures of heavenly knowledge ! And yet these were, as the Holy Ghost testifies, but the beginning of his instruction. Yea, he himself declared that they were but " parts of his '' Acts i. 1. ' Luke xxiv. 19. L. I. IN THE WHOLE NEW TESTAMENT. 19 ways'"," and promised to his Apostles a fuller and a clearer manifestation of his truth. Did I say that he declared the instruction given before his passion to be but a part of his doctrine ? Read his own words (in John xvi. 12.), " I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now." Did I say that a fuller manifestation of his truth was promised ? I should rather have said, the very fullest. For read again (in verse 13.), " howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you eh iraaav ti]v oXrjdeLav. Did I add that much clearer light was then to be given ? I might well have said, the very clearest. For read once more in the same chapter, (verse 25.) " These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father." In fulfilment of these promises, the Lord gave his Apostles personally much instruction after that he was risen from the dead, " being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God'." But more than this; before his ascension he conferred upon them a plenary inspiration, and invested them with a prophetic commission similar to his own, in those memorable words, " Peace be unto you : as my Father hath sent me, even so k Job xxvi. 14. ' Acts i. 3. c2 20 BUT MOST FULLY AND CLEARLY L. I. send I you. And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them. Receive ye the Holy Ghost : whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained™." Even Paul himself, though as " one born out of due time"," was not in this matter a whit "behind the very chiefest Apostles"." " I certify you, brethren," he says, " that the Gospel which was preached of me is not after man ; for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ V Nor did any of the Apostles lack credentials commensurate to the charge committed to them. Handkerchiefs brought from the body of Paul'', — *' the shadow of Peter passing by "■," — were endowed with healing virtue for the purpose, not so much of magnifying the men, as of confirming the truth of the revelation of which they were the bearers. But why speak of these things particularly, when the whole book of the Acts is full of the mighty signs and wonders wrought by the hands of the Apostles ? The same book contains specimens, — and of what exceeding value ! — of the Apostolic teaching. The Pentecostal sermon, — the address to the friends and household of Cornelius, — the debate at Jerusalem, — and the discourse at Antioch in m John XX. 21—23. " 1 Cor. xv. 8. ° 2 Cor. xii. 11. p Gal. i. 11, 12. <) Acts xix. 12. ' Acts v. 15. L. I. IN THE APOSTOLIC EPISTLES. 21 Pisidia, — each and all are pregnant with most weighty truth. Nor can we hope to learn the mind of Christ aright unless they be humbly and diligently studied. But it is for the Epistles that the completeness of divine instruction is reserved. Now truly the day has dawned and the shadovv^s have fled quite away. Now truly the Sun of Righteousness has risen, with healing in his wings, in all the splendour of his brightness. For mark well how in the Epistles the great Prophet of the Church sets before us in all its fulness the mystery of his Gospel, — mark well how abundantly, how clearly, he exhibits in all its breadth, and length, and depth, and height, that love of his which passeth knowledge. What is left for us but to exclaim, as thus he makes known to us all things whatsoever he hath learned of the Father, " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding outM" And now we have an answer to the enquiry, " where are the great Prophet's words recorded ?" And that answer is this, " In the whole New Testament Scriptures," containing as they do the commandments which that Prophet did " through the Holy Ghost give unto the Apostles whom he had chosen V And they contain them all. For we dare not s Eom. xi. 33. * Acts i. 2. 22 IMPLICIT DEFERENCE L. I. for one moment sanction the idea that the Apostles did, either in teaching or writing, keep back any part of the counsel of God". Their practice alike and their commission forbid the thought. Their commission was to " preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ; and to make all men see (^(pcorlaai iravras} what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God^." And as to their practice, we may learn much from the fact, that the infant church at Thessalonica was by Paul himself instructed in the doctrine of Christ's second coming, and of the previous revelation of " the man of sin, the son of perdition V Jesus then is the Prophet announced in my text, — and the New Testament is the authoritative record of his words. Mark well, in the next place, how great the deference which is due to hinYi : — " Him shall ye hear in all things what- soever he shall say unto you." This precept is simple and clear. Nor will any difficulty attend its apphcation, so long as the " The Apostles, says the Rev. E. Greswell, " must have taught many things to their converts by word of mouth, especially on the subject of Christ's future kingdom, which they did not think proper to commit to writing." Exposition of the Parables, Oxford, 1834, vol. i. p. 220. He repeats this perilous assertion at p. 261, and makes much use of it in dealing with the Anti-Millennarian testimony of the Epistles. See Ap{xmdix to this Volume, Note B. ■^ Eph. iii. 8, 9. y 2 Thess. ii. L, I. DUE TO HIS TEACHING. 23 Lord Jesus appears in no other character than that of one who completes the hitherto imperfect revelation of the Divine will. That character he certainly does assmne. For there are many things which Moses and the Prophets, — even if they knew them^ — did not commit to writing. Jesus however has perfected the volume of inspiration. Every new truth which he declares is entitled to our immediate assent. For example; — to take a suhject which enters directly into the Millennarian controversy, — does he carry us onward to the consummation of all things ? Are " life and immortality" " brought to light through the GospeP?" and who would deny the fact ? Then must we without gain- saying submit to his teaching, whatever it be, concerning the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Or again, — to refer to matters which enter less directly but not less certainly into the same con- troversy,— does the great Prophet carry us back- ward to the counsels of eternity ? Does he dis- cover to us those purposes of the Divine mind kept secret from the foundation of the world? And who can question that he does ? Then must we humbly and thankfidly make use of the clew thus given for the more full understanding of the stories of Providence and of Grace. Nor may we admit as true any human inference with regard to ^ 2 Tim. i. 10. 24 EVEN WHEN HE SEEMS TO DIFFER L. I. God's present or future ordering of this our world which mihtates against the principles thus de- clared. But the revelation of Jesus Christ is not merely a supplement to that of Moses and the Prophets. The great Teacher of the Church comes before us fidl often as the expositor of the books of the elder covenant. I do not speak of any doubtftd references, — nor do I speak of mere passing allu- sions,— I speak of direct quotations, coupled with express mention of their fulfilment. Of such quotations fi^om the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms, there are at least one hundred to be found in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles. Here also the rule under consideration has an obvious, and in the present controversy a most important appli- cation. The expositions thus supplied must, without hesitation, be accepted as sound. Nor should there be any reserve in our submission to them. For indeed to speak of accommodations, of inadequate and inceptive accomplishments, where Jesus speaks of fulfilments, is virtually to set aside his prophetic authority, and to open the door to a most dangerous licence in the interpretation of Scripture''. Safer and wiser far to acknowledge • Thus the Eev. Capel Molyneux in " Israel's Future," London, 1853, affirms (Lecture III. p. 93.) with reference to the prediction in Malachi iv. 5. that it " has not been fulfilled ; that Elijah, as here promised, is not yet come. Whatever may be urged in regard to John the Baptist, as to his being ' Elias that was for to come,' yet clearly he did not fulfil this predic- L. I. FROM MOSES AND THE PROPHETS. 25 that Christ himself knew best what the " Spirit of Christ that was in" the prophets did " signify ^" For " him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say mito you." But this leads me to the real difficulty of the case. How does this rule apply when the words of Jesus Christ cease to be merely supplementary to, or explanatory of, those of Moses and the Prophets ? What shall be done when a seeming conflict arises between them ? I know well that there are truths of Divine Revelation, which it is impossible for us with our finite intelligence to reconcile one with another. tion." This good man is supported by the authority of Mr. Greswell, a writer less popular truly in his style, but learned, laborious, and forcible in his reasoning. See his able dissertation on the Millennium prefixed to his Work on the Parables, vol. i. p. 152 et seq. How these writers and the many who re-echo their sentiments can permit themselves to retain this opinion in spite of the plain declaration of our Lord, it is difficult to understand. " If ye will receive it, this is Elias which was for to come." Matt. xi. 14. " Elias is indeed come." Mark ix. 13. Mr. Brooks, Elements, p. 119. recog- nises in Mai. iv. 5. a double prophecy; one, namely, of the coming of John Baptist, the spiritual Elias, and another of the coming of Elijah the prophet himself; the one ful- filled, the other unfulfilled. To the latter he refers the words of our Lord, Matt. xvii. 11. " Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things;" — to the former he refers the following verse, 12, "but I say unto you that Elias is come already." Surely the true explanation is simply this, that in v. 11. the Lord rehearses the prophecy, while in v. 12. he declares its fulfilment. ^ 1 Pet. i. 11. 26 THE CASE OF MOSES. L. I. But I cannot be wrong when I say, that we should rehgiously beware of difficulties of our own creating. And no fear of being taxed with an undue regard for doctrinal systems should deter us from seeking for that solution of the Millen- narian controversy, if there be one, which shall at once give a perfectly fair interpretation to the words of Scripture, and practically demonstrate the mutual concord and harmony of its several parts. This we are permitted to do in other dis- putations,— why not in this ? Take the case of the ritual Law for a first example. You remember what Moses said of the place in which the Lord should choose to put his name there. There and only there were sacri- fices to be offered''. Thither were all the males of Israel to repair thrice every year"^. Hearken now to the words of Jesus : " The hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father ^" And this is but one example of many. What shall be done ? The type must disappear before the Antitype, — the shadow must vanish before the substance, — the servant of the house must yield to its master and builder*^. For "to him shall ye hearken in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you ;" — and that, even though he speak of " the middle wall of partition" being " broken down ;" — even though c Dcut. xii. 13, 14. 0 Deut. xvi. 16. "= John iv. 21. f Heb. iii. 5. 0. 3. L. I. THE CASE OF THE PROPHETS. 2? he tell how " in his flesh he hath abolished the law of commandments contained in ordinances^." Nor is the lawgiver one whit dishonoured there- by. It is his greatest glory that, under the plenary inspiration of the Holy Ghost, he wrote of Christ \ And I render far worthier homage to that inspiration when I penetrate beyond the veil of a richly varied ceremonial, and discover within the whole Gospel of the grace of God, than when, still tarrying without, I gaze with untaught eye upon what are, after all, but " weak and beggarly elements'" which " perish with the using""." Nor is the case materially altered when it is the Prophets who are seemingly at variance with Christ. For there are, unquestionably, times in which the teaching of Christ appears, directly or by implication, to militate with the announcements of Old Testament prophecy, when at least those announcements are understood in their plain and literal sense. What shall be done ? Another meaning of the Prophets' language must be sought for, — a meaning which shall leave intact the unequi- vocal declarations of the Lord Jesus. For, " him s Eph. ii. 14, 15. h John v. 46. ^ Gal. iv. 9. ^ Col. ii. 22. " Ea omnia qua3 quam maxime spiritualia sunt in Evangelio, sunt coniplementum figurarum Mosis. Et cum Mosaica Doctrina figura sit, eo ipso suae eva- nescentiae continet testimonium : sed gloriosa ilia evanescentia, amplissima ejus confirmatio est." Witsius, Miscellanea Sacra, liber i. cap. vii. §. 9. HerbornsB Nassaviorum 1712. torn. i. p. 44. 28 FOR PROPHETIC SUPREMACY L. I. shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Nor are the Old Testament seers brought into disrepute thereby. To them the words of imagery are no reproach. On the contrary, figure is their natural style'. And is it not their greatest honour also that, moved by the fullest inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they bare witness beforehand to Chrisf"? He therefore shews the most true appre- ciation of their high dignity, — yes, and he manifests the most true reverence to Scripture as a whole, — who surrenders many a pleasant phantasy, rather than consent that the Prophets should even seem, where no imperative necessity exists, to contradict their Lord. I might now corroborate the position I have taken, by turning from the Messenger to the Message. I might point out how necessary it is 1 " The prophetic style is then a sober and reasonable mode of expression. But this is not all. We may even disceini the expediency, I had almost said the necessity, of this style, considered as the medium, or vehicle, of prophetic inspiration. For we have seen, that the scheme of Scriptural prophecy extends through all time ; and is so contrived as to adumbrate future and more illustrious events, in preceding and less important transactions : a circumstance which shews the harmony and connection of the whole scheme, and is not imitable by any human art, or forethought whatsoever. But now a figurative style is so proper to that end, that we scarcely conceive how it could be accomplished by any other." Hurd, Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies. London, 1770. Sermon ix. vol. ii. p. 106, 107. m 1 Peter i. 10, 11, 12. L. I. IS VESTED IN JESUS. 29 that that revelation, which is at once ftill, clear, and final, should be permitted to illustrate and explain that which is partial, mysterious, and introductory. It had been from the beginning the rule, that light concerning the Messiah should increase in proportion as his coming drew nigh". Is it possible, that when the Lord did come, the teaching of the blessed Spirit concerning Him should in any respect be more aenigmatical than it was before ? But I forbear. Enough and more than enough has been said to confirm the very important principle which I have been striving to bring before you. You will now, I trust, not hesitate to accept it as reasonable. Scriptural, and true. It is simply this, that wherever in matters of bibhcal exposition a governing interpretation is needed, the prophetic supremacy is vested in Christ and his Apostles. Up to the moment when " Elias " '-It has been an object, which I have kept constantly in view, whilst I was tracing the course of Prophecy, and explaining its order, to shew that the system of Gospel truth, in all its parts, was unfolded by degrees in the prophetic revelation The principle itself is simple, and there was no need to devise any reasonings to establish it. All that was required, was to explain it by its own evidence in the Contents of the Prophetic Volume. The same method which prophecy has followed in the disclosure of other Gospel truths, it has preserved in its communications respecting that principal one, concerning a future Eternal State." Davison, Discourses on Prophecy. Oxford, 1839. Notes, p. 500. 30 THIS PRINCIPLE CONCEDED L. I. which was for to come*"' appeared in the person of the Baptist, the word of the Lord by the mouth of Malachi was the rule of the Church of Israel : " Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments p." But when once that voice was heard crying in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight '^," a more expanded and a more spiritual law was promulgated, and this was its sanction, " This is my beloved Son ! hear HimM" Nor do the frequent appeals of the Lord and his Apostles to Moses and the Prophets invalidate my assertion. The reference is one to witnesses whose inspiration the Jews themselves were ready to acknowledge, and by whose verdict they were bound to abide. It is, in other words, the exhi- bition of a most important portion of the letters credential of the Prophet that was to come into the world. His commission once unfolded, he " Matt. xi. 14. f Mai. iv. 4. -^ Luke iii. 4. >■ Luke ix. 35. " He who delivered the Law was one of the first who prophesied of the Gospel, and told the people so long beforehand, That God would raise a Prophet like unto him, whom they mvist hear in all things. B}- which f)rediction he guarded the people against the prejudice which his own authority was like to create against a new lawgiver ; telling them beforehand that when the great Prophet came, their obedience ought to be transferred to him." Bp. Sherlock on Prophecy, Discourse ii. p. 48. L. I. IN THE CASE OF THE TYPES. 31 takes his place with his Apostohc assessors as the one supreme authority, by whose plain decla- rations the conclusions drawn by uninspired men, whether among Jews or Gentiles, from the less plain though by no means less inspired language of the Old Testament Scriptures, must be con- stantly tested ^ The principle for which I contend is one which is freely granted in the case of the Old Testament types. They are, as has been beautifully remarked, like the Egyptian statue, vocal only when illu- mined by the rising rays of the New Testament Sun'. Forgetting this, the Romish controversialist has, in spite of all the teaching of St. Paul, dis- covered in the bread and the wine of Melchizedek the perpetually recurring sacrifice of the mass, and the continuous line of a correlative priesthood''. s The words in 2 Peter i. 19. "We have also a more sure word of prophecy," — present no real difficulty. For the comparison instituted there is not between the predictive and other portions of holy Scripture, but between the testimony to the Messiahship of Jesus afforded by the prophets, and that which might be derived from the vision on the mount of transfiguration. See Whitby and Scott in loc. ' " The dumb elements of the Mosaic ritual are made animated and eloquent, when the Truth comes to act upon them Avith its light. They are like the Statue which had its chords wi'ought within, but mute, till the morning sun struck upon them." Davison on Prophecy, Discourse iv. §. v. p. 139. " Catechismus Romanvis. Pars ii. cap. iv. §. 75. See also Note D in the Appendix. 32 MUCH MORE THEN IN L. I. Now if the rule hold good in the exposition of the Pentateuch, why is it to be abandoned when we pass on to the Psalms and the Prophets ? Their style affords us no warrant for doing so. It is not certain that we have quitted the region of metaphor and allegory. Figures abound on every side, and in many cases it is plain that, in passing from type to prophecy, we have only exchanged symbols acted for symhols written. Nor can it be pleaded that the New Testament is silent upon the points involved in the Millen- narian controversy. Were the connection between Church and State the subject of our discourse, we might well be driven, by the almost total omission of the matter from the Apostolic volume, to enquire of the Old Testament historians, whether the Lord commended those civil rulers of ancient time, who made the spiritual welfare of their people the object of their paternal solicitude. But as to the doctrines which cluster round the Second Advent, and are, in very deed, part and parcel of it, we have no such excuse for betaking ourselves first to the books of the earlier dispensation. For if there be any points upon which the Gospels, the Acts, and the Epistles, give full and clear instruc- tion,— those points are the resurrection of the body, the judgment of quick and dead, ever- lasting life, and everlasting punishment. Nay more ; these are the very points upon which the teaching of the Old Testament is so scanty, so L. I. THE CASE OF THE PROPHECIES. 33 mysterious, that some have been bold enough to assert that they are not mentioned there at all, and from thence to " feisrn that the old fathers did look only for transitory promises"." We have now ascertained, — as originally pro- posed,— the order in which Scripture should be consulted for the determination of the Millennarian controverey. In the first place, it must, we think, be con- ceded, that those passages of God's word which are literal, clear, and dogmatic, should take pre- cedence of those which are figurative, mysterious, and obscure. In the second place, we think we have shewn, that the key of Prophecy and Type ahke is in the hand of Jesus and his Apostles. Future discourses will bring before us, conse- cutively, the kingdom of Christ, in its twofold aspect as the kingdom of heaven % and the kingdom of David^ ; the ingathering and glorification of the Church''; the judgment of quick and dead*" ; and the eternal state of the blessed''. In the dis- cussion of each several subject, the combined action of the principles I have to-day endeavoured to illustrate and confirm will compel me, first, to lay before you the truth as revealed in the Gospels, Acts, and Epistles ; and then to consider the particulars in which Pre-Millennarians differ Article VII. y Lecture 11. ' Lecture III. Lecture IV. ^ Lecture V. <= Lecture VI. 34 ORDER OF FUTURE LECTURES. L. I. from us, with the arguments by which they justify their dissent. Many prophecies therefore, both of this and of the elder dispensation, will necessarily pass under review, even while the due precedence is accorded to the dogmatic teaching of the New Testament Scriptures. I shall not however leave the matter there, for I shall devote my two con- cluding lectures to the direct consideration of those symbols in the twentieth chapter of the Revelation'^, and those figures in the books of Old Testament prophecy % which are the seat of Mil- lennarianism in general. To solve in any case every possible question which may be suggested, cannot be either ex- pected or required. But one advantage at least will be gained, if any are persuaded to accept the statements of the Apostolic writings in their plain, literal, and obvious sense, and to relegate the difficulties which attend the interpretation of metaphor and allegory to those portions of the sacred canon to which they would seem (if I may so speak) more properly to belong. Nor shall I have laboured in vain if I only convince some of my younger brethren in the ministry, that there is good reason for them to pause before they enter upon the enticing paths of Millennarian speculation. For perils do indeed surround those paths, — perils of which many even of those who have longest walked in them are little aware, — d Lecture VII. ' Lecture VIII. L. I. PRACTICAL APPLICATION 35 and yet perils still not only to general soundness of doctrine, but also to the health, — I had almost said the life, — of individual souls. Perchance I may also be permitted to guide them into a more excellent way. Then " speaking the truth in love, shall they grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even ChristV Then shall they become indeed " able ministers of the New Testament^," — " faithful stewards of the mysteries of God\" — fitted to give each of their Lord's servants his " portion of meat in due season '." May this at least be granted to my petitions, that, seeing I have to treat of death, judgment, and eternity, I may so speak of those awful verities, that they may by the power of the Holy Ghost be made to many of you constraining realities. For realities they certainly are. Can I say less, when, coming from a diocese bereft of its Bishop ^ by a sudden and inscrutable visitation, I have also been compelled to omit in the prayer which preceded my discourse an honoured name which I have never omitted before, — the name of him under whose guardianship I passed the earlier years of my academical course ' ? And others also, — not less f Eph. iv. 15. 8 2 Cor. iii. 6. " 1 Cor. iv. 1, 2. ' Luke xii. 42. ^ Edward Denison, D.D. Bishop of Salisbury, formerly Fellow of Merton College and Vicar of St. Peter's in the East, died, after a very short illness, on Monday, March 6, 1854, in the 53d year of his age. ' Richard Jenkyns, D.D. Dean of Wells, and Master of d2 n 36 OF THE SUBJECT. L. I. vigorous, — not less honoured'", — have been taken from among us. Surely all flesh is grass. Who shall be taken next? Wherefore rest not, — men, brethren, and fathers, — until, with a " good hope through grace"," each for himself is able to say, with broken but believing heart, " I know that my Redeemer liveth°." Then, when Christ Cometh, shall we be found with our " loins girded about, and our lights burning, like unto men that wait for their Lord p." " Blessed is that servant," and that servant only, " whom his Lord when he Cometh shall find so doing''." " Now to Him that is of power to establish you according to his Gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlastinc: God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith : to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen^" Balliol College, died on Monday, March 6, 1854. This Sermon was preached at St. Mary's on Sunday, March 12. "" Richard Harington, D.D. Principal of Brasenose College: and J. L. Richards, D.D. Rector of Exeter, had both very recently deceased. " 2 Thess. ii. 16. ° Job xix. 25. p Luke xii. 35, 36. 1 Matt. xxiv. 46. ^ Rom. xvi. 25, 26, 27. LECTURE II. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, AS NOW EXISTING, THE PROPER KINGDOM OF CHRIST. Matthew xxviii. 18 — 20. AND JESUS CAME AND SPAKE UNTO THEM, SAYING, ALL POWER IS GIVEN UNTO ME IN HEAVEN AND IN EARTH. GO YE THEREFORE, AND TEACH ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY GHOST: TEACHING THEM TO OBSERVE ALL THINGS WHATSOEVER I HAVE COMMANDED YOU : AND, LO, I AM WITH YOU ALWAY, EVEN UNTO THE END OF THE WORLD. AMEN. Has Christ received his own proper kingdom as yet ? With various modifications of statement upon the subject, Pre-Millennarians in general an- swer in the negative. They bid us look onward to his personal reign during the Millennial Sab- batism for the estabhshment of his true kingdom as the Christ of God^ " " The projyer kingdom of Christ must be marked by three characters, which have never yet been exhibited together. There must be the visible presence of the King, a full and clear manifestation of his righteous will, and the public en- 38 PRE-MILLENNARIANS DENY THAT L. II. For the confirmation of their statement they appeal, partly to the words of Scripture, partly to the facts of the world around them. " Scripture," they say, " plainly connects the royal authority of Messiah with the house of Israel, the throne of David, and the city of Jerusalem. It no less plainly depicts, and that in brightest colours, the boundless extent of his empire, the unvarying justice of his government, the universal blessedness of his people." " And what," they ask, " do the facts of the world around declare ? Israel is a stranger among the nations, David's throne is prostrate in the dust, Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles. And who is the prince of this world ? Satan is king, and the whole creation, animate and inanimate, rational and irrational, groan eth and travaileth in pain together until now." " Can we then venture to affirm," they further ask, " that the Lord Jesus, king though he be de jure, is as yet king de facto ? No ! He has not as yet assumed his own royal throne, he has forcement of his just authority by the punishment of the rebellious, and the open reward of his faithful servants. This time has not yet arrived, and hence the Church has still to offer the prayer, — ' thy kingdom come.' " Birks, Outlines, p. 191. So again, p. 193. " The times of the Gospel are not the season of the proper reign of Christ, but a time of waiting before the kingdom is assumed." In like manner, Begg, Connected View of Scriptural Evidence of Christ's Speedy Eeturn and Millennial Reign, Paisley, 1829, pp. 117, 118. Brooks, Elements, pp. 182, J 95, 196. Bickersteth, Practical Guide to the Prophecies, p. 276. L. II. Christ's proper kingdom is come. 39 not as yet put forth his own imperial might. Satan has hitherto been permitted to raise many a barrier against the full manifestation of his kingdom. Nor will that kingdom ever really come, as we are taught daily to pray that it may come, until, at the personal Advent of the Lord, that great usurper be taken out of the way. Then, and not till then, will the triumphant cry go forth, ' Now is come the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ V " and he shall reign for ever and ever*'!" Such is the Pre-Millennial plea for the doctrine of the personal reign. In dealing with it, the true meaning of the promises which seem to be bound up with the future destinies of Israel will require a separate consideration^; — so also will those predictions which describe the nature and extent of the kingdom of Messiah ^ Meanwhile there are, we think, two strong reasons for pausing before we accept the conclusions thus drawn from those promises and those predictions. In the first place it may well be questioned, whether the mediatorial offices of the Lord Jesus are, in operation, separable from each other. A threefold cord cannot be quickly broken. Christ is at this moment acting in the capacity of God's " Eev. xii. 10. *= Rev. xi. 15. M^Neile, Popular Lectures on the Prophecies relative to the Jewish Nation, London, 1830, Lecture vi. p. 147. Bickersteth, Practical Guide, p. 270. ^ Lecture III. « Lecture VIII. 40 BUT ARE HIS MEDIATORIAL OFFICES L. II. anointed Prophet, he is also discharging the func- tions of God's anointed Priest; it is difficult to beheve that he has never yet exercised dominion as God's anointed King, that he is not yet King de facto as well as de jure'. The three offices would seem to be conferred for the same object, and to have, as respects the discharge of their several duties, the same beginning and the same termination. Their one object is the salvation — the salvation to the uttermost — of the people of God. Their actual exercise in the work of that salvation began with the ascension of Jesus ; it shall terminate with the accompHshment of the number of his elect. Contemplate his Priestly functions. Their fullest action coexists with and is essential to the processes of salvation. Jesus is the great High Priest who hath passed into the heavens to appear in the presence of God for us^; therefore he is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them^. So too with regard to the Prophetic office. Revelation was indeed completed when St. John had, by in- spiration of God, written the Apocalypse. But to whom has the illumination of the Church ever since, by that word, been owing ? " Ye have an f " He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon his throne ; and he shall be a priest upon his throne." Zech. vi. 13. e Heb. ix. 24. >' Heb. vii. i25. L. II. SEPARABLE FROM EACH OTHER ? 41 unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things'." The precious ointment poured upon our Aaron's head has ever been flowing down to the skirts of his clothing', and filling the whole church of his elect with the odour of his name. But doth not that church stand in equal present need of all the Royal might and authority of God's anointed ? Who shall make her children willing in the day of his power "" ? who shall dispense to them pardon and peace'? who shall be their leader? their commander""? their shield? their exceeding great reward" ? Surely the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne", — for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings P. Our Melchizedek is even now King of Salem as well as Priest of the most high God''. Nor let it be objected that the eye of sense cannot behold him as he governs the nations upon earth. Surely the Kingship of Jesus depends upon the appointment of his Father, not upon its recognition by the children of men^ And whereas the exercise of faith is required when we would make use of Jesus as our Prophet and our Priest, — why is it to be excluded when we have need of him as our King ? This was the second pre- liminary argument I desired to allege. To " walk ' 1 John ii. 20. i Ps. cxxxiii. 2. ^ pg. ex. 3. i Acts v. 3 1 . ™ Is. Iv. 4. " Gen. XV. 1. ° Rev.vii. 17. p Eev. xvii. 14. 1 Heb. vii. 1. . ^ As Mr. Brooks would almost seem to say. Abdiel's Essays on the Advent and Kingdom of Christ. London, ] 848, p. 39. 42 faith's warrant for believing L. II. by faith, not by sight',''— to endure, "as seeing him who is invisible','' — is the characteristic, the duty, the prerogative of the Christian. Hence the fact, that the present true, real, and effectual Kingship of Messiah calls for the exercise of faith, is in very deed a strong presumption in its favour. But faith is not faith, it is unhallowed rashness, if it have no word of God to rest upon. It may well therefore be asked, " Hath God spoken of such a present kingdom of Christ in his word as that for which you are now contending ?" We are con- strained, my brethren, to answer emphatically, " Yes !" It is in virtue of the present Kingship of Jesus that we stand before you this day as preachers of his word. " Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." I introduce the subject of " the kingdom" thus early to your notice, because, with some, it will be fruitless to demonstrate that the teaching of Scripture upon collateral topics forbids the ex- pectation of a Pre-Millennial Advent, while such a notion of the royalty of Christ itself retains possession of the mind, as can meet with no s 2 Cor. V. 7. ' Heb. xi. 27. L. II. IN THE PRESENT KINGSHIP OF CHRIST. 43 adequate counterpart save in a personal reign. That prejudice however once removed, arguments drawn from other considerations may look for an impartial hearing. Another reason for taking this subject first is this, that if on this special point it can be prac- tically shewn, that the New Testament is com- petent to that office of arbitration which, in my opening Lecture, I claimed on its behalf, its sufficiency will scarcely be impugned on any future occasion. For the matter of Messiah's kingdom is one which might very naturally be supposed to belong exclusively to Old Testament Prophecy. And yet this is far from being the case. The New Testament gives information at once abundant and clear relative to the supreme dominion of the Christ of God; — information which is, to my mind, decisive upon the question contro- verted between Pre-Millennarians and ourselves. How far this opinion is correct will soon appear, if I bring before you at length faith's warrant for believing in the present Kingship of Christ. That warrant is to be found in the full and lucid in- struction concerning that Kingship which was given by the Lord and his Apostles. Let us begin with the teaching of the Lord himself Notice, in the first place, that he spake much of a kingdom which he claimed as his own. I said that he spake much concerning a king- 44 CHRIST SPAKE MUCH OF A KINGDOM L. II. dom, — SO much, that his whole preaching is more than once summed up in that one word, — " the Gospel of the kingdom";" — "the glad tidings of the kingdom of God'." For certainly, whether he opened his mouth to the multitudes in parables, or expounded those parables privately to his dis- ciples, this was the one prevailing topic of his discourse. And the kingdom of which he spake he claimed as his own. If no other proof could be given, this alone were sufficient, that the words " kingdom of heaven," "kingdom of God," and "kingdom of the Son of Man," are in the Gospels convertible terms^ No marvel that the people, (hearing his words but understanding them not,) should, at one time, have purposed to come and " take Jesus by force, to make him a king-^ ;" — should, at another, have accused him before Pilate of making himself a king\ For notice, in the second place, that he taught that this his kingdom was near at hand. His forerunner had cried in the wilderness of Judaga, " Repent ye : for the kingdom of heaven is at hand^" Himself, as he journeyed through Gahlee, prolonged that cry, " The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand^ — TreTrXrjpoiTai " Matt. iv. 23. " Luke viii. 1. ^ See Note E in the Appendix. y John vi. 15. " Ijvike xxiii. 2. John xix. 12. '■* Matt. iii. 2. •> Mark i. 14, 15. L. II. OF HIS OWN AS NEAR AT HAND. 45 6 Kaipoi , Kou rjyyiKev rj ^aaLXeia rod GeoO." "The twelve" likewise, and "the seventy" were charged still to make the same declaration, " Go . . . to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at handV Such was his public testimony. Privately to his disciples he was yet more explicit. "Verily I say unto you. There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom 'V And when, it will be asked, was this prediction verified ? Surely not on the mount of transfiguration", — nor in the mines of Patmos*^; — in neither of these cases did the kingdom (as St. Mark hath it) "come with power ^^." Rather say, on the day of Pentecost, — but better still, I think, at the destruction of Jerusalem. For there was much more in that awful catastrophe than righteous retribution upon a sinful nation. Allegiance to Moses had been the pretext of disloyalty to the Christ of God. Ritual obedience to that lawgiver was now rendered im- possible. The stronghold of rebellion against the kingdom of Messiah was demohshed. Had not that kingdom then come with power ^ ? <: Matt. X. 6, T. " Matt. xvi. 28. « See Note F in the Appendix. ' As Mr. Birks suggests ; Outlines, p. 23. « Markix. 1. ^ " The coming of Christ is also the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem, as may appear from several places 46 A KINGDOM WIDELY DIFFERING L. II. Be this however as it may, the fact remains untouched, that the Lord constantly spoke of his kingdom as near at hand. And here I would have you notice, in the third place, that the kingdom, whose near approach he thus announced, was to be a kingdom widely differing in character from that which the Jews in general appear to have expected. That people had in truth been signally mistaken upon the point ; for the gross darkness of a judicial blind- ness had overtaken them'. And this the Lord in the Gospels, and particularly from these two passages, Matt. xvi. 28. John xxi. 22." Bishop Newton on the Pro- phecies. London, 1771. Vol. ii. p. 236. " The destruction of the Jewish city and temple, is an event of the utmost moment in the view of revealed religion. It accomplished a great number of prophecies; and vindicated the honour of Jesus, by a signal vengeance on his murderers. It answered, besides, other important purposes of divine providence ; by putting a visible and necessary end to the Jewish oeconomy, which was now to give way to the dis- pensation of the Messiah." Hurd, Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies. Vol. i. p. 1 63. " Surely the Eoman army, though an army of abominations, was, in this service, the army of Messiah [the Prince] ; so the parable aiming at this prophecy tells us, Matt. xxii. 7. Whence it is that the coming of this desolating army of the Romans is called the coming of Christ. James v. 1, 3; John xxi. 22." Joseph Mede, on Daniel ix. 27. Works. Book iii. p. 871, 872. The reader will find the same conclusion closely reasoned out from Scripture, in that modest but invaluable work of the late Rev. Henry Gipps, " The First Resurrection." London, Nisbet, 1831. p. 29. Note L. ' See Appendix, Note G. L. II. FROM THAT WHICH THE JEWS EXPECTED. 47 himself declares, (and his Apostles reiterate the assertion,) in that chapter of parables, which from beginning to end sets forth the true nature of the kingdom''. The Jews looked for a kingdom of outward temporal show, — Jesus spake of a kingdom of inward spiritual influence. " My kingdom is not of this world'." "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation : neither shall they say, Lo here! ^ Matt. xiii. 13, 14, 15; Mark iv. 11, 12; Luke viii. 10; John xii. 39, 40 ; Acts xxviii. 25, 26, 27; Eom. xi. 8. 1 John xviii. 36. " Propositio describit qualitatem Regni Christi. Regnum ergo se habere in ipsis vinculis confitetur. Per istud praecipue intelhgit regnum mediatorium ex Testa- mento Patris sibi debitum, per tot prophetias promissum, quod in umbra gesserat sub V. T. quod jam sangxiine suo fundare volebat, et brevi per exaltationem suam ad dextram Dei occupaturus erat. Sed non erat hoc regnum ex hue mundo. Erigendum quidem in mundo, sed non ex mundo Greneratim regna, quae sunt ex mundo, terrestrem habent originem, angustos limites, terrestria bona, leges mere exter- nas, externum splendorem, brevem durationem. Sed Regnum Messise erat coeleste, non ab hominibus, sed a Patre ipsi legatum Luc. xxii. 29. nulhs limitibus circumscriptum, vera et coelestia bona exhibens, prascepta spirituaha, gloriam inter- nam, aeternam permansionem. Et quod potissimum erat, Regum mundanorum regna morte finiuntur, Christi vero Regnum morte occupandum et stabihendum erat Multo minus erat ex mundo prophano, tum quia ei ignotum et contemtum, tum quia ei plane contrarium. In regnis mundi omnia plena sunt injustitia, violentia, tyrannide Diversis- simum erat Regnum Chi-isti, quod justissime occupaturus et cum summa lenitate gesturus erat, in quo pax, libertas con- scientiarum et vera salus possidenda." Lampe in Joannem, Amstelodami, 1726. torn. iii. p, 549. 48 A KINGDOM INTO WHICH THE GENTILES L. II. or, lo there ! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you'"." "The kingdom of God," as the Apostle Paul hath it, "■ is not meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost"." The Jews looked for a kingdom in which they should receive again, and that with augmented splendour, all the dignity of their national and ecclesiastical privilege. The Lord spake of a kingdom in which, while the natural branches were broken off, the Gentiles should be partakers of the root and fatness of the olive tree". " The kingdom of God," he said, " shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof P." Yes ! the vineyard shall be let out to other husbandmen 'i, — the wedding shall be ftirnished with guests from the highways and hedges^ This leads me to point out a fourth particular concerning the kingdom. It was gradually and yet widely to extend its bounds by the preaching of the Gospel. Beginning in Galilee with "the carpenter's son%" it should go forward, — stretch- '" Luke xvii. 20, 21. Is Mr. Greswell, Parables, i. p. 256, warranted in translating ivros vfiav 'among you?" Surely Mr. Brooks is right. Elements, p. 204, in saying, that neither in the New Testament nor in the LXX. is the word evros so used ; nay more, that it is extremely doubtful whether pro- fane writers so use it. » Kom. xiv. 17. " Rom. xi. 17. ? Matt. xxi. 43. q Matt. xxi. 41. ' Matt, xxii, 9, 10. ^ Matt. xiii. 55. L. II. SHOULD BE GATHERED BY THE GOSPEL. 49 ing southward, and northward, and westward, and eastward, until the kings and peoples of the nations should be content to place themselves beneath its protection. " The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed . . . which indeed is the least of all seeds : but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof*." And all this was to be effected by a power, active, prevailing, penetrating, trans- forming as leaven ; — yes, and noiseless too as leaven" in its operation. Did any one ask what this power should be, energizing so secretly, so mightily ? The Lord himself supplied the answer. It was " the word of God^," — " the word of the kingdom ^" Yes ! that very Gospel which ' Matt. xiii. 3], 32. "Not only the first amplification of the bounds of the Christian Church, and as compared with its original dimensions, the most improbable and dispro- portionate ; but the celerity with which it was effected, — are facts too well authenticated, in the history of the progress of Christianity, not to be strictly taken into account, as coming within the scope of the parable." Greswell, Parables, vol. ii. p. 179. " Matt. xiii. 33. " Luke viii. 11. y Matt. xiii. 19. It seems to me, that the key to the meaning of the "leaven" is supplied in Matt. xvi. 12. "Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees." Mr. Greswell explains it of the "moral influences of Christianity, which kept pace with the propa- gation of the Gospel, and produced the same change and E 50 A KINGDOM MIXED IN CHARACTER L. II. the Baptist, the Lord himself, and the Apostles preached, "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God"." The fifth and last point in the teaching of our Lord concerning the kingdom, to which I desire to call your attention, is this, that he described it as mixed in its character even until " the end of this world ^" Should every one to whom "the word of this salvation" was " sentV — should every one even by whom it was welcomed, — become a true and loyal child of the kingdom ? Far from it. Jesus plainly taught, that in many cases the word would fall fruitless, as the seed of the sower by the way side ". He taught, that in many others baptism would indeed witness an outward adhesion to the standard of the King, while the scorching sun of perse- cution'^, or the briars and thorns of cares, and riches, and pleasures", would detect hearts un- constrained by the might of inward grace. But he taught further, that there should also be found those who, unchoked by thorns, and only ripened by the sun, would bring forth fruit, some thirty, some sixty, some an hundred fold^ renovation both of the prhiciples and practices of mankind, wherever the rehgion obtained a footing." Parables, vol. ii. p. 213. ^ Eph. vi. 17. a Mj^tt. xiii. 40, 49. ^ Acts xiii. 20. <: Matt.xiii.4,19. "^ Matt. xiii. 6, 6, 20, 21. e Matt. xiii. 7, 22. f Matt. xiii. 8, 23. The Lord tells us also the proportion that the nominal should bear to the real subjects of his king- L. II. UNTIL THE END OF THIS WORLD. 51 And how long should this mixed condition of Christ's kingdom last ? Till He who then came to visit us in great humility, should come again in his glorious majesty to judge both the quick and the dead. Not until the net was drawn to shore were the good fishes gathered into vessels, and the bad cast away^. The wheat and the tares grow both together until the harvest, and the harvest is the end of the world\ Till then shall the foolish virgins intermingle with the wise', — till then shall the wicked and slothful servant go out and come in among the good and faithful "", — till then shall the goats tread the same pasture with the sheep . dom. See Matt. xx. 16. xxii. 14. "The univei"sal kingdom of Christ was begun by Christ, when he saith, All power is given to me, &c. go teach and baptize all nations And if in nations where the Gospel is preached many assented not, Christ told us that also. Many be called, few chosen." Hayn's 3d Letter to Mede. Mede's Works, b. iv. p. 913. g Matt. xiii. 47—50. ^ Matt. xiii. 37—43. i Matt. XXV. 1—13. I' Matt. xxv. 14—30. ^ Matt. xxv. 31, 39, 33. "The beginning of that period in the parable was defined by the first going forth of the virgins to meet the bridegroom ; its end by the arrival of the bride- gi'oom himself: as the beginning of the scheme of Christian probation was defined by the overt publication of the Gospel on the day of Pentecost, followed by the overt formation of a Christian society, the first of its kind ; its close will be deter- mined by the return of Christ himself." Greswell, Parables, The Ten Virgins ; vol. v. part i. p. 489. It may here be noticed, that the 24th and 25th chapters of St. Matthew's Gospel form one continuous prophecy — of which the former part pourtrays the destruction of Jerusalem e2 52 THE PARABLE OF THE NOBLEMAN L. II. And now let us pause for a moment, and review the path which we have trodden. We have seen Jesus, — at a time when the Jews were, with one consent, expecting Messiah to come and his kingdom to appear, — declaring him- self to be the Messiah"", and announcing that a kingdom, which he claimed as his own, and of which he gave a full account, was indeed ,near at hand. Is it possible that, after all, he did not intend his people to recognise in that kingdom, when it should be set up, the very kingdom of Messiah ? Is it possible that, after all, that king- dom was not to come for eighteen centuries at the least"? But we may not overlook a very notable para- ble,— a parable which, as many think, renders such a conclusion imperatively necessary". I refer and its attendant circumstances — the latter, the state of the visible church from that date till the Lord's final return to judgment. In corroboration of this view the reader is re- quested to notice v. 84, 35, of the 24th chapter, and the word ^ore, — Tore 6[ji.oia>6riafTai rj jBacriXfia tCov ovpavmv 8eKa irapdevois k. t.}^. — at the beginning of the 25th chapter. See for chapter 24, as foretelling the destruction of Jerusalem, Bishop Newton, Dissertation xviii. ; for a learned and interesting dissertation on the same chapter as introductory to chapter 25, Mr. Gres- well. Parables, vol. v. part i. p. 191 — 443 ; and for a thoroughly conclusive and scriptural exposition of the whole passage, as one continuous prophecy, the Kev. E. G. Marsh's admirable Fifth Essay. m John iv. 26. " See Appendix, Note H. ° Homes, Nathaniel, D.I). Kesurrection Eevealed, reprinted London, 1833, p. 205—267. Begg, Connected View, p. 56, 57. L. II. WHO WENT INTO A FAR COUNTRY 53 to the parable of" the " nobleman, who went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return 1'." This parable, it is affirmed, plainly teaches that the kingdom of Messiah was not to be set up till after a long period of time'^. Say rather that that kingdom, though actually soon to be established, was not to be manifested in visible glory till many centuries had rolled away. Ex- amine the passage itself. Take that portion which tells the occasion in which the parable was uttered. Jesus, we read, " added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear'" — that is, shine forth in visible majesty, " dva(f)aLi'€aOai" Jesus had now completed his great, his final tour of the land of Israeli He was about publicly to enter its capital Brooks, Elements, p. 193- Abdiel's Essays, p. 36. Bicker- stetli. Practical Guide, p. 272. Birks, Outlines, p. 194. Greswell, Parables, vol. iv. p. 418 — 514. P Luke xix. 11 — 27. *• 1 do not dwell upon the further assertion, that this parable imperatively demands that in this yet future kingdom ter- restrial rewards should be distributed in proportion to present Christian fidelity. For it is obvious that this conclusion will then only be necessary when it is established that the " ten cities" and the " five cities" are something more than figures required by the symmetry of parabolic imagery. r Luke xix. 11. » " This part of his progress to Jerusalem before the last Passover, was but the conclusion of a much more general and extensive circuit, which having been begun, some weeks before, as there is every reason to believe, from Capernaum 54 BY NO MEANS DISPROVES L. II. in strictly regal state'. No marvel if the minds of the attendant multitude were filled with fond anticipations of the speedy manifestation of all the glories of Messiah's kingdom. But disappoint- ment awaited them ; and sin, grievous sin, would follow in its train. For this the parable in question was intended to prepare the disciples. It con- firmed indeed the expectation that the kingdom of Messiah would soon be established. For Jesus was the Messiah, and soon would he depart and go to the Father. There would he be invested with power and great authority. But it also taught that that kingdom would not be universally recognised. For it would be essentially spiritual. And against this the very fellow-citizens them- selves of the King, his kinsmen after the flesh, the Jews, would rebel. "" We will not have this man to reign over us", — a man who dashes to the ground our fondest, our most cherished hopes of in Galilee, had travelled in order through Galilee, Peroea, and probably Decaj)olis, until it passed into Judtea, and was finally closed at Jerusalem." Greswell, Parables, vol. iv. p. 483. * Luke xix. 28 — 38. " In strictly regal state." The reader may consult with interest and profit the Fourth Dissertation appended to Bp. Sherlock's Six Discourses on Prophecy. It is there shewn, in answer to the scoffs of the infidel, how ^ exact an accomplishment of prophecy, how jjunctual a com- pliance with the law, and how becoming an illustration of the true nature of Messiah's Kingdom, may be observed in this memorable transaction. " Luke xix. 14. L. II. THE PRESENT KINGSHIP OF JESUS. 55 national aggrandizement." Of the rest some would yield but a " feigned obedience V' while others would prove themselves good and faithful servants of their reigning, but unseen and absent Lord. But things would not always continue so. The King would one day be seen coming in the clouds of heaven. Then should he reward every man according to his works, and inaugurate, in presence of the assembled universe, an eternal and glorious kingdom. Such is, I firmly believe, the true interpre- tation of this memorable passage of the divine word. It harmonizes well with the doctrine which we have educed from the other parables concerning the kingdom. Nor may we be diverted from it by a desire to carry out in every particular the very ingenious but by no means certain parallelism which some have discovered between its imaginary transactions, and the events which really happened when Herod Archelaus^ went to Rome to be invested with that royalty for which he had been designated by the testament of his father. But it is time that we consider the teaching of the Apostles concerning the kingdom. With them also it is the frequent subject of " Ps, Ixvi 3. (margin.) y Greswell, Parables, vol. iv. p. 514. Birks, Outlines, p. 31. Dalton, Rev. W. Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, 1846, p. 127. 56 THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST L. II. discourse ^ But one great change is observable in the language in which it is proclaimed. Many times do we read in the Gospels the words, " the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Not once do we find them in the Acts and Epistles. And why so? Is the kingdom postponed ? By no means. The very kingdom which the Lord pourtrayed has been established. And this the Apostolic records plainly declare. Repentance and remission of sins have been preached in the name of Jesus among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem ^ Nor does the word of the Lord return unto him void. A great company of the priests is obedient to the faith ^ : many thousands of the Jews believed The Gospel is come into all the world ; and brinfifeth forth fruit '^. And how soon is it seen that an enemy hath sowed tares among the wheat! ^ Acts viii. 12: xix. 8: xx. 25 : xxviii. 23, 31. So much so, that a charge was brought against them similar to that with which, as we have seen above, their Master was im- peached : — " These all do contrary to the decrees of Cfesar, saying, that there is another king, one Jesus ;" — ^aaiKea \eyovTfs erepov elvai, 'irjaovv, Acts xvii. 7. On this the Eev. J. G. Kelly remarks, that the preaching of Anti-Millenuarians " is safe from such perversion, but just as the miser's character is safe from the imputation of extravagance." Prophetical Lectures, 2d Ed. p. 195. This rebuke is, I confess, much needed. But as the miser is not cured by becoming " extra- vagant," so neither is Pre-Millennarianism the remedy for tbe evil thus exposed ; the tru6 remedy is a Scriptural appre- hension of and a living faith in the present royalty of Jesus. " Luke xxiv. 47. ^ Acts vi. 7. c Acts xxi. 20. {^vpiadfs.) ^ Col. i. 5, 6. L. II. IS THE VISIBLE CHURCH. 57 Ananias and Sapphira'' and Simon the sorcerer^ were bnt specimens of the "false brethren^" who " crept in unawares V of the false teachers who privily brought in damnable heresies'. The kingdom then has been set up. It is that which men are wont to call The Visible Church. Its territory is all the world"", — its subjects .are " all that profess and call themselves Christians," — its laws are " the commandments of God," and " the testimony of Jesus'," — its officers, apostles, prophets, evangelists, doctors, and pastors'". And who is its King ? Its King is the ascended Jesus, — for to him hath the Father put in subjection this " world to come"," which many prophets and kings desired to see, and whereof we speak as now already come". e Acts V. f Acts viii. « Gal. ii. 4. '' Jude 4. i 2 Peter ii. i. '' Matt. xiii. 38. Mark xvi. 15. • Eev. xiv. la : xii. 17. '» Eph. iv. 11. " Heb. ii. 5. ° Millennarians are ajit to insist much upon the terms, " The world to come," Heb. ii. 5 : and, " Good things to come," Heb. ix. 11, as though they implied a still existing futurity. The following extract puts the case in its true light. " Novi Testamenti Ecclesia, ' orhis liahitabilis futurus' dici potest, ob rationem duplicem. I. Respectu temporis ante- gressi, et npoa-doKias Veterum : quo pacto Christus, etiam prsesens, et per passionem consummatus, et introductus in gloriam, respectu prioris Adami futurus dicitur. Eom. v. 14. II. Quia eo tempore, quo hsec scribebat Apostolus, stante adhuc teniplo, et hierarchia Levitica, et politia Judaica, revelatio Eegni Messiee in plena libertate expectabatur magis quam praesto erat. Unde suum aevum, quo sacrificia adhuc et dona offerebantur, t6v Kmpov tuv ivrjo-TrjKOTa, tempus prcesens 58 HIS SOLEMN ENTHRONIZATION L. II. Hear the Apostles themselves when they speak of Jesus. They tell of his solemn enthronization, — they tell of his universal dominion, — and with these they connect the progress of the Gospel upon earth, — for they tell also of the dispensations of his royal bounty, — the triumphs of his kingly might. They tell, I said, of his solemn enthronization at the right hand of God. Thus we read, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, that "when he had by himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high p." And again, in the Acts, " let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ '^." They tell, I further said, of his universal do- minion. For we may not for one moment imagine that the Son of Man is not personally invested with a kingly power peculiarly his own^ " The vocat, in discrimine proxime instantis temporis, quod Kaipos 8iop6oi)(Te(os, temims correctionis apj)ellat, Heb. ix. 9, 10. Cum ratione ergo Novi Testament! Ecclesia ab Apostolo fj ohovfievr) T] jxeXkovaa dicta fuit." Witsius. Miscellanea Sacra, Liber II. Dissert, vi. §. 35. tom. i. p. 632. p Heb. i. 3. -J Acts ii. 36. r I say, "peculiarly his own," because it is not unfrequently asserted by Millennarians, on the alleged authority of Kev. iii. 21, that the Lord Jesus is now in possession of no other kingdom than that kingdom of Divine Eight and Providential Kule which, in connnon with the Father, he has held from the beginning. It is therefore important to insist upon the fact, well established by Mr. Greswell, Parables, vol. iv. L. II. AND UNIVERSAL DOMINION. 59 Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand'." In him was that word fulfilled to the utmost, which had never before found its accomplishment in any son of Adam ; " Thou madest him a little lower than the angels ; thou crownedst him with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy hands : thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet V Yes ! p. 494, that " all power and authority, both m heaven and earth," was committed " to ovir Lord Jesus Christ, in his proper capacity as the Son of Man ; and from a point of time which cannot bear date earlier than his resurrection, or later than his ascension." With regard to Rev. iii. 21. it is to be noted, that the whole of its Pre-Millennial power lies in the intonation of voice with which it is read. But is it not plain, that to make the words " my" and " his" emj)hatic, is to assume the very point in debate ? Quite as reasonably might we contend for a distinction between Gentile and Israelitish justification in Gospel times, from the employment of the different words " hy faith" and " through faith" in Eom. iii. 20. The promise itself in Rev. iii. 21. is "in substance the same with many promises formerly mentioned, viz. a promise to make the overcomer partaker of Christ's glory The qualification or amplification of this promise is, " Even as I overcame" &c. which doth import these three; i. the greatness of this glory ... to partake both of the glory of the Father and of the Son, according to their capacity; ii. its sureness; iii. the method of its attainment." Durham on the Revelation. Glasgow, 1764, p. 233. ' John iii. 35. ' Heb. ii. 7, 8. " But now we see not yet all things put under him." These words are often considered fatal to that view of the Kingship of Jesus which is here advocated : e. g. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 96. Dalton, Bloomsbury Lec- tures, 1846, p. 129. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 263. This, however, arises from a misapprehension of the Apostle's 60 CONNECTION BETWEEN THE KING IN HEAVEN L. II. " power is given unto him over all flesh"." '* He is Lord of all\" " He is the head of all principality and power^" He is " the prince of the kings of the earth ■''." " Angels and authorities and powers are made subject to him\" Truly the Man Christ Jesus hath now received of right, as the fruit of all his sufferings, that kingdom of salvation, which even before, as the Eternal Son, he had on trust administered for the recovery of his elect. "He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly ex- alted him, and given him a name which is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father''." argument. The object that St. Paul has in view, says Owen on the passage, is to " direct the testimony adduced from the eighth Psalm in v. 6, 7, 8. unto its proper end, and to make way for its application unto him, who is especially intended therein. He begins therefore by declaring negatively to whom it is not applicable, in the words, ' but now we see not yet all things put under him,' meaning by ' him' mankind in general, which, as experience testifies, is very remote from being invested with the dominion here described The Apostle then shews in whom the words have their full accomplishment. 'But,' saith he, 'we see Jesus crowned with glory and honour.' " ° John xvii. 2. '^ Acts X. 36. ovTos €(TTi TTCLvrav Kvpios. " Col. ii. 10. y Rev. i. 5. ==1 Peter iii. 2'3. « Phil. ii. 8—11. L. II. AND HIS KINGDOM UPON EARTH, 61 And there is, accordingly, an intimate con- nection between the King in heaven and his kingdom upon earth. How could it be otherwise? He is "head over all things to the Church^," that is, for her benefit. The Father hath " given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as he hath given him"." Need I refer to my text again ? " All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and make disciples of (^iiaOrjTevaaTe) all nations ^" Nor doth the King confine himself to sending forth his heralds. He works with them% he stands by them, he strengthens them', he adds to the Church daily such as shall be saved ^. And thus doth he keep the words of his own most true promise, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world^." What then is the preaching of his word by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven', but a dis- pensation of his royal bounty ? What are the " signs following'"' that accompany that word, but the triumphs of his kingly might ? Thus do we read, " When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and some, evangehsts ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body ^ Eph. i. 22. <= John xvii. 2. " Matt, xxviii. 18, 19. e Mark xvi. 20 ' 2 Tim. iv. 17. s A.cts ii. 47. i> Matt, xxviii. 20. ' 1 Peter i. 12. ^ Mark xvi. 20. 62 AS WITNESSED BY THE FACTS L. II. of Christ'." And again, " Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye beUeved, even as the Lord gave to every man""" — for "him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins"." Accordingly, whether the Apostles speak of themselves, or of the saints to whom they minister, the present Kingship of Jesus is recognised throughout. Do they speak of themselves ? They are the '' servants"," — the " soldiers p," — the " ambassa- dors i" of Jesus Christ. Every commission runs in His name% — every enterprize is undertaken by His authority % — every exploit is achieved by His power*, — every action regulated by His law". Do they speak of the saints ? They are a royal priesthood", — they have been made by Jesus their Lord kings and priests unto God and his Father^, — they have been delivered from the power of dark- ness,— they have been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son"', — they receive a kingdom which cannot be moved*. 1 Eph. iv. 8—12. '» 1 Cor. iii. 5. " Acts v. 31. o Eom. i. 1. P 2 Tim ii. 3. i 2 Cor. v. 20. ' Gal. i. 1. s 1 Cor. i. 17. ' Rom. xv. 18. " 1 Cor. ix. 14; xi. 23. "■■ 1 Pet. ii. 9. y Eev. i. 6. ^ Col. i. 13. ' Heb. xii. 26 — 28. " The Apostle declares, v. 28, that believers do now actually receive what is the fruit and effect of the work here described, namely, a kingdom that cannot he moved." .... "Whereas some [e.g. Bickersteth, Restoration of the Jews. London, 1852, p. 8. Bonar, Prophetical Land- marks, p. 107 — 110. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 241, 242.] L. II. BOTH OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE. 63 I might now appeal to the facts of providence and of grace. I might rehearse the puhhc manifestations of Jesus' kingly might, — at the day of Pentecost, — at the destruction of Jerusalem, — at the overthrow of Paganism, — at the blessed Reformation. Or again, I might trace the secret operations of his power in the hearts of his people, — conviction of sin, repentance toward God, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, love, joy, peace, longsufFering, gen- tleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. All alike would confirm my testimony, when I declare that " the Lord is King^." would refer all these things to the second coming of Christ, namely, to judgment at the last day, when the whole fahric of heaven and earth shall he shaken and removed : hesides that it is wholly alien to the whole design of the words in the prophet, it no way belongs to the argument of the Apostle. For he compares not the giving of the law, and the coming of Christ to judgment at the last day, but the giving of the law with the promulgation of the Gospel by Christ himself. For his design is in all things to give the pre-eminence to the Gospel, wheremito the consideration of the coming of Christ to judgment is no way subservient." . . . . " They are spiritual things whereof the Apostle doth discourse, as shaken, such | ^^ as end in that im shaken kingdom, which believers do receive in this world." 0®en. So also Dr. Gill : " The Apostle applies these words to the change made in the worship of God by the coming of Christ, when the carnal ordinances of the law were removed and evangelical ordinances instituted, which shall remain until his second coming. Heb. xii. 26." On Haggai ii. 6. " Nothing is more clear than that the true Messiah was to come into the second temple, and by that give it a greater glory than the former ever had; as is evident from Haggai ii. 6 — 9." Preface to Ezekiel xl. ^ With reference to 1 Cor. iv. 8. Eev. v. 10. quoted by 64 FROM THE MOMENT OF HIS ASCENSION L. II. But why say more ? Enough surely, my brethren, and more than enough, has now been adduced from the teaching of the Apostles to prove, that Jesus has, fi-om the moment that he sat down on the right hand of God, been as the Christ of God possessed of a kingdom which ruleth over all. Brooks, Abcliel's Essays, p. 37, it may be observed, that there is an identity between Christ and his Church which causes many things to be said of her which primarily belong to him. Thus, as Christ is king, so his people " reign as kings," 1 Cor. iv. 8. even in that kingdom which is de- scribed in V. 20; — as Christ is king and priest, so are they " a royal priesthood,'" 1 Pet. ii. 9. " kings and priests unto God and his Father," Rev. i. 5, 6. In like manner in Rev. v. 10 the infant Church of Christ anticipates as her own, such triumphs of the Redeemer's kingdom as are prophetically chronicled in the subsequent chapters. For it is the Church in her present earthly state who speaks there, not the spirits of just men made perfect. In further elucidation of this last passage it must be remembered, that the Church does always regard herself as one from the very beginning to the end of time ; so that just as she shares every thing with her Lord, she shares every spiritual blessing with her members in all generations. " The Church," says Mr. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 22. "is constantly addressed as a mystical body, which (according to our political axiom respecting the sovereign) never dies." " Prffividerunt sancti et ex oraculis perspexerunt, aliquando eventurum esse ut Christiana religio, in orbe caput extolleret, et, suppressis religionibus falsis et superstitiosis, in ipso Roiiiano imperio summam obtineret auctoritatem." " Sancti, verbo Dei eruditi, magnam banc rerum catastrophen, quae tandem effectum sortiri coepit sub Constantino, praeviderunt, et spe sua anticiparunt." Vitringa " Anacrisis Apocalypsios." Am- stelodami, 1719, p. 218. L. II. CHRIST HAS RULED AS KING OVER ALL. 65 And how long shall he continue thus to reign? I answer, on the same authority, till the last trumpet sounds, — till the dead are raised, — till the living are changed. " He must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death"." And when shall that be ? " This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory*^." And thus, under the guidance of the Apostles, have we come to the very point to which we were conducted by the Lord himself. His kingdom shall retain its present character until he come again in glorious majesty to judge the quick and the dead. And now, once more, look back upon the path which we have trodden. The glowing predictions of Old Testament prophecy foretell, in the judgment of many, a yet future period of greatly enlarged happiness to the inhabitants of this world; — "enlarged" happiness, I say, for unmixed blessedness we may not expect till the Lord return ; — the tares grow together with the wheat until the harvest ^ Upon those c 1 Cor. XV. 25, 26. ■* 1 Cor. xv. 53, 54. e Matt. xiii. 30. F 66 NOR SHALL HIS KINGDOM UNDERGO L. II. predictions I purpose, on a future occasion^, to offer some observations to your notice. Mean- while there are two points in which they have a close connection with our present enquiry. In the first place, Pre-Millennarians are wont to affirm, that the anticipated result cannot be effected save by a personal manifestation of the King him- self;— the weapons of our present warfare are, they say, unequal to the task. Now, if such were the case, would there not be some indication in the teaching of the Lord of a change in the method of his operations, so striking, so abrupt ? Yet there is absolutely no hint, no, not the very slightest, to countenance the idea that any ex- tension of the kingdom which shall yet take place shall be effected by other instrumentalities than those which the great King hath hitherto vouch- safed to employ. The sower sows ; — the leaven works ; — the mustard plant grows ; — until " the end of this world ^." Nor are Pre-Millennarians unwilling to sub- ' Lecture Vlli. ^ " The Millennarian system is not in harmony with those parts of Scripture, in which the Gospel is evidently repre- sented as working its way to universal extension and influence by a gradual progress. . . . The attempt of some Millennarians to interpret such parables as those of the grain of mustard seed, and the leaven hid in the meal, as not at all designed to convey the idea of this gradual progress, appears to me an outrage on every principle of fair and simple exposition." Wardlaw, Sermon XVII. p. 516 L. II. ANY ESSENTIAL TRANSMUTATION 67 scribe to this opinion. For it is, they think, conclusive in their favour. There is, they say, no mention of the Millennium before the Lord appears, it must therefore take place afterwards. Accordingly they explain " the end of this world" — avvTeXeua tov alcovos — to be " the end of the age'' ;" — that is, of the Pre-Millennial oeconomy. But this cannot be. The argument might pos- sibly avail to disprove any future Millennium at all', it cannot avail to prove a Pre-Millennial advent. ^ Matthew xxiv. 3. " Tell us when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world T' "These are only different expressions to denote the same period with the destruction of Jerusalem ; for when they conceived would be the destruction of Jerusalem, then they conceived would be the coming of Christ ; and when they con- ceived would be the coming of Christ, then they conceived would be the end of the woi'ld, or rather (as it should be rendered) the conclusion of the age For there being two ages (as they were called) among the Jews, the one under the law, the other under the Messiah ; when the city and temple were destroyed, and the Jewish polity in Church and State was dissolved, the former age must of course be concluded, and the age under the Messiah commenced." Bishop Newton on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 234. i This is the conclusion to which the late Mr. Gipps was led by a consideration of the following parables : Matt. xiii. 24—30, 37—43: Matt. xiii. 47—50: Matt. xxi. 1—14: and Matt. xxv. 1 — 13: in all of which he recognised the preaching of the Gospel, and the intermixture in the visible Church of gracious believers and graceless professors as con- tinuing to the end of all things. First Resurrection, chap. iv. §. ii. p. 116, 117. See, for more upon this subject. Lecture VII. of this volume. f2 68 TILL THAT KINGDOM OF GLORY COME L. II. For observe, in the second place, that the personal coming of the Lord would, if I may so speak, accomplish too much for this hypothesis. Even Millennial glory will be too full of earthly alloy, and too transitory ; it will in fact be too nearly identical, in all essential points, with the present state of things, to find, consistently with the teaching of the Lord and his Apostles, any place in that kingdom which shall immediately commence when he appears ''. For what shall follow this advent ? Not a mixed, a short-lived, an earthly kingdom, in which he shall once more be separated from the Father, but the very contrary. The kingdom of glory shall be at once pure, eternal, heavenly^ ^ Lecture VI. ' 1 Cor XV. 28. This is the kingdom spoken of in 2 Tim. iv. 1. 18. 2 Pet. i. 11. For there seem to he three senses in which the word kingdom is used in spiritual matters. They have been sometimes enumerated thus : the kingdom of iwivilege, the kingdom of grace, the kingdom of glory. The kingdom of privilege is the Visible Church embracing within its ample bounds all who name the name of Christ. The kingdom of grace is the Church Indefinable, inclosing those and only those who are savingly called to the knowledge of Christ and faith in him. These two kingdoms coexist, the latter being included within the larger circle of the former. When Christ conies, then shall begin the kingdom of glory; the Church consummated in numbers, and everlastingly tri- umphant in bliss. It is because distinctions hke these have not been borne in mind, that Mr. Brooks with others have fallen into the error of arguing, that because a future kingdom of Christ is spoken of, therefore all kingdoms of Christ that L. II. WHICH IS PURE, ETERNAL, HEAVENLY. 69 It is a kingdom, I say, of perfect purity. The Son of man when he cometh shall send forth " his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend"',"— and if " all things," whence shall come Gog and Magog and their armies, countless as the sand which is by the sea shore" ? — " all things that offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a fin'nace of fire . . . then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father"." And that for ever ! This kingdom of our Lord Scripture reveals are future also. That he really does argue after this manner may be seen in his Elements, p. 195, 199. also in Abdiel's Essays, note on p. 38. ™ The profane shall be gathered out: 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10. The hypocrite shall be excluded: Matt. vii. 21. All corruption in the persons of the redeemed shall be eradicated : 1 Cor. XV. 50. In short, it shall be as in Rev. xxi. 27. ° Eev. XX. 7, 8. Pre-Millennarians have two solutions of this difficulty. They limit " the field," and they protract "the harvest." Of the latter of these expedients, see Lecture V. As to the former, I cannot subscribe to the statement of Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. G3, that " the field which is first sown with good seed, but into which the tares presently enter, is not the world in its widest sense, but the world, so far as it is fenced off for the seed-bed of gospel truth and grace, or, in other words, the visible Church of Christ dwelling in the world." Surely " the world" here spoken of is "the world" of Mark xvi. 15, the "all nations" of Matt. xxviii. 19, — or, in other words, the whole habitable globe. And this is the view which Mr. Greswell, though ajjparently coinciding with Mr. Birks, seems to me practically to take : Parables, vol. ii. p. 97, 98. ° Matt. xiii. 41—43. 70 THE PRESENT KINGDOM OF CHRIST L. II- and Saviour Jesus Christ^ is an " everlasting kingdom "i." The wicked shall " go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal'." Finally, the scene of these unsullied, these eternal glories shall be heaven itself. " The Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever"." But upon this last point, as it is immaterial to my present argument, I do not now insist ^ Such is, I venture to think, a full and fair ex- hibition of the direct teaching of the Lord and his Apostles concerning the kingdom of heaven. It places a present kingship of Jesus beyond all dispute. And this, many advocates of the personal reign are free to acknowledge. They are not, however, on that account, the less tenacious in maintaining, that the true and proper kingdom of Christ is yet to come. His present gracious sway is but the first stage, so to speak, of his royal progress". Now, say they, he sits upon his Father's P See Appendix, Note I. •J 2 Peter i. 11. ^ Matt. xxv. 46. « 2 Tim. iv. 18. * See Lecture VI. ^ Thus, in the Bloomsbury Lent Lectures for 1843, the late truly reverend Edward Bickersteth has given us a dis- course on " The kingdom of Christ the Lord in its successive stages and in its heavenly glories." The " successive stages" are as follows : 1, The time of Expectation, from the creation to the first advent. 2, The Spiritual kingdom, from the first to the second advent. 3, The Millennial kingdom. 4, The L. II. THE TRUE KINGDOM OF HIS FATHER DAVID. 71 throne in heaven, as Mediator ; ere long he shall assume his own throne on earth as the Son of David^ I shall, in my next lecture, endeavour to shew, that this assertion is at variance with the exposition which the Apostles give of Old Testament prophecy, when it speaks of Messiah sitting upon the throne of David. For they instruct us to recognise in the present kingdom of grace the true and proper kingdom of David's Son and David's Lord. Nor do they lead us to expect that it shall undergo any essential transmutation, until the day when it shall be merged in the kingdom of glory. Meanwhile I cannot but remark, that this doc- trine of a present, true, and effectual Kingship of Jesus Christ, is one of an eminently practical character. To the real believer, it is a Gospel of "glad tidings^" indeed. For as Isaiah, in the days of Israel's worst apostasy, in vision saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple, while the seraphim cried one unto another. Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts : the whole earth is full of his glory"; — so can he, even when the peoples of Everlasting kingdom. So also in his Practical Guide, chapter XX. p. 267, 277, 280. Somewhat dilTerently Mr. Greswell speaks of " the natural and hereditary kingdom," " the medi- atorial kingdom," and the Messianic kingdom of the Lord Jesus. The two former are in existence already, the last has yet to be manifested. Parables, vol. iv. 490, 497, 499. ^ Rev. iii. 21. y Luke viii. 1. » Isaiah vi. 1 — 3. 72 THE PRESENT KINGSHIP OF JESUS L. II. the earth and their rulers seem with one consent to renounce allegiance to the King of saints % by faith behold the Lamb that was slain standing in the midst of the throne, and hear every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, saying, " Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever^." Nor doth he fear discomfiture, when (his ini- quity being taken away and his sin purged") he salhes forth under the banners of his king to war with sin, the world, and the devil. With match- less power and wisdom, a greater than Solomon governs the nations upon earth. Amid the tu- mults of revolution and the din of war, Jehovah- Jesus sitteth upon the water-flood, he sitteth King for ever^ The mightiest of earthly monarchs is but the rod of his anger % his saw', his battle axe^, his bow. He girds them even though they have not known him\ — and shall he, can he, be un- mindful of his people, his chosen ? To him all things in heaven, in earth, and under the earth, do bow and obey, — shall he not make them work together for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose'? • Psalm ii. 1, 2, 3. Acts iv. 24—27. ^ Eev. v. 6, 13. c Isaiah vi. 7. ^ Psalm xxix. 10. ^ Isaiah x. 5. f Isaiah x. 15. « Jer. li. 20. ^ Isaiah xlv. 5. i Kom. viii. 28. L. II. A STRONG CONSOLATION TO HIS CHURCH. 73 For their especial benefit was he invested with that supreme dominion, — he is head over all things to the Church, which is his body'". Only let faith in each case have her perfect work, and it shall, in the due time, surely be seen, that he who is King of old, commandeth deliverances for Jacob'. Yes, and when the Church's danger shall be greatest, then shall her triumph be nearest. Soon (perhaps very soon™) shall faith be swallowed up of sight. The King shall be seen coming in the clouds of heaven". Then shall his enemies be consumed before him°. Then shall all true and loyal soldiers and servants of his cross hear him say, " Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world P;" — "and they shall reign for ever and everV ^ Eph. i. 22, 23. * Psalm Ixxiv. 12. and xliv. 4. ^ Lectm-e VII. " Matt. xxvi. 64. « Psalm 1. 3 : xcvii. 3- p Matt. XXV. 34. 1 Eev. xxii. 5. " Hinc [i. e. ex ascensu Christi] multiplicem fructum colligit fides Tertio potentiam ejus appreliendit in qua situm est nostrum robur, virtus, opes, et adversus inferos gloriatio. Nam ascendens in coelum, captivam duxit captivitatem, et spoliatis hostibus locupletavit populum suum, ac quotidie spiritualibus divitiis cumulat. In excelsis ergo sedet, ut transfusa inde ad nos sua virtute, in vitam spiri- tualem nos vivificet, ut Spiritu suo sanctificet, ut variis gratiarum dotibus ecclesiam suam exornet, ut protectione sua tutam adversus omnes noxas conservet, ut ferocientes crucis suae ac nostme salutis laostes manus suae fortitudine coerceat, denique ut omnem teneat potestatem in coelo et in terra: donee inimicos omnes suos, qui etiam nostri sunt, prosti-averit, 74 THE TEACHING OF THE PROPHET DANIEL L. II. In conclusion, I turn, for a very few moments, to those visions of Daniel % which treat expressly of the kingdom of Messiah. The record indeed is brief, and the kingdom is throughout, from its beginning in time to its consummation in eternity, reecarded as one'. Still will the doctrine be found to harmonize with the conclusions at which we have arrived. In his second chapter, — that which contains the image-vision of Nebuchadnezzar, — the prophet makes known the date, the character, and the progress of the kingdom. And in so doing he gives us, I might almost say, a condensation of the many words, in which the Lord himself has already instructed us upon the same points. As to the period of its manifestation, the king- ac Ecclesise susb seclificationem consummarit. Atque hie verus est regni ejus status, htec potestas, quani in eum contulit Pater, donee ultimum actum ad vivorum et mortuo- rum judicium adveniens compleat." Calvinus, Institutionum Christianse Eeligionis Liber ii. cap. xvi. §. 16. Anjstelodami, 1667, p. 134. ■■ Chapters ii. and vii. ' This fact will account for the words, ch. vii. 27. " the kingdom under the ivhole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High," without the necessity of supposing a sojourn of the Church upon earth after the destruction of Antichrist. But even if they be taken to refer to a future Millennium of terrestrial blessedness, as introductory to the eternal state, they do not require a personal reign of the saints which shall have fallen asleep. It will be quite enough, Scripturally, if the kingdom be given to the saints then living upon the earth. See note b on p. 63. L. II. CONCERNING THE KINGDOM OF MESSIAH 75 dom of heaven was to be established while yet the Roman empire was in being*. Again, as to its character, the adoption of a symbol generically distinct from the symbols by which the kingdoms of the nations were prefigured, leads us to expect a kingdom not of this world. It is not an image but a stone ; and that, a stone cut out without hands °. And so too with regard to its progress ; — the stone, by a steady, a gradual increase, becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth "", just as the mustard seed, which is indeed the least of all seeds, becomes, also by a steady, a gradual increase, the greatest of herbs. Nor was that sublimer view denied to Daniel, which was conceded to the Apostles. To them * Daniel ii. 44. " In the days of these kings," that is, in the days of the last of them, "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom." See Mede, Works, p. 877, 917, 922, 923. Daniel ix. 25. supplies another prophecy of the date of the setting up of the kingdom ; if " until Messiah the Prince" be understood to mean, "until Messiah be Prince;" that is, " until he shall visibly assume the office of leader." " This," Mr. Birks proceeds, " is the view which most commentators adopt, and which seems the trvie interpretation." Elements of Sacred Prophecy, chapter vii. p. 171. " Daniel ii. 34, 35. " The establishment of Christianity is a past fact : and its mode of establishment justifies the emblem ; that emblem which describes it as 'a stone cut out of a mountain without hands;' a work quarried out of the mountain by other means than the known methods and resources of human power." Davison on Prophecy, p, 492. ^ Daniel ii. 35. compare Isaiah ii. 2. 76 HARMONIZES WITH THE TESTIMONY L. II. was fully made known the advent of that usurper, — that man of sin, — that son of perdition-, who should, even while professing allegiance to it, most wickedly oppose the sceptre of Messias. To them was also made known how the Lord would finally consume him with the breath of his mouth, and destroy him by the brightness of his coming \ Meanwhile they were permitted to enter by faith into heaven itself, and to behold their King sitting upon his royal throne. Even so Daniel, having, in his seventh chapter, watched the rise, the progress, and the fall of the symbolical horn% is privileged to reascend to an earlier period^ in the stream of prophecy, and to learn what has all along been transacting in the heavens ; — for the ascended Jesus has been reigning from thence over the children of men. " I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days," — not, as many a Pre-Millennarian would seem to read it% to the earth, — "and they brought y 3 Thess. ii. 3. ^ 2 Thess. ii. 8. « Daniel vii. 8, 11. * See Note J. in the Appendix. = "When Daniel's times are done, the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven, to receive the empire of all the kingdoms of the world. Daniel vii. 14." Joseph Mede, Book iv, Ansv\^er to Mr. Hayn, Works, p. 910. " As the Son of man comes in the clouds of heaven to receive this kingdom, it must be a visible and personal inauguration that takes place, and at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ." " The coming in the clouds is obviously the same as that in Acts i. 9—12." Brooks, Elements, p. 189, 190. L. II. OF CHRIST AND HIS APOSTLES. 77 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^." Yes, my brethren, every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Surely it is our wisdom to yield a willing, a prompt, an entire obedience to his righteous sway. Let each then pray, — in the true sense of those words which the Lord himself hath taught us, '' thy kingdom come V " In these words we have the second comhig of the Lord predicted. The language is such as cannot be mistaken .... If so, there cannot possibly be a Millennium before Christ comes." Bonar, Landmarks, chapter vii. p. 103, 104. So also Birks, Outlines, p. 56. Begg, Connected View, p. 82. Ctminghame, Answer to Wardlaw, Glasgow, 1833, p. 46, 47. ^ Daniel vii. 13, 14. See Note K. in the Appendix. « " I myself entertain no doubt, that this is a prayer for the arrival of the Millennary kingdom, and was always intended to be so : nor do I see, in what sense we can be supposed to pray for the coming of any kingdom of God, distinct from that." Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 254. Let Bishop Hm-d supply an answer. " Christ," he says, "could only corns, in person, at one limited time. He comes in his power and his providence through all ages of the Church. His first coming was then over, when he expired on the cross. His second commenced with his Resurrection, and will continue to the end of the world. So that this last coming of Jesus is to be understood of his spiritual kingdom ; which 78 THE TRUE MEANING OF THE PETITION L. II. Establish thy dommion. Prince of Peace, in every heart ! Cast down every imagination ; — bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ^. Let the pardoned rebel know how blessed is that kingdom within which is righteous- ness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ^. And establish thy dominion. Prince of Peace, in every land ! Let thy way be known upon earth, thy saving health among all nations^! By the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of his testi- mony', many times have the soldiers of thy cross gloriously triumphed ; shall that word be powerless now ? As then each victory was won, a loud voice was heard in heaven, saying, " Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ'' :" — is it thy will that, yet once again before the end of all things, the same triumphant shout should ring is not one act of sovereignty exerted at once ; but a state or constitution of government, subsisting through a long tract of time, unfolding itself by just degrees, and coming as oft as the conductor of it thinks fit to interpose by any signal acts of his administration. And in this sense we are directed to pray that his kingdom, though long since set up, may come : that is, may advance through all its stages, till it arrive at that full state of glory, in which it shall shine out in the great day, as it is called, the day of judgment." Introduction to the Prophecies, Sermon V. vol. i. p. 123. ' 2 Cor. X. 5. 8 Rom. xiv. 17. ^ Psalm Ixvii. 2. ' Rev. xii. 11, ^ Rev. xii. 10. For an account of the Structure and Lan- guage of the Apocalypse, see Lecture VII. of this volume. L. II. THY KINGDOM COME. 79 through the many mansions of thy Father's house ? Give once more the word, great shall be the company of them that publish it'. And thus, O Prince of Peace, " accomplish the number of thine elect, and hasten thy kingdom," even in that its triumphant, its final developement, when the Son also himself being subject unto him that put all things under him, God shall be all in all. " Now unto the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords ; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto ; whom no man hath seen, nor can see : to him be honour and power everlasting™. Amen." 1 Psalm Ixviii. 11. ™ I Tim. vi. 15, 16. LECTURE III. THE KINGDOM OF CHRIST, AS NOW EXISTING, THE TRUE KINGDOM OF HIS FATHER DAVID. Acts xiii. 32, 33. AND WE DECLARE UNTO YOU GLAD TIDINGS, HOW THAT THE PROMISE WHICH WAS MADE UNTO THE FATHERS, GOD HATH FULFILLED — IxTTgTrA^^WJte — THE SAME UNTO US THEIR CHILDREN, IN THAT HE HATH RAISED UP JESUS AGAIN ; AS IT IS ALSO WRITTEN IN THE SECOND PSALM, THOU ART MY SON, THIS DAY HAVE I BEGOTTEN THEE. It is the expectation of many, that in the last days, the house of Israel having been restored to their own land, and being in peril of destruction by the assault of the assembled nations, Messiah shall, at the hour of their greatest need, personally appear as their mighty deliverer, — shall convert them to himself, — and shall then, making them an universal blessing to mankind, reign over them in Mount Zion and at Jerusalem gloriously. Then, say they, and not till then, shall that promise be L. III. THE PRE-MILLENNARIAN RULE 81 fulfilled, '* 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^" We shall, I think, be able to prove to you in subsequent Lectures, that any personal reign of Christ upon earth is, — if we read the New Testa- ment aright when it treats of the ingathering and glorification of the Church^, the judgment of quick and dead'^, and the eternal state "*, — a Scriptural impossibihty. Meanwhile, (viewing the question simply as one of Old Testament exegesis,) there are, we think, at least two strong a priori objections to that principle of universal literalism in the interpretation of pro- phecy, upon which these expectations are based. The one is, that it entirely destroys that gene- rally aenigmatical character, which seems necessary even to sacred prophecy, if it is not to interfere with the free agency and responsibility of those who at once have the custody of its documents, and are providentially designed to be the exe- cutioners, and in some instances the guilty exe- cutioners, of its decrees*. » Luke i. 32, 33. Brooks, Elements, p. 279—284. Kelly, Prophetical Lectures, p. 203 — 206. Molyneux, Israel's Future, passim. West Street Chapel Lent Lectures, 1841, Lectures X, XL Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, 1846, Lectures VII, VIII, IX, X, XL " Lecture IV. •= Lecture V. " Lecture VI. e The following remarks cited by Bishop Hurd "have G 82 OF AN UNIVERSAL LITERALISM L, III. The other is, that it as entirely destroys that completeness and continuity of subject, which marks the Old Testament predictions up to the time of Christ's first advent. It destroys the con- tinuity of prophecy, — for, having conducted us step by step up to the first coming of the Messias, it abruptly terminates its disclosures, and only re- sumes the thread of its information after the lapse of at least eighteen centuries*. And thus also it weight," if taken with such qualifications as those which are suggested above. For it is obvious that the same ends could be attained by different means ; as, for example, by the providential concealment of prophetic documents from those who are designed to carry out their decrees. That even this was the case in the instances of Josiah, 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 16. and Cyrus, Isaiah xliv. 28. and xlv. 1 — 4, may be very reasonably questioned. But then there is this important fact to be noticed, that their acts, even if done in direct obedience to known predictions, were morally right : whereas the deeds of the Jews, even though strictly according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, were morally wrong. Acts ii. 23. "It has been observed, that as the completion of prophecy is left, for the most part, to the instrumentality of free agents, if the cii'cumstances of the event were predicted with the utmost precision either human liberty must be restrained, or human obstinacy might be tempted to form the absurd indeed but criminal purpose, of counteracting the prediction. On the contrary, by throwing some part of the predicted event into shade, the moral faculties of the agent have their proper play, and the guilt of an intended opposition to the will of heaven is avoided." Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies, vol. i. p. 55. f Thus, for example, Mr. Molyneux is not content with Apocalyptic Futurism : he is a Futurist also with regard to L. III. IN THE INTERPRETATION OF PROPHECY 83 destroys the completeness of the prophetic subject, — for having depicted, with an exact appreciation of the relative importance of every other part of the series, the person, the offices, and the work of Messiah himself, it leaves that next greatest, that complementary phaenomenon, the rise and progress of the Holy Church throughout the world, entirely unrepresented on the prophetic page^. Nor is the principle in question corroborated by the New Testament usage of the proper names to which it is mostly applied. Indeed it might, I am well persuaded, be shewn, that even in the Old Testament there are instances of the words David, Israel, and Jerusalem, being used in a figurative sense\ Leaving this however for the present, there can be no doubt of the fact, that in the New Testament the contrary principle of a spiritual Old Testament Prophecy. " All attempts," he says, " to apply prophecy to the history of the last eigliteen centuries, or to the period since the destruction of Jerusalem, must be vain and visionary." Israel's Future, p. 97. Practically his Pre- Millennarian brethren, though in general they differ from him as to the Apocalypse, approximate to him very nearly with regard to the books of Isaiah and the other Israelitish seers. For they claim almost every thing choice in Old Testament prophecy on behalf of the Jewish people, and the Millennial age, leaving scarcely any present prophetic blessing for Gospel times. s See, for more upon the design and structure of Old Testament prophecy. Lecture VIII. of this volume. ^ See Lecture VIII. g2 84 NOT SANCTIONED BY THE AUTHORITY L. III. interpretation is plainly affirmed, when the Holy Ghost in the Gospels and Epistles speaks of " Israelites indeed',"— of " the Israel of GodV'— of '' Jerusalem which is above' ;" and when, in the Apocalypse, He makes the Jew again and again to be the symbol of the Christian "". But we have grounds surer even than these. On many occasions the Apostles stood forth as the expositors of Old Testament prophecy. In that capacity they certainly did give what is called a spiritual interpretation to some even of those very predictions upon vv^hich literalists most con- fidently rely, when they bid us expect this personal reign of Messias upon earth. This leads me at once to the subject which I propose, according to my promise, to bring before you to day. That subject is, the true meaning of the prophecies which are said to require that Jesus i John i. 47. k Gal vi. 16. i Gal. iv. 26. "^ Eev. ii. 9. iii. 9. " Quemadmodum enim initio, Theatrum Visionum sen Consessum Apocalypticum pro veteris Synagoge imagine statuque descriptum vidimus, magnaque pai'S hiijus libri typorum eodem spectat, adeo ut etiam Pseudo-Christiani in Epistolis ad Ecclesias ea de causa Psetido-Jiid■ John i. 49. 90 BUT THEY TAUGHT OF PERFECT EQUALITY L. III. accepted homage of the attendant multitudes* ? Need I remind you how " all this was done, that it might he fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass"?" The question then was one which could not be avoided. Nor did the Apostles make the attempt. On the contrary, they reiterated the claims of their Master, and they carefully proved the lineal descent upon which they were founded". But O how disappointing to the cherished antici- pations of the Jew, their teaching concerning his kingdom ! For what did they say of the people whom he should govern ? of the throne upon which he should sit ? With regard to his people ; — this was their teaching, that the Israel whom he should govern would consist of the Jewish remnant according to the election of grace replenished, upon terms of the most perfect equality, by a large accession of believing though uncircumcised Gentiles". With regard to the seat of his royal majesty ; — their preaching may be summed up in this, that 1 " They that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna ; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord : Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord ; Hosanna in the highest." Mark xi. 9, 10. m Matt. xxi. 4, 5. » Matt. i. 1—17. ° Gal. v. 6. L. III. BETWEEN JEW AND GENTILE, 91 the earthly throne of his father David had found its intended antitype in that heavenly throne on which Jesus was now seated at the right hand of God, ruling in the midst of his enemies, and making his people wilHng in the day of his power^. But I must enlarge upon both these points. To begin with the subjects of Messiah's kingdom : the apostles, so far from soothing the irritation of the Jew by promising him national pre-eminence, proclaim the admission of the unchxumcised Gentile into the kingdom of Messiah, upon terms of the most perfect equality. As to any present spiritual distinction between Jew and Gentile, they announce that there is abso- lutely none whatever. They declare that both equally need'i ; — and that, believing, both shall equally share' in the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. Nay more, they affirm that that salvation, so freely given to every one that beUeveth, is the true blessing of Abraham'. So much so, that the beheving Gentile, though uncircumcised, is much more really the child of Abraham, than the cir- cumcised Jew who beheveth not*. Thus the Baptist to the Jews; — "Think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father : for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham"." Thus Paul to p Psalm ex. 2, 3. *< Rom. iii. 9. ' Rom. iii. 29, 30. s Gal. iii. 7, 8, 9. » Rom. iv. 11, 12. " Matt. iii. 9. 92 SPIRITUAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL, L. III. the Gentiles, " If ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promised" As to ecclesiastical distinction, all that once existed has now been quite done away. This truly is the very burden of the whole epistle to the Hebrews ; that the priesthood, sacrifice, and tabernacle of Aaron have been superseded by His priesthood, and His sacrifice, who hath entered, not into a tabernacle made with hands, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us ^. Accordingly we read in the Ephesians, that Jesus "is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments con- tained in ordinances ; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace \" Such then is the present perfect equality % — spiritual and ecclesiastical, — between Jew and Gentile in the kingdom of heaven. There is, according to the Apostles, " no difference ; for » Gal. iii. 29. Rom. ii. 28, 29. ^ Heb. ix. 24. - Eph. ii. 14, 15. * An equality which shall, as Mr. Brooks well observes. Elements, pp. 302 — 305, remain in full force among the resurrection saints for ever. " Whatsoever Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are substantially to be made partakers of, the same will all that have walked in faith be made joint-heirs of, whether Jew, or Gentile." L. III. PRESENT AND FUTURE, 93 the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him''." Nor shall any such distinction exist on earth in time to come''. As to spiritual difference, — now the saved ones, whether Jews or Gentiles, are but a remnant ; — but in both cases it is a " remnant according to the election of grace'' ;" — and in both cases are the operations of that grace the same. By the same Spirit have both Jew and Gentile an access through Christ to the Father **, by the same faith are both alike by that Father justified'^. And if in the latter days the fulness of the Gentiles come in, then also shall " all Israel be saved ^." But on what terms ? Still by grace ; " God hath " Eom. X. 12: 1 Cor. xii. 13: Gal. iii. 26—29: Eph. iii. 5, 6 : ii. 19 : Col. iii. 11. See also John x. 16. <= The Pre-Millennarian doctrine upon this head is thus stated by Mr. Birks. " But again, the middle wall of partition is broken down, and Jews and Gentiles, by the work of Christ, are placed on a footing of perfect equality before God, as members of the Church visible. This is true, hut the real question is, — How long this constitution of things is to last ? The state, which began with the filling up of the sins of the Jewish people, will naturally cease on their repentance. They will then receive back their perfected privileges, as a free gift from Christ ; and the Gentiles, in their tiirn, will have to renounce the fatal heresy which regards their present equality, as an indefeasible right, instead of an undeserved boon, and to own once more their subordination to the chosen people of God." Outlines of Unfulfilled Prophecy, p. 315. So also Kelly, Pro- phetical Lectures, p. 145. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 22, 23, 24. ^ Rom. xi. 5. e Eph. ii. 18. See also v. 19 — 22. ' Rom. iii. 30. ? Rom. xi. 25, 26. 94 IN THE ONE CHURCH OF GOD L- III. concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all**." Nor will there be any change in the method of his working : witness the in- structive similitude by which he is pleased to illustrate his past deahngs with the Gentile and his future dealings with the Jew : there is, in each case, an introduction into one and the selfsame olive tree, and that by one and the selfsame process of spiritual engrafting. " Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God : on them which fell, severity ; but towards thee, goodness, if thou con- tinue in his goodness : otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafFed in : for God is able to grafF them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafFed contrary to nature into a good olive tree : how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be gTafFed into their own olive tree'?" Here surely is no indication of any future de- parture from the gracious uniformity of that spiritual process, by which at this present time " all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord," having for its living materials, Israelitish saints and their Gentile fellow citizens, — for its foundation, the apostles and prophets, — for its chief corner stone, Jesus Christ himself, — for its great builder, the Holy Spirit of our God, — for its everlasting occupant, " the High and ^ Rom. xi. 32. * Rom. xi. 22, 23, 24. L. III. WITHOUT REVIVAL OF RITUAL DISTINCTIONS. 95 Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy\" Nor can the ritual wall of partition between Jew and Gentile be raised up again. Many modern Pre-Millennarians, striving, though after all but ineffectually, to be consist- ently literal throughout, assert that it shall \ Their expectation is confirmed, they say, by passages like this, " David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually™." But it is in the latter portion of Ezekiel's prophecy that they dis- cover the surest evidence that they are right". The ^ Eph. ii. 19—23. Isaiah Ivii. 15. ' Such, for example, as Mr. Fremantle, Bloomsbury Lec- tures, 1843, p. 34-5, 346, 349—355. Mr. Birks, Outlmes of Unfulfilled Prophecy, p. 317—329, Mr. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 228, 256, 257, 258. Mr. Brooks, on th|; other hand, enters an hesitating dissent from this opinion. Elements, p. 290, 291. Mr. Elliott speaks of it as an "unscriptural idea," Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 210. note 1, While, finally, Joseph Mede thus apostrophizes Jerome. " Os Hieronymi ! qui Millen- nariis promiscue affinxitCircumcisionis injuriam, Victimarum sanguinem, cseterasque Legis Cserimonias postliminio in- staurandas. Scilicet quae Judsei, aut forte ex Judaismo hasretici, de suo Millennario somniarunt, ille Christianis odiose impingebat. Sed et tu, Hieronyme, vel teipso judice, prodis criminationem istam falsam esse." Works, book v. p. 1100. «" Jer. xxxiii. 17, 18. " Begg, Connected View, p. 39, 40, 41. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 253, 253, 254. 96 FOR WE MUST INTERPRET SPIRITUALLY L. III. fortieth and six following chapters of that book contain, they say, a very full and particular description of that temple which is yet to be built in the land of Israel. Nay more, the Lord con- descends to do that a second time to Ezekiel, which once he did to his servant Moses ; he con- descends to prescribe the ordinances of the sanc- tuary, and that with a very remarkable minuteness of detail. For example ; he specifies the number and position of the tables on which the sacrifices are to be slain"; he gives directions concerning the places where they are to be boiled ^ ; he even provides for the hooks that are to be "fastened round about i." It were easy to point out, in reply, how the literal interpretation of these and similar pro- phecies will involve its adherents in conclusions seriously at variance with each other. Thus one passage brings all the nations up to Jerusalem for to worship'', while another authorizes their pre- senting to God in every place incense and a pure offering". One passage throws open the temple with all its services to the thronging Gentiles*, while another forbids that they should enter there until they are circumcised not only in heart but also in fleshy Ezekiel again confines the priest- hood to the sons of Zadok'', while Jeremiah ex- » Ezekiel xl. 39—42. p Ezekel xlvi. 20. "i Ezekiel xl. 43. "■ Zechariah xiv. 16. ^ Malachi 1. 11. ' Isaiah ii. 2, 3. " Ezekiel xliv. 9. » Ch. xliv. 1 5. L. III. THE SACRIFICIAL PROPHECIES 97 tends it to all the priests of the tribe of Levi^; and Isaiah, stretching it far beyond either of these limits, confers it even upon strangers of the Gentiles ^ It might further be shewn, that that spiritual exposition, before which all these contradictions vanish, is sanctioned by tokens in the very bosom of the prophecies themselves ^ Thus, for example, if it be written in Isaiah^, that " the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do y Jeremiah xxxiii. 18. ^ Isaiah Ixvi. 21. a " I find in prophetic language, sacrifices used figuratively to denote, Prayer, Ps. cxli. '2; Praise, Ps. liv. 6, Jer, xvii. 26, xxxiii. 11; Thanksgiving, Ps. cvii. 22, cxvi. 17; Joy, Ps. xxvii. 6; Righteousness, Ps. iv. 5, li. 19; Confession, Ps. Ixvi. 13; Contrition, Ps. li. 17 ; Judgments, Isaiah xxxiv. 6, Ez. xxxix. 17—19, Zeph. i. 7, 8. I find, even under the Old Testa- ment, indications that the spiritual worship which these sacrifices intimated, was more acceptable than the ceremonial offerings themselves; see Ps. Ixix. 30, 31, h. 16, 17, Hosea vi. 6, Micah vi. 7, 8. I find that some of the instances ad- duced by the advocates of literal sacrifices, if taken literally, would prove more than those advocates would admit And, when I find in the New Testament that believers are a royal priesthood, I Peter ii. 5, 9, and, as priests, partakers of the altar, Heb. xiii. 10 ; as priests, to offer spiritual sacrifices, whether of praise, Heb. xiii. 15, and good works, Heb. xiii. 16, Phil. iv. 18, or of themselves, either in life or death, Rom. xii. 1 , XV. 16, Phil. ii. 17, 2 Tim. iv. 6; I am induced to believe, that the prophets refer to the spiritual and reasonable service indicated by the tyjncal ordinances, rather than the beggarly elements themselves^ Duke of Manchester, Finished Mystery, London, 1847, p. 260, 261. ^ Isaiah xix. 21. H 98 OF ISAIAH, EZEKIEL, AND OTHERS L. III. sacrifice and oblation," the true explanation of that sacrifice and that oblation immediately fol- lows in the words, " yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform if." Of Ezekiel's vision even more than this may be affirmed. It contains within it numerous notes of an Evangelical significance*^. It also presents very distinct intimations that its accomplishment must be sought for at a period when the law of Moses " " i. e. the Temple-sevvice shall be abolished, and the God of Israel worshipped with the most solemn rites, even in the most abhorred and unsanctified places, such as the Jews esteemed Egypt. Which Malachi thus diversifies in the expression, And in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering ; i. e. it shall not be the less acceptable for not being at the Temple." Warburton, Divine Legation, London, 1846, Book vi. Sect. vi. p. 227. ^ Such was the opinion of the learned Dr. Gill — see his prefatory remarks to Ezekiel xl. " Many Christian com- mentators," he says, "have omitted the exposition of these chapters ; and all acknowledge the difficulties in them. Some- thing however may be got out of them, relating to the gospel, and gospel-church-siate, which I am fully persuaded is in- tended by the city and temple ; for that no material building can be designed, is clear from this one observation ; that not only the whole land of Israel would not be capable of having such a city as is here described built upon it, but even all Europe would not be sufficient ; nor the whole world, accord- ing to the account of the dimensions which some give of it. . . . It remains, that this vision must be understood mystically and figuratively of the gospel-church, which is often spoken of as a city and temple, Heb. xii. 22. Rev. iii. 12." For many valuable aids toward so understanding it, see Witsius, AfKdcf)i^ov, cap. xiii. §. x — xx. L. III. IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD HIMSELF. 9.9 is no longer in force. The very Jews themselves, it is alleged, perceive that Ezekiel promulgated a ritual diverse from that of their ancient law- giver ^ But, quitting these grounds of argument, I take my stand upon the certain fact, that the restoration of Levitical worship, whether for Jew or Gentile, is irreconcileable with the plain teaching of the New Testament Scriptures. The Lord Jesus himself declared, that the dignity of Jerusalem as the ecclesiastical metropoHs of the world would soon be fled ; and with it all the pomp and circumstance of ceremonial worship. " Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jeru- salem, worship the Father." " The hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall wor- ship the Father in spirit and in truth : for the Father seeketh such to worship him'." ^ " Adde, quod ab ipsis animadversum est Judaeis, Ezechi- elem nova de festis instituta, et quasi novam legem dare, a Mosaica diversam. Cap. xlv. 17 — 25. xlvi. 4, 5, 6, 7. Hinc misere sese torquent illi qui inhaerent literee, quum constat nefas esse ut quicquam legi Mosaiese addatur, quicquam ab ea dematur. At quidquid comminiscantur, frustra sunt, nisi de novo anno gratise cogitent, cujus alia atque antiqui illius sacrificia et pietatis exercitia sunt : spiritualia omnia.'" Witsius, AeKacjivXov, c. xiii. §/ XV. p. 420. For more upon the subject of Ezekiel's Vision, see Appendix, Note L. ^ John iv. 21, 23. Surely Mr. Birks misunderstands these words, when he comments upon them thus, " Our Lord plainly declares that an hour was coming, and already begun, h2 100 ACCORDINGLY THE APOSTLE PAUL L. IIL The Holy Ghost, by the pen of Paul, explains the meanmg of this decree, and perpetuates its obhgation to the end of time. The epistles to the Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians, forbid the Gentile, — the epistle to the Hebrews forbids the Jew, ever again to revert to those liturgical services. With regard to the Gentile, it is surely enough to remind you of one among many strong sayings of him who was emphatically the Apostle of the Gentiles ; " Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be cir- cumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing^." With regard to the Jew, I will quote but three passages; they shall be given in the original tongue : — 'A0eTrjcrL9 fxei/ yap ylverai Trpoayovarjs ivToXrj^, Sta TO avTrj9 aaOeves koll ai>a)(j)€Xe9 . ' Avaipei TO irpcoTOu, Lva to oevTepov crTrjay . 1 o oe ihTL when Jerusalem would be stripped of its distinctive character, and a spiritual worship would cease to be there offered up to the Father, while it would be elsewhere diffused." Outlines, p. 314. Was spiritual worship the distinctive character of .Jerusalem? Certainly not. It was the ceremonial worship which gave Jerusalem its distinctive character. It was with the ceremonial worship that the controversy between the Jews and Samaritans was concerned. The Lord informs the woman that the ritual worship would be speedily abrogated, and with it the local importance whether of Jerusalem or Mount Gerizim, while a spiritual worship irrespective of place would succeed in its room. g Gal. V. 1, 2. h Heb. vii. 18. ' Heb. x. 9. L. III. IN HIS EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 101 aira^, StjXol twv aaXevojievcov rrju fxerddeaLU, coy ireiroLTjixevcov, Iva fieiprj ra /jlt] aaXevofxeva. Ato ^aaiXeiav aaaXevTOv TrapaXaix^avovre^, kyw^iev yapiv, 8l 7)9 Xarpevcofieu evapeaTCos rco 0ew p.€Ta aiSov9 Kcu evXa^elas. Kai yap 6 Qeo^ tj/jlcou irvp KaravaXiaKov^. Upon the last of these portions permit me briefly to comment ; for it is, I think, doubly con- clusive upon the matter under consideration. It not only declares the incompatibility of the Mosaic worship with present Gospel ordinances, but it also forbids the expectation of any future oeconomy with which the Levitical rites may possibly not be incongruous. Mark then, in the first place, the groundwork of the apostolic exhortation. It is this ; " we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved :" — as though he would say, " We Hebrews have now received, instead of the introductory and transitory Mosaic dispensation, the final and enduring Gospel kingdom." As he saith just above, "Ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem^" — even unto *' Jerusalem which is above, which is free""." Notice, in the second place, the apostoHc ex- hortation itself It is this, " let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with re- verence and godly fear :" — as though he would ^ Heb. xii. 27—29. i Heb. xii. 18, 22. «" Gal. iv. 26. 102 PLACES THE MATTER L. III. say, " it will require much grace for us to abandon the long-cherished, the divinely-appointed Xarpela of our temple-worship, and to accept in its stead that new and spiritual service which has been, by the authority of Jehovah himself, substituted for it. Let us pray for that grace, for there is now no other acceptable way of testifying our reverence and godly fear." Reflect, in the third place, upon the awful sanction by which this precept is en- forced. " Our God," saith the apostle, " is a con- suming fire," " even," as the Holy Ghost himself explains it, " a jealous God" :" — as though he would add, " Our God will count us guilty of grievous disloyalty, should we still adhere to a ritual which, though originally promulgated by himself, hath been now by himself abolished." Such is the very remarkable peroration with which St. Paul sums up the whole argument of his epistle to the Hebrews. He has, throughout, enunciated principles involving not merely the suspension, but the final abrogation of the Levitical dispensation. In the passage before us, he founds an exhortation of the greatest solemnity upon the permanent substitution for it of the Evangelical oeconomy. In the only remaining chapter he adds three words more concerning the Mosaic ritual, and only three, but every one of them corroborates the position which I would fain establish. The first re-asserts the unprofitableness of that cere- " Deut. iv. 24. L. III. BEYOND ALL DEBATE. 103 monial service". The second proclaims its utter incompatibility with faith in Christ p. The third calls on all loyal servants of our God to act accordingly, and to bear the consequent reproach '^. If the Mosaic ritual is yet to be revived under any circumstances whatever, is it possible that the apostle Paul, writing to the Hebrews of all gene- rations, could have left the matter here ? Surely not. To what conclusion then can we come but this, that we must altogether abandon such an expectation, and must give that interpretation to Old Testament prophecy, when it speaks of animal sacrifice as offered in Gospel days, which is sug- gested by St. Paul himself, when, in the same last chapter of this epistle to the Hebrews, he thus addresses the Jewish saints : *' By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God con- tinually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name : but to do good and to communicate forget not : for with such sacrifices God is well pleased'?" ° Heb. xiii. 9. p v. 10, 11, 12. i v. 13. '' Heb. xiii. 15, 16. "The whole design of the epistle to the Hebrews is to shew the dissolution of the temple service, for the weakness and unprofitableness of it; that the Jewish tabernacle was only a figure of the true, and the more perfect tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man ; the Jewish sanctuary only a worldly sanctuary, a pattern and a figure of the heavenly one into which Christ our High Priest is entered, Heb. viii. 2; ix. 1, 23, 24. Now such a temple, such a sanctuary, and such service, [unsuitable as they are even now,] cannot be suitable to the most glorious and splendid 104 NOR WILL THE PLEAS EXCUSE L. III. But there are two pleas which have been urged as proving, that the restoration of the temple service is not really incompatible with the spirit of the Gospel dispensation. They are draw^n ; — the one from the occasional conformity of Paul to the law of Moses ; — tlie other from the eucharistic character which the Levitical sacrifices might be expected to assume. I must briefly advert to them before quitting this part of my subject. And first for the compHance of Paul with the requirements of the ceremonial law^ Let the times of the Christian Church." Whithy, True Millennium, chap. ii. " Multo minus credimus, conversis reversisque in terram suam Israelitis veteres restitutum iri cseremonias .... Est in caeremoniis jugum, quod Ubertatis tempore confringi debuit. Est pcedagoijia, et exprobratio pueritia, quie adultd estate non potest habere locum. Est septum parietis intergerini, confrin- gendura quando omni nationum discrimine sublato Messias futurus est ovinia in omnibus. Est inimicitia, abolenda eo tempore quo Messias p)ucem annunciaturus est gentibus, tarn cum Israele, quam cum Deo. Est denique CJdrographum convincens reatus nondum expiati, ac non prsestitse solu- tionis ; quod omnibus per Messiam consummatis, eique in resurrectione concessa apocha, de medio tollendum est, ne uUum Dei institutum contra veritatem et filium Dei testari comperiatur." Witsius, AeKacpvXov, cap. xiii. §, xi. p. 418. s " By his own express directions Timothy was circum- cised, since he was the son of a Jewish mother. St. Paul himself repeatedly took upon him a vow under the Jewish ceremonial law ; and once, by the advice of the other apostles, for the very purpose of proving that he himself walked orderly, and kept the law." Birks, Outlines, p. 318. Simi- larly Mr. Fremantle, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 353. L. III. thp: revival of temple worship 105 grounds be noticed on which the apostle at one time protested against its observance by others, at another, excused that observance in himself. The law had been abrogated, virtually, by the sacrifice of Jesus ; declaratively, by the publication of the Gospel, by the institution of new ordinances of worship, and by the determination of the Holy Ghost in favour of the non-Judaizing brethren. Obedience therefore was no longer imperative, — when any ventured to allege that it was, he with- stood them to the face'. Meanwhile, even though its use was gone, its observance was tolerated". Conformity was still permissible, and, as such, at times expedient ; — " unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law^." For Paul, after the pattern of his Master, had respect unto the weak- ness of his brethren. He would, when it was possible so to do, rather leave the truth to be discovered as an undeniable consequence of what he taught, than expressly declare it himself. And then how soon would God take the cause into his own hands, and put an end to all disputes about his will in the matter, by the total, final, and irrevocable t Gal. ii. 11—2]. ^ For it is imjaossible, with the epistle to the Hebrews open before us, to subscribe to the opinion of Mr. Birks, (Outlines, p. 318, 319, 323.) that it is not the use but the abuse and perversion of sacrifices that the apostle condemns. " I Cor. ix. 20. 106 DRAWN FROM THE PRACTICE OF PAUL L. III. destruction of the city and temple, with all the instruments and ministers of its worship^! Who does not see how great the difference between partial conformity under such circumstances, and a return, after that Jerusalem has been for eighteen centuries laid in the dust, to such a punctilious, entire, and perpetual observance of the Mosaic ritual as, according to modern Pre- Millennarians, is yet to prevail ? Surely whilst the oft-repeated, the earnest protestations of Paul against recurrence to the pupilage^, the weak and beggarly elements^ the shadows'' of the elder covenant remain on record, we may not presume to say, on such very vincertain grounds, that that yoke so grievous to be borne, having been now for so long effectually destroyed, shall ever be re-constructed and re-imposed. But this leads me to speak, secondly, of the plea drawn from the eucharistic character that animal sacrifice may perhaps assume. The Levitical law, it is said, will indeed be re-esta- y Dan. ix. 26, 27. This event bad not yet come to pass, and therefore it is that the apostle, writing to the Hebrews, speaks in the present tense of the Levitical services as of things still transacting before their eyes. It is strange that Mr. Birks should, from the " conjomt existence" for a little while of the earthly priesthood of the sons of Aaron, and the heavenly priesthood of the Son of God, argue for their " compatihility" — a compatibility which it is the object of the whole epistle to- disprove. Outlines, p. 321. - Gal. iii. 24. ^ Gal. iv, 9. ^ Col. ii. 17. L. III. AND THE EUCHARISTIC CHARACTER 107 blished, but on a totally different basis. Before Christ's first coming, sacrifices were expiatory; after his second coming, they will, we are told, be commemorative". Unhappily for this theory, it is in express opposition to the words of the prophet Ezekiel ; words to which no literalist can refuse to give their usual, their acknowledged, meaning. In his forty-fifth and forty-sixth chapters, tres- pass offerings'^ and sin offerings % — offerings to " reconcile V to " cleanse*," and to " purged" — are mentioned, and that, in contradistinction to "peace offerings" or "thank offerings'." But, leaving this, it is perhaps sufficient to remark, that there is no present departure from the simplicity of Gospel worship which may not be excused on similar grounds. The whole spirit of the Gospel, c Fremantle, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 354. Brooks, Elements, p. 290. Birks, Outlines, p. 328. ^ Ch. xlvi. 20. e Ch. xlv. 17, 19, 23. ^ Ch. xlv. 20. s Ch. xlv. 18. " Cb. xliii. 20, 26. » Ch. xlv. 17. " Perhaps the advocates for the restoration of sacrifices would say they are to be commemorative or eucharistic ; I say this view appears more objectionable than the spiritual hypothesis, because that only evades Scripture, this opposes it; for the object of these sacrifices is expressly declared: they are "for him that erreth;" and they are "to reconcile," "to cleanse," and "to purge;" if they Avere in- tended as eucharistic, they would not be called " sins" and " trespasses ;" they would rather be called peace and thank offerings; but we have these mentioned also, and distinct from the sin and burnt offerings." Duke of Manchester, Finished Mystery, p. 255. 108 WHICH SACRIFICE MIGHT ASSUME. L. III. nay more, the very letter of Scripture itself in its dogmatic portions, is against the revival of animal sacrifice. If, in spite of this, we may still plead for its future restoration, under the persuasion that thereby the hallowed desires of the Millen- nial Church will be the more abundantly satisfied, it is difficult to understand how they can be con- demned who pretend to forestal that spiritual blessing by the present multiphcation of sacra- mental ordinances. We stand surely in greater need of such material aids than will the saints of that blissful age : and the rites which are pro- posed for our acceptance have this advantage at least, that Scriptures fi-om the Old Testament, equally pertinent and equally conclusive, can be adduced in their behalf, while in their form and substance they are not so plainly repugnant to the language of the New. Truly these Pre- Millennarian brethren are men of right loyal piety, else we might be tempted to say, that this their apology for the re-establishment of sacrificial worship is little better than that after- thought of Saul, by which he excused his dis- obedience to the plain commands of Jehovah ; " the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy GodV It appears then that there is, in the kingdom of ^ 1 Sam. XV. 21. See Appendix, Note M. L. III. NO SECULAR PRE-EMINENCE 109 God, equality between Jew and Gentile to the very end. Of any pre-eminence of the literal Israel, spiritual or ecclesiastical, present or future, we have not any the faintest trace, either in the writings of the apostles, or in the records of their public ministry. Both are, and both shall for ever be, one in Christ Jesus'. But it is time that I turn fi*om the subjects of the kingdom, to the throne of its anointed King. Did the apostles compensate for the disappoint- ment of the Jew, by depicting in glowing colours the splendours of a future terrestrial kingdom, in which, literally seated upon the throne of David, Messiah shall one day reign as a secular monarch over the house of Jacob for ever ? By no means. The very predictions which, in that case, they would certainly have adduced, — the very pre- dictions, in fact, upon which, amongst others, Pre-Millennarians most strongly insist, — are al- leged by the apostles as having been in their days actually fulfilled in the enthronization of Jesus, and in the spiritual sway with which he then ruled, and has ever since reigned, among the children of men. In other words, the apostles, in speaking of the Messias, identify the kingdom of his father David with that kingdom of heaven, which was the subject of my preceding discourse. I said that the apostles, in announcing the ' Col. iii. 11. Gal. iii. 28. See Appendix, Note N. 110 IN STORE FOR THE LITERAL ISRAEL L. III. present exaltation of Jesus, proclaimed the fulfil- ment therein of Jehovah's promise, that he would raise up Christ to sit on the throne of David. Recall to your minds Peter's Pentecostal sermon. He first explains the phgenomenon which had brought the multitudes together, — he then re- hearses two most notable Old Testament pro- phecies concerning the Messiah, — the one"", the promise that, as David's son, that Messiah should sit on David's throne ; — the other", the promise that the same Messiah, the same son of David, should sit at the right hand of God till his enemies be made his footstool. And what is the next step in the course of his argument ? It is to proclaim, that these two promises had now found their accomplishment, and that, in one and the same event. And what was that event ? It was the exaltation of the crucified Jesus to the head- ship of all principality and power". Listen to Peter's own words p ; — surely they bear out my assertion : David " 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 ; spake of the resurrection of Christ. This Jesus hath God raised up Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, ... he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. m 2 Sam. vii. 12, 13. " Psalm ex. 1. " Acts ii. 36. p Acts ii. 30—36. ' L. III. FOR EVEN NOW DOTH JESUS 111 For David 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 assuredly," — in spite of all prejudice, — in spite of all disappointment, — " that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ." This exposition of the words of David is confirmed, in the fourth of Acts, by a most solemn eucharistic prayer of the whole Apostolic college. Persecution has now begun, — Peter and John have been put in ward for preaching, through Jesus, the resurrection of the dead, — they have been arraigned before the Sanhedrim, — they have been charged to speak no more in that name. Returned to their own company, they lift up their voice to God with one accord, and, quoting the second Psalm, — the Psalm of all others whose burden is the throne and kingdom of Messiah, — plead with Jehovah his most true promise, that all opposition to the sceptre of his anointed King should be a vain thing. As though they would say, " Thou hast now set thy King upon thy holy hill of Zion, and resistance to his righteous sway hath now begun ; fulfil thy promise. Lord, and let us, his servants, his soldiers, his ambassadors, find that the word is true, upon which thou hast caused us to hope." Listen, my brethren, to the very prayer itself '^ : " Lord, thou art God, which <) Acts iv. 24—30. 112 SIT ON THE THRONE OF DAVID L. III. hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is : who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said. Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things ? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ. For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings : and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, by stretching forth thine hand to heal ; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus." Surely I was right when I said, that in the present sovereignty and rule" of Jesus, the Apostolic college recognize the promised kingship and government of God's anointed Son. Nor are they forgetful to inculcate the essentially spiritual character of that dominion with which, on his ascension, he had been so solemnly invested. Return to the Pentecostal sermon, and hearken to Peter as he tells of the King's first royal act. It was to send down the Spirit from on high. " Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted" — to sit upon the throne of which David's was the type, — " and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth L. III. AS A SPIRITUAL PRINCE 113 this, which ye now see and hear. For David is not" thus' '' ascended into the heavens ;" it is his greater Son who hath gone up on high to receive gifts for men: — as he "saith himself. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool." In hke manner the twelve, as they stand before " the council and all the senate of the children of Israel," at once assert the paramount supremacy of Jesus, and proclaim the high spirituality of his imperial sway. " We ought," they say, " to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour," — a Saviour Prince, — " for to give repentance to Israel, and forgive- ness of sins'." In strictest harmony vdth the same teaching is that glorious title, by which, on the healing of "■ Acts ii. 33, 34. " Non agitur hie de anima Davidis, an recepta in beatam quietem ac coeleste domicilium fuerit : sed ascensus in coelum sub se comprehendit quae Paulus docet quarto ad Ephesios capite : ubi Christum svipra omnes coelos collocat, ut impleat omnia. Quai-e, penitus supervacua hoc loco est de statu mortuorum disputatio. Non enim ahud contendit Petrus, quam vaticinium de sessione ad Dei dexteram non fuisse in Davide completum : ideoque ahbi queerendum esse ejus veritatem. Quum autera inveniri nisi in Christo nequeat: superest ut Judiei prophetia admoniti, agnoscant sibi in Christo monstrari, quod tanto ante prae- dictum fuerat." Calvin. » Acts V. '^9—31. 114 BESTOWING LIFE AND SALVATION L. lU. the lame man, at the beautiful gate of the temple, Peter makes known to the wondering multi- tudes that exalted Jesus, by whose power the cure had been wrought. In full accordance like- wise thereto are the awful words in which he afterwards proclaims his Master to the rulers and elders of Israel gathered together in fierce dis- pleasure at the effect that that great and notable miracle had produced among the people. Still is the free bestowal of spiritual life and health the distinguishing feature of the dominion of David's anointed Son. Listen to the apostle as he speaks in the courts of the temple : " The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers hath glorified," — that is, hath raised to Messiah's pro- mised royalty, — "his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you ; and killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead ; whereof we are witnesses*." Hear him again, as he stands in the hall of the Sanhedrim : — " Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you, whole. This is the stone which was set at nought ' Acts iii. 13, 14, 15. L. III. UPON ALL THE ISRAEL OF GOD. 1 15 of you builders, which is become the head of the corner," being made, according to the tenor of "the sure mercies of David V' "both Lord and Christ V " Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved *"." Surely these passages with one consent instruct us, that the kingdom of David's exalted Son is of an essentially spiritual character. Gifts of the Holy Ghost by which ministers are qualified for their work ; — repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ, by which, under their ministry, souls are blessed ; — life here and salvation hereafter, are the appropriate, the pecu- liar, the exclusive, the characteristic largesses of his royal bounty. Nor is it only upon Israel after the flesh that they are bestowed. They were indeed granted first to the Jew ; but they were showered afterwards, and that with no sparing hand, upon the Gentile also. For thus it is written, — and that in passages in which the kingdom of David is still the principal subject, " Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities" :" and again, " It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you : but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles^." " Acts xiii. 34, "11.36. ■'^ iv. 10, 11, 12. '111.26. yxlU. 46. i2 116/ David's prophetic kingdom identical l. hi. It would seem then from this multiplied evidence, that the prophetic kingdom of David, and the evangelic kingdom of heaven, are, according to the apostles, similar in character. Of both the royal seat is in heaven ; of both the sovereign power is manifested in princely grants of spiritual benediction and grace. But there is, as I have already affirmed, some- thing more than similarity, there is identity between them. The kingdom of heaven is not one stage, the kingdom of David another and a still future stage, in the royal progress of Messiah. No ! the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of David are one and the same in every respect. As both are spiritual, so both begin, and both shall end, — so far at least as they end at all, — at the same time. This is implied in what has already been laid before you. But the point is one of such importance, that I must be permitted to appeal to the apostles for still further testimony. For they are careful to note the commencement, — they are equally careful to fix the termination of this reign of David's Son and David's Lord. In both respects it exactly coincides with " the kingdom of heaven." Thus, as to its commencement, the apostle Paul, quoting that first verse of the hundred and tenth Psalm which Peter rehearsed on the day of Pentecost, makes its fulfilment to be that ascension of the Lord Jesus, which was the rightful and the speedy consequence of his one perfect, full, and L. III. WITH Christ's present kingdom. 117 sufficient sacrifice. " This man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstooP." And so too, — with regard to the termination of the kingdom, — that is represented as coincident with the destruction of death, — that last of Messiah's mediatorial triumphs. For so the same apostle, quoting again the same verse of the same Psalm, teaches us in his first epistle to the Corinthians, " He must reign, till" — not, as Pre-Millennarians would seem to read it, "begin to reign, when" " he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death ^" We are then constrained to assert, that the kingdom of Messiah, known in prophecy as the kingdom of his father David, was held by the apostles to be the very kingdom of which Jesus took possession when he sat down at the right hand of God, and in which he has been reignino- ever since over the children of men\ = Heb. X. 12, 13. « 1 Cor. xv. 25, 26. ^ For further proof, turn to the first chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. There, in the four first verses, is made known the present Royalty of the Lord Jesus. Then are quoted the second, eighty-ninth, forty-fifth, and one hundred and second Psalms, as receiving therein their accomplishment Of these, the two first, as is well known, tell of the Davidical kingdom of Messiah. The conclusion surely is inevitable that that Davidical kingdom of Messiah and the present Eoyalty of Jesus are one and the same. 118 NOR IS THE HEAVENLY ANTITYPE L. III. Nor can the accomplishment be deemed unworthy of the prediction. The prophetic David is a far more exalted personage than David the son of Jesse; nobler far the triumphs he hath won. It is then but meet that his throne should be exalted in proportion. It is but meet that the blessings of his government should, in their nature and in the extent of their application, far exceed those of the kingdom of his earthly pro- genitor. No marvel then that when we search for the counterpart of that throne upon the literal Sion from which David, the son of Jesse, after God had delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, governed the literal Israel ; we discover it in that heavenly throne from which God's incarnate Son, having spoiled principalities and powers, and made a shew of them openly, dispenses to the nations of the world, Jew and Gentile alike, not the poor, the ephemeral benefits of an earthly sovereignty ; but the matchless bounties of a spiritual, an eternal kingdom". ■ <= " We may, perhaps, receive light upon the subject of the kingdom by referring to the nature of David's kingdom, which is continually represented as typical of Christ's. (Isa. ix. 6, 7; Jer. xxiii. 5, 6; Luke i. 32.) The kingdom of David was two/old. One branch of it was over the house of Israel, over whom he reigned as a willing people. This seems to typify the kingdom which Christ has, and ever will have, over the Israel of God. (Gal. vi. 16.) He makes them his willing people in the day of his power, when they are born again (John iii. 3.) ; and thus delivered from the power of dark- L. III. UNWORTHY OF ITS EARTHLY TYPE. 119 Such then was the line of conduct actually adopted by the apostles in their missionary ap- proaches to the house of Israel. Instead of soothing their irritation by the promise of national glory at the coming of the Lord, — they scrupled not to declare, on the one hand, with regard to the subjects of the kingdom, that in the Church of Christ the distinction between Jew and Gentile is for ever abolished, — and on the other hand, with regard to the King himself, that in Jesus of Nazareth, now reigning over the united company of all his disciples, is to be recognized the fulfil- ment of the oath which God sware unto David in his truth '^. My text is a faithful summary of their preaching : " We declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the ness, and translated into his kingdom. (Col. i. 13; 1 Thess. ii. 12.) Thus they become the subjects of that kingdom of Christ which is not of this world (John xviii. 36.); but is righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Rom. xiv. 17.) The other branch of David's kingdom was that over the enemies of Israel, the Edomites, Moabites, Philistines, &c. whom he sub- dued in battle, and over whom, though unwilling, he reigned by power. So Christ also overcame in his own person, when manifest in the flesh, every enemy ; he continues to reign over and execute judgments upon them ; and will, at his second coming, destroy them all with everlasting destruction. (Psalm ii. 9—12; xviii. 40 — 45; and Ix. 8, 9. compared with Isaiah Ixiii. 1 — 3; Iv. 4; Psalm xxiv. 7. compared with Eph. iv. 8.) Thus will every object of this branch of his kingdom be completed, and he will deliver it up to his Father and God." Gipps, First Resurrection, p. 49, 50. Note R. ^ Psalm Ixxxix. 49. 120 THE TRUE RAISING AGAIN L. III. fathers, God hath fulfilled the same" — eKTreirXypcoKe — fulfilled out and out — " to us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again ; as it is also written in the second psalm. Thou art my Son, this day have I hegotten thee." And now what shall we say ? Shall we affirm that the apostles have practised a reserve in the record of their ministry ? Shall we allege that we have more light than they enjoyed ? No ! The only conclusion to which we can rightly come is this ; that we are not warranted in expecting a future personal reign of Jesus as the King of the Jews. Truly the kingdom of Messias is already in being. In the overthrow of Zedekiah the tabernacle of David fell fi*om its local, its temporal glory : in the exaltation of Jesus it has been reared again with the greater dignity of an universal, a spiritual majesty ^ And ^ " From the time when Prophecy passed this sentence of deprivation (Jer. xxii. 29, 30.) upon the person of Coniah, (or Jeconias,) there is an end of the power and lustre of the house of David ; for as to the precarious and tumultuary reign of Zedekiah, who was set up for a few years by the king of Babylon, before the Captivity, or the transient delegated authority of Zerubbabel, after it, they make no exception of any moment to the perfect execution of that sentence. The people were restored, but not the kingdom. It fell, it lay prostrate, till Christ came, and repaired its rmns on a new foundation, in his greater kingdom." Davison, on Pro- phecy, p. 209, 210. See also p. 2(58, 269. It is in this reconstruction of the tabernacle of David, that the apostle L. III. OF THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID. 121 that the Jews see it not is to be ascribed now, as James recognizes the fulfilment of a memorable prophecy of Amos. " Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. And to this agree the words of the prophets ; as it is written, After this i will return, and will budd again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down ; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up : that the residue of men might seek after the Lord, {oncos av fK^rjrrjcrcoaiv ol KaraXonroi Twv dvdpQ)ir(ov Tuv Kvpiov,) and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called." Acts xv. 14 — 17. Surely this passage places the re-erection of the tabernacle of David before the vocation of the Gentiles. In fact the apostle argues, that because the former had taken place, the latter must therefore be forthwith expected. The order of the events is precisely similar to that described in Isaiah xi. 10. "There shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek." Strange that Mede, (Works, p. 564, 705.), Begg, (Connected View, p. 119.), Bickersteth, (Restoration of the Jews, p. 23, 24.), and others, should so far misapi^rehend the apostle's argument, as to represent him as making the vocation of the Gentiles a necessary ^^re^iwunar?/ to the restoration of the (earthly) kingdom of David. Dr. Gill was of a different mind. " In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen down: .... this," he says, " must be understood in a spiritual sense, for Christ's king- dom is not a worldly one ; the raising up, and rebuilding of this tabernacle, must design the reviving of true religion, the doctrine and practice of it, the enlargement of the Church of God, by the conversion both of the Jews and Gentiles : and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up; which has been done by breaking down the middle wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles, and letting in the latter into the Gospel Church with the former, whereby it grows up to be a holy temple in the Lord : see Isaiah liv. 2, 3. and Ixi. 4, 5. and ii. 2 ; and to this sense the Jews themselves interpret it." Commentary on Acts xv. 13 — 17. 122 NINTH, TENTH, AND ELEVENTH CHAPTERS L. III. then, not to partial acquaintance with the prophets, — but to a bhndness, wilful and total, to the true meaning of them all. " They that dwell at Jeru- salem, and their rulers, knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath-day?' " Their minds were bUnded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the Old Testament^." Nor will it be uninstructive, in drawing these remarks to a close, to trace, for a few moments, the line of argument adopted by the apostle Paul in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh chapters of his epistle to the Romans, at a time when Israel's national blindness had apparently issued in their national rejection. When challenged by the question, " Hath God cast away his people ?" he maintains, and that in language most empha- tical, that the promises of God are indefeasible''. But how does he confirm the truth of that re- doubled allegation ? Not so much by directing our thoughts to the future, as by calhng our atten- tion to the present and the past. As to the present he affirms, that so long as there exists " a remnant according to the election of grace," the divine veracity remains unimpeach- able, even though the rest are blinded'. At an earlier stage of his discourse he had turned to the past, and had, from the pages of the Old Testa- *■ Acts xiii. 27. « 2 Cor. iii. 14. ^ Rom. ix. 0: xi. 29. ' Rom. xi. 1 — 7. L. III. OF THE EPISTLE TO THE ROMANS. 123 ment, demonstrated the fact, that there has ever been this distmction between the nominal and the real, the carnal and the spiritual Israel "". He had also shewn, that both the rejection of the former for unbelief, and the increase of the latter by a large accession from among the Gentiles, were events abundantly foretold in Prophecy \ Having dwelt, and that at considerable length, upon the fulness and the freeness of the evan- gelical blessing thus forfeited by the literal, and enjoyed by the spiritual Israel™; he is now led to speak of the future prospects of his kinsmen after the flesh. Here, if any where, was the place to tell of national restoration and national pre- eminence under the sceptre of Messiah. But what mention is made either of the one or of the other? None whatever. Spiritual conversion, spiritual privileges to be shared by Israel then, even as now, with his Gentile fellow-heirs", are the absorbing, the exclusive objects of the apostle's sublimest anticipations. How unaccountable this on the hypothesis of the future re-establishment of all the earthly glory of the ancient theocracy : how reasonable and how just on the supposition that that local oeconomy, having subserved the purposes of its temporary institution, had now disappeared for ever before the spiritual, the uni- versal government of God's anointed Son". k Rom.ix.6— 18. i Rom.ix.22— 33. '" Rom. x.xi. 1—10. " Rom. xi. 11 — 36. " See Appendix, Note O. 124 POPULAR OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. L. III. But I must^ before I conclude, briefly advert to certain popular arguments, by which Pre-Millen- narians are wont to justify their adherence to an opposite conclusion. Their force is more apparent than real, yet are they extensively influential. And first, it is alleged that, if our premises be sound, then the ancient Jews, lacking the light of New Testament days, could not by any possibility understand their own Scriptures aright. In reply, I would remind you, that there is not that simi- larity between their case and ours, which this objection presupposes. Revelation being now complete, it is but right that we should be left, with the ordinary aids of the Holy Ghost, to ascertain its true meaning by such a mutual comparison of its several parts as I have been attempting to day. Whereas, while yet Reve- lation was incomplete, it may well be supposed that, in all necessary matters, the deficiencies of its written instruction, would be supplied by some- thing more than that ordinary illumination of the Spirit of truth. But further, it is a notorious fact, that the Jews in general did not understand their own Scriptures aright. I have but just quoted two passages, which are decisive upon the point^'. And then, with regard to the holy seed amongst them, it is equally certain that they likewise were, after all, but partially acquainted with the true meaning of p Acts xiii. 27; 2 Cor. iii. 14. L. III. SOME PROPHECIES LITERALLY FULFILLED 125 the divine word*!. For indeed that divine word itself did confessedly contain within it mysteries, the elucidation of which was reserved for Gospel days'". Where those mysteries are, it is, on the Pre-Millennarian hypothesis, difhcult to determine. But, secondly, it is asked, " How can you, if you abandon the literal sense of Old Testament prophecy, expect the Jew to listen to your preach- ing ? He is himself a standing monument of the punctual fulfilment of prophecies literally under- stood : you require him to accept Jesus of Na- zareth as the true Messiah, because a hundred prophecies have been literally accomplished in his single person : and then you refuse to be literal any moreM" I reply. There is a twofold mis- representation here. You misrepresent your own case, you misrepresent ours. As to your own case ; — you bring together, from the wide domains of Old Testament prophecy, the numerous pre- dictions which have beyond all doubt been literally fulfilled. You place them side by side in one 1 Luke XXIV. 45. Tore 8ir}voi^ev avrmv tov vovv, tov avvuvai rai ypa(f)ds. This passage surely proves, that the very apostles themselves, even after the three years' instruction they had received from their Master, knew not the ti'ue meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures. Accordingly we find them confessing as much in John ii. 22 ; xii. 16 ; xx. 9. ' See Romans xvi. 25, 26 ; 1 Cor. ii. 7, 8 ; Eph. iii. 2 — 6. ^ Begg, Connected View, p. 46. Brooks, Elements, p. 25], 252. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 144 — 148, 311. Dallas, Preface to Bloomsbury Lectures, 1848. 126 BY NO MEANS CONSTRAIN US L. III. page, and you exhibit the beautiful mosaic as a fair specimen of the prophetic style'. But you say nothing of the contexts'". You say nothing of the not less numerous instances of prophecy, which the event has proved to be couched in figurative language. You say nothing of the fact, that it was an excess of literalism that led in the first instance to the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth, and has ever since confirmed the Jews in their unbelief''. And then, as to our case, — we by no means pretend that there are no secular blessings in store for Israel after the flesh^. All we contend ' See, for example, Begg, Connected View, p. 48 — 5 1 ; Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 294, 295. " See Note P. in the Appendix. " The following remarks of Bishop Hurd are worthy of attention. " It must be thought some presumption in favour of the Christian interpretation, that, whereas the Jews, in neglecting a sj^iritual or mystical sense of those prophecies, (which yet is admitted by them without scruple on other occasions, and is well suited to the genius of their whole religion,) are driven to the necessity of supposing a twofold Messias, — a new conceit taken up without warrant from their Scriptures, and against their own former ideas and expectations. — We, on the contrary, by the help of that spiritual sense, are able to explain all the prophecies of one and the same Messias con- formably to the event, and even to the time which the Jews themselves had prefixed for the completion of them." Intro- duction, vol. i. p. 148. y " Israel has been literally expelled from Canaan ; but he is only to be figuratively restored ! he has been literally scattered among the nations ; but he is to be only figuratively gathered ! And all this gravely asserted upon New Testament principles, in the name of Christ and his apostles ! What L. III. LITERALLY TO INTERPRET ALL. 127 for is this, — that there are certain cases in which we are compelled by the proportion of faith to assign a spiritual significance to promises, in which he may at first sight appear to be exclusively interested. Meanwhile, we will deal with the Jew as the apostles dealt with him. We will from his own Scriptures open and allege, that Christ must needs have suffered, and that this Jesus, whom we preach unto him, is Christ". Nor will can a Jew think of Christianity after this ?" Bonar, Prophe- tical Landmarks, p. 313. Surely Mr. Bonar cannot have recollected the names of Whitby, Hurd, Faber, and Witsius, authors who, in common with many others, were no Pre- Millennarians, and yet fully expected the conversion and restoration of Israel. The following words, taken with a slight variation of grammatical mood from the AeKcicfivXov of the last-named writer, very' clearly state the limits within which our expectations on behalf of Israel should be confined. '• Neque haec quam nos credimus restitutio populi Israelitici quicquam praejudicet aut Spiritualitati , aut UmversaUtati, aut Lihertati, regni Christi. SpiritualUatem illius non eamus immi- nutum Nos omnem veri Israelis felicitatem collocemus in cognitione, in fide, in sanctimonia, in communione Dei et Christi, in justitia et pace et gaudio per Spiritum Sanctum ; quibus accedere potest ea vitse hujus civilis prosperitas, quam piis non in veteri solum Testamento, sed et in Novo Divini Numinis bonitas addixit. Matt. vi. 33. I Tim. iv. 8. Nee quicquam de Universalitate regni Messiae demamus. Non enim pojmlum aliquem fingere licet, aut terram, cui se speciali foedere obstringat, aut corpore praesentem sistat Messias Multo minus credamus, conversis reversisque in terram suam Israelitis veteres restitutum iri caeremonias." Cap. xiii. §. 4, 5, 11. p. 415, 416, 418. ^ Acts xvii. 3. 128 THE ANGELIC SALUTATION. L. III. we enter upon other matters, until this be granted; for the Jew is not in a position to judge of them aright, until he has learned to sit at Jesus' feet, and hear his word^ It is. however, asserted in the third place, that the literal principle has been, so to speak, carried into New Testament times by the Salutation, the Magnificat, the Benedictus, and the Nunc Dimittis. It were enough to reply, that these passages are but a rehearsal, without comment, of the very words and phrases of Old Testament prophecy. Nor have we any the least authority for asserting, that they were understood by the parties con- cerned in their literal sense. Be this however as it may, it is important to remark, that, thoLigh these hymns are found in the pages of an Evan- gelist, they belong in fact to the dispensation of the Prophets, and must therefore, as to their interpretation, be subject to the same laws as govern the Old Testament Scriptures. For thus it is written, "The law and the prophets were until John ; since that time the kingdom of God is preached^" Quitting these more general grounds, the advo- cates of a personal reign are apt, in the fourth place, to intrench themselves behind certain pas- sages in the New Testament, which are, they think, decisive in their favour. I pass by such quotations as admit of an easy " Luke X. 39. ^ Luke xvi. 16. L. IlL * THE RESTORING AGAIN 129 explanation on either hypothesis. I also pass by that notable prophecy which was delivered on the mount of Olives, as we shall have occasion to refer to it in a future discoursed And I proceed at once to such citations as bear more immediately and more forcibly upon the special matter of Messiah's kingdom. I begin with the well-known question in the first of Acts, " Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel"^?" It is affirmed^ that the apostles undoubtedly enquired concerning a temporal and a personal reign; and that the Lord, by his silence upon that point, admitted the soundness of their expectation. Now is it certain that the apostles really did speak of a secular reign ? But, — supposing their expectations to be still carnal, — was it the manner of Jesus always to explain his own meaning, or to correct the mis- apprehensions of his hearers*^? Did he not oft- <: Lecture VII. See also note 1 on p. 51. " Acts i. 6. •^ Eev. J. D'Arcy Sirr, The First Eesurrection considered, Dublin, 1833, p. 191, 192. Kev. A. M-^Caul, D.D. New Testa- ment Evidence of the Kesto ration of the Jews, London, 1840, p. 23, 24. Fremantle, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1846, p. 173. Begg, Connected View, p. 57. Brooks, Elements, p. 185, 186 : Abdiel's Essays, p. 36, 37. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 299. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 164. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 195, 196. f See Mark ix. 10, 32: John ii. 19. See also Note G. in the Appendix. But is it plain that the Lord did not correct them in his reply ? The words of Calvin on this point are K 130 OF THE KINGDOM TO ISRAEL. L. III. times leave that for the days when the Spirit should guide them into the whole truth ? And was it not with reference to the light that should burst upon them in those days that he spake, when he said, " But 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 Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the utter- most part of the earth ^"? It was as though he would say, " You are now fettered by the trammels of a carnal expectation : soon shall the Holy Ghost release you from their bondage, and send you forth to bear a fearless testimony, even to the ends of the earth, that I, the Son of David, am seated upon David's throne — the King of Glory, — the Prince of Peace, — the Lord of all\" worthy of note. " Totidem in hac interrogatione sunt errores, quot verba Itaque Christus brevi response singulos errores scite perstringit : ut mox dicam i. Non est vestruvi. Generalis est totius qua^stionis reprehensio ii. Accipieth virtutem, . . . Eos siTse imbecillitatis admonet, ne ante tempus sectentur ea, quse consequi nequeunt .... iii. Eritis mihi testes. Duas hac una voce errores corrigit. Nam et prius esse pugnandum significat, quam aspu^ent ad triuniphum : et aham regni Christi naturam esse docent, quam putarent." Comment, m Acta Apostolorum. s Acts i. 8. ^ 'AXXa \i]y\re(j6e hvvaynv ine'kdovTOs rov aylov livfifiaros fCJi vfias. Compare 2 Tim. i. 7. Oi yap eBwKfv ruiiv 6 Qeos nvevfia SetXt'ay, aXKa fiumjuew? Kai dydnrjs Ka\ cruiCppovicr^ov. For examples of the exhibition of this " power," we have but to tvu-n to passages ah-eady cited from the 2d, 3d, 4th, 5th, and 13th chapters of the Acts. To these may be added portions of L. III. THE RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS. 131 Take once more those memorable verses in the third of Acts, which speak of " the times of resti- tution/'— or accomphshment ' — " of all things" which the prophets have foretold \ Pre-Millen- narians would have these times of restitution to be identical with the times of refreshing spoken of just before. They would then connect the one as well as the other with the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ \ But this exposition would seem to destroy the force of the Apostle's exhortation. He is urging upon Israel the duty of repentance. And how does he enforce that duty ? By the consideration, that thus will those times of refreshing be hastened chapters 92, 96, and 98. Was it with reference to this " powerful" exhibition of the present kingship of the Son of David, and the hostility which it evoked, that St. Paul in writing to Timothy says, 2d Ep. chap. ii. v. 8, 9. " Eemem- ber that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my Gospel : wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds" ? i Thus Mr. Faber, Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, London, 1898, vol. iii. p. 455. Similarly Mr. Greswell, himself a Pre- Millennarian, renders the passage. Parables, vol. i, p. 169, " Whom the heavens must receive (contain) luitil the times of \he fulfilment of all things, which God hath spoken." ^ V. 19, 90, 91. 1 Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars ii. Works, p. 670. Burnet, Theory of the Earth, book iv. chap. 8. vol. ii. p. 286. Begg, Connected View, p. 72, 73, 74. M^Caul, New Testa- ment Evidence, p. 95, 96. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 117, 118. Elliott, Hora5 Apocalypticas, p. 167—170. Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, London, 1844, p. 335, 336 : Outlines, p. 67, 68, 201. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 939. k2 132 MAY NOT THE COMING L. III. which are coincident with the Lord's return ; — for, saith he, '' the heavens must retain him until all things which the prophets have spoken are accomphshed," — but of those " all things," the conversion of Israel to the faith of Christ is not the least. But then, we are told that that conversion is, in the eleventh chapter of the Romans, made to depend upon a personal coming of the Redeemer to Sion""; "All Israel shall be saved: as it is written. There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob ^" Now conceding, for argument's sake, that it is a national conversion of the literal Israel of which mention is here made, is it plain that that con- version is represented as depending upon any future advent of the Redeemer at all ? Is it not very possible, that the apostle is taught by the Holy Ghost to give us the true interpretation of the words of Isaiah, and, in so doing, to instruct us, that the turning of Israel to the Lord is to be a result, though a remote result, of that original coming forth of the Redeemer from Sion in the preaching of his Gospel", which immediately fol- ™ Begg, Connected View, p. 75. Brooks, Elements, p. 289 : Abdiers Essays, p. 152. Pym, Kev. W. W. Bloomsbury Lectures, 1846, Lecture IX. Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, p. 340: Outlines, p. 72. Greswell, Parables, p. 175, 177. » V. 26. ° Isaiah lix. 20. "To Sion," or ''For Sion." "^ is not the proper particle of motion or direction, though it often L. III. OF THE REDEEMER TO ZION 133 lowed upon his taking away our sins ? But even if a yet future coming of the Lord must in virtue of the prophecy of the son of Amoz be looked for before the recovery of the seed of Jacob, why must it necessarily be a personal advent? Why not a potential coming by the outpouring of the Holy Ghost accompanying his word^? That such supplies its place as well as that of other prepositions. This arises from the fact repeatedly stated heretofore, that b pro- perly denotes relation in the widest sense, and is most commonly equivalent to as to, with respect to, the precise relation being left to be determined by the context. So in this place l"i*?7 strictly means nothing more than that the advent of the great deliverer promised has respect to Zion or the chosen people, ivithout deciding what particidar respect, ivhether local, temporal, or of another nature altogether. Hence the Septuagint version, eveKev Stwj/, thougli it may be too specific, is not contradictory to the oi'iginal ; and even Paul's translation, eV Stwi/, although it Seems completely to reverse the sense, is not so wholly incon- sistent with it as has sometimes been pretended." Alexander on Isaiah, Glasgow, 1848, p. 867. As to St. Paul's trans- lation, it is, as might well be expected, strictly in accordance with the usage of the Hebrew language : — for b is employed to signify " out of" with respect to place, see Nehemiah xii. • 44. as instanced by Noldius, Concordantise Particularum Ebrseo-Chaldaicarum, Article b. No. 15. See also Gill on Rom. xi. 26. p See tliis well put in the Rev. P. Gell's " Second Coming of Christ," London, 1853, p. 8, 18. A similar explanation may be given of that often-quoted verse of the 102d Psalm, " When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." Begg, (Connected View, p. 36;) Brooks, (Abdiel's Essays, p. 151,) Elliott, (Horse Apocalypticae, vol. iv. p. 156.) all, interpreting the passage of the restoration of Israel, assume that it binds up that restoration with a personal appearance of the Lord. But why a personal appearance ? 134 BE A POTENTIAL COMING? L. III. a " coming" is quite within the compass of Scrip- tural language, none will, I presume, care to dispute. That such an outpouring of the Holy Ghost will take place when Israel turns to the Lord, many gather from the twelfth of Zechariah*!. Be this however as it may, it is to such a coming of the Redeemer by the effusion of his Spirit that the whole original context seems to point. Listen to it, as it is written in the fifty-ninth chapter of Isaiah'"; "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from why not a spiritual manifestation of his power? Nor can I forbear remarking, that the context, especially v. ]7 — 20. taken in conDection with v. 25 — 27. as quoted in Heb. i. gives ground for such a thoroughly spiritual interpretation as may be found in Bishop Home's commentary on the passage. " The object to which the prophets of old had chiefly respect, was not only the deliverance of Israel from Babylon, and the rebuilding of the material temple, but the salvation of sinners, and the erection of the Christian Church, in the days of Messiah's kingdom. ' When the Lord' Jesus thus ' built up Sion, he appeared in his glory: the heathen feared his name, and all the kings of the earth' adored his majesty, because he had ' regarded the prayer of the destitute' sons of Adam, in their worse than Babylonish captivity, and had arisen himself to be then- Saviour and mighty Deliverer. We, in these latter days, look and pray for the second appearance of the same Redeemer, with power and great glory, to raise the dead, and to build up from the dust a Jerusalem which shall experience no more vicissitudes, but continue for ever in unchangeable beauty and brightness." q v. 10—14. »• v. 19, 20, 21. L. III. HOW THE JEWS SHALL SAY BLESSED BE HE 135 transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord ; My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." And this leads me, finally, to advert to those solemn words with which the Lord Jesus closed for ever his public ministry in the temple ; — " Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me hence- forth, till ye shall say. Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord'." These words, it is said', plainly foretel a personal manifestation of Christ to the Jews, as either " consequent upon, or concomitant with" their "future conversion." But why so ? Look back to the sixty-third Psalm, — " a Psalm of David, when he was in the wilder- ness of Judah." " O God, thou art my God ; early will I seek thee : my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is ; to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctuary"." Yes ! and from his day till the day when the s Matt, xxiii. 38, 39. * Mede, Works, p. 931. Homes, Eesurrection Eevealed, p. 263. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 175, Begg, Connected View, p. 76. " V. 1, 2. Similarly John viii. 56. n n 136 THAT COMETH IN THE NAME OF THE LORD. L. III. personal appearance of the Messiah '' filled" the second temple "with glory V' had all that " looked for redemption in Jerusalem-^/' seen him, his power and his glory, in the priesthood, the sacrifice, and the altar, of their "holy and beautifiil housed" But this was to be no longer. " I-chabod'"' was thenceforth written there. No longer would the Spirit unveil the glories hidden there. All should now become a dry, a marrowless form ; for the sub- stance, the body, was to be seen and beheld in the Christ of God, set forth in the Gospel. Therefore to the preaching of the word must they look who would " see the King in his beauty \" And in that mirror will they see him indeed ! " We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord*'." Hasten, Lord, the time when the vail shall be taken from the heart of Israel, — when they also shall see that glory, — and, as they look upon Him whom they have pierced, shall mourn ^ And now to conclude. The question we have been discussing to day suggests many practical reflections, but I must confine myself to two only. With regard to the Jews, we learn, I think, the only way in which as a nation they can either re-enter the Church, or return to their own land. ^ Haggai ii. 7. y Luke ii. 38. ^ Isaiah Ixiv. 11. a 1 Sam. iv. 21. '' Isaiah xxxiii. 17. "=2 Cor. iii. 18. "These Scriptures must continue applicable, till another plain and direct communication from him who gave them, shall shew that they are superseded, and a still better order of things introduced." M'^Neile, Lectures on the Jews, p, 81. "We may expect that further means of grace will be supplied, and a visible oeconomy possibly of oral revelation from those who reign upon the earth, as we see in the Jewish oeconomy.'" Bickersteth, Divine Warning, p. 225. L. IV. UPON THE PRE-MILLENNIAL QUESTION. 161 Or, that Christ will not personally come till that " Millennium is over. Against the first of these alternatives you will all most righteously protest. For adopting the second. Scripture, as I shall have occasion to shew before I dismiss you to day, gives no warrant whatsoever. We must therefore accept the third alternative, and acknowledge that Christ will not personally come till that Millennium is over. / Before I leave this division of my subject^ I must briefly notice two popular arguments, by which an opposite conclusion is sometimes main- tained. The first has regard to the priestly office of the Lord Jesus. The various transactions of the great day of atonement are obviously typical of the several stages in the work of redemption'. Now Pre-Millennarians are wont to assert, that the cor- respondence between the type and its antitype will not be complete without the personal reign they anticipate. For the same great High Priest who first made reconciliation for iniquity*^, and then passed into the heavens to appear in the presence of God for us®, must, they say, one day '^ See, for an exposition of this and other types at once evan ■ gelical in doctrine and classical in style, " Grace and Truth ; or the Glory and Fulness of the Eedeemer displayed in the Types of the Old Testament." By the Rev. Wm. M'Ewen, London, Hamilton and Adams, 1840, book ii. ch. x. p. 211. ^ Daniel ix. 24. « Heb. ix. 24. M "I 162 IS A PERSONAL REIGN REQUIRED L. IV. personally and visibly come forth from that inner sanctuary to bless the people for whom he inter- cedes ^ But why should a sojourn on earth be required for this ? May not the Lord appear to confer a blessing greater far than that of a Millennial Sabbatism ? Surely the demands of the type, if such there be, shall be much more worthily satis- fied ; — surely the people of God shall be much more abundantly blessed, if the Lord, when he comes again, shall at once bestow upon them their "perfect consummation and bliss, both in body and soul, in his eternal and everlasting glory." For indeed Millennial blessing, ephemeral as it is and mingled with alloy, is no adequate comple- ment to the sufficient sacrifice and the prevailing intercession of the Lord Jesus. This however is a matter which must be left for discussion on a future occasion^. For the present I would observe, that even the type itself does not so certainly require any per- sonal appearance to bless as is so often supposed. True it is, that to bless in Jehovah's name was the daily duty of the Aaronic priest\ And has not ^ Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 270. Birks, The Melchizeclec Priesthood of Christ ; Bloomsbury Lectures for 1849, p. 169. s Lecture VL ^ Numbers vi. 22 — 27. 1 Chron. xxiii. 13. And being a daily duty, would not be omitted on the feast of expiation : but this would not constitute it a special part of that cere- monial. L. ly. TO COMPLETE THE ANTITYPE 163 the Lord Jesus been daily thus engaged from the very beginning of the Gospel oeconomy ? " Unto you first," said Peter to the Jews, " God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities'." But it is not plain that on the great day of atone- ment, the high priest did, after having entered into the most holy place, proceed, as an essential part of that ceremonial, to bless the people. To bless in Jehovah's name was not one of the special duties of that day. On emerging from the holiest of all, the high priest first sent away the scape- goat into the wilderness. He then laid aside his gar- ments, and, after a concluding sacrifice, retired from view\ Thus ended the annual expiation. There was however belonging to that day another and com- plementary, though not so often repeated a type. Each fiftieth year " on the tenth day of the seventh ' Acts iii. 26. " Herein the work of Christ (a Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek, Ps. ex.) was figured ; wlwm God sent to bless us, in turning away every one of us from his iniquities, Acts iii. 36 : whose first doctrine began with mani- fold blessings, Matt. v. 3—12 : who also having fulfilled his ministerie here on earth, lifted up his hands and blessed his dis- ciples, and so was carried up into heaven. Luke xxiv. 50, 51. Therefore when he was to come into the world, the Priest of Aaron s seed, when he should have blessed the people, was speechless, Luke i. 31, 22, to signifie that the end of his priest- hood was at hand, and that the people should look for another priest, in whom all nations should be blessed. Gal. iii. 8." Ainsworth, (Annotations on the Five Books of Moses, the Psalms, and Canticles,) on Numb. vi. 23. ^ Lev. xvi. 20—38. M 2 164 OF THE GREAT DAY OF ATONEMENT ? L. IV. month, in the da.y of atoriement" the jiibile trumpet echoed throughout the land; that trumpet at whose welcome sound the bondsman was loosed, and the exile returned to his inheritance \ Herein surely was foreshadowed that very publication of the Gospel which immediately followed the death, re- surrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus. The type therefore, so far fi'om imperatively requiring for its accomplishment a future personal mani- festation of the great High Priest, rather en- courages us to believe that it has its complete fulfilment in that present dispensation of the Gospel, which by Jesus himself is emphatically characterized as " tlje acceptable year of the Lord-"." ' Lev. XXV. 8 — 17. Godwyn, Moses and Aaron, lib. iii. cap. x. p. 136. M'Ewen on the Types, book ii. chap. xii. p. 230. Acts these of royalty and jwiver, rather than of priestly office, thereby shewing, that Christ's reign did indeed begin on his ascension into the holiest of all. "1 Luke iv. 19, 21. " Spiritnalis autem atque typica signi- ficatio annum gratise et libertatis, Christi morte partum ac reddituni, explicate adumbrat, quern clarissimo ipse vaticinio prpedixit Jes. Ixi. 1, 2, 3. et cap. Ixiii. 4. annum redemptorum meorum appellavit. Tunc etenim Senator noster liberavit omnes, qui mortis metu per universam vitam servituti erant addicti, Heb. ii. 14, 15. John viii. 36. reditumque paravit ad avitam regni coelorum possessionem, qua per peccatum exci- dimus John xiv. 2, 3. Eph. iii. 12. Hie annus clangore tubfe Evangelicfe, et intimatione solenni, Apostolorum et pmeconum verbi facta ministerio, promulgatur [Jes. xxvii. 13.] Zach. ix. 9, 14. Rom. X. 18. Col. i. 28." J. G. Carpzov. Annotationes in Thoma3 Godwini Mosen et Aaronem, lib. iii. cap. x. Franco- furti, 1748, p. 468. " Sed necesse non est, ut restringamus L. IV. HAS THE PREACHING OF THE WORD 165 But a second argument is adduced to prove the necessity of a Pre-Millennial advent. The preaching of the Word has, it is alleged, proved inadequate to the work which, we say, must, if effected at all, be effected by it°. But does the Church's history bear out this assertion ? Have we forgotten the day of Pentecost" ? have we for- gotten the five thousands the many myriads i of the Jews that subsequently were added to the Lord ? Was the overthrow of paganism nothing ? And are the triumphs of the Gospel at the blessed reformation nothing to be accounted of? Surely, the Word hath done great things already, whereof we rejoice. And if we may not make mention of what the Word has done, and is still doing, at home, — can our missionary annals tell of not one *' plentiful rain sent to confirm the inheritance of our God, when it was weary "■?" " Let God be true, but every man a liar'." hunc acceptabilem annum Domini ad peculiarem eum annum Christi mortis, licet is quoque non minimam sensus istius partem sibi vindicet ; sed intelligi quoque poterit de eo tem- pore jam incepto apparitionis Messife, publicationisque Evan- gelii: qufe Evangelii prsedicatio tam clare pleneque respon- debat proclamationi hujus anni clangore tubi, ut id nemo non videat." Liglitfoot, Harm. Quat. Evang. Pars iii. Lucae cap. iv. V. 19. Opera Omnia Ultrajecti 1699, tom. ii. p. 484. " M'=Neile, Lectures on the Jews, Lecture III. p. 72 — 76. Brooks, Elements, p. 227, 228. ° Acts ii. 41. P Acts iv. 4. i Acts xxi. 20. •• Ps. Ixviii. 9. ' Eom. iii. 4. ^. i<.;. 166 BEEN REALLY PROVED INADEQUATE L. IV. Hath not God said. My word "shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it ? For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace : 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 brier 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*." If then fault there be, it may not be imputed to the Word ; it must rather be traced to the unfaithfulness of that Ch^i'ch which should I" be th^ piflar and ground of the truth V Per- chance her Ministers handle the word of God deceitfully % — perchance they seek to please men, not God, who trieth the hearts ^ Perchance her children are unmindful of their duty not to keep silence and to " give the Lord no rest, till he esta- blish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth'." May not these be the reasons why "the showers have been withholden"" ?" Let us at ajiy rate, " give ourselves unto prayer^ :" let us resolve henceforth not to "confer with flesh and blood'';" — to "keep back nothing that is profitable'^;" — to set forth fully, both by our life and doctrine, God's ' Is. Iv. 1], 12, 13. " 1 Tim. iii. 15. " 2 Cor. iv. 2. y 1 Tbess. ii. 4. ^ Is. Ixii. 7. " Jer iii. 3. t> Acts vi. 4. ' Gal. i. 16. " Acts xx. 20. L. IV. TO GREAT SPIRITUAL CONQUESTS ? 167 true and lively word. Then shall it be seen whether our God will not " open the windows of heaven, and pour out such a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it^" Yes! Let the Lord but raise up a noble army of war- riors, through wbom the Gospel trumpet shall give, not_aiL uncertain, a hesitating sound, but a clear,^ a full, a fearless blast ; and right soon shall we abundantly prove, that there is no Jericho in all the promised land, whose walls are too high and whose people are too strong for the weapons of our present warfare. But it is time that we consider, secondly, the final Issue of that ingathering process which has been already described. That process terminates in the glorification of the Church. She is presented to her Lord a glorious Church, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Thus our text hath it, " Christ . . . loved the Church, and gave himself for it ; . . . . that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." And in what, brethren, shall her glory consist ? It shall consist in two things; — in individuaL_per- fectiQiij— in corporate completeness. And, first, for individual perfection. When the Church is presented to her Lord, each of her • Mai. iii. 10. 168 THE CHURCH INDIVIDUALLY PERFECT L. IV. members will be in himself absolutely and entirely perfect. Such was David's joyful expectation ; " As for me, I will behold thy face in righteous- ness : I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness?' Even now does each true believer possess a justifying perfection. He is " accepted in the beloved V' — washed in the precious blood ^ — clothedJnJJa£._jnatchless righteousness', — of him who by " one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified \" " In Him" is he " complete V — so complete that he may ever go on his way " giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made him meet to be partaker of the inherit- ance of the saints in hghtV But this evangelical, this gracious perfection is accompanied by great physical and spiritual imperfection. Sorely tried by '*the body of this death V' the believer has constant reason to look anxiously for the coming of his Lord. For then shall that which is sown in corruption be raised in incorruption ; — that which is sown in dishonour be raised in glory; — that which is sown in weakness be raised in power ; — that which is sown a natural body be raised a spiritual body"; — then shall the Lord Jesus " change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body^';" — then ' Ps. xvii. 15. e Eph. i. 6. ^ Rev. i. 5. ' Is. Ixi. lo. ^ Hel). X. 14. 1 Col. ii. 10. ™ Col. i. 12. n Rom. vii. 24. " 1 Cor. xv. 42, 43, 44. p Phil. iii. 21. L. IV. AND CORPORATELY COMPLETE 169 truly shall " the creature be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God''." Thus is it written; "In the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven ^" Nay more, they are like the Lord of angels himself. " Beloved, — it doth not yet ap- pear what we shall be ; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is'." Such will be the individual perfection, — in body, soul, and spirit, — of each member of Christ's Church when he shall come to take her to himself*. But this is not all the glory that awaits the Church at the coming of her Lord. There is, secondly, a corporate completeness appointed for her. By saying that a " corporate completeness" forms part of the glory appointed for the Church at the coming of Christ, I mean, that all who ever have been, or ever shall be, brought into that inner fold, shall then be gathered unto their Lord. There, with Him, who is " not ashamed to call them brethren"," shall be seen all the "sons and daughters" of " the Lord Almighty^." There, with the "Captain of their salvation^," with "the Author and Finisher'" of their faith, shall be seen 1 Rom. viii. 21. ' Matt. xxii. 30. ^ j John iii. 2. ' See Appendix, Note Q. " Heb. ii. 11. ^ 2 Cor. vi. 18. y Heb. ii. 10. ^ Heb. xii. 2. 170 WHEN HER MEMBERS ARE RAISED L. IV. all they who have " fought a good fight," who have " finished their course," who have " kept the faith '':" and that without one single exception. None will be missing then of all the destined "heirs of salvation^." The_iny_siical.. ii-Xlirisl" ^ill ihe^n^Jie.___complete, — no member of that body, — not even the very least, will at that hour be wanting''. For distinct and separate proof, let me refer you, in the first place, to the fifteenth chapter of the first of Corinthians. In the twentieth and following verses we thus read : — " Now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order : Christ the firstfruits ; afterwards they that are Christ's at his coming^" If you would appreciate the cogency of this quotation, you must bear in X mind that the Apostle is treating of the resurrection of the just, and of theirs only^ He maintains that such a resurrection there must be in virtue of the federal union that subsists between Christ and his people. There was a similar union between Adam and all his posterity. " Now," a 2 Tim. iv. 7. ^ Heb. i. 14. " c See Appendix, Note R. ^ v. 20 — 23. e " Christus rcsurrexit, ergo et nos fideles {de his enim agit) resurgemus." Beza on 1 Cor. xv. 20 — 22. L. IV. AT THE COMING OF THE LORD. 171 argues the apostle, " Adam died ; and all his family, (by virtue of their fe^deral relationship to him,) die also ; even so, since Christ rose again, shall all his family, by virtue of their federal relationship to him, rise also." " But," some one might say, "we daily see the effects of federal union with Adam, one by one his family die ; — we do not witness a similar resurrection, day by day, of the family of Christ." The apostle therefore adds, " but every man in his own order ; Christ the first fruits ; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." As though he would say, " there is another method of operation ordained in respect of the resurrection. The great federal head of the family of God has already risen ;— they shall themselves not rise till his coming : — but then shall they all prove the blessedness of that relation which constitutes them Christ's, for they shall all then rise." Such is, we think, the right filling up of the apostle's argument. Does it not imply a corporate completeness of the family of the last Adam, that is, of the Church mystical, at the coming of Christ^? Nor let it be said that the omission of the saints who shall be then alive, proves that we have overstrained the text. For indeed those saints are not omitted^. Their persons are included in > For a still further discussion of this passage, see Appendix, Note S. « As Mr. Birks affirms that they are, Outlines of Unfulfilled Prophecy, p. 146. 172 CHRIST COMES WITH ALL HIS SAINTS, L. IV. the term, " they that are Christ's ;" and their chgjige is included in the term, " shall be made alive." The change of the hving saints is as neces- sary a fruit of their federal union with Christ, as is the resurrection of those that have fallen asleep. And, further, the change in the one case accom- phshes all the blessed results that are brought about by the resurrection in the other. That we are right in our view of the matter, the apostle clearly proves lo^^r down in t]ne chapter, when he takes up, and briefly handles, the change of the living, as part of tlie sulyect he has in hand. " Behold, I shew you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed^." Look, in the next place, at the third chapter of the first of Thessalonians. Read the twelfth and thirteenth verses. "The Lord make you to in- crease and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you : to the end he may stablish your hearts unblame- able in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints." Here you see that the Lord Jesus Christ is expressly said to come, when he does come, — not with some, — not with many, — but with all his I saints. And who are his saints ? Not the holy y h 1 Cor, XV. 51, 52. L. IV. WITH ALL THEM THAT BELIEVE. 173 angels', but the very persons who are the subjects of that ingathering process which we have already described. Here then, once more, we have the Church numerically complete at the coming of the Lord. Jesus Christ will come " with all his saints :" none will remain to be gathered afterwards. Turn, in the third place, to the first chapter of the second of Thessalonians''. " He shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in ^y them that believe." Mark well the words ; — to be admired, not in some, not in many, but in all them that believe. And admired for what ? Admired surely for their entire sanctification, for their complete justification, as individuals ; but admired also for their numerical completeness as a\ body : he comes to be admired in ''all" them that believe. Yes! truly, — if I may venture to carry' out an illustration of which the Holy Ghost him- self hath made partial use, — the whole building which hath, for many thousands of years, been growing unto an holy temple in the Lord^, shall then stand forth before the universe, in all the ■ It is true that the word " saints" Q'^tp"T|7 does sometimes ijj the Old Testanient signify angels, e. g. Deut. xxxiii. 2. Job XV. 15. Daniel viii. 13. Zech. xiv. 5. It does not however appear that the corresponding word in the Greek, viz. aytot, is ever certainly so employed. When found in connection with the subject of angels, aycos is always then an adjective, e. g. Matt. XXV. 31. ivdvTfs ol aytoi ayyeXoi. Jude 14. /jLvpidaiv ayiais. For more on Zech. xiv. 5. see Lecture VIII. k V. 10. ' Eph. ii. 21, 22. 174 BEARING OF THESE FACTS L. IV. completeness of its parts, in all the symmetry of its proportions, the exact counterpart of the plan formed in the eternal counsels of Jehovah, an habitation meet for God himself through the countless ages of eternity. Such then is the issue of those gracious operations by which members of the Church are gathered in and made ready for their Lord. They result in this ; — that she, — the Church which Christ loved from everlasting, — the Church for which he gave himself in the fulness of time, — is presented to him a glorious Church, — glorious for the individual perfection of all her children, — glorious for the corporate completeness of all her company. And now we have a second answer to our original question. That question was this, — " Can Christ come personally, while any members of the mystical Church remain to be gathered in ?" Still must our reply be in the negative. I shall have occasion, as I have already hinted, to point out in a future lecture ""j that there is much in that mingling of good and evil, — of heaven and earth, — which characterises the ex- pected personal reign, to detract from that blessed perfection of individual saints which belongs to their resurrection state : — I therefore waive this point for the present, and only ask, how can the tenet, that the major part of Christ's saints will be gathered in after his appearing, be reconciled with ™ Lecture VI. L. IV. UPON THE PRE-MILLENNIAL QUESTION. 175 the revealed truth, that when Christ comes, his Church will be corporately complete ? Truly we must conclude, — either that there will be no one saved during Christ's Millennial reign"; — or, that He will not personally come till that expected period of blessedness is ended. Who can hesitate which of these two alternatives to adopt ? For — for reasons which will presently appear — I can neither myself accept, nor advise you to embrace, as an escape from both, the belief that there will, for the Millennial period, be a restoration of "Adamic" or "Paradisaical" or primagval, but essentially non-Christian, non- gracious happiness °. " This was the opinion of the learned Dr. Gill. He expected first a spiritual, and subsequently a personal and ( Millennial reign. It was during the former or spiritual reign that the great and final influx of sinners into the ' Church was to take place. See his Body of Divinity, b. v, c. xiv. " "We hold that there shall be no men on earth during this period, but such as shall attain to a perfect freedom in one kind or other from sin, and so from mortality also, throughout that time. For as all they, who, under the cove- nant of grace, have been incorporated into Christ by the Spirit of faith, shall be raised or changed into an immutable state of perfection, never to be altered for the worse but for the better ; so there shall be many others, at that time alive on earth, who shall be restored for so long, only to an Adamitical state of innocency, according to the tenor of the covenant of nature made with Adam, and therefore shall be mutable, and shall fall, when in like manner they are as- saulted by Satan." Homes, Eesurrection Kevealed, p. 309, 310. Dr. M<=Neile (Lectures on the Jews, p. 185 — 189.) repudiates, but both Mr. Bickersteth (Divine Warning, p. 225.) and 176 RECAPITULATION OF THE ARGUMENT. L. IV. I have now, my brethren, endeavoured to ex- hibit to you the bearing of the truths embodied in my text upon the Millennial question. In so doing I have, as much as possible, confined myself to direct and positive statements of Scripture. I might have proceeded to shew how the self- same truths are taught by implication in many a figure by which the future blessedness of the saints is illustrated ; — in many an exhortation drawn from that prospect, by which present duties are enforced. But this is evidence, and cogent evidence too, which I must leave you to gather for yourselves. Enough has been adduced to prove, that, if a period of unprecedented spiritual blessing upon earth be yet before us, Christ cannot, according to the teaching of Scripture, inaugurate it by a personal advent. For his coming to this globe would necessarily introduce, — not an age of abounding Christian blessing, — but an age destitute alike of the means of grace, of the children of grace, and of the substance of grace. No ! it cannot be ! Christ loved the Church, — Christ gave himself for it, — Christ sanctifies its members by the word ; — when their number is complete, — when the word has done its work, — then and not till then, will he personally come ; Mr. Birks (Outlines, p. 153.) approximate very nearly to, and deal very gently with this Adamitical theory; while Mr. Molyneux (World to Come, p. 273.) adopts it altogether. L. IV. THE BRIDE, THE LAMb's WIFE. 177 — for then, and not till then, can he present her to himself a glorious church ; — then, and not till then, can there be " the manifestation of the sons of GodP;" — then, and not till then, can " the righ- teous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father'';" — then, and not till then, can the bride, the Lamb's wife, have made herself ready""; — then, and not till then, can that heavenly vision receive its accomplishment, " I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband ; — and the city lieth four square ; — the length and the breadth and the height of it are equaP." In conclusion, I would first address my Pre- p Rom. viii. 19. /^ i Matt. xiii. 43. ' Rev. xix. 7. s Rev. xxi. 2, 16. J Dr. Brown, after discussing 1 Cor. xv. 23: Eph. V. 25— 27:' 2 Thess. i. 10: Jude 24: Col. i. 21, 22: 1 Thess. iii. 13 : thus winds up his short but beautiful re- marks : — " And now, I think it impossible to resist the com- bined force of these passages. One broad magnificent con- ception pervades them all — The absolute completeness of the Church at Christ's coming, The spotless purity in which it will then be presented, " as a chaste virgin," to Christ, The resplendent glory in which, as " the Bride, the Lamb's wife," she shall then be " adorned for her husband," The praise which will redound from such a spectacle to the Redeemer himself, The rapturous admiration of Him which it will kindle, and, The ineffable complacency with which the whole will be regarded by 'God, even our Father.'" Second Advent, part i. chapter iii. p. 57. / N 178 NEITHER NEW REVELATION L. IV. Millennarian brethren. I speak to them in all Christian love ; yet with a solemn conviction that serious admonition is needed. Fully aware how cogent the arguments which have been rehearsed to day, they are notwithstand- ing loth to accept the inevitable conclusion. Hather than do so, they betake themselves, some to a yet future revelation, others to a salvation external to the Church. In both cases they establish a precedent pregnant with the most dis- astrous consequences. In both cases they loosen the very foundations of the faith. I begin with those who anticipate a future reve- lation, and, concurrently with it, a new set of appliances for the salvation of sinners of man- kind. To them I would say. If, rather than abandon tlie fascinating vision which is the source, of all your perplexities, you refer us for their solution to some revelation not yet vouchsafed to the sons of men, why may not the disciples even of deadly error imitate your example ? Do you not see that the supremacy of Scripture itself is imperilled by your speculations ? For where has God given us any warrant for expecting such a further manifestation of his will? Moses truly said, "A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me ; him shall ye hear'." But when that prophet came, did he give any even the slightest intimation that the ' Acts vii. 37. L. IV. NOR NEW DISPENSATION 179 message of which he was the bearer should be supplemented by another ? On the contrary, the) whole teaching of himself and of his apostles im- plies, that as we live under the last oeconomy'' " See Heb. xii. 27, 28, as expounded in Lecture III. Mr. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 159, and Dr. M'^Neile, Lec- tures on the Jews, p. 83, discover in the woi'ds " the dispens- ation of the fuhiess of times," Eph. i. 10, the true designation of a yet future Millennial oeconomy. But, as to the name, surely they are mistaken. For the apostle is speaking of the Gospel dispensation. Listen to him in Gal.iv.4. " Bnt when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." And has not redemption by Christ been followed by an dvaKf(pa\aia)(ris, a " gathering together in one" of all things in Christ? Eph. i. 20—22. Phil. ii. 6 — 11. Thus Thomas Goodwin, himself a Millennarian, explains the term : " This is now the dispensation of the fulness of time; God makes that the business of the last age, to send his Son into the world, to make him the head of his Church visible; whom angels shall acknowledge, whom all things that are in heaven and in earth shall come into, that are his elect, both Jews and Gentiles. This was reserved for the fulness of time, to be the business of the latter age." Sermon xii. on Eph. i. 10. Works, London, 1681. vol. i. p. 174. Then, as to the thing, Dr. M^Neile attempts in his Third Lecture to prove its certainty by an argument thus correctly stated by the late Professor Lee ; — " Because the world has never yet witnessed generally any thing like the glowing character of Christianity as given by the prophets, Christianity cannot be the dispens- ation they meant ; and therefore we must look for another." Six Sermons on the Study of the Holy Scriptures, Dissertation i, §. 3. London, 1830. Note on p. 156. Very much of the same character is the argument of Mr. Brooks in Abdiel's Essays, p. 155 — 166, where he shews, that the Millennium, as understood by him, will have all the characteristics of a new N 2 180 CAN BE STILL EXPECTED. L. IV. which this earth shall witness, so we possess the last revelation which shall be given to the sons of men. Nor, while the words of the Holy Ghost by the mouth of Peter stand recorded in the second of Acts, can we recognize the prediction of any still future revelation in that noted prophecy of Joel\ " This," he says in words most emphatic, "is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams : and on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit ; and they shall prophesy ■" Thus are we taught that this prediction was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost'. Nor can we dispensation, and therefore concludes, that such a new dis- pensation there shall certainly be ! Both these excellent men seem to forget that there is another alternative, namely this, that they do not interpret the prophets aright : an alternative which the Scriptural doctrine of the finality of the present oeconomy should constrain them to adopt. - Ch. ii. -28—32. y Acts ii. 16—18. ^ " I doubt not," says Mr. Brooks, Elements, p. 301, "but when the next dispensation is introduced, there will still be an increase of revelation, which will throw further light ujjon the Millennial and ultimate states. Indeed Joel ii. 28 has lyet to be farther accomplished." Similarly Homes, Eesur- rection Revealed, p. 177 — 181 ; Duke of Manchester, Finished Mystery, p. 114; Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 105, do not expect the full accomplishment of Joel's prophecy before L. IV. NOR CAN WE SCRIPTURALLY LOOK 181 discover elsewhere any promise of a new reve- lation ^ But I turn to those who speak of a salvation external to the Church^. And with them I associate the behevers in a Millennial state of " Adamitical" innocency. To all alike I would say; the personal advent of Christ. Surely they all forget that imj)licit submission which is due to the Great Prophet, when he vouchsafes to open to us the Scriptures. See Lecture I. p. 24. Dr. Gill, in his commentary, deals more wisely when he says, " there is no doubt with us Christians that these words belong to the times of Christ and his apostles, since they are by an inspired writer said to be fulfilled in those times, Acts ii. 16, 17." He then proceeds to expound the rest of the chapter accordingly. ^ Isaiah ii. 3, " For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." This also belongs to " theJast,.iiBiys," that is. to Gospel time^ when in the first promulgation of the new law, the "law of the Spirit of life," the prediction was even literally fulfilled. "Nihil hie dubium relinquit historia. Quandiu Apostolica Schola a Christo Jesu, et Spiritu ejus fundata Hierosolymis, ibidem floruit, Ecclesise Gentium earn veneratae sunt ut matrem totius Ecclesise. Decreta illius Senatus Scholastici habita sunt pro decretis et Sententiis Christi et Spiritus. . . . Et vere ex hac Ecclesia egressi sunt doctores, instructi verbo justiti(B, doctrina illius scholae, ut earn per totum dissemina- rent orbem, quod hie egregie observavit Justinus Martyr; et nos quoque, qui eandem hanc tenemus doctrinam et disci- plinam, hodieque non cupimus ad alium eam examinare typum et canonem quam ipsius hujus Ecclesiee Apostolicse, Hierosolymitanse, Tsionefe." Vitringa in Esaiam. ^ M'Neile, Lectures on the Jews, p. 81, 82. Elhott, Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 187. Birks, Outlines of Unfulfilled Prophecy, p. 141—143 : 374—378. 182 FOR ANY SALVATION L. IV'. The Scriptures by no means encourage us to seek for any other saving manifestation of the divine attributes than the mystical church presents. You speak indeed of the " manifold wisdom of God", his 7roXv7roLKLXo9 ao(f)ia, as requiring a v^^ider field for its developement than that church affords". fBut do you forget the fact, that the very passage iin which that ttoXvitolkiXos' ao(j)ia is mentioned, points out the Church as the grand, the sole, the suflflcient theatre for its exhibition? ''Unto me", saith Paul, — ''is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ ; and to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the begin- ning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things ^by Jesus Christ : to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord"*." Mark well how the Apostle, de- lighting as he does to dwell upon the riches of redeeming wisdom, points out the mystical church, and that exclusively, as the destined, the adequate exemplification of all its "many-varied" treasures. Yes! Let the jword " E<^lesia" Jae but Scrip- turally understood, as including all the IkkXtjtol, " Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, p. 336. ^ Eph. iii. 8 — 11. See for more upon this important subject, Appendix, Note T. L. IV. EXTERNAL TO THE CHURCH. 183 all those, that is, from the beginning to the end of time, who being called by grace, are one with Christ by the indwelling of his Spirit, — and there is truth in the word "extra ecclesiam nulla salus.", If we may venture nevertheless to contend for the increase of the divine glory by the enlarged application of the divine mercies": — if we may venture to speak of gradations of saving union with Christ, such as we read of in some Millen- narian works ; — the highest grade being that of the church of the elect ; — the second grade, that of restored. and converted Israel;— and the third, that of the nations who walk in the light of the new Jerusalem';- — if, I say, we may venture as far as this, on the authority of texts which so readily admit of another and a safer interpretation, how can we forbid others to urge the same plea, and to carry those gradations lower still ? Surely doc- trines which have tendencies so manifest and so certain, cannot be dealt with as merely harmless phantasies. And yet these are the avowed opinions of living Pre-Millennarians of keen intellect and fervent devotion^. e Birks, Outlines, p. 150—153. ^ Bickersteth, Divine Warning, p. 225. Dallas, Blooms- bury Lectures, 1847, p. 26, 27. Goodhart, Eev. C. J. Blooms- bury Lectures, 1850, p. 64, 65. See note n on p. 255 — 258. s See Appendix, Note U, for further remarks upon this painfully important subject. The following observations on John xvii. 20 — 24. have been suggested by a valued friend. Observe, i. Christ prays only for such as believe through the word preached ; he knows none else. 184 PRACTICAL APPLICATION L. IV. And now, as a practical application of our sub- ject to the audience before me, let me intreat you all, brethren and fathers alike, to examine, each for himself, whether he be in Christ or not. Union with Christ constitutes a man a member incor- porate of that mystical church of which we have been speaking to day as the sole recipient of the salvation of God. Enquire then, I say, each into his own personal state before God. " If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature : old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new'':" — new is his judgment concerning himself, and concerning Christ ; new are his tastes, his habits, his companionships, his works, his fears, his hopes. Have all things thus become new with you? For then, and then only, are you in Christ, — then, and then only, do you belong to that Church which shall share in the glories of his appearing. ii. Christ bestows on them here the highest blessedness, — (a) that they may be one in the Father and the Son, v. 21. — (b) that they may share his present glory, v. 22. — (c) that they may have the Father's love, v. 23. iii. Christ asks for them hereafter the highest blessedness, — (a) that in his presence may be their habitation, — (b) that his person may be their admiration, v. 24. iv. All besides these must be shut out from these things, and what would be left worth having? v. All besides are the world, whom he regards not, v. 9. Where then is ground for believing that there will be either a future revelation, or a salvation external to the Church? The Lord Jesus, in a prayer which must be a counterpart of the divine purposes, is not only silent upon either of these thoughts, but enunciates principles wholly incompatible with them. ^ 2 Cor. v. 17. L. IV. OF THE SUBJECT. 185 I am the more anxious to impress this thought upon your minds, because there is, in this place especially, a constant and a powerful tendency to re- verse the order of enquiry. That distinguished titlfi^\ " The Church," is withdrawn from the blessed com- pany known unto God, though undefinable by man, to which it primarily belongs; and is bestowed exclusively upon another, a larger, and a mixed society, cognizable by such outward attributes ": as universality, apostolicity, visibility ! And then a man is tempted to act as though he thought himself safe because within that ancient pale. Such is not, brethren, the lesson taught by the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins. Awful will it be, most awful, to have been members, as, thank God, members we are of that Church which of all others is the most Scriptural : — Scriptural in its doctrine, — Scriptural in its discipline : — awful will it be to have worshipped in its sanctuaries, to have ministered in its congregations, and yet when the Lord comes, — when all the cKAe/croi, all the! eKKXrjTOL, all who by grace have heard and obeyed his word, shall swell the triumph of his train, and enter with him into the many mansions of his Father's house', to be ourselves shut out""! Now '* unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen \" '' John xiv. 2. >^ Matt. xxv. 10. ' Rev. i. 5, 6. LECTURE V. THE JUDGMENT OF QUICK AND DEAD AT THE COMING OF THE LORD. 2 Corinthians v. 10, 11. FOR WE MUST ALL APPEAR BEFORE THE JUDGMENT SEAT OF CHRIST; THAT EVERY ONE MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS DONE IN HIS BODY, ACCORDING TO THAT HE HATH DONE, WHETHER IT BE GOOD OR BAD. KNOWING THEREFORE THE TERROR OF THE LORD, WE PERSUADE MEN. The coming of the Lord will be full of joy to the righteous, — of fear to the ungodly. Witness, as to the ungodly, the v^^ords, " 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\" How different the mind of the godly ! "He which testifieth these things saith. Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come. Lord Jesus''." Now it is, as the advocates of the personal reign most truly affirm, the duty of the heralds of ^ Rev. i. 7. ^ Eev. xxii. 20. L. V. AT THE COMING OF THE LORD 187 Christ to prepare and make ready his way, by exhibiting his second advent in both these aspects. Ungodly sinners should be called upon to repent, and the exhortation should be enforced by refer- ence to the coming judgment". The saints of God should be encouraged to persevere, and the near approach of the Lord should be a principal incentive to exertion in their warfare'^. Such was the practice of the apostles eighteen hundred years ago, — such should be our practice now. But Pre-Millennarians do not stop here. Not content with proclaiming that '^the Lord is at hand"," as the apostles proclaimed it, who knew, even then, by inspiration of God, that " the man of sin," " the son of perdition," had yet to be '' re- vealed," that "the apostasy^" had yet to run its course; they insist upon it that we must announce a personal advent and a first resurrection, as events which may hourly be expected to occur, and which certainly must take place before that reign of blessedness begins, for which so many are anxiously looking. And they assert, that to the "blessed hope^" connected with the second coming of Christ, this their doctrine gives a substance, and consequently a force, which every other hypo- thesis fails to communicate. c Acts xvii. 30, 31. " Heb. x. 35—37. e pi^[[_ iy. 5. ^ 2 Thess. ii. 1, 2, 3. For further remarks on this point, see Lecture VI. and the notes appended to it. e Titus ii. 13. 188 A JUDGMENT OF ASSIZE L. V. Whether this be really the case, or whether, on the contrary, the degrading of the behever's hope to the level of earth be not accompanied by a depreciation of its sanctifying effect, is a question well worthy of serious consideration. I propose to discuss it in my next lecture. Meanwhile, it is a significant fact, — for a fact I hope to shew you that it is, — that Pre-Millen- narians do, in their attempts to prove the hypo- thesis of a future Millennium, after the coming of the Lord, deprive that coming of its chiefest terrors to the ungodly. For their tenet does indeed (to use the word as Scripture not un- frequently uses it^) "abolish," — that is, deprive of all its most stringent elements of fear, — the awful doctrine of judgment to come. It is to this view of the subject, that I desire to call your attention to day. In so doing, I would begin by demonstrating how great is the " Terror of the Lord," connected with the judgment to come. I would then proceed to shew in how many respects that Terror is invalidated by Pre- Millennarian teaching. And First, for the " Terror of the Lord," as set forth in the New Testament Scriptures. " Know- ing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men." ^ 2 Tim. i. 10. The Greek verb is Karapyea, used also in a similar sense in Heb. ii. 14. though there translated " destroy." See also Rom. iii. 3, 31: iv. 14. L. V. SHALL IMMEDIATELY BEGIN. 189 I assume as granted on all sides, that when Christ comes, then a "judgment of assize" will begin'. Who shall be the parties arraigned at the bar ? — what shall be the order of procedure ? — how long the trial shall last ? — how soon the decisions of the court shall be carried into exe- cution ? — are matters which must be ascertained as we advance. All that I assume is this, that a judgment of assize will begin as soon as Christ comes. And can I be said herein to assume too much ? Have not the words of the Psalmist, " Let the floods clap their hands ; let the hills be joyful together before the Lord ; for he cometh to judge the earth : with righteousness shall he judge the world, and the people with equity V — have not these words, I say, been echoed by the Church in all ages, when in her creeds she confesses that Jesus her Lord " sitteth on the right hand of God ' " I do not purpose to make use of this word [judgment] in the sense of those great acts of divine wrath, which have been, are, and yet will be poured out upon the wicked in the world Neither do I take the word "judgment" in the sense of that continuous state of rule, which the Spirit has some- times employed it to express It is not in these senses, but strictly in a forensic sense, technically a "judgment;'' that is to say, the act of judginy by calling to account, and entering into a judicial examination upon a great and solemn occasion It is in this sense of the word that we are now to consider what we are taught in Scripture respecting the judgment of those persons who, at the time of the coming of the Lord, shall be found, alive upon the earth — ' the quick,' " Dallas, Blooms- bury Lent Lectures, 1843, Lecture VIII. p. 272, 273. ^ Psalm xcviii. 8, 9. 190 THE AWFUL CIRCUMSTANCES L. V. the Father Ahiiighty ;" and that " from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead"? and have we not echoed them back again this very morning, when in that magnificent hymn of the universal church we chaunted forth the words, "We believe that thou shalt come to be our judge. We therefore pray thee, help thy servants, whom thou hast redeemed with thy precious blood" ? And shall not help in very truth be needed then ? Shall there not be " Terror" in that solemn assize ? Contemplate, in the first place, the awful cir- cumstances under which the session of that great tribunal shall be opened. Sudden as a thief in the night, — quick as the twinkling of an eye, — with the voice of the arch- angel, and with the trump of God, — shall the Lord himself come in the clouds of heaven, — thousand thousands ministering unto him, — ten thousand times ten thousand standing round about him. So fearful shall be the sight, that universal nature shall quail and shrink away and perish. Need I prove these several points by reference to Scripture ? Did I say that the Lord himself shall come^ ? Saith not Paul the same in his first 1 Acts i. 11. "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, w Tporrof, as ye have seen him go into heaven." Much stress has at times (e. g. Greswell, Parables, i. p. 165 — 167.) been laid L. V. THAT ATTEND ITS OPENING. 191 epistle to the Thessalonians ? " The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God"." Was it declared that he should come in the clouds, escorted by the heavenly hosts ? What saith his beloved disciple ? " Behold, he cometh with clouds"." What saith he himself? " The Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory°." Once more, — was it said that universal nature would recoil from the pre- sence of his sudden, his midnight approach ? Turn to the third chapter of the second epistle of Peter. " The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt upon these words, as necessarily implying the descent of the liord Jesus to this earth, and to that very spot on it, namely the mount of Olives, from which he ascended in the sight of his disciples. This opinion, it is alleged, receives confirmation from Zech. xiv. 4 : of which see Lecture VIII. With regard to Acts i. 11. it would almost seem as if the p in rponov had escaped obsei-vation. For it has been well remarked, and that by a very decided Pre-Millennarian, that the "rpoVof by which Jesus went and by which he shall return, relates not to the mere adventitious or collateral circumstances, which attended his departure, or which shall mark his return ; but denotes either the literal path by which he traversed the heavens, the clouds by which he was obscured and from which he shall emerge, or the speed, unexpectedness, glory, and superiority to the laws of matter, which distinguished his ascent." Sirr, First Eesurrection, p. 9. "1 Ch. iv. 16. " Rev. i. 7. ° Matt. xxv. 31. 192 THE IMMEDIATE ARRAIGNMENT L. V. with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up p." But contemplate, in the second place, the imme- diate arraignment of all mankind at the bar of judgment. Heaven and earth shall flee away, but man shall not : — immediately, — inevitably, — without dis- tinction,— without exception, — shall the universal family of man, — the quick and the dead, — be marshalled before the judgment seat of Christ. Let the following Scriptures bear witness to this truth. I begin with my text ; " we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ." And is it asked, who are the '' all" that shall thus appear before the judgment seat of Christ ? Hear the words of Paul, as he stands in the midst of Mars' hill ; — " The times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now commandeth all men every where to repent : because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained ; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead'^." P V. 10. ^ Acts xvii. 30, 31. Dr, Sirr (First Eesurrection, p. 155.) takes " the world," rrjv olKovfievrjv, to be only " the platform of the empire of the beast ;" — that is, merely the Eoman earth. But has not the Holy Ghost himself decided otherwise ? Surely the words just preceding, — 6 Qeos ravvv TrapayyiXXei Tois dvdpwTTOis naac TvavTa)(oii peravoeiv, — forbid US tO understand the term in so limited a sense, and encourage us rather to L. V. AT THE BAR OF JUDGMENT. \9S But it may be asked. Are there any to be then judged beside the Hving ? Yes, assuredly. Let Peter be our instructor as he speaks to Cornelius. " He commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead'." Hear again the words of the appointed Judge himself: — " Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation'." view it as co-extensive with " all the world," t6v Koa-fiov cnravra, Mark xvi. 15, — " all nations," Trai/ra ra edvrj, Matt, xxviii. 19. That the word rj olKovfievrj is sometimes used in this widest sense, may be ascertained by reference to Eom. x. 18. See for more upon these verses, Gipps, First Eesurrection, chap. ii. §. X. p. 44. r Acts X. 42. 1 Peter iv. 5, 6. 2 Tim. iv. I. Some have, by a distributive arrangement of its parts, endeavoured to educe from the last of these verses a Pre-Millennarian testi- mony. " The Lord," they say, " shall judge the quick at his appearing, and the dead at his kingdom." Without dwelling upon the fact, that the kingdom is thus, most inconsistently, post];)oned till after the Millennium : — without dwelling upon the further fact, that the words in question have been very properly paraphrased thus — by the Syriac version — " who shall judge the quick and the dead at the revelation of his kingdom,' — the formula being an hendyadis expressive of one and the same thing, — (see Gill's Commentary,) — I may content my- self with observing, that this is one of the passages which, how much soever they may tell on the popular mind, really prove nothing either way in the present controversy. See Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 261. * John V. 28, 29. So also Daniel xii. 2, " And many of o 194 STRICT INVESTIGATION L. V. Well then is it that we are taught in the Athanasian creed to say, *' He ascended into heaven, he sitteth on the right hand of the Father, God Almighty : from whence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. At whose coming all men shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give account for their own works." And this warns me to commemorate, as a third element of fear in that great assize, the strict investigation of each separate case by the righteous Judge. Here surely, if no where else, is the terror of the Lord ! Hear the words of Paul in the fourteenth of Romans, at the tenth verse ; " Why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother ? for we shall all stand them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contemjDt." Augustine, De Civitate Dei, Liber xx. Cap. xxiii, thus com- pares the two passages together. " Et adhuc sententite illi EvangelicPD est locus iste simillimus de resurrectione dun- taxat mortuorum corporum. Namqui illic dicti sunt esse in monumentis, ijDsi hie dormientes in terrce aggere, vel sicut alii interpretati sunt, in terrce puhere. Et sicut ibi, procedent, dictum est : ita hie, exsurgent. Sicut ibi, Qui bona fecerunt, in resurrectionem vita; qui autem mala egerunt in resurrectionem jadicii : ita est isto loco. Hi in vitam ceternam, et hi in oppro- brium et in confiisionem ceternam. Non autem diversum putetvir, quod cum ibi positum sit, omnes qui sunt in monu- mentis, hie non ait Propheta, omnes sed multi dormientium in terrce aggere. Ponit enim aliquando Scriptura pro omnibus multos De tali autem resurrectione huic quoque ipsi Prophetse Danieli paulo post dicitur : Et tu veni, et re- quiesce : adhuc enim dies in completionem consiimmationis, et requiesces, et resnrges in sorte tud injine dierum.'' L, V. OF EACH SEPARATE CASE. 195 before the judgment seat of Christ." And why stand there ? Let the twelfth verse reply, "Apa ovv eKaaros y/xcou Trepi eavrov Xoyou Scoaei tco 0ec3. Thus again do we read in our text, " We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ ; that every one may receive, — Iva KOfiLayTai eKaaros, — the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." Yes ! though the countless millions of all that have lived, from the first man Adam to the very last infant that shall be born into the world, shall be assembled there, — yet shall each be as isolated from all the rest in individuality of judgment, as though he stood quite alone at the bar'. "Now consider this, ye that forget God"!" All ye that in the turbulence of youthful passion, — all ye that in the wantonness of youthful indo- lence,— all ye that in the fervour of youthful ambition, — and all ye too, of riper years, that in the busy toil of life, — in the pride of moral recti- tude,— in the conceit of intellectual self-trust, — forget God, the God of the Scriptures, God the Father the Creator, God the Son the Redeemer, God the Holy Ghost the Sanctifier, — the God whose ye are, — the God whom ye ought to love and serve with all your heart, and with all your soul, and t This lesson is taught by several parables : the ten pieces of money, Luke xix. 1 2 — S7 : the wedding garment, Matt. xxii. 1 — 14: the wise and foolish virgins. Matt. xxv. 1—13 : the talents, Matt. xxv. 14—30. ^ Ps. 1. 22. o2 196 PRACTICAL EXHORTATION L. V. with all your mind^ — ye shall stand, each one of you, before the judgment seat of Christ : — then " shall God bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be eviU :"— then shall men give account of every idle word that they have spoken^; — yea, then shall it be proved that the Lord knoweth the very " things that come into your mind, every one of them^." For hearken to his own words : — " These things hast thou done, and I kept silence ; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes^" Mark well those awful words, " I will ... set them in order before thine eyes :" — set in order the sins of thy whole life ; — the sins of thy whole man ; — the sins of childhood, youth, and age ; — the sins of body, soul, and spirit. Now you may fondly imagine — that the Lord will not be strict to mark iniquity, — but then, full surely, shall you discover to your endless confusion, that though the Lord is " slow to anger," yet is he also " great in powerV' and one that will " by no means clear the guilty*^." For "judgment will he lay to the line, and righ- teousness to the plummet V And conscience also shall awake on that day. Yes ! conscience, once ill-taught indeed yet not silent, but now perchance ' Matt. xxii. 37. y Eccles. xii. 14. ' Matt. xii. 36. » Ezek. xi. 5. ^ pg. i. 21. f Nahum i. 3. •■ Exodus xxxiv. 7. « Isaiah xxviii. 17. L. V. FOUNDED UPON THESE CHARACTERISTICS 197 over-borne, smothered, quenched ; — conscience shall then awake, and with a fearful, a burning fulness of light and hfe and fidelity, plead guilty to every charge, and avow that every sentence is just. Happy shall they be on that day, and only they, whom, by a sentence of anticipation, the Judge shall have pronounced righteous ! " Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered*^:" — for even in those great waterfloods of guilt and wrath, " they shall not come nigh unto him^:" — for it is written again, '* Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life\" Hearken then, brethren, every one of you, as, by his ambassador', your future Judge pleads with you and says, " Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near : let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts : and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon ''." For, if ye will not hearken, that very "word of salvation^" which now he sends unto you, " preaching peace by Jesus Christ ""j" shall judge you in the last ^ Ps. xxxii. 1. compared with Rom.' iv. 6. e Ps. xxxii. 6. ^ John v. 24. * 2 Cor. v. 20. ^ Isaiah Iv. 6, 7. ^ Acts xiii. 26. -^ Acts x. 36. 198 OF THE COMING JUDGMENT. L. V. day", and that with an untold aggravation of guilt and of punishment. O remember, I pray you, and forget not those awful words with which Jesus upbraided the people of Capernaum ; " And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell : for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you. That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee°." " John xii. 48. ° Matt. xi. '23, 24. It seems scarcely possible to read the New Testament Scriptures with an unprejudiced mind with- out coming to the conclusion, that there is " a day" appointed of the Father, Acts xvii. 31, in which he shall judge the world in righteousness by Jesus Christ. With reference to the purpose for which it is designed, it is called " the day of judgment r Matt. x. 15: xii. 36. With reference to the per- son who shall be Judge, — ''the day of the Lord" 1 Thess. v. 2 : 2 Thess. ii. 2. W^ith reference to the punishment of the ungodly, — ''the day ofivrath;" Rom. ii. 5. With reference to the fact that it shall close for ever the present state of things, — " the last day;" John vi. 39, 40; xi. 54; xii. 48. Some Pre- Millennarians endeavour to break down this accumulated evidence, by pointing ovit the fact, that in many of these cases the article is omitted : they hence conclude that, in the case of Matt. xi. 23, 24, for example, " it is not in the day of judgment, but in a day of judgment, [signifying] 'visitation by temporal calamities,' it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom:" — so again Matt. xii. 36. "an account shall be given of every idle word in a day of judgment " Sirr, First Resurrection, p. 53, 54. I scarcely need remind my readers, that the absence of the article by no means makes it necessary to vender the words thus indefinitely. " The day of judg- L. V. THE GREAT WHITE THRONE 199 But to return. If such be the last judgment, can it be of any other that we read in the twen- tieth chapter of the Revelation at the eleventh and following verses ? And I would ask yom- particular attention to this quotation, as its con- text, to which I shall presently refer, is the very seat of Pre-Millennarianism. " 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 ment" is still a legitimate interpretation, and may be the right one here. But on this I may refer to the remarks of Bishop Middleton on Matt. x. 15. "'Ev rjfjLfpa Kpia-ecos. Mr. Wakefield in St. Matthew translates these words, " in a day of judgment;" and he assures us in his New Testament, that " this phrase has not the least reference to the day of general judgment." But it may be asked, what other judgment could at that time await Sodom and Gomorrha? These cities with their inhabitants had long since been exterminated, and were therefore no longer subject to temporal visitations. He quotes, indeed, in support of his opinion, ev rfj Kpla-ei, Luke x. 14, where, however, the expression is too plainly definite to admit any doubt, and where also the argument already ad- duced will apply with nearly equal propriety. Tyre and Sidon being then in ruins." Speaking of an universal and simul- taneous judgment, the Bishop adds, if that be denied, " how then are we to explain John v. 28, 29; Eom. ii. 16; and, not to instance other passages to the same purport, the circum- stantial description beginning at Matt. xxv. 3 1 ?" Greek Article, Cambridge, 1828, p. 196, 197. 200 AND THE DEAD SMALL AND GREAT L. V. written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of hfe, was cast into the lake of fire p." Here surely we recognize every leading feature of the great assize : — the advent of the Judge : — the summoning of mankind to his bar : — the strict investigation of each several case. The awful coming of the Judge : — " 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." The arraignment of the whole race of mankind at his bar : — " I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God^^: . . . and the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them." The severe scrutiny of separate judicial investigation : — " The books were opened: . . . and the dead were judged out of those things p Kev. XX. 11 — 15. •1 " The universality of the judgment is declared, or neces- sarily implied, in the text. If it were lawful to consider it, as it has been in past ages considered, a description of a simultaneous and universal judgment of all that have ever lived, it would not be easy to find words more comprehensive than these, The dead, small and great I" Ven. Archdeacon Hill, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 373. L. V. STANDING BEFORE GOD 201 which were written in the books, according to their works : . . . kol iKpldrjo-au eKaaros Kara ra epya avrcoi/". Nor are the righteous unpictured on the symbohc page : — " another book was opened, which is the book of life . . . and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Surely I spake not amiss when I said, that herein the Apocalyptic seer pourtrays the judgment of quick and dead at the appearing and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. But here our Pre-Millennarian brethren join issue with us. This vision, they say, depicts an assize subsequent by many centuries of time to the coming of the Lord"". Nor doth it tell of an *■ Not so, however, Mr. Molyneux. He regards the visions of the great white throne and the first resurrection as contem- poraneous one with another : World to Come, j). 223. " This interpretation, however," says Archdeacon Hill, "though not without much show of argument in its favour, is attended with difficulties apparently insuperable. For if, by " the dead, small and great," we are to understand a simultaneous resun-ection of all that have ever died, then what becomes of the doctrine of a " first resiu-rection ?" and how are those blessed and holy ones who have "part in" it to be distinguished from "the rest of the dead," who "lived not again until the thousand years were finished?" Again, if " the earth and the heaven fled away " from before a Pre-Millennial throne, and "there was no more place found for them," — if "the new heaven and the new earth," in which, we are told, " there was no more sea," be Pre-Millennial, — how can this be made to consist with the continuance of the earth and the heaven in the Millennial state, in which, as we know from St. Paul's application of Psalm viii. to " the world to come," there will also be a sea? In no way, as it seems, could such an in- 202 MUST SURELY SYMBOLIZE L. V. universal assemblage of all mankind at the judg- ment seat of Christ \ For we are, they farther allege, greatly mistaken in our views concern- ing the great day of the Lord. They would not, they protest, diminish aught from its terrors. The advent of Christ shall, they most firmly believe, be sudden, — all mankind shall cer- tainly, at one time or another, be arraigned at his bar, — the trial shall, in each case, be, beyond all doubt, one of inexorable rigour, — but then these elements of fear shall not be concentrated upon one point of time, — they shall be distributed over a lengthened period, — for " the first resurrection V " the resurrection of the just"," with its corre- consistency be removed, but by the scheme of spiritualizing what will naturally admit of a literal meaning; and repre- senting the removal of the earth, and the heaven, and the sea, as denoting, not any physical changes in the earth, but only the rapid and utter removal of civil and ecclesiastical institutions existing at the time of the advent." Blooms- bury Lectures, 1843, p. 365, 366. * Stress is, at times, laid upon the fact, that the living are not distinctly mentioned among the parties assembled before the great white throne. It will however be sufficient to remark, in the words of Gipps, that " we find continually both in the prophetical and narrative parts of Scripture, that all the incidents connected with an event are not noticed in every passage that relates to that event." First Eesurrection, p. 98. t Rev. XX. 5. " Luke xiv. 14. For the bearing of this and kindred passages upon the question of the First Resurrection, see Appendix, Note V. L. V. THIS GREAT, THIS FINAL ASSIZE. 203 sponding judgment, shall be at the beginnmg, while the second resurrection, the resurrection of the unjust, with its judgment, shall be after the termination of the Millennial age. It is the latter judgment, they say, that the symbols before us prefigure. Such, they insist, is the conclusion to which they are driven by " the plain literal and obvious" meaning of words, which are found in the earlier part of that same twentieth chapter of the Revelation. They are these : — " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not wor- shipped 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''." But will this literal construction stand ? The very context itself seems to me to answer in the negative, and almost to preclude the necessity of our recurring to those unfigurative statements of the written word, which have already pronounced upon the subject. Just recall to your minds these few words in the latter portion of the chapter ; — " the books were opened : and another book was opened, which is the book of hfe : . . . and who- ^ Rev. XX. 4, 5. 204 THE OPENING OF THE BOOK OF LIFE. L. V. soever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire^." Surely these verses seem to speak of the righteous, (for they are they whose names are written in the book of life,) as present at the bar ; and as then, for the first time, publicly acknowledged to be saints, and rewarded accordingly. It is difficult to be- lieve that they had been forensically declared to be the sons of God ; in other words, that the book of life had been to all intents and purposes opened more than one thousand years before''. y Rev. XX. 12, 15. ' Mr. Dallas, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 275, ex- presses his conviction, that " the book of life " " is not used to call up to judgment any individual whose name is written therein ;" [for " all the dead whose names were written in the book of life will have been raised a thousand years before this, and not one shall perish, or be again judged ;"] " but it is employed simply as a testimony to establish the perfect justice of the sentence on the others ; to manifest that not one of those who will then be judged had his name written in the book of life." In the same volume. Archdeacon Hill, remarking, p. 365, that " if the judgment be post-millennial, it is not easy to explain the mention of the book of life," suggests, p. 369, the idea, that " it may be another book " from " the Lamb's book of life," (Rev. xiii. 8.) and " the book of life from the foundation of the world," (Rev. xvii. 8.) " mdi- cating another kind of salvation ; even of Israel in the flesh, who are saved in " the beloved city," like Noah's family in the Ark, to be the seed of a new world." It is refreshing to turn from these glosses to the solid remarks of Mr. Gipps ; " It is," he says, " utterly inconceivable to me that all this glory can be conferred upon the saints, and such a manifestation of tliem be made in the presence of Christ, of all the holy angels, of L. V. SIMULTANEOUS RESURRECTION 205 But the further consideration of this passage must be left for a subsequent occasion ^ Meanwhile the opinion which I have propounded concerning it, is confirmed by the plainest statements of the Scripture in its most literal portions. As to a general resurrection both of the just and of the unjust, I might invite you to reconsider that remarkable passage in the fifth of John, which has been already quoted. " Marvel not at this : for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation \" These words surely (occurring in no figurative or sym- bolical book) dO;, in their plain, literal, and obvious sense, speak of a contemporaneous resurrection of the whole race of mankind, — whether righteous or ungodly''. one another, and of all the ungodly living in every part of the earth, one moment before what is called the opening of the book of life. The very absurdity of the idea would convince me, that such a manifestation of the glory of those who are written in the book of life, must coincide with and be the same as the opening of that book." First Resurrection, p. 22. a Lecture VII. " John v. 28, 29. <= " ' The hour is coming' : — is not this the same time ? — 'when all that are in the graves shall hear his voice': is not this the same voice heard at the- same time ? — and ' shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of 206 AND SIMULTANEOUS JUDGMENT L. V. So again with respect to a general arraign- ment and trial of all mankind at the bar of judgment, I might ask you to ponder a memo- rable passage in the second of Romans, to which I have not yet referred. " Thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God ? . . . . But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God ; who will render to every man according to his deeds : to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life : but unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile ; but glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile : for there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law ; .... in the damnation.' — Could any reader ever imagine, or, rather, could any of our Lord's hearers imagine, that between the rising of the one class and that of the other, there was to be the lapse of ten centuries ?" Wardlaw, Sermon XVII, on the Millennium, p. 511. L. V. BOTH OF JUST AND UNJUST. 207 day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my Gospel''." You will, I am sure, pardon the length of this quotation ; for it is one of much importance in the present controversy. Surely it instructs us, with a studied distinctness of reiterated statement, that as there shall be a simultaneous arraignment, so there shall also be a simultaneous trial of the just and of the unjust, not excepting the heathen, at the bar of eternal judgment. But I must leave these passages to your private meditation. I proceed to set before you one more Scriptural truth concerning the judgment to come. It is, in my opinion, conclusive against the theory which distributes the terrors of the day of the Lord over more than ten centuries of time. Contemplate, in the fourth place, the immediate bestowal of their reward upon the righteous, and infliction of their punishment upon the ungodly, at the coming of the Lord. Let me, for proof, refer you to the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel. " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations : . . . . and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the d Rom. ii. 3—16. 208 IMMEDIATE BESTOWAL OF REWARD L. V. kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his augels And these shall go away into ever- lasting punishment : but the righteous into life eternal *"." After the same manner doth the Lord speak again in those parables, from which we have already learnt so much concerning the true cha- racter of his kingdom. Take only the parable of the wheat and the tares. " As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire ; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : there shall be wailing and gnash- ing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." Surely this parable teaches us, as did also ''that of the sheep and the goats, that the wicked shall be consigned to their doom at the same time as, — if not before, — the righteous enter upon their e Matt. XXV. 31 — 46. "It cannot be denied that, if this passage stood alone, the impression we should naturally de- rive from it would be a simultaneous standing of the righteous and the wicked of all nations before the throne, to receive their sentence of final judgment; almost immediately to follow the coming of the Son of Man in his kingdom.*' Birks, Outlines, p. 234. L. V. AND INFLICTION OF PUNISHMENT. 209 reward. I said " if not before" — for the words of the householder are certainly highly significant : " Let both grow together until the harvest : and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers. Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them : but gather the wheat into my barnV But lest the language of parable should be stretched beyond the measure of its legitimate apphcation, — lest, for example, any should urge, that as the harvest is the work not of a day, but of weeks, so possibly may the severance of the wicked from among the righteous occupy just such a protracted period of time as the Millennium and the subsequent season of final rebellion will afford^; — lest, I say, any should be tempted thus to reason, I will refer you to the first chapter of the second epistle to the Thessalonians. Note the words, I pray you, very carefully, as I read them. You will not fail to observe how the re- ward of the righteous and the punishment of the wicked are, as to time, interwoven with each other, and made to follow, both of them, imme- diately on the coming of the Lord. These are the words ; " It is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you ; and to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven f Matt. xiii. 30, 40—43. s See Lecture II. note n on p. 69. P 210 TRIBULATION TO THE TllOUBLERS L. V. with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking venaeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ : who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day*"." It would almost *i *2 Thess. i. 6 — 10. " Can any thing be more explicit than this ? Are not the two events, of Christ's being ' revealed from heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on the ungodly,' and his coming to be ' glorified in his saints and admired in all them that believe,' — here represented as synchronous? — or rather, I should say, is it not one event that is spoken of, with its two great designs or accompaniments ? Who would ever, by such a description, be led to fancy, that the time of his ' coming ' to be glorified in his saints, was to be earlier by a thousand years than the time of his being ' revealed'' to take vengeance on his enemies ? — Now either this supposition must be made, or another, which appears, especially when the passage is compared with others, to be hardly less un- tenable,— namely, that the fearful description does not refer to the genei'al and final destruction of the wicked, but only to some partial exercise of judicial vengeance, to attend the commencement of the Millennial reign." Wardlaw, Sermon XVII, p. 512. Dr. M^Neile, after quoting Matt, xxiii. 33—38, thus applies it to the exposition of 2 Thess. i. 6 — 10. "In the Lord's language to Jerusalem, we perceive the great and terrible truth, that the climax of the judgment falls upon the last generation .... The climax of the judgment shall fall upon the last generation of the unconverted, the generation which shall be alive on the earth, when the Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven." Sermons on the Second Advent, London, 1835, p. 142, 143. But is this ingenious explanation L. V. AND TO THE TROUBLED REST. 211 seem as if this passage had been written, by divine command, for the very pm'pose of anticipating by an infallible verdict the agitation of the question now before us. If it be asked. Shall sentence be executed upon the wicked at the same time that their reward is bestowed upon the righteous ? The redoubled answer is, — " tribulation to them that trouble you, to you that are troubled rest;" — when ? " when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven." And again ; — " they that know not God, and obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, shall be punished with everlasting destiTiction ;" — when ? " when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Such then, according to Scripture, shall be the judgment to come. Suddenly shall the Judge appear in glorious majesty ; quick and dead shall be gathered before him ; trial shall begin and go on without interruption ; until, sentence being pronounced, the wicked shall go into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Can we marvel, that as Paul reasoned of righteous- ness, temperance, and of judgment to come, Felix trembled before the prisoner at his bar' ? It is now my duty in the Second place to shew, that the Pre-Millennial tenet of a first resur- admissible? Can we lawfully confine the " tribulation" to the troublers of one generation, without limiting the application of the " rest" in a corresponding proportion? ' Acts xxiv. 25. p2 212 THE PREMILLENNIAL DOCTRINE L. V. rection and a personal reign utterly invalidates this the terror of the Lord. I can very sincerely say, that I shrink from stating, — even with the hope of refuting it, — that doctrine of judgment to come, which is taught by such Pre-Millennarians as have honestly en- deavoured to carry out their principles and to adjust their system in all its parts. I shrink from the mention of it ; — partly because I may be the unwilling instrument of instilling error into minds predisposed, from various causes, to welcome any theory which takes from the burden of that over- whelming awe with which they have hitherto anticipated the coming of the Lord ; — partly because I may, not less unwilhngly, give pain to such single-minded and affectionate Christians as have till now, — most happily for themselves, though at the same time most inconsistently, — set before the ungodly all the real, all the Scriptural terrors of the dread assize, while they have at the same time expatiated with the righteous upon all the incompatible glories of the first resurrection and the personal reign. My duty however is plain ; — I will strive to be as tender and as brief as possible in discharging it. And I will pray, that even if not one such guileless disciple be persuaded to retrace his steps ; at least some candid and spi- ritual enquirer may be satisfied that I have good reason for warning him that this enchanted region is indeed a perilous land. L. V. CONCERNING JUDGMENT TO COME. 213 Let me begin by reminding you of three points upon which Pre-Millennarians in general are agreed. They hold, in the first place, that "the last day," " the day of judgment," is a period of time extending over more than one thousand years. They hold, in the second place, that the great assize is divided into two portions ; — the former, tlie judgment of part of mankind in the morning dawn ; — the latter, the judgment of the remainder in the evening shades of that great day of the Lord : — the two being disjoined from each other by the intervening mid-day reign of the Messiah. They hold, in the third place, that while the righteous enter upon their recompence at the beginning, the wicked do not receive their doom till the end of this protracted period of one thousand, and one, two, or even three hundred years more''. '' The Pre-Millennial doctrine, in its very most sober form, is thus stated by Mede : " Tubam septimam cum tota xi^ierrjpiBi, cseterisque eodem spectantibus oracuhs, designare Magnum ilium priscse Ecclesise Judaicae, Christoque et Apostolis ejus celebratum Juclicii diem, K3") N3*T CDV, non breve aliquot (ut vulgo creditur) horarum spatiolum, sed (pro more Hebrseorum, Diem pro tempore usurpantium) con- tinuatum multorum annorum intervallum, duabusque Resur- rectionibus, tanquam terminis circumscriptum : Diem,, inquam, a particulari primum et quasi matutino Antichristi cseterorum- que vivorum Ecclesire hostium Judicio, per gloriosam Domini nostri eV rrvpi (p\oy6s firKpaveiav, inchoandum ; tandemque post Mills Annorum regnum Novte Jerusalem, sponsae suae sanc- tissimse, in his terris indultum, novorumque adhuc subori- turorum, die magno advesperascente, Satanaque iterum soluto, 214 THE PREMILLENNIAL ACCOUNT L. V. To the pleas advanced in favour of these opinions I shall have occasion to refer before I have done. Meanwhile the mere exhibition of them in contrast with the doctrine of Holy Writ is enough to ehcit the enquiry. If these things be so, where is that terror of the Lord by which Christ's ambassadors are to persuade men ? For which of all the Scriptural elements of fear re- capitulated above does not this teaching effectually neutrahze ? It was asserted, in the first place, that before the sudden, the midnight approach of the Lord, universal nature would recoil and shrink away and perish. The third chapter of the second epistle of Peter was alleged as proof that it should indeed be so. " The heavens and the earth, which are now, .... are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." ....*' The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up'." hostium TravcAedpiav, Uiiiversali demum omnium mortuorum turn Resurrectione turn Judicio absolvendum. Quibus per- actis, impii in Gehennam leternum cruciandi, sancti vero in Coelum cum Christo aeternum victuri transferentur." Comment. Apocalypt. Pars ii. p. 661, 663. See for remarks upon the undue deference paid by Mede to Rabbinical Tradition in tlic matter of Judgment to come, Note W. in the Appendix. 1 2 Peter iii. 7, 10. L. Vv- ' OF THE FINAL CONFLAGRATION. 215 / These awfully simple words would seem to warn the ungodly of their own perdition at the coming of the Lord, and of the concomitant destruction of that earth on which all their affections are centered. But no ! On the Pre-Millennial hypo- thesis the saints have all, without one single ex- ception, been caught up to meet the Lord in the air : — and yet men must be found for the double purpose of replenishing the earth during the thousand years, and supplying materials for the great Antichristian confederacy when those years shall have run their course™. Moreover, the earth of the Millennium must in all its essential features be identical with the earth that now is, else shall the letter of prophecy in general, as it minutely describes the scenes of that abounding blessed- ness", remain, after all, unaccomplished ; yea, and the promise itself to Abraham shall be, after all, unfulfilled, which said that he was to inherit that very land for ever, in which he was, of yore, but a pilgrim and a sojourner". What is to be done? ■» Eev. XX. 7, 8, 9. " See Lecture VI. ° Gen. xiii. 14, 15. Heb. xi. 8, 9. This is a difficulty from which the scheme even of a partial conflagration affords no escape. "Liquid fire shall then burst forth and engulph the vast territory of the Papal Babylon thence spi'eading even to Palestine, and every where, as in the case of Sodom, making the very elements to melt with fervent heat." Elliott, Horse Apoca- lypticse, vol. iv. p. 193. On this the late Mr. Faber remarks; " If Palestine is itself to be thus burned up and dissolved and engulphed along with the vast territory of the Papal Babylon or the Koman world ; how, we may well ask, can the converted 216 SOME HOLD IT TO BE SYMBOLICAL, L. V. Some are for postponing the predicted confla- gration till the close of the thousand years^: — others, acknowledging that that conflagration can- not be severed from the Lord's return, are disposed to treat it as an allegory'': — others, confessing that Jews be restored to it?" Many Mansions, London, 1851, p. 219, note. P Mede (Exposition of 2 Petn- iii, Works, p. 763.) suggests this as a third alternative sokition to those whom his previous interpretations may not satisfy. " I could answer," he says, " that the day of judgment is a thousand years, and this fire, though it be iv iKelvr) fjfiepq, in that day, yet shall it not be in the beginning, but end thereof." The following remarks of the Duke of Manchester seem to be conclusive against this view of the passage. " ' The Lord is not slack concerning his promise but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the ijight;' that is, notwithstanding the longsuffering of God, that day will come unawares, and find the scoffers unprepared. Surely, then, the dissolution of the heavens cannot be de- ferred for a thousand years after the day has arrived ; how would that bear upon its coming as a thief?" [Dr. Brown, p. 276, calls attention to the fact, that it is " the conflagration itself which is to take the world by surprise, bursting upon it with a rushing noise." poi^rjtov, just as the antediluvians " knew not until the flood came and destroyed them all."] Again; " To suppose that the destruction to which the apostle refers shall take place after the saints shall have been reign- ing with Christ for a thousand years, and yet that the con- sideration of it should be urged as their great incentive to holiness during this age, appears to be what St. Peter calls a ' wresting' rather than an interpreting of Scripture." Finished Mystery, p. 187. See Ajipendix, Note X. 1 Mede (Exposition of 2 Peter iii, Works, p. 762.) suggests, as his second alternative exposition, that the whole passage may be as rigurative as many in the prophecies in which similar language is used. Such also would seem to be the conclusion at wbich Mr. Birks arrives in his Outlines, p. 258, L. V. SOME HOLD IT TO BE PARTIAL, 217 there is no metaphor here, and that the time is that of the Lord's second advent, are forward to assert, that " the heavens and the earth that are now," mean merely Palestine'", or Italy, or " the prophetic earth," that is, the Old Roman Empire % or the other hemisphere of our globe*: — others 259, though he does not " exck;de the real presence of literal changes." Nor do these writers stand alone herein ; for Lightfoot in his Tractatus de Spiritu Prophetise, §. v. 4, Opera Posthunia, p. 79; Sherlock, in his First Discourse, p. 17, and the late Professor Lee, in his Second Dissertation, sect, ii, p. 311, explained the passage figuratively of that dissolution of the Jewish polity which is predicted under similar imagery in Matt. xxiv. and, as some think, also in Rev. vi. 12 — 17. But surely hoth the law of homogeneity and the requirements of the apostolic argument forhid us to admit this principle either as applied by Mede to the future, or by Lightfoot and the others to the past. The flood of Noah was no figure : nor will a figurative deluge of fire answer those purposes of warn- ing to the ungodly which tlie apostle would compass. "■ " If we suppose that fire is to perform the work of puri- fication, those passages which describe a blessedness peculiar to the holy land, would lead us to infer that the jiurifying process is to be limited to that locality." Duke of Manchester, Finished Mystery, p. 194. ' Thus Mr. Elliott; — "After careful consideration of the various prophetic descriptions of the consummation, I incline to think that the meaning of the tei-m, when used in these prophecies of tlie earth's primary convulsions on Christ's second advent refers to the Eoman world alone" and herein perhaps to "Papal Christendom only:" Hora3 Apo- calypticfe, vol. iv. p. 192. note 4. Thus also the Rev. J. Cox, Thoughis on the Coming and Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, London, 1889, p 194. t Thus Mede(De Gogo et Magogo Conjectura. Works, p. 714.) speaks of the " Gentilium reliquise quas diluvium ignis sub resurrectionem primum non inundaverit :" and explains them to be " Gentes in opposito nobis hemisphterio degentes." 218 SOME THAT IT WILL ONLY RENOVATE L. V. again, unable thus to limit the extent of the conflagration, would notwithstanding forbid us to understand the words " burned up" of destruction; — no ! say they, these words point to a process of fiery purification, — divided in its action as some think", — by which the fertiUty of the crust of this our earth shall be increased an hundred fold^. / Upon this and the preceding theory the late Mr. Faber thus remarks ; — " Tf words have any meaning, St. Peter himself puts the matter out of all question. Mter enumerating the atmospheric heaven, the elements, the earth and the works which are therein, as destined to be burned up, he sums up the whole with an explicit announcement of the Universality of the catastrophe. ' Seeing then,' saith he, ' that all these things shall be dissolved : what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation I' Nor is even this the full amount of his explicitness. He places, in comparative or analogous juxtaposition, the past destruction of our world by a deluge of water, and its future destruction by a still more fearful deluge of fire. Hence we cannot consistently assert the limited particularity of the fiery deluge, without also asserting the limited particularity of the aqueous deluge. But, in holy writ, we are expressly assured, nay repeatedly assured, that the aqueous deluge was strictly universal. Therefore, by virtue of a plain parallelism in the apostle's statement, the fiery deluge must be strictly universal also." Many Mansions, p. 220, 221. Thus also Burnet, Theory of the Earth, vol. ii. p. 342—346. " Thus Mr. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticee, vol. iv, p. 208; — " A more partial conflagration might be supposed to mark the commencement of the Millennium, one more complete its close , each included, as if one, in St. Peter's prophecy, though separated in the Apocalypse, as binary stars are resolved irUo two, only on nearer view'' ! y"^ ^ Thus Mr. Brooks, Elements, p. 239, note 1,— "Un- ,i fruitful land is now often pared and burned to produce a soil : and the soil formed by triturated lava is excellent" ! L. V. THE SURFACE OF THE GLOBE. 219 Can this be right ? No : beloved, we may not thus emasculate the word of God, we may not thus wrest a Scripture from its legitimate intention. It is by no means clear that we have any warrant for borrowing the idea of renovation from the history of Noah, and introducing it here at all^; — much less have we authority for asserting that it is the leading thought of the passaged The point Similarly Mr. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv, p. 195. — '* It has been said, for example, of the great African Zahara, or Desert, that nothing more than fire of this (volcanic) kind is needed to turn it into fertility." y For V. 13. — " Nevertheless we according to his promise look for neiv heavens and a new earth." — See Lecture VI. * Made, in his Exposition of 2 Peter iii, Works, p. 760, insists that the words Xvdrja-ovTai, " shall be dissolved," and TTvpovnevoi, " being on fire," are terms applicable to the re- fining of metals : he then proceeds to assert that, as so understood, they must fix the true meaning of TrapeXevaovrai, " shall pass away." " They therefore," he concludes, " all three of them signify one and the same thing." Without further comment upon his argument, it is enough to observe, that he leaves the word KaraKarja-eTai altogether unnoticed : yet surely it is one of no small significance. " I cannot," says Mr. Gipps in a long and valuable note, " find a single passage in the New Testament in which this verb is used in any other sense than that which both its composition, (xara, intensitive, entirely or thoroughly, and Kaico, to hum,) and its use in classical authors would denote, namely, that of con- suming or burning ivp, either at once, or, as it were, by a continuing consumption . . . The following passages are, I believe all, in which it occurs in the New Testament : Matt. iii. 12 : xiii. 30, 40 : Luke iii. 17 : Acts xix. 19:1 Cor. iii. 15: Heb. xiii. 11: Rev. viii. 7. xvii. 16. xviii. 8." Fii'st Resurrection, note V, p. 60. 220 PREMILLENNIAL ACCOUNT L. V. of similarity between Noah's flood and the coming deluge of fire, for the sake of which the former is mentioned, is manifestly the total and inevitable destruction of the ungodly. And there is this aggravation of awe, that, whereas in Noah's time the inhabitants only of the globe were destroyed, — 6 TOT€ ko(t/jlo9 vSutl KaTaKXvaOelf aTroXero, — in the day of the Lord the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up, — yrj Kol ra kv avrrj epya KaraKarja-eraL'^. But what of the ungodly themselves ? It was announced, as a second element of terror, that all mankind should at the coming of the Lord, be forthwith summoned to the tribunal of his justice. And the twenty-fifth chapter of St. Matthew seemed to confirm the truth of our testimony. " When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory : and before him shall be gathered all nations : and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats ^." But I will not prolong the quotation ; — it is familiar to you all. Surely this parable foretels an universal, a simul- taneous arraignment of all mankind, both just and unjust, both quick and dead, at the judgment seat of Christ immediately that he appears. But '' For the force of the word koctixos, see 2 Peter ii. 5. For further remarks on the Pre-Millennarian treatment of '2 Peter iii, see Appendix, Note Y. *> V. 31, 32. L. V. OF THE SHEEP AND THE GOATS. 221 no ! the Pre-Millennial tenet of " the first resur- rection" forbids this interpretation. If that tenet be sound, never can the whole family of man be marshalled at one and the same moment before the judgment seat of Christ. How then shall this, seemingly, catholic assize be explained ? Some, wholly postponing it till the close of the Millennary dispensation, declare that it is the judgment of all those who in all centuries of the world have lived and died beyond the pale of the visible church". Others, convinced that it cannot be severed from the Lord's return, believe it to be the very opposite, the trial namely of all those who in all ages have lived ' and died within that pale ^. With most authors how- ever the Christless dead are altogether excluded from the scene ^ Nor indeed are all the quick sup- c "The proper subjects [of this post-milleiinary judgment] are the remainder of such moral and responsible agents, that is, the rest of mankind in general, who were never members of the visible church, at any period of its existence, nor were ever subject to any such scheme of probation, as Jews or Chris- tians, each in their proper order of time, have been." Greswell, on Matt. XXV. 31, et seq. Parables, vol. v, j^art i. p. 572. '^ This seems to be the opinion of Mr. Molyneux, World to Come, p. 56 — 60. He quotes Daniel xii. 2. in proof. Mr. Greswell though applying to them not the parable imme- diately befoi'e us, but the preceding one of the talents, expects a similar resurrection and a similar judgment, Parables, i 265—272. e Not so however according to Mr. Begg, Connected View, p. 109—1 13. With Mr. Birks, (Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 328.) Mr. Elliott, (Horse Apocalypticfe, vol. iv, p. 160.) and Mr. Greswell, (Parables, vol. i, p. 187, 188.) he adduces Daniel xii. 2, as proving the certainty of a Pre-Mil- 222 SOME HOLD THEM TO BE ALL WITHIN, L. V. posed to be gathered before the throne of glory. For according to one writer, the parties assembled there are all that at the coming of the Lord are living within '^, — according to another, all that are living lennial Resurrection. While however the second of these last-named writers endeavours so to interpret the passage as to exclude the wicked altogether from that resurrection, and the third understands it to predict the rising again of all who have ever lived within the pale of the visible church, whether righteous or ungodly, Mr. Begg takes it to declare that the glorification of the saints shall be accompanied by a revival of some "whose guilt has, in life, been awfully aggravated." He thinks that this idea is sanctioned by Isaiah xxvi. 19: xiv. 9 : and that these will be the subjects of the visible and lasting vengeance described in Isaiah Ixvi. 22 — 24. This opinion must however stand or fall with that first deduction from Daniel, xii. 2, which he shares with his three Pre-Mil- lennarian brethren. Now that deduction depends entirely upon two assumptions: — first that the time of trouble and the deliverance named in v. 1. signify the expected Pre- Millennial tribulation and national conversion of the literal Israel : secondly, that there is no interval in point of time between the events predicted in v. 1, and v. 2, 3 respectively. But ai'e either of these assumptions proven ? May not some other trouble and some other people be signified? and, even if not, may not the chronological interval between v. 1, and v. 2 be great? Thus, for example, Calvin takes v, 1, to pourtray the generally afflicted condition of the Christian Church in the eaiiier stages of its history : and v. 2, 3, to direct its thoughts to that righteous retribution which shall certainly have place when its earthly pilgrimage is ended. Just so in 2 Thess. i. 6 — 10, were the primitive saints cheered under present sufferings by prospects which the lapse of time has proved to be at least eighteen centuries distant. For Augustine's comment on Daniel xii. 2, see note s, p. 193. ' " I conceive this to be •primarily a judgment on the living in Christendom ; the same as that mentioned in Joel iii. 11." L. V. SOME HOLD THEM TO BE ALL WITHOUT 223 without^ the precincts of Christendom. Nor will it be uninstructive to pursue the latter speculation into some of its more remarkable consequences. So long as the sheep and the goats represent all those who profess and call themselves Christians, the one will obviously correspond to real, the other to nominal disciples. But where shall any "righteous" ones be found worthy of the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, when sheep and goats alike are drawn from such coun- tries only as at the second coming of the Lord shall still lie beyond the confines of his kingdom ? Such, for instance, as " China, Japan," or Patagonia? Elliott, Horse Apocalypticee, vol. iv. p. 191. So also Begg, Connected View, p. 68 — 70. s " When Christ has thus taken his seat in judgment, being surrounded by all the holy angels, and having asso- ciated to himself, as already shewn, the faithful amongst his own servants : then all the heathen — all persons who are neither Christians nor Jews — will be assembled before him:" Dallas, Introduction to Prophetical Researches, London, 1850, p. 106. Similarly, and at greater length, in his Bloomsbury Lecture for 1843, p. 305. Both Mr. Greswell and Mr. Dallas are agreed in explaining the parable of the talents, Matt. xxv. 14 — 30, of the judgment of professing Christians at the coming of the Lord. These being " disposed of," they argue that they cannot be designated in the following parable of the sheep and the goats. Surely they forget that, as in Luke XV, the salvation of the same sinner is set forth in three several aspects, so here is the judgment of quick and dead set forth in three several points of view ; the parable of the talents indicating, inter alia, the individuality, the parable of the sheep and goats the universality, and the parable of the wise virgins and the foolish the finality of the same great assize. 224 THE PALE OF CHRISTENDOM. L. V. Can we believe that by the sheep, " the righteous," as they are expressly called, such of these pagans are meant as have, unconsciously to themselves, shewn kindness either, as some say, to the Jews\ or, as others affirm, to Missionaries' and such like pilgrim servants of the Lord Jesus ? Can we beheve that the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world is not in truth life eternal in its noblest, its Scriptural sense, but merely that Paradisaical state from which Adam their great forefather fell'', and to which these ^ Thus Mr. Kelly, after describing the discomfiture of the nations gathered against Jerusalem to battle, proceeds to say, that " Hereupon, Messiah having taken to himself his great power, shall begin to order his kingdom ; the treatment of the Jews his brethren in his recent exigency deciding the destiny of all the nations who survive. To this I conceive Matt. XXV. 31 et seq. refers, and not to a general judgment." Prophetical Lectures, p. 207. i Thus Mr Dallas, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 308, 309 ; — " If these words were addressed to some inhabitant of China or Japan, amongst whose countrymen a missionary had gone in the last days, and met persecution, but this individual had felt constrained to succour him, to give him drink, food, and clothing it is intelligible and consistent, that, speaking to the astonished Gentile, and pointing to the glorified body of the very missionai-y whom he had succoured, and who would then be sitting on the Lord's throne beside him, that Lord might" . . . say. ..." There you see that poor missionary ; you can hardly recognize him now : then he was a stranger, ill treated by the heathen, but you ministered to him : ' Inasmuch as ye did it unto him, ye did it unto me.' " Similarly in his Introduction, p. 117. ^ Thus Mr. Dallas, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 306, " ' Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world'; that is, inherit the dominion intended for the L. V. SOME APPLY TO THIS PARABLE 225 blind idolaters, righteous in spite of their entire ignorance of the justifying righteousness of Christ', shall be miraculously restored ? But even if we reject these interpretations, yet must we, if still adhering to the Pre-Millennial hypothesis, at least believe, that in the parable before us the picture is drawn according to the rules of a pro- phetic perspective ""^ (a principle, I may observe in passing, which requires some better proof than its ingenuity, and is, in truth, the principle of deve- lopement under another garb,) and that the sheep children of Adam when the earth was made, which none of his children have yet entered upon, but which you, in this last generation, have been chosen to possess — the sovereignty described in Gen. i. 26 — 28 ; Psalm viii. 6 — 8; Heb. ii. 5 — 9; Key. xxi. 24." Similarly in his Introduction, p. 110, 111. ' Thus, once more, Mr. Dallas, in his Introduction, p. 110, hazards the following perilous conjecture: — "We know, that in the present dispensation none can have the benefit of this righteousness, (the righteousness of Christ,) except those who, being drawn by the Holy Spirit, are justified through faith. . . . When the number of the glorified saints shall have been accomplished, it is another question altogether, how the all-sufficient righteousness of Christ may afterwards be applied to the heathen in another dispensation." A cause must indeed be bad, the defence of which reduces even Mr. Dallas to such a doubly unscriptural expedient! Doubly unscriptural, I say, for it not only changes the method of justification, it alters also the very principle of judgment itself. Justification is, according to Scripture, by faith and by faith only. Judgment also is, Scripturally, retrospective, not prospective — it looks back upon years that are past: it has no regard to a newly commencing dispensation. " Birks, Elements of Sacred Prophecy, p. 186. Q 226 A LAW OF SACRED PERSPECTIVE. L. V. take their station at the right hand, and enter upon their reward, at least one thousand years before the goats are summoned to the bar to receive their doom". Can we, my brethren, accept any of these interpretations ? Do they not, one and all, abolish ° Thus Joseph Mede, Epistle Ixvi, Works, p. 1031 :— " Concerning that in Matt, xxv nothing else is meant thereby but that our Saviour should distinguish the world of men in two orders ; one of such as should receive the sentence of bliss and absolution, the other of such as should receive the sentence of condemnation. . . . Now I suppose the sentence of absolution shall continue all the time of the first resurrection, that is, all the thousand years long; that, that once ended and finished, (and not before,) he shall then proceed to pronounce the sentence of condemnation upon such as are to be condemned." Thus also Mr. Birks, Blooms- bury Lectures, 1843, p. 229; — "How then shall we reconcile these words of our Lord (in Matt, xxv.) with his own true saying, revealed to the beloved disciple (in Eev. xx. 5.)? By one simple maxim which runs through all the inspired pre- dictions. That maxim may be styled the law of sacred perspective. It is in prophecy as it is in the natural land- scape. Events, while remote, are grouped together on the far horizon, catch the gleam of the same distant sunlight, and are blended in one common vision of glory or judg- ment." See also Bickersteth, Practical Guide, note to p. 128. "This view," says Dr. Brown, Second Advent, p. 257, "is directly in the t^eth of some of the most solemn features of the passage^ which first gathers both parties before the throne in one mass, at the summons of "the King;" next separates the sheep from the goats ; and then, having judged and passed sentence upon each, finally disposes of both accordingly." Mr. Birks has since seen reason so far to yield to these considerations as to refer the parable wholly to the close of the Millenniinn ; Outlines, p. 241. See Appendix, Note Z. L. V. IN ALL CASES THEY IMPERIL 227 the terror of the Lord involved in the Scriptural expectation, that when he appears, every son and every daughter of Adam that has ever trod this earth, shall in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, be inevitably summoned each to give account of himself to God ? But this leads me to refer to the third element of fear connected with the future judgment. It was affirmed, and Scripture seemed to ratify our words, that in that great assize each separate case should undergo strictest judicial investigation. Here again does Pre-Millennarianism seriously detract from the awful severity of the inspired announcement. Do the sheep and the goats repre- sent all who name the name of Christ ? then not one of those who are without that circle will be judged, every man according to his works, when the Lord appears". And yet it is expressly declared in the second chapter of the epistle to the Romans, that "as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law : and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law ;" — and that in one and the self-same day, namely, " in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ^." Do the sheep and the goats signify all who are not Christians even in name ? Then may each ungodly sinner who says. Lord, Lord, and does not the will ° Nor indeed if converted afterwards will they be ever judged at all. For the only remaining judgment is that of the wicked. p Romans ii. 12, 16. q2 228 BOTH THE INDIVIDUALITY OF JUDGMENT, L. V. of the Father which is in heaven, hear with the less alarm the voice of the archangel and the trump of God ; for whatever else befal him, he will not then be summoned to answer for the things done in his body ; yet a thousand years must pass before that fearful examination begins. Yes ! and if, surviving the temporal judgments that attend the coming of the Lord, he be con- verted afterwards, then shall he never be the subject of forensic judgment at all. I am well aware that the parable of the Talents is, by some, so interpreted, as, apparently, to remove this objection to the Pre-Millennarian scheme. Christians, both nominal and real, are, it is said, represented there as subjects of strictest judicial scrutiny when the Lord appears '^. This attempt however to preserve inviolate the indivi- duality of judgment at the coming of Christ, in- volves its advocates in this other perplexity, that they must forego the suddenness and severity even of such wrath as, according to many of their brethren, shall attend his appearing. For it must be noticed, that Pre-Millennarian writers in general protest that their system clothes the day of the Lord with vengeance unutterable for the disloyal subjects of our King. When he appears, the ungodly nations of Christendom shall, accord- ing to them, be found, not indeed as trembling cri- minals summoned by angelic messengers to the bar 1 Dallas, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 288—293. L. V. AND, IN SPITE OF ALL THEIR EFFORTS, 229 of judgment, but as headstrong rebels marshalled in battle array by antichristian chieftains, to make war against the King of kings and his saintly hosts. And what shall follow ? " The beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him. . . . These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone." Not so however with their confederate armies. " The remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, . . and all the fowls were filled with their flesh V Surely even here the terror of the Lord is grievously invalidated. We learned from Scripture, that individual trial at the coming of the Lord would be immediately followed by the strict execution of the sentence of righteous judgment upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and • also of the Gentile. For this was the fourth bitter ingredient of dread in the doctrine of the ' Kev. xix. 19 — 21. Isaiah Ixvi. 15, 16. "In both de- scriptions (Eev. xix. 11 — 21 : Ezekiel xxxviii. 19 — 23.) the same leading feature appears. The Son of God miraculously manifests his presence, to execute judgment upon a mighty confederacy of enemies in the land of Israel. In Ezekiel it is preceded and followed by the clearest assertions of the Lord's personal presence, and the same is true in the present vision." Birks, Outlines, p. 93 : Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 200 — 203. " The Lord here comes in aU his glory, and defeats his foes ; then we find him raising his saints (xx. 5.) and beginning his kingdom. David in person is on the battle-field." Bonar, Rev. Andrew, Eedemption Drawing Nigh, London, 1847, p. 309. 230 THE CERTAINTY OF PUNISHMENT. L. V. great assize, that then at once, without possibility of change, would commence either endless weal or endless woe. The first chapter of the second of Thessalonians seemed, as did the parable so recently before us, to place this truth beyond the reach of gainsaying. 1 will quote but part of it, — though, as you will remember, it has all the em- phasis of a reduplicated statement, — " 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 : who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power ; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints \" Mark well the words ; — " everlasting destruc- tion," oXeOpov al(ovLoi>, " from the presence of the Lord, when he shall come." And that without escape. " Yourselves know perfectly, that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say. Peace and safety ; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape'." But no: the coming of the Lord cannot be the everlasting destruction of all them that know not God : the exigencies of the Pre-Millen- nial scheme forbid the thought. For the saints, whether of Jewish or Gentile extraction, have all ' 2 Thess. i. 7—10. * 1 Thess. v. 2, 3. L. V. FOR MANY JEWS AND GENTILES, 231 been caught up to meet the Lord m the air. None therefore are left upon earth but the un- godly. Yet must a Jewish remnant be found there to " inherit the land for ever" ;" yes, and a Gentile remnant also to form the stock of the other Millennial nations of the world. For the glorified "neither marry, nor are given in mar- riage, but are as the angels of God in heaven"." Accordingly we are taught, that even though an accumulation of vengeance shall fall upon that generation^, — even though many, nay most, of the confederate hosts of the ungodly shall be slain by the sword of him " that treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God," yet shall not a few survive that awful catastrophe ; while in most cases the final doom even of those who fall in that fearful conflict is postponed for' at least a thousand years ^. And here again an idea, foreign, as we may well affirm, to the mind of the Holy Ghost, has been professedly borrowed from the story of Noah's flood % and imported into the pro- ° Isaiah Ix. 21. * Matt. xxii. 30. y See Dr. McNeile's Sermon on 2 Thess. i. 6 — 10, quoted above, page 210, note h. ' Eev. xix. 15. Birks, Outlines, p. 93, 94. ^ "No para,llelism lies between the preservation of the Noetic family in the one deluge, and the imagined sparing of a remnant in the other deluge. A parallelism, between the preserved in each deluge, no doubt subsists : but it is not this parallelism, which has, in truth, no existence. The real parallelism lies, between the Noetic family, and those saints, 232 THOUGH DESTITUTE OF NOAH's GRACE, L. V. phecy of the final conflagration. The same God, we are taught, who saved Noah m the ark from perishing by water, the same God who carried Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, un- hurt through the midst of the burning fiery furnace, can and will rescue the Jewish family and the Gentile nations, — absolutely destitute though they be of all righteousness and all grace, — fi^om the fervent heat of that boiling flood, in which the elements shall melt away, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up^. If, as who, being alive at Christ's coining, will be caught up, far above the fearful conflagration ivhich rages below, to meet the Lord in the air. Had God so pleased, he might equally have deter- mined to preserve them in the midst of the fiery deluge, like the three children in the furnace, [as Homes, Eesurrection Revealed, p. 306, thinks will he the case,] by changing, as far as theij should be concerned, the nature of the element. But it has not so pleased him : for their preservation will be effected, by their being snatched away from the fire, and by their being caught up into the air. In this manner will all the then living saints of God be preserved : and, as the residue will be the irreclaimable wicked alone, the same parallelism will shew, that, as all the ungodly perished of old in the universal deluge of water, so all the ungodly at the final consummation will perish (so far as their natural lives are concerned) in the analogous universal deluge of fire." Faber, Prophetical Dissertations, London, 1845. vol.i.p.xv,xvi. ^ Thus Mr. Brooks, Elements, p. 237 ; — " Connected with the salvation of the righteous at the time of these judgments is another fact ; viz. that there will apparently be an election saved likewise from out of the nations who are engaged in the war of Armageddon. Most of these will be Israelites; but there will be also Gentiles saved ; and who though L. V. SHALL, LIKE NOAH OF OLD, 233 some Pre-Millennarians rightly think, that deluge of fire be universal, then shall these be the parents previously unaffected by the fear of God, will be among those ' inhabitants of the earth' who ' will learn righteousness.' Isaiah xxvi. 9." Similarly Mr. Bonar, Landmarks, p. 137; — " Even though the Church remained, could she not be as safe in the midst of the wasting fire as was Noah amid the swelling billows of the flood ; or as the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace? Israel also, or at least a remnant, is secured from harm. To this there are many allusions in Isaiah : e. g. ch. xxvi. 20: li. 16. i. e. 'I will secure thee, 0 Israel, from evil, while I am engaged in preparing the new heavens and earth, so that those calamities which are then to befal the earth, shall not come nigh thee'. As to the heathen remnant which shall sui-vive that day, I do not find such express promises of preservation ; yet as they are spoken of as 'the heathen that are left', so it is probable that some method of preservation will be afforded them." Thus again at p. 266. So also Mr. Molyneux, providing for the animals also who shall inhabit the new earth : World to Come, p. 71—76. With regard to Isaiah li. 16, quoted by Mr. Bonar as above, and also by Mr. Molyneux, World to Come, p. 74 ; Mr. Begg, Connected View, p. 125 ; Mr. Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, p. 324, 325 ; Mr. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 185 ; it is obvious that we may not lawfully permit the Pre- Millennarian interpretation of it to over-ride the truth, so plainly stated in Scripture's most literal portions; the truth namely of the universal destruction of the ungodly at the coming of the Lord ; for, as Mr. Faber remarks, Prophetical Dissertations, vol. i. p. xvi, this " people of Zion " must, after all, be without exception ungodly, the saints having all been caught up to meet the Lord in the air ; we may not, I say, permit this interpretation to prevail, until it be clearly esta- blished that there is none other possible. Now is this the case ? Let Vitringa be heard : — " ' Et ponam verba mea in ore tuo\ Pertinet primo ad Christum; dein ad corpus ejus 234 BE SAVED FROM THE FIERY FLOOD L. V. of that new race of mankind which shall people the globe, and be converted to the Lord during the millennial and the everlasting ages to come. " The nations of them that are saved shall walli in the light of"" the new Jerusalem. And if, as others believe, the combustion be but partial, then shall these saved ones carry the tidings of the defeat of the antichristian confederacy in the valley of Jeho- mysticum ; et in corpore ejus mystico imprimis ad Doctores et Pastoi'es Ecclesiarum, divini verbi interpretes. Confer pro- phetam secum ipso, Cap. lix. 21 ' Et umbra manus mece protexi te\ Idem hie est respectus Christi et Ecclesise. Confer dicta ad Cap. xlix. 2 Divina potentia et pro- videntia, (utriusque enim symbolum est manus,) tutum prse- sidium ac latibulum prsestat Ecclesise ' Ad plantandum caelum, et fundandmn terram; et dicendum Tsioni, populus mens tu es.' h. e. ad perficiendum opus Qilconomiae Novae Phrasis est figurata ; idemque valet quod creare ccelos novos et terram novam, cap. Ixv, 17 : Ixvi, 22 Ergo id dicere vult Deus hoc loco, se verba sua posuisse in ore ecclesise et doctorum ejus, eamque tempore violentarum persecutionum atque afflictionum ejus protegere, ut magnum illud opus Creationis novae, sive formae in mundum induci coeptae cum tempore gratiae, h. e. oeconomiam novam, a Filio et Apostolis ejus fundari coeptam, perficeret, consummaret et constabiliret. . . . . Et vero ipso hoc tempore vera Tsion, Ecclesia N. T. experta est vim hujus dicti, ' Tu es populus mens. Inter- pretatio petenda est ex Paulo, Kom. ix. 25. qui luculenta loca Hoseae cap. i. 10, 11, 22. nos docuit intelligere de Ecclesia electi seminis Judaeorum, ditata honestataque ex luculenta accessione Gentium : quod hoc tempore factum." Similar to this are the expositions of the passage by Calvin and Alexander. = Kev. xxi. 24. quoted by Begg, Connected View, p. 132. L. V. OF THE LAST CONFLAGRATION, 235 shaphat*^, and of the personal advent and triumph of Messiah, to lands which have not, in spite of all the tremendous circumstances of his coming, even heard his name. '* I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; and they shall de- clare my glory among the Gentiles ^" Such are the Scriptures alleged in favour of this singular hypothesis ^ d Joel iii. 12. « Isaiah Ixvi. 19. quoted by Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 108. f Thus Joseph Mede, Commentationes Minores in Apoca- lypsin, Works, p. 1119; — "rh Wvr) rStv a-aCoH-^vrnv sunt illi ex Gentilium reliquiis quos Dihivium ignis non inundaverit. Vide Isai. Ixvi. 19. ' Et mittam ex lis qui salvati fuerint ^n^'ip'^b?? a-ea-axrixevovs) ad gentes Tarshish et Pul — et annun- ciabunt gloriam meam in Gentibus. Intelliguntur utrobique, ni fallor, qui cladem illam in Christi iTvi(j)aveia futuram evase- rint, quando venturus est ad hostes Ecclesise suae perdendos." So also at p. 94r3, 992. Thus Mr. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 211 — 213; — "There are still nations remaining upon the earth, who were not engaged in that warfare, nor yet even included in Christendom at all, and who therefore were totally unaffected by the Lord's advent. This appears from Isaiah Ixvi. 19 First, 'They have not heard his fame.' This doubtless is the Gospel report Again, 'They have not seen his glory.' This we suppose, of course, refers to the advent. This is important in its bearing on another point — the extent to which the advent in its primary effect reaches ; that extent is limited mainly to the precincts of Judea ; or at the furthest to Christendom, or the nations where Christianity 236 AND EACH MAX WILL FONDLY HOPE L. V. But again I say, can this be right ? You at- tenuate the mighty simphcity of the terror of the Lord. With you, for I speak to such as entertain these opinions, the day of the Lord is not the day either of the universal judgment, or of the final, the inevitable perdition of ungodly men. For there is to some at least, — and will not every man fondly hope that he shall be of that number ? — there is, I say, to some at least a space for re- pentance, yea, and an almost necessary conversion, after that the Lord has come^. And no terrors, has been previously preached, and is previously known." In these speculations, Pi'e-Millennarians are inconsistent even with themselves. For Matt, xxiv is taken by them to be a continuous prophecy extending onwards to the second coming of the Lord. If so, where will the nations be who have not heard the Gospel report? "This Gospel of the kingdom," it is written in v. 14, " shall be pi^eached in all the world for a witness unto all nations ; and then shall the end come." Be this however as it may, how startling the contrast between these phantasies and that unmistakeable word in 1 Thess. v. 9, 3. " The day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say. Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape" — rore at(f)vi8ios avrots ecpiaTarai oKedpos Koi ov fiff €K Thus "A clergyman of the established church," whose tract upon the subject of immortality I have open before me. Nor doest his clergyman, whose name I have heard, stand alone. k V. 18'. L. V. ON WHICH PRE-MILLENNIALISM 239 again, I might shew how others have been led rashly to make the coming of the Lord and its attendant judgments a kind of purgatory for the purification of unfaithful believers'. Or, once ' Thus Bishop Hall, rehearsmg the Millennarian tenets of his day, enumerates among them the following : " Christ shall examine, blame, and shame the saints, who are alive at his coming, if they be found to have walked loosely. He will not kill them, nor change them in a moment; but shame them : therefore Peter exhorts us to be holy, that we be not blamed at his coming; 2 Peter iii. 1 1 — 14." Eevelation Un- revealed; Works, London, 1808, vol. x. p. 98, Nor was the Bishop mistaken as to the views of his opponents, for see Homes, Resurrection Eevealed, p. 306, 307. In our days, Mr. Kelly, Prophetical Lectures, p. 219, speaks of Christ's "saints," "at least all who are ready" being "caught up to meet him ; and then standing before his judgment seat." Mr. Brooks, Elements, p. 233, 234, thus writes — " There is another point likewise intimated in the Scripture... and that is — the very critical situation of some at that time, who are in the main believers, but who, owing to want of watchfulness and to worldly conformity and to negligent walking, will like- wise be overtaken by the whirlwind, and severely punished. St. Paul clearly alludes to something of this kind in I Cor. iii. 12 — 15 This fire of jnirgation serves to prove and purify the people of God, and to destroy the hypocrite and unbe- liever." How does this agree with Matt. xxiv. 42 — 51. XXV. 1 — 13.? With regard to the " fire" of 1 Cor. iii. 13. it is enough to refer to the context, and to 1 Peter i. 7: iv. 12: James i. 12. to be convinced that the Holy Ghost doth not speak of any yet future fire, but of those " temptations" by which, in the history of every local church, the minister's work is tried. Some of his converts stand the test, and then he receives a reward in the joy he has over them : see for an instance 1 Thess. iii. 6 — 10. Some of his converts, as seed sown on stony groimd, or in the midst of thorns, " in time of temptation fall away." That in this case " he sufifers 240 CONFLICTS WITH THE TRUTH. L. V. more, I might observe how certahily the Pre- Millennial scheme leaves all who shall be con- verted during the thousand years without any personal judgment at all. For the judgment of the righteous is past : the only judgment that remains is that of the ungodly". How can this conclusion stand with the twenty-seventh verse of the ninth of Hebrews, — a verse by the way whose very silence pronounces most emphatically upon the first resurrection and the personal reign — " it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment""? But I forbear : — my only object is to exhibit by way of example the very perilous consequences of adhering to a literal interpretation of the words, " This is the first resurrection." In a book full from beginning to end of symbolic imagery you cleave to the letter of a single verse : thereby you deprive of all their force as weapons of minis- loss, even though himself be saved," what minister will question, who has ever like Paul travailed in birth with souls, and like Paul been compelled to stand in doubt of them ? Gal. iv. 20. m Thus Mr. Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, p. 325 ; — " The last fire is seen to fall on the rebels who compass the beloved city. But the camp of the saints itself is j)reserved ; the fire harms it not. The dead then, and the dead only, so far as that prophecy reveals, are summoned in judgment, but the faithful who are then living are passed by in silence." Similarly Mr. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 265 ; — " The judgment of the wicked, come when it may, will affect none of these parties (that is, the Millennial nations) generally." " Heb. ix. 27. L. V. TRUE MEANING OF THE WORDS 241 terial warfare the many statements, which in Scrip- ture's most unfigurative portions set forth the terrors of the great assize". Before I conclude, I must, as I intimated above, briefly advert to certain pleas frequently urged on behalf of the Pre-Millennial view. They are three in number, and have reference, the first to the period that judgment will occupy ; the second to the character that judgment will assume ; the third to the parties that judgment will affect. And, first, for the period that judgment will occupy. It is affirmed, that when he says, in the third chapter of his second epistle, " Be not igno- rant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years V' St. Peter has given us the true measuye of such terms as, "the day of the Lordi," "the last dayV "the day of judg- ment ^" Now it is obvious to reply, that the words alleged being but half the verse, we might, with equal propriety, maintain, that the remaining portion, " and a thousand years as one day," gives ° See Appendix, Note AA. p V. 8. " That the Millennium is indeed one great day of judgment, is a simple conclusion from the words of St. Peter. ' One day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.'" Birks, Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, 1843, p. 227. So also Mede, Placita Doctorum Hebrseorum, Works, p. 669, 670 : on 2 Peter iii. Works, p. 765 : Homes, Eesurrection Revealed, p. 303 : Elliott, Horae Apo- calypticse, vol. iv. p. 206. 1 1 Thess. V. 2. 2 Peter iii. 10. ' John vi. 39 : xi. 24. • Matt. xii. 36. 1 John iv. 17. 242 ONE DAY IS WITH THE LORD L. V. the right interpretation of the Millennium of the Apocalypse. It is equally obvious to reply, that even if Pre-Millennarians were right in affirming that this text proves that, in Scripture phraseology, a " day" means in certain cases " a thousand years," — just as it undoubtedly means in some contexts a long period of time', — the question would still remain to be decided by other con- siderations, whether "the day of judgment" is or can be one of those cases. But the fact is, that any who think that St. Peter meant to fix the duration of the day of judgment, do altogether misapprehend the purpose for which the words in question were written. They were not written in order to supply the church, either directly or by implication, with information concerning the dura- tion of judgment when it does come. They were written in order to supply the saints with a response whereby to silence those gainsayers, who tauntingly ask, as centuries roll on and all things remain as they were, " Where is the promise of his coming"" ?" Now it is not the length of the day of the Lord when it does arrive, but the length of the time which has elapsed without its appearing, which gives occasion for the scoff of the unbeliever, and exercises the patience of the saints. The verse before us is framed accordingly. It says, ' Mede, Works, p. 1091, 1092. Brooks, Elements, p. 218. Abdiel's Essays, p. 99. " 2 Peter iii. 4. L. V. AS A THOUSAND YEARS. 243 " The period which appears so long in your eyes, is not so in the sight of the Lord. For one day is with him^ as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. All difference between a long and a short period, time and all its intervals, are as nothing in his mind and view, who is from everlasting to everlasting^. ' For a thousand years in thy sight', O Lord, ^are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the nights'" But then, secondly, a plea is drawn from the character which, it is alleged % judgment must assume. The word "judgment," it is affirmed, as used in Scripture, includes in it other ideas than that of forensic investigation. Such, for example, say they, are those acts of righteous rule and government by which a king delivers and avenges his people, protects them from their foes, and promotes their fehcity. Thus did the "judges" " napa Kvpia. y " That is, though God defer his coming to this judgment a thousand years or more, we must not think this long; for in respect of him whose duration is eternal, and so who ever lives to make good his promises and threats, a thousand years are as one day. In like manner, Zosimus produces a prediction from the Sibyls, and then adds. Let none think that this prophecy was of some other thing, because it was fulfilled, fiera xpovows ovk oXt'yovj, a long time after, iras yap Xpovos TM Gew ^paxvs dei re ovri, Koi ea-ofievm, for all time is short to that God who ever is, and ever will he.'" Whitby on 2 Peter iii. 8. ^ Psalm xc. 4. * Begg, Connected View, p. 126 note. Brooks, Elements, p. 207—215. Abdiel's Essays, p. 89—98. r2 244 NOR DOES THE WORD JUDGMENT L. V. for Israel of old, and thus must the Son of David yet do for Israel again, and, through Israel as the appointed channel of blessing, for all the nations of the earth. Now time, it is urged, must be al- lowed in " the day of judgment" for the exhibition, in their full perfection, of all these royal functions of this antitype of Gideon, of Samson, and of Jephtha. In reply, it cannot be denied that the word judgment is used in such various senses as those enumerated above. Nor can it be questioned that, as so applied, it is in many passages of God's word predicated of the Lord Jesus. Thus, for example, it is written in the seventy-second Psalm, "He shall judge thy people with righteousness, and thy poor with judgment^." And again; '' He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor ^" But, even if all these many significations of the word judgment could, if I may so speak, actively co-exist in the Lord Jesus at the same time, is it, we may well ask, necessary that they should ? Surely Pre-Millen- narians do not imagine, because a word is predicated of a given person in several senses, that therefore, whenever it occurs in connection with him, we must provide for the exhibition of those several senses, one and all, at the same time. Moreover, with regard to this particular word *• Y. 2. « V. 4. L. V. REQUIRE FUTURE EXEMPLIFICATION 245 judgment, we have in a previous lecture "^ discovered that Jesus is even now King in Zion, — now there- fore, at this present moment, is he judging the people righteously, and governing the nations upon earth ^ And therefore it is not necessary to provide for the exercise of these offices of royal judgment at any future period. The eye of faith can behold Jesus even now seated in the throne judging rights " The just Lord is in the midst thereof; he will not do iniquity: every morning doth he bring his judgment to hght, he faileth not^." Yet a little while, and every eye shall see him\ Yet a little while, and the crowning act of judgment shall take place. Yet a little while, and ** Lecture II. * Ps. Ixvii. 4. ' Ps. ix. 4. " Either this world is governed now by God, or not : — if not, he is not a God to it ; or kings are more to it than God. If yea, it is by Christ that he governeth it. Are there any divine laws or not? If there be, they are Christ's laws, and the execution is Christ's execution of them. And sure the exercise of legislation, judgment, protection, rewards, and punishments, are the exercise of kingly govern- ment. You deny Christ if you deny him to be king : will you not obey him as king, till the trumpet sound, and he come to the final judgment? . . . And yet doth not Christ tread down his enemies ? Hath he trod down in you no pride, no lust, no error, no injustice? Doth he not tread down greater enemies than Turkish swords or Papal inquisitions in every soul that he converteth, when we fight not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places?" Baxter, Glorious Kingdom, p. 15, 18. « Zeph. iii. 5. ^ Rev. i. 7. 246 BEYOND THAT OF THE GREAT ASSIZE. L. V. in virtue of the strictly judicial office to which the Father hath appointed him, shall he " judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his king- dom V i 2 Tim. iv. 1. I may here remark, that 1 Cor. vi. 1 — 4 has been frequently adduced to prove that the saints shall, 1st, in subordination to Christ, judge, tliat is govern, the world during the Millennium; and, 2dly, be at last spectators and assessors at the final condemnation of wicked men and evil angels. The requirements of the context, referring as it unquestionably does to " a literal judging;" and the equally certain use of the future tense in v. 3, and therefore of neces- sary consequence, also in v. 2, render, it is supposed, any other interpretation impossible. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p, 217—220. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 93—95. That neither of these considerations need constrain us to accept the Pre-Millennarian exposition of the passage, may be seen from the following extract from Dr. Gill's Commentary. I quote him with the more satisfaction, because his strong Millennarian bias renders him at least an impartial witness upon the point. On v. 2, after referring to and rejecting among other opinions the idea of assessorship, he thus proceeds; " The apostle's meaning is, that in a little time the saints, men tinder a profession of Christianity at least, should be governors in the world, and bear the offices of civil magistracy in it ; which came to pass in a few centuries after the writing of this, and has been more or less the case ever since Upon which the apostle strongly argues, and if the ivorld shall be judged by you ; if such men as you shall bear sway in it, fill up all civil offices in it, even the highest ; shall sit upon the benches of judges, and on the thrones of kings; are ye unworthy to judge the smallest ^natters ? is it too high a post, and can you be thought to be unqualified for, and unfit to have such trivial things, of little or no moment and importance, things relating to the common affairs of life, brought before you, and be tried and judged by you ?" Thus again on v. 3, after animadvcrtuig upon various explanations, and among L. V. TRUE MEANING OF THE WORDS 247 But we are met by a third plea, drawn from Scriptm'e. It has regard to the parties whom judg- ment will affect. It is, we are reminded, written, — and that not in the figurative language of the Apocalypse, but with all the literal precision of an epistle, — that "the dead in Christ shall rise first''." Have we not here, it is asked, a divided resur- rection'? The most conclusive reply will be, to read the whole passage in which these words occur. You will find it in the first epistle to the Thessalonians, at the fourth chapter. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto them that given ahove, he says, " this is to be understood .... of the judgment of evil angels, and of their ejection out of the Gentile world, out of their oracles, idols, and idol-temples, to which Christ refers, John xii. 31 ; and calls the judgment of this world, and the casting out of the prince of it by the ministry of his apostles ; and which was now already begun, and ere long would be fully accomplished." To the same effect, see Lightfoot on the passage in his Horse Hebraicse, Works, vol. ii, p. 893, 894. and Faber, Many Mansions, note on p. 253, 254. k 1 Thess. iv. ] 6. 1 Mede, De Eesurrectione Prima et Millennio Apocalyptico, Works, p. 711. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 79, 80. Birks. Bloomsbury Lent Lectures, 1843, p. 219, 220. 248 THE DEAD IN CHRIST L. V. the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord"." Here let me ask, whether it is not plain that the dead in Christ are said to rise first, — not in respect of the rest of them that sleep in the dust of the earth, but in respect of the saints who are alive and remain till the coming of the Lord. Those living saints shall not prevent, shall not meet the Lord sooner than, those which are fallen asleep. No : before any can be caught up to meet him in ^/j the air, the departed saints must first arise in bodies fashioned like unto the glorious body of their great Redeemer. Then, saith the apostle, we which are alive and remain being changed, and the whole church of God being thus individually perfect, and corporately complete, *'^we shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord." " But the wicked are not even mentioned here," some would rejoin. Yes, they are ! Let us resume the broken thread of the apostolic argument ; — "^ V. 13—17. / L. V. SHALL RISE FIRST. 249 that argument does not terminate with the fourth chapter: it is carried on to the end of the eleventh verse of the fifth chapter". I will however read but part of it. " But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say. Peace and safety ; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child ; and they shall not escape." And what, in the plain, common sense meaning of these words, do we learn from this portion of the apostolic discourse ? Surely we learn, that the self- same day which shall witness the sudden rapture of all the saints, shall also witness the sudden, the inevitable destruction of all the ungodly. And thus does this memorable passage, when viewed in the integrity of its argument, so far from corroborating the Pre-Millennial dogma of the first Resurrection, rather instruct us, that the reward of the righteous and the doom of the ungodly, and, as other portions of the divine word abundantly warrant us in concluding, their respective resurrections also, shall immediately and simultaneously follow upon the sudden, the mid- night coming of the Lord. I will detain you no longer. I have endeavoured, with all the brevity that was consistent with the " Thus Mr. Birks, very properly, recites 1 Thess. iv. 14 — V. 5. as one continuous passage; Outlines, p. 40, 41. 250 CONCLUSION. L. V. transcendent importance of the subject, to set before you that Scriptural doctrine of Eternal Judgment which alone, — even were there no other cogent argument, — would compel me to seek for some other than the literal interpretation of the first Resurrection, From the days of " Enoch the seventh from Adam," have all the inspired heralds and ambassadors of Christ made procla- mation, saying, " Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him°." If I would follow in their steps, I must not teach either a divided Resurrection, or its necessary consequence, a divided Judgment. " And now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen P." o Jude 14, 15. P Jude 24, 25. LECTURE VI. THE RECOMPENSE OF REWARD TO BE CONFERRED UPON THE SAINTS AT THE SECOND COMING OF THEIR LORD. 1 Peter i. 3 — 5. BLESSED BE THE GOD AND FATHER OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, WHICH ACCORDING TO HIS ABUNDANT MERCY HATH BEGOTTEN US AGAIN UNTO A LIVELY HOPE BY THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST FROM THE DEAD, TO AN INHERITANCE INCORRUPTIBLE, AND UNDEFILED, AND THAT FADETH NOT AWAY, RESERVED IN HEAVEN FOR YOU, WHO ARE KEPT BY THE POWER OF GOD THROUGH FAITH UNTO SALVATION. There is in the Vatican palace at Rome a long gallery, the vi^alls of which are lined with ancient monumental inscriptions. Read them carefully, and you discover a remarkable difference between the right hand range of tablets and the left. The one tell only of despair — the other breathe only of hope. Heathenism has peopled the right hand wall — Christianity has occupied the left. And truly to the heathen all beyond the grave was one dreary blank. There every thing de- finite, every thing personal, every thing he knew. 252 A COMPENSATING REWARD L. VI. every thing that for himself or for others he feared and loved, came to an end. Nor was there aught to fill the aching void : the truths of reve- lation were unknown : his own speculations were unsatisfying. No marvel if he said, " Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we dieV How different the case of the Christian ! He also " cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower ;" he also " fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay." Moreover, sacrifices are required of him, of which the heathen never heard. " If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple V Truly, if "in this life only" he had " hope in Christ," he would be " of all men most miserable'." But is there nothing beyond? Yes ! there is a more than compensating eternity. And this " the Holy Ghost the Comforter" teaches him to anticipate with a personal, an eager, a patient, a joyful expectation*^. "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day : and a 1 Cor. XV. 32. ^ Luke xiv. 26. ■= 1 Cor. xv. 19. ^ For a full exhibition of the true nature of Scriptural hope, the reader is referred to the last of the Author's four Sermons before the University, in a volume styled, " The Way of Peace." L. VI. PROPOSED TO THE CHRISTIAN. 253 not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing^" It is to the contemplation of this ''. recompense of reward '^" that 1 would lead your thoughts to day. Thither also would our Pre-Millennarian brethren attend our steps. But we have reason to pause before we accept them as our guides. They have divested the day of doom of its chiefest alarms^, perchance they may also deprive eternity itself of its most purifying consolations. And such is really the case. They are honestly desirous of kindling in the church a practical, an invigorating, a sanctifying appetency for good things to come. But they mistake the means for compassing that end. Descending from the regions of faith to the domains of sight, they depress things heavenly to the level of things terrestrial. As an immediate result, the range of apparent influence is extended ; for sensuous imaginings find a response in the affections of many a natural man. But the ultimate issue is the substitution of a restless excitement for a sober expectancy, — of a sickly sentimentalism for a thriving spirituality. Nor will you think it could well be otherwise, if I succeed in shewing you to day how very far the Pre-Millennial account of good things to come falls short of the lofty standard of Scriptural promise. With this object in view I propose, in the first « 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. ^ Heb. xi. 26. « Lecture V. 254 THE TWO LAST CHAPTERS L. VI. place, to give what seems to me to be Scripture's own account of that inheritance, which shall be the saints' reward^ at the coming of their Lord ; — in the second place, to exhibit by way of contrast a portraiture of the inheritance which our Pre- Millennarian brethren are compelled by the exi- gencies of their system to substitute for it. And First for Scripture's own account of the saints' inheritance. The only continuous passage of holy writ which (as is almost universally admitted) treats exclusively of the glory yet to be revealed, abounds in highly metaphorical language. I refer to the twenty- first and twenty-second chapters of the Revelation of St. John. Nor is it difficult to discern the reason why their announcements should be clad in the garb of imagery. At " the resurrection of the just V ^ The reader is requested to keep this distinctly before his mind, tliat our enquiry is into tlie nature of the reward which the saints shall receive at the coming of the Lord. We have already learnt in Lecture IV, that at that eventful hour their persons shall be glorified and their numbers accomplished. But Scripture goes beyond this : it proposes to them a " reivard," (fiiaOos, Matt. v. 12: Luke vi. 23, 35.), — a " re- compense of reward" {nia-daTj-oboaLa, Heb. X. 35 : xi. 26.), — a " re- comjwnse'' (di/ra7rdSo/ia, Luke xiv. 12.), — an "■inheritance" {kKt]- povofiia, Acts XX. 32 : Eph. i. 14.), — a " kingdom" (/3ao-iXe/a, James ii. 5.), — in short, a "■compensation" {avraiioboa-is. Col. iii. 24.) for present loyal service, even though of the most humble character. It is into the Scriptural account of this reward that it is our present purpose to enquire. ' Luke xiv. 14. L. VI. OF THE APOCALYPSE 255 the whole man shall be transcendently ennobled. So vast shall the change be, that we cannot now com- prehend it : " It doth not yet appear what we shall be''." Now as it is with the saints, so shall it be with their inheritance. That also shall be excellent in a degree, to the apprehension of which our present capacities cannot attain. Hence it is that the Holy Spirit has, in condescension to our infirmity, borrowed from the present state of things all its most varied, all its most costly imagery. Nay more, he has gone back to the primaeval bliss of Paradise, and has drawn from thence the symbols of future and far greater glories. Witness the new Jerusalem with its walls of jasper, — its found- ations of precious stones, — its gates of pearl, — its street of pure gold, as it were transparent glass ^ Witness the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal ; — the tree of life, with its twelve manner of fruits ; and its leaves for the healing of the nations"'. Yet beautiful as these chapters are, and richly as we shall find them to illustrate the satisfying felicity of the eternal state, we may not venture to draw from them any exact dogmatical conclusions ""; ^ 1 John iii. 3. ' Rev. xxi. 10 — 21. m Rev. xxii. 1, 2. ^ Eev. xxi. xxii. Brightman (Eevelation of the Apocalypse, Amsterdam, 1611, p. 673,) understands these chapters of the present militant state of the Church on earth. Whitby (True Millennium, chapter ii. §. 3, p. 11 — 13.) and Vitringa (Anacrisis Apocalypsios, p. 884, 894,) explain them of their spiritual Millennium. Mr. Elliott (Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. 256 PICTURE FORTH THAT REWARD L. VI. much less may we venture to complete, or to modify the description by details drawn from p, 202,) and Mr, Jenour (Rationale Apocalypticum, London, 1852, vol. ii. p. 357,) include in them both the Millennium and the Eternal State. So also does Daubuz. To all these theories, verses 1,4, 8, and 27, of ch. xxi. present insuperable objections; for both in the present and in the Millennial states there exist sea, sorrow, sin, death, and the curse. Taking with Birks (Four Empires, p. 306,) and Hengstenberg (on the Eevelation, Fairbairn's Translation, London, 1852, vol. ii, p. 316,) ch. xxi. 1 — 8 to be a prelude to, or summary of, the more expanded vision beginning with ch. xxi. 9, and ending with ch. xxii. 5, I am led to believe, that that vision is rightly thus interpreted by Augustine : (De C. D. lib. xx. cap. xvi,) — " Finito autem judicio, quo praenuntiavit judicandos malos, restat ut etiam de bonis dicat. Jam enim explicavit quod breviter a Domino dictum est, Ibunt isti in supplicium (ster- num : sequitur, ut explicet quod etiam ibi coiinectitur, Justi autem in vitam eeternam. Et vicli, inquit, calimi novum et terram novam." Similarly Durham on the jDassage. Thus understood, these chapters inculcate, by literal and figurative language alike, lessons which cannot be mistaken : the satisfying pre- sence of Christ with his people, their heavenly, unalloyed, and never-ending blessedness, — all are pictured here. We must however beware of pressing details too far. " In offering," says Mr. Jenour, (Rationale, vol. ii. p. 359,) "a few remarks upon this sublime picture, I shall not attempt the explanation of particulars. It is to the grand effect of the representation as a whole we must look, rather than to the minutise of its details. That we have here an emblematical description of the glorified Church, and not of a literal city, is so obvious, that it is amazing how such an idea as the latter could ever have entered into the mind of man." Yet, even where a literal city is not expected, how much stress has been laid upon details ! Thus, for example, Bi-ightman for one purpose, (p. 678,) Greswell, (Parables, i. p. 258,) and Birks for another, (p. 308,) conclude from ch. xxi. 2, 10, that the locahty of the L, VI. IN RICHEST IMAGERY. 257 passages of the divine word which, while they are not less figurative in their style, by no means so blessedness herein described must be sought for on this terres- trial globe. Surely the descent from heaven signifies nothing more than that the New Jerusalem appeared upon the scene of prophetic vision as an heaven-born community. " De coelo descendere ista civitas dicitur, quoniam coelestis est gratia, qua Deus eam fecit ... . Et de coelo quidem ab initio sui descendit, ex quo per hujus steculi tempus, gratia Dei desuper veniente per lavacrum regenerationis in Spiritu Sancto misso de coelo subinde cives ejus accrescunt." Augustine, (C. D. lib. xx. cap. xvii.) " Hence they are guilty of folly," says Heng- stenberg, (vol. ii, p. 319,) "who expect on the old 'earth a triumphant and glorious Church." Another example of the impropriety of building upon details is presented in the case of ch. xxi. 24 : xxii. 2. From these verses Mr. Bickersteth, (Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 414;) Mr. Elliott, (Horte Apo- calypticfe, vol. iv. p. 203, 204,) and other's, argue for " the supposition of men existing on earth, and in the earthly state, such as needed healing, contemporarily with the higher and heavenly glory of the New Jerusalem." Mr. Birks, (Four Empires, p. 309, 310: Outlines, p. 370, 377;) dwells upon the same verses with still greater minuteness. Ch. xxi. 24, is, in fact, the great Pre-Millennial scriptural argument for a Millennial and eternal salvation external to the Church of the elect. Let however Hengstenberg be heard : he first limits the application of the word edprj to the Gentile Christianized nations. That he is right in doing so, I am inclined to doubt. But in the words that follow, I entirely ooncur. " No room,'' he says, "/or conversion can he found on the further side of ch. xx. 1 5 ; for every one who had not been found written in the book of life has already been cast into the lake of fire. But the designation i'dvr] was the more natural, as at the time when John saw the Apocalypse, they still actually were heathen The situation of the several parties here is altogether of an absolute kind. All are either in the New Jerusalem, or in the lake of fire, (ver. 8.) There 258 CHRIST WILL BE PRESENT L. VI. certainly speak of good things yet to come, — until we have first consulted the literal portions of the sacred volume, and possessed ourselves of safe criteria, by which to test the soundness of our deductions. And such criteria are near at hand. Let me proceed, without further delay, to place them before you. Notice then, as a first characteristic of the saints' inheritance, that its main blessedness shall consist in this, that Christ himself shall there be visibly and personally present among them. This was the hope he held out to his disciples before his ministry closed. " If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and where I am, there shall also my servant be°." The promise was renewed, — and that, you will observe, with special reference to his second advent, — when, having finished the work which his Father had given him to do, he was about to depart. " In my Father's is no third position. — The kings of the earth bring their glory into the New Jerusalem. The bringing belongs only to the symbolical style of the delineation. He sees them as it were coming in procession ; as also in ch. xxii, 14, mention is made of the entrance of all true citizens into the gate of the city. The expression is merely an embodiment of the thought, that the kings with their glory shall j^articipate in it. This implies that they had formerly brought their glory into the kingdom of grace." Vol. ii. p. 350, 351. On the connection between Eev.xix. 7 — 10, and xxi. 2, &c. see Lecture VII, and the notes appended to it. » John xii. 26. L. VI. WITH HIS PEOPLE IN HEAVEN. 259 house," he said, "are many mansions^ : if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also*^." Yea, and in that last prayer before his passion, the one crowning petition of all was this ; " Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am ; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me^" For a second characteristic of the saints' in- heritance, notice that its locality shall be heaven itself. It is, according to my text, " reserved in heaven" for them. In like manner do we read that the " hope" of the church is " laid up" for her "in heaven''"— that it is unto a "heavenly king- dom*" that her true and loyal sons are " preserved" — that "great" is their "reward in heaven"." If enquiry be made, what is heaven ? and where is it ? Scripture would seem to reply, that heaven is an abode distinct from the earth that now is, — an abode in which the incarnate Word is at this moment dwelling in the immediate presence of God the Father. Heaven is, I said, a place distinct from this earth. Surely Scripture confirms p " Fixed permanent residences. . . . Such is the strict import of the original Greek word novaX, very correctly expressed by our Latin derivative mansions." Faher, Many Mansions, p. 403. •> John xiv. 2, 3. ' John xvii. 24. ^ Col. i. 5. ' 2 Tim. iv. 18. " Matt. v. 12 : Luke vi. 23. s2 260 HEAVEN DISTINCT FROM EARTH L. VI. my testimony ; — hearken to the words of St. Peter, for he speaks of the Lord Jesus as of him " whom the heaven must receive until the times of the restitution of all things^." I also affirmed, that in that glorious habitation Jesus now dwelleth in the more immediate presence of his Father. Let Scripture be heard again ; — " Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true ; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us^" It is to this heaven, — the very heaven in which he himself now dwelleth in glory in the presence of God, — that the Lord purposes to take his people when he comes again the second time. This is, in my judgment, very plain from the words of that gracious promise which has been already quoted ; " I go to prepare a place for you ;" — that is, I go to open the way to,^ — I go to take vicarious possession of, — the many mansions in my Father's house, as the forerunner, the TrpoSpo/ios^ of my ' Acts iii. 21. y Heb. ix. 24. * Heb. vi. 20. " He is a forerunner, inep f^iiwv, ' for us ;' that is, for all believers, for the whole church in all times, ages, and places. And this he is three ways. i. By way of declaration, ii. By way of preparation, (a) with respect to our present gracious entrance into the hohest by faith and prayer ; (/3) as unto our futvire entrance into glory. Under this capacity as a forerunner, it belongs unto him to prepare mansions for us in his Father's house, John xiv. 2, 3. He prepares mansions for us, and he prepares us for those mansions, suiting gi'ace and glory unto each other. Heaven, indeed, is ready for us, whenever we are meet and ready for L. VI. YET NOT NECESSARILY IMMATERIAL. 261 people, — "and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also^" I know well that it is alleged that we shall need, in our future condition, something more material for our abode than heaven can supply. Now I do not see why heaven itself, though distinct from the earth that now is, need necessarily be immaterial. But, waiving this question alto- gether, it is surely enough to know that three glorified bodies are there already in bliss and felicity, — the glorified body of Enoch , — the glo- rified body of Elijah", — and the glorified body of the man Christ Jesus'^. heaven, iii. By way of possession. He had now . . . purchased for us, and in our name, an everlasting inhei'itance, Acts xxvi. 18. This he went, for them, and in their name, to take possession of, and to reserve it in heaven for them, 1 Peter i. 4. Hereon, being by adoption made heirs of God, they become to be co-heirs with Christ, Eom. viii. 17. and are at last admitted into the same glory w4th him." Owen on Heb. vi. 20. * John xiv. 2, 3. Let the reader only refer to the following verses consecutively, John xiv. 1, 2, 3, 12, 16, 28; xv. 26: xvi. 10 : xvii. 4, 5, 11, 13 : and then let him determine whether the petition of Jesus in ch. xvii. 24, can imply any thing short of this, namely, that his people may be for ever with him where he now is in the immediate presence of the Father ? And if in the immediate presence of the Father, where is there place for that Millennial state of glory, which is, as some teach, to follow his coming ? ^ Gen. V. 24. <= 2 Kings ii. 1. ^ To say nothing of the many bodies of the saints which slept, and arose after his resurrection. Matt, xxvii. 52. 262 THE NEW HEAVENS L. VI. But then we are reminded of the words of St. Peter, " Nevertheless, we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth %" and we are assured that the heavenly habitation of the glorified church shall be the very planet on which we are now living, restored to more than its primitive excellence by the fiery flood of the last conflagration. Here again I must avow myself unconvinced by the arguments alleged. For surely the words heaven and earth do not require a more exact correspondency to things present for their accom- plishment, than do the words " house" and " build- ing" in that well-known passage in the second of Corinthians, " We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a build- ing of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens V' A house in the one case, the heavens and the earth in the other, are words with which we are familiar, and which we can understand; they are, accordingly, employed by the Holy Ghost to represent to our mind things yet to come, which shall bear to our glorified natures a similar ratio to that which "houses," " heaven" and " earth," bear to our mortal natures now. And to this view of the matter agrees that word " new," — " new" heavens and a " new" earth, — for those things are, in Scripture, ofttimes called ^ 2 Peter iii. 13. ^ Ch. v. 1. L. VI. AND THE NEW EARTH. 263 " new ^/' which are different in kind and superior in value^ though not always subsequent in origin, to those things which, in reference to them, are called "old." Thus we read of the "new" "wine of the kingdom V — the "new and living e '•kan/oj...4. prsestans, eximius, perfectus, excellens. Matt, xxvi. 29. Markxiv. 25. Heb. viii. 8. John xiii. 34. Apoc. v. 9: ii. 17." Schleusner. " A thing," says Amsworth on Psahii xxxiii, 3, " is said to be new, which is also fresh, renewed upon new occasions, and so permanent ; as Job saith, my glorie was new urith me. So love is both an old and a new commandment, 1 John ii. 7, 8." '' Matt. xxvi. 29. Compare Mark xiv. 25 : Imke xxii. 18, 30. From these passages some Pre-Millennarians (e. g. Begg, Connected View, p. 123, 124 : Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 137.) draw the conclusion, that Christ will " indeed have a table to eat and to drink upon, in his [Millennary] kingdom at which he shall again drink of the fruit of the vine alona with the disciples." Greswell, Parables, vol. i, p. 211, 212. But why in the Millennial kingdom ? and why literally eat and drink ? There is a kingdom of grace now in existence : there is an eternal kingdom of glory yet to come. If, as Scott seems to say, it be the former kingdom that is meant, are not the apostles as those "that eat at the king's table," that is, are admitted to offices of honour and trust ? and does not the Lord give to all his true disciples such manifestations of his presence in the ordinances of his house as are " better than wine?" See Song of Solomon i. 2: iv. 10: Isaiah xxv. 6: Zech. ix. 17 : Eev. iii. 20. But the Lord may rather be supposed to refer to the latter kingdom. In this case the sense of Matt. xxvi. 29, is well given by Calvin, " Dominus suis discipulis promittit, quum hactenus mortalis homo cum illis in terris vixerit, posthac beatse et immortalis vita3 secum fore socios." " In this state," says Dr. Gill, " Christ will drink new wine ; not literally but spiritually understood ; and which designs the joys and glories of heaven, the best wine 264 THE EARTH THAT NOW IS L. VI, wayV — the "new commandment''," — the "new covenant ^" Nor am I the more inchned to recede from the position which I have assumed, when I reflect upon the highly significant words by which the conflagration itself and its effects are described. If some of them might lawfully remind us of the refining of metals, others seem to forbid the thought, and to compel us to speak only of the burning up as of " stubble fully dry™." " The day of the Lord," it is written, " will come as a thief in the night ; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat ; the earth also and which is reserved to the last : which is sometimes signified by a feast, of which wine is a principal part ; by sitting down as at a table in the kingdom of heaven, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Matt. viii. 11, and expressed by icine, because of its refreshing and exhilarating nature, in God's presence is fulness of joy ; and by new wine, because these joys are the most excellent, because they are always new and never change, they are j^^^c^'^^^s for evermore: to drink hereof denotes the full enjoyment of them, which Christ, as Man and Mediator, and his people with him, shall be possessed of Christ and his true discij^les shall be together; and drink this new wine together which society therein will yield a mutual pleasure to each other, as the words here suggest. The Jews often express the joys of the world to come by such-like figurative phrases." i Heb. X. 20. ^ John xiii. 34. • Heb. viii. 8. So also "the new man," Eph. ii. 15: iv. 24; "all things new," 2 Cor. v. 17; "a new song," Eev. v. 9: xiv. 3. ■" Nahum i. 10. Matt. iii. 12. L. VI. SHALL BE BURNED UP. 265 the works that are therein shall be burned up :" yr] Kol TO. eV avrfj epya KaTaKarjcreraL^ . But if any should still feel themselves con- strained to believe, that the very globe, which was once the scene of Messiah's personal humiliation, shall, after being reduced to primitive chaos, be created anew, and then become, throughout all eternity, the scene of his personal exaltation", I ^ 9 Peter iii. 10. See note z on p. 219, Lecture V. 0 This idea is much cherished by Pre-Millennarians, — e. g. Begg, Connected View, p. 1 48 : Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 149, 327 : Jenour, Kationale Apocalypticum, vol. ii, p. 351. It will however, I think, appear in the course of this lecture, that the Millennial state, full as it is of manifold imperfec- tions, will scarcely answer the end proposed. Nothing will answer it excepting such an entire renovation as that which Mr. Faber expected, (Many Mansions, p. 208 — 212.) and for which we stipulate as for the minimum which we can accept. But, after all, have we Scriptural authority for the idea itself? Perhaps the words of Job, ch. xix. 25 — 27, will occur to some, as proving a personal and glorious manifestation of the Saviour on earth. I may however observe, that this is in consequence of a misappi'ehension of the terra " the latter day:" — that term really signifies "the Gospel day." Hence it follows, that Job is speaking of the incarnation of Christ as well as of the resurrection of his own body : he links the two together as cause and effect, though severed by many centuries of time. The whole passage may be paraphrased thus : I know that my Redeemer liveth ; i. e. I know that he liveth now who hath engaged himself in covenant to become my kinsman, and to act the redeemer's part. And that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth ; i. e. I know that in the fulness of time he will perform his engagements, assuming my nature, Heb. ii. 14, and ransoming ray person, Gal. iv. 4, 5. And though dc. yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall 266 THE saints' inheritance L. VI. will, even though they seem to me to speak with- out warrant of Holy Scripture, no longer contend the point with them. For thus much they con- cede, and thus much only it is necessary for my present argument to assert, namely, that the local habitation of the resurrection saints shall be totally and entirely distinct from the earth that now isP. And this, leads me to point out as a third cha- racteristic of the future state of the blessed, that it shall not admit of any the very slightest admixture of evil. For the inheritance reserved for them is see for myself, dc. i. e. I know that, in consequence, I shall rise from the grave, and shall as an accepted child of his grace Bce the incarnate God, and rejoice before him for ever, Ps. xvii, 15. Thus doth the patriarch's faith speed onwards for fifteen centuries, and pausing for a moment at the first advent of Christ, again resume its flight and soar upwards to his second and more glorious appearing. P " By the convulsions of the last day, materialism may be shaken, and broken down from its present arrangements, and thrown into such fitful agitations, as that the whole of its existing framework shall fall to pieces, and with a heat so fervent as to melt its most solid elements, may it be utterly dissolved. And thus may the earth again become without form, and void, but without one particle of its substance going into annihilation. Out of the ruins of this second chaos, may another heaven and another earth be made to arise ; and a new materialism, with other aspects of mag- nificence and beauty, emerge from the wreck of this mighty transformation ; and the world be peopled as before, with the varieties of material loveliness, and space be again lighted up into a firmament of material splendour." Chalmers, Sermons at St. John's, Glasgow, 1823, Sermon vii, p. 197, 198. L. VI. SHALL BE WITHOUT MIXTURE OF EVIL, 267 " incorruptible, and undefiled," — a(f)6apTov, koL ajxiavTOV. We have already remarked, that no corruption, no defilement, can cleave to its possessors. They shall be " like unto the angels" — ladyyeXot. Listen to the words of Jesus. " The children of this w^orld marry, and are given in marriage : but they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage : neither can they die any more : for they are equal unto the angels ; and are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection V Nay, more than this : they are like unto the Lord of angels himself! Listen to the words of Paul ; "As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God ; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. Be- hold," he proceeds, " I shew you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump : for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed V Yes, — " changed," — changed by the Lord Jesus Christ, " 09 iieraaxqixaTLaeL to acofia rrjf TaTreLUCoarecoy rj/xcovy ety to yeveaOai avTo a'vniJ.op(f)ov Tca aw/xaTi TrJ9 So^rjS' avTOv ®." 1 Luke XX. 34—36. ■• 1 Cor. xv. 50, 51, 52. s Phil. iii. 21. So also 1 John iii. 2. Mark well the 268 DEATH THE LAST ENEMY L. VI. But this is not all; the inheritance itself shall, according to Scripture, have a dignity proportioned to that of its possessors. It also shall be incor- ruptible and undefiled. How plain this from that same fifteenth chapter of the first of Corinthians! There it is written, at the twenty-sixth verse ; " The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." And when shall this be ? When the departed saints are raised, — when the living saints are changed, — when the Lord comes. Thus is it written at the fifty-fourth verse ; — " So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory." What enemy of Christ and his Church can be left undestroyed when death, the last enemy, is words, " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye ;" " like unto his glorious body ;" " we sliall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" — oyj/ofieda avrov Kadas eVrt. How then can Mr. Greswell even for a moment entertain the idea, " that although the bodies of the saints, at the first resurrection and during the Millennium, may differ in many respects from those in which they passed their term of probation here ; yet they will not all at once assume their most perfect and glorious form ; nor until the end of the period of the Millennary oeconomy, and with the transition of the things of earth into those of heaven"? Yet he does entertain it, and adds, " This notion is not inconsistent with the implicit testimony of Scripture; and we have seen that it was entertained by Tertullian. It is in unison too with the general analogy of the Millennary dis- pensation." Parables, vol. i, p. 440. L. VI. BEING SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. 269 swallowed up in victory ? Can the world of the ungodly be permitted to survive ? Can Satan himself remain ? Surely not. For if either of these mighty foes could ever again lift up the head, then should the last enemy not have been destroyed ! But we are not left to inferences upon the point. Let the parable of the tares and wheat be recalled to mind. " As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire ; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity ; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire : . . . . Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father'." Mark well the words, " They shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend," — not " the wicked one" only, but all his " children" also. Well then is that day named in the Scriptures, " the day of redemption";" — for then, disenthralled, wholly and for ever, from the flesh, the world, and the devil, shall the saints realize to the utmost the meaning of that word, " rest," — " rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven^ ;" — rest in those new heavens and that new earth " wherein dwelleth righteousness V' and righteousness only. I would have you notice, in the fourth place, t Matt. xiii. 40—43. " Eph. iv. 30. » 2 Thess. i. 7. y 2 Peter iii. 13. 270 THE INHERITANCE EVERLASTING. L. VI. that Scripture represents this state of blessedness as continuing for ever. The " inheritance " reserved for the saints is an inheritance that " fadeth not away." " Eternal," and its equivalents are the only adjectives employed to mark the duration of the saints' reward. Thus, " treasure in the heavens" is a treasure *' that faileth nof" ;" — the "habitations" into which the just shall be received are " everlasting'' ;" — their " king- dom" is " everlasting V — their "house not made with hands" is "eternal";" — their "inheritance" is " eternal*^ ;"— their "life" is " eternal ;"— their "glory*^" is "eternal." To be short: — are things seen contrasted with things not seen ? are the suf- ferings of this present time compared with the glory which shall be revealed ? in this pre-eminently stands the contrast, that the first are " but for a moment," — the second are " eternal," — ra yap ^Xeirofxeva, irpoaKaipa' ra 8e jj.r) ^Xeiropieva, al(DVLa'^. I have now set before you, simply and briefly, and as much as possible in the very words of in- spiration itself, the account which Scripture gives, — in its plain, literal, and dogmatic portions, — of " the reward of the inheritance^" which awaits all true and loyal servants of Jesus Christ. The ' Luke xii. 33. * Luke xvi. 9. ''2 Peter i. 10. « 2 Cor. V. 1. ^ Heb. ix. 15. e Matt. XXV. 46. 1 Tim. vi. 12. Titus i. 2. iii. 7. ' 2 Tim. ii. 10. 1 Peter v. 10. ^ q Cor. iv. 17, 18. '^ Col. iii. 24. L. VI. THE PALM-BEARING MULTITUDE. 271 " salvation ready to be revealed in the last time'" consists in a full and final emancipation of all the redeemed, — in body, soul, and spirit, — from death and hades, from the flesh, the world, and the devil, — in the immediate, the eternal, the satisfying presence of Jesus. Can it be of any thing short of this that the Holy Ghost hath spoken in the seventh chapter of the Revelation ? " These are they which came out of great tribu- lation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple : and he that sitteth on the 'throne shall dwell among them. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters : and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes^." Upon this however I do not insist. ' 1 Peter i. 5. ^ Kev. vii. 14 — 17. In connection with this passage, it may be afe well to advert to the Pre-Millennarian argument based upon the constant connection between suffering and re- ward observable in Scripture. That argument may be stated thus : — " The reward, the great reward, the great recompense of reward of the New Testament, is always set before us as that which is exclusively granted to those that suffer with Christ ; witness, among other passages, Rom. viii. 17:2 Tim. ii. 12. Now the Millennial saints will not suffer with Christ : their re- ward therefore must be of an inferior character : nay more, they 272 AND ALL THIS SHALL COMMENCE, L. VL And, — mark it well, for it is a matter of great moment in the present controversy, — all this is themselves must be regarded as saints of an inferior order. Who then can Scrip turally object to the doctrine of gradations of saving union with Christ? — the first grade, the (now) suf- fering Church of the elect reigning with Christ; the other grades, the Millennial non-sufferers being reigned over? See Birks, Outlines, p. 14'2, 143. In answer to this, two questions immediately suggest themselves : — i. To what gra- dation will P?r- Millennial infants belong? what will be their reward ? — what will be the reward, what the grade of those who are, to adopt a popular form of speech, " called at the eleventh hour ?" — ii. Do Millennarians, as opposed to Pre- Millennarians, grant that there will be no suffering for Christ's sake during the thousand years? By no means. See Brown on the Second Advent, Part II. chapter vi. p. 366 — 373. As to the Scriptural connection between suffering and reward, let it be remembered, that the reward is, in no case, one of debt. The most "noble" martyr will owe his reward to grace every whit as much as the " little one" who only drew a few short breaths, and then winged its way at once to the presence of our Father which is in heaven. Why then are suffering and reward apparently inseparable on the pages of Scripture ? For two reasons ; i. because all to whom practical exhortations can be addressed, that is, all who have the work of God still before them, must suffer persecution, 2 Tim. iii. 12. ii. because so suffering they need encourage- ment. The remarks of Owen on Heb. xi. 26, are valuable. " As in such a season [of trial], we do stand in need of that view and consideration of the future reward, which we may lay in the balance against all our present sufferings ; so it becomes the greatness, goodness, and righteousness of God, that those who suffer from the world for him, and according to his will, should have that proposed and assured unto them for their encoui'agement, which is incomparably greater in goodness and blessedness, than that they can suffer from the world is, in evil, loss, and trouble. And therefore fre- quently, where believers are encouraged with an expectation L. VI. ACCORDING TO SCRIPTURE, 273 represented in Scripture as immediately com- mencing when the Lord appears. No hint, — not even the very slightest, — do the hteral portions of the sacred volmne afford of the existence of any state intermediate between the second coming of Christ and tlie saints' eternal reward. On the contrary you will find, that every word of exhort- ation, every word of comfort, binds the two toge- ther by a bond which cannot be broken. " Be sober," saith St. Peter, " and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ'." " The elders which are among you," saith the same apostle, " I exhort, who am also an elder, and .... a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is among you, .... and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away""." Nor doth the apostle leave any room to question the perfect identity between that crown of glory and that grace on the one hand, and the inheritance incor- ruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, on the other ; for it is in immediate connexion with the latter that he assures the suffering saints that "the trial of their faith, being much more of this reward, tliey are so also with being reminded of that recompense of reward in vengeance and punishment, which shall befal their wicked persecutors ; both of them being, on many accounts, alike suited unto their encouragement ; see Phil. i. 28 : 2 Thess. i. 4—10." ^ 1 Peter i. 13. ""I Peter v. 1—4. T 274 DIRECTLY THE LORD APPEARS. L. VI. precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: whom having not seen, they love ; in whom, though now they see him not, yet believing, they rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory^" Equally plain is the language of St. Paul. Need I again bring before you those memorable words in the first chapter of the second of Thessalonians, upon which I had occasion to remark at such length in my preceding discourse"? Need I re- mind you of that equally memorable passage in the second chapter of the Romans, to which also I was then constrained to advert^? How fully, how clearly doth the apostle in each of these places open out to us the meaning of his Master's words : — " The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels ; and then shall he reward every man according to his works''." But why say more ? For indeed, as the cha- racteristics of the future inheritance one by one passed under review, you cannot fail to have noticed how intimately, how inseparably the full fruition of those matchless blessings is associated with the second advent of the Redeemer. It is when that Redeemer comes as a thief in the night that the old heavens and the old earth, passing away with a great noise, shall give place to those » 1 Peter i. 7, 8. « p. 209—211. p p. 206, 207. q Matt. xvi. 27. L. VI. PRACTICAL APPLICATION 275 new heaveos and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness'. It is when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven ^ith a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, that the dead in Christ shall rise first : then we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and so shall we ever be with the Lord\" Finally, it is in that self-same moment, at the sound of that self-same trump of God, at that self-samq coming of the Lord, that death, the last, the very last, of all our foes shall be swallowed up in victory*. And now, brethren, permit me to pause for a moment, and to ask, " What attraction has this prospect for you ?" Of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, it is written, that they desired a better country, that is, an heavenly; — KpelrTovos oplyov- Tai, TOVTeoTTLv eTTOvpavLov^. Of Moses it is testi- fied, that he chose " rather to suffer affliction with ' 2 Peter iii. 10 — 13. See also Rev. xx. 11: xxi. 1 et seq. St. John unquestionably connects Ids " new heavens and nevi^ earth," and his " holy city, new Jerusalem," with the coming of the Lord, symbolized by the appearing of the " great white throne. and him that sat on it;" and thus doth he in this respect also, (as well as in all others, as I shall presently shew,) confirm the testimony of holy Scripture's literal portions concerning both the nature ,and the time of the saints' reward. « 1 Thess. iv. 16, 17. See Lecture V. p. 247—249. » 1 Cor. XV. 62, 26. " Heb. xi. 16. t2 276 OF THE SUBJECT. L. VI. the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season : esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt : for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward''." And to us the command is given, " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust' doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal : for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also^" Are we obedient to this command? Are we mindful of that other word which says, " If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth ^"? Happy they, — and only they, — who, while they thankfully receive from their bountiful God such gifts in mind, body, or estate, as he is pleased to entrust them with, are yet able with the Psalmist of old to say, — as in the presence of Him " to whom all hearts be open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid," — " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside theeV For to such, — when their flesh and their heart faileth, — and how soon flesh and heart may fail with me or with you, we cannot » Heb. xi. 25, 26. y Matt. vi. 19, 20, 2J. ' Col. iii. 1,2. a Ps. ixxiii. 25. L. VI. PRE-MILLENNARIANS EXPECT 277 tell, — shall God be " the strength of their heart, and their portion for ever*." But it is time that I proceed. Secondly, to exhibit by way of contrast the hope that the literal interpreters of the first resurrection are compelled, by the exigencies of their system, to substitute for that which has just been brought before you. But we may not begin with contrast. For, in the first place, it must be freely granted, that with Pre-Millennarians also the crowning joy of the bhssful state which follows the coming of the Lord, is this ; that whenever he does come, they shall be with him. And herein both they and we alike have the sanction of the disciple whom Jesus loved. Hear him as he speaks of " the holy city, new Jerusalem ;" " I saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the fight thereof." And, once more ; " They shall see his face ; and his name shall be in their fore- heads. And there shall be no night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them fight ^" Thus far then are we fully agreed ; — but not so, when we proceed to enquire into the circumstances that shall attend upon that happy presence of Christ with his people. b V. ae. " Kev. xxi. 22, 23. ^ Kev. xxii. 4, 5. 278 THAT IN THE EARTH THAT NOW IS L. VI. Do we ask, in the second place, where it is that the tabernacle of God shall be with men ? Scrip- ture, in plainest terms, seemed to answer, that it is in heaven itself that they shall see him " face to face," and know him '^even as also they are known ^" It seemed at the very least to declare, that whatever fabric it may please God subse- quently to construct out of the elemental atoms of this our globe, the earth that now is shall first by an universal conflagration be reduced to a state in which it shall be once more " without form and void*." Nor did the apocalyptic seer himself pronounce a contrary decision. Listen to the language of his sublimest prediction ; " I saw a new heaven and a new earth : for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away ; and there was no more sea ^." But with Pre-Millennarians this may not be. According to them, earth, the very earth that now is, shall, at least in the first instance, be the dwelling-place of the risen saints and their glorified Lord ; — earth truly made loveher far, — yet earth still with the same natural features of mountain, river, land, and sea, — the same peculiarities of sky, — the same variations of season, — the same territorial outlines, — the same distinctions of race among its inhabitants. For there shall be "the former sea and the hinder sea," — there also shall be "summer and winter ^" — there also shall be = 1 Cor. xiii 12. ' Gen. i. 2. « Rev. xxi. 1. ^ Zech. xiv. 8. How docs this agree with Eev. xxi. 1. L. VI. THE LORD SHALL BE WITH HIS PEOPLE. 279 "all the families of the nations" coming up to Jerusalem to worship, — there also shall be " the family of Egypt which have no rain'." This opinion, which is, in fact, an integral part of the doctrine of the personal reign, is supported by certain independent arguments, which I shall discuss on the present occasion, not so much, in every case, because of their intrinsic weight, as because of the insight they will give you into the thoroughly earthly character of the Pre-Millennial expectation. "And there was no more sea"? It is a significant fact, that Mr. Begg here inserts the word "symbolical " "there was no more (symbolical) sea." Connected View, p. 131. Surely this is hardly consistent in such a literalist. ' Zech. xiv. 16 — 19. " Great and important as these changes [attendant upon the Pre-Millennial advent] will be, the identity of the earth will remain the same, and its localities be still distinguishable. Jerusalem, it is repeatedly promised, shall occupy her former site, being ' builded upon her own heap ;' and in the following prediction of new heavens, viz. Is. Ixv. 17 — 19, and a new earth, Israel is called to rejoice in that city during the Millennium." Begg, Con- nected View, p. 125, 126. " Earth and sea," says Dr. Brown, in summing up the statements of his Pre-Millennarian opponents upon the point, " are precisely where they were, and what they were. Not a place disappears : not a feature of any thing is changed. Not to speak of Assyria and Egypt, Elam and Shinar, Pathros and Cush, Hamath and the islands of the sea, — the borders of Palestine are given with the minutest geographical and topographical distinction, as if nothing had happened to disturb them Nay, what may be called the meteorological features of every country, remain precisely as before." Second Advent, p. 274. 280 THE TRUE MEANING L. VI. A promise made to Abraham in the thirteenth', and repeated in the seventeenth "", twenty-sixth', and twenty-eighth"" chapters of Genesis, is adduced as involving the necessity of his Millennial, if not his eternal, sojourn in the land of Palestine. The promise is this ; — *' I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession." '* Now," it is argued, " Abraham has never yet possessed the land of Canaan. He must therefore rise again, and, after his resurrection, enter upon his stipulated inheritance along with Isaac and Jacob, ' the heirs with him of the same promise" :' for it was, in each case, distinctly said, * to thee' will I give this land, ' and to thy seedV" In reply, I might well content myself with referring you to the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews. There we are unequi- vocally told, that these very patriarchs looked not for any such earthly possession as is thus assigned to them. "They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly, that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might J V. 15. k V. 8. 1 V. a. "' V. 13. ^ Heb. xi. 9. ° Mede, book iv, epistle xliii, Works, p. 981—983. Brooks, Elements, p. 19 — 22: Abdiel's Essays, p. 49—61. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticfe, vol, iv. p. 151 — 154. L. VI. OF THE PROMISE 281 have had opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly p." But, in truth, the very passage itself is little able to bear the superstructure that has been raised upon it. " To thee," it is written, " and to thy seed." '^ What words," it is asked,^ " can be more exphcit than these ?" But then, why may not the " Vau/' which our translators have rendered " and," be rendered here, as it is rendered elsewhere i, " even :" " I will give unto thee, even to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger"? And this interpretation is sanctioned by the very wording of the original promise itself. " The original promise," I say ; for oft-times as these words have been cited, they are not, after all, those of the earhest grant to Abraham. That grant was made when first he entered upon his p V. 13 — 'le. "The apostle here clearly ascribeth unto the holy patriarchs a faith of immortality and glory after this life, and that in heaven above with God himself, who pre- pared it for them." Owen. " The apostle plainly tells us, that they expected no reward on earth, nor did they mind that Canaan where they dwelt, but only waited for an heavenly country." Whitby, True Millennium, chapter iv. p. 28. 1 "Gen. xiii. 15. Tibi dabo eam id est semini tuo in saeculum." Noldius, Article ), No. 27, p. 290. " Vau He- brsBorum et inde koX in Scriptura conjunctio est non tantum copulativa, sed et disjunctiva, rationalis, causalis, ordinativa, explnnativa, prout sensus ratio exigit: id quod semel monuisse sufficiat." Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars 11. ad Cap. xiii. V. 13, Works, p. 630. Similarly Brooks, Elements, p. 37 : Abdiel's Essays, p. 66, 67. 282 MADE TO ABRAHAM. L. VI. pilgrimage in Canaan ; and this was its wording, " Unto thy seed will I give this land ^" It might however, very plausibly, be answered, that the true meaning of the earlier grant is un- folded by the later and more explicit promise. Specious as this reply at first sight appears, it is, in my judgment, satisfactorily refuted by a well- known passage in the fifteenth of Genesis. For there the very question before us is, if I may so speak, discussed and determined in the sense for which I contend. In the chapter to which I refer is recorded that memorable triumph of grace over all natural obstacles, which the Apostle adduces in the fourth of Romans as the pattern of saving faith % And then the Lord renews his promise, saying, " I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it*." Abraham asks in reply, " Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it"?" Mark well the rejoinder. There is no mention of a Millennial sojourn upon earth. It might well have been predicted then, — for there is an express reference to the patriarch's death ^ But no ! The covenant was to be fulfilled to Abraham in his seed ; and accordingly the fortunes of that seed, their descent into Egypt, their deliverance thence, their entrance upon the promised land, are all made known in ' Gen. xii. 7. " v. 18— Q5. * v. 7. " v. 8. ^ V. 16. L. VI. A PROMISE WHICH IN DUE TIME 283 a vision^. That vision past, the grant is renewed in terms most exact. ".Unto thy seed," God saith, " have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates \" And in terms most exact was the promise in due time fulfilled. For mark the limits of Solo- mon's kingdom. "He reigned over all the kings from the river even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt ^" Thus literally were the words of God to Abraham accomplished ^ Nor is this my assertion only; for Hsten to Nehemiah, as he confesses the sins of his people y V. 13, 14, 16. ' V. 18. The subsequent statements of Holy Scripture are in perfect harmony with this interpretation. The promise to Abraham is mentioned again and again from Exodus to Judges. In no case is there any the least hint given that its terms require any thing more than the bestowal of the land upon his seed. See, for instance, the words of God to Moses at the beginning of the wildnerness journey, Exodus xxxiii, 1. See again God's words to the same Moses, as he surveys the land of promise from Mount Pisgah, Deut. xxxiv. 4. After the book of Judges, references to the promise in question occur more rarely. Such however as are found seem to declare that it has now been fulfilled. See Joshua V. 6 : Jer. xi, 5 : xxxii. 22. a 2 Chron. ix. 26. b " This promise was accomplished in David's dayes, 2 Sam. viii. 3, &c : and in Solomon's, 2 Chron. ix. 26." Ainsworth on Gen. xv. 18. Similarly Scott, on the same verse, — " In the days of David and Solomon the Israelites ruled over the whole extent of country here described : and it was the effect of their sins, that they neither got possession of it sooner, nor kept it longer." 284 WAS AMPLY FULFILLED. L. VI. Israel ; " Thou art the Lord the God, who didst choose Abram, and broughtest him forth out of Ur of the Chaldees, and gavest him the name of Abraham ; and foundest his heart faithful before thee, and madest a covenant with him to give the land of the Canaanites, .... to give it, I say, to his seed, and hast performed thy words, for thou art righteous"." But then it is alleged, that, granting that the promise had respect to Abraham's seed and to that only, it cannot be affirmed that it has been adequately fulfilled even to them. For observe once more the very letter of the grant ; " To thee will I give it, and to thy seed, for an everlasting possession V "The children of Abraham have," we are told, " possessed the land * but a little while®:' they have barely enjoyed the firstfruits c Neh. ix. 7, 8. If the question be asked, what is meant, in Kom. iv. 13, by "the promise" to Abraham "that he should be heir of the world T' — the answer may be given in the words of Owen, on Heb. x. 5 — 10, " Abraham's being heir of the world, is no more but his being the father of many nations : nor was there ever any other promise which the apostle should refer unto, of his being heir of the world, but only that of his being the ftither of many nations, not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also ; as the apostle explains it, Rom. XV, 8 — 12. Respect also may be had unto the pro- mised seed proceeding from him who was to be the heir of all tilings." See also Preliminary Exercitation VI. and Vitringa on Isaiah xlix. 8. Leovardiae, 17 "20, tom. ii. p. 578. •^ Gen. xvii. 8. « Isaiah Ixiii. 18. L. VI. WHAT IS MEANT BY 285 of the promise'. The fuhiess of its accomplishment is reserved for the Millennium, and the subsequent ages of eternity^." Nor is this the only conclusion drawn from the words " everlasting/' " for ever." They are believed to require that reconstruction of the Jewish theocracy, with all its rites, ceremonies, and privileges, to which I had occasion to refer in the third Lecture of this course''. So entirely does Pre-Millennarianism reduce the saints' inherit- ance to the level of earth's most shadowy dis- pensation '. In reply, it is enough to remind you, that universal expressions, like that upon which this reasoning is built, are always to be taken as ex- tending no further than those limits which the proportion of the faith assigns. This is especially the case with the words '* everlasting," " for ever''," * Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 54. Rickersteth, Restoration of the Jews, p. 3. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p 192, 193. B Bickersteth, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 419. Birks, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1850, p. 3t6 — 324. •• p. 95—103. i See, for an ample proof of the justice of this remark, Begg's Connected View, chapters 2 — 13. ^ " Taking a principle of Scripture language, I state, that the phrase 'for ever' is known to express a relative eternity, an unbroken perpetuity for a given time, holding on through a period or system of things, to which a reference is under- stood to be made." Davison on Prophecy, on 2 Sam. vii. 16, p. 204, 205. Similarly Noldius on Gen. xiii. 15: — "Id est, (non in (eternum; sed) in tempus longum. Sic nyi27...Ex. xxi. 6. Deut XV. 17. Joshua xxiv. 2. 1 Sam. i. 22. Isaiah Iviii. 12. Jer. XXV. 9. coll. v. 11... Et Dv'^l? ^Q"!, dies seculi, invenies 286 AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION ? L. VI. and the like. Now the proportion of the faith determines, that as the promise in question may possibly not stretch beyond the days of the destruction of Jerusalem, so it certainly cannot extend beyond the Second coming of the Lord. But we are called upon to observe the further light thrown upon the matter by promises which are found among the records of the Gospel dis- pensation ; — promises which, it is asserted, im- peratively require that the glorified church should, de sacrijiciis, Mai. iii. 4 : de Hierosolyma, Amos ix. 11. de populo Judaico, Mich. vii. 14. quae tamen ab wtemo, aut in eeternum, non fuerunt." Annot. 1204. p. 875. See also Lee, Disser- tation ii. section ii. p. 257, 258. Brooks, Elements, p. 142. For further instances of the litnited sense of the word D v^^, see the following texts, 1 Sam. xxvii. 12: 1 Chron. xxviii. 4: Is. xxxii. 14. comp. v. 15: Jonah ii. 6. Parkhurst, in his Hebrew and English Lexicon, London, 1823, p. 506, says, dh'3 or nbl^ are used both as nouns and particles, "ior time hidden, or concealed from man, as well indefinite, Gen. xvii. 8. 1 Sam. xiii. 13. 2 Sam. xii. 10. and eternal, Gen. iii. 22. Ps. ix. 8. as finite, Ex. xix. 9 : and xxi. 6. 1 Sam. i. 22 comp. v. 28. I Sam. xxvii. 12. Is. xxxii. 14. as well past, Gen. vi. 4. Deut. xxxii. 7. Josh. xxiv. 2. Ps. xli. 14. and cxliii. 3. Prov. viii. 23. as future. It seems to be much more frequently used for ah indefinite, than for infinite, time. Sometimes it appears particularly to denote the continuance of the Jeicish dispensation, or age, Gen. xvii. 13. Ex. xii. 14, 24. and xxvii. 21. and al. freq. and sometimes the period of time to the Jubilee, which was an eminent type of the completion of the Jewish and typical dispensation by the coming and death of Christ, (see Lev. xxv. 9.) and of the final consummation of the great Q^ir. or of the end of the world, Ex. xxi. 6. Deut. xv. 17." The idea of the word then, is time hidden or concealed as to its limit, either at the beginning or end, or both. L. VI. WHAT BY THE TWELVE THRONES 287 at least for a time, sojourn upon this earth after her resurrection. The Lord, we are told, has pledged himself to compensate his people in kind for the losses which they now sustain for his name's sake. Thus, in the nineteenth chapter of St. Matthew, we read, " Then answered Peter and said unto him. Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee ; what shall we have therefore ? And Jesus said unto them. Verily I say unto you. That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And every one that hath for- saken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundred fold, and shall inherit everlasting lifeV This passage, it is alleged, is partly a special application, partly an amplification, of that gracious word in the Sermon on the mount, " Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth"'." Neither the one", nor the other", it is asserted, is yet accomplished ; ' V. 27—29. ni Matt. v. 5. ° Burnet, Theory of the Earth, vol. ii, p. 205. Greswell, Parables, vol. i, p. 223—228. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticse, vol. iv, p. 163, 167. Birks, Outlines, p. 23, 24: Bloomsbury Lectures, 1844, p. 100, 101. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 231. o Burnet, Theory of the Earth, vol. ii, p. 230. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 57. Philpot, Rev. B. Bloomsbury Lectures, 1852, Lecture vi. 288 ON WHICH THE TWELVE APOSTLES L. VI. their fulfilment is reserved for the resurrection of the just, and the Millennial reign. Then, and not till then, shall that oeconomy of universal repa- ration have place, which shall adequately vindicate the justice of Jehovah from the aspersions of six thousand years", and shall extort from blasphemers themselves the confession : — " Verily there is a reward for the righteous : verily he is a God that judgeth in the earth '^." In reply, I might content myself with remarking, that the prominency thus given to temporal retri- bution is little in accordance with the high spiri- tuality of the law of Jesus Christ ^ I might further remark, that the unmingled happiness of eternity will be a compensation most satisfying to the saints themselves, — most honourable to their God and Father. As for that Millennial blessedness which some expect, it will be surely discovered, as we proceed, to be after all but an alloyed and ephemeral felicity. But, waiving these considerations, let us, for a few moments, examine the passages themselves upon which these expectations are built. ( I begin with the promise in the nineteenth of Matthew. It is obviously addressed in part to the apostles alone, in part to Christians generally. To the apostles it announces, that, when Christ sitteth on the throne of his glory, then shall they p Greswell, Pai-ables, vol. i, p. 458. See Appendix, Note BB. 1 Psalm Iviii. 11. ' See Appendix, Note CC. L. VI. SHOULD JUDGE THE TWELVE TRIBES 289 sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. A parallel promise occurs in the twenty- second of Luke. " 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 IsraeP." From this it appears, that the kingdom over Israel and the thrones promised to the apo- stles, were to be similar in nature, and coexistent in time, with the throne and kingdom of their Lord. Now their Lord, as we have already seen, was enthroned in his kingdom on the day of his ascension, and there has continued to reign ever since over the Israel of God'. In like manner did his apostles enter upon a subordinate royalty, which, at first in their own persons and afterwards by their writings, they have been exercising ever since in the church of God''. It is this state of « V. 29, 30. * Lectures II. and III. Pre-Millennarians are apt to point to the word rore in Matt. xxv. 31. as conclusive proof that the Son of Man shall then, for the first time, sit on the throne of his glory. See, for example. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, note on p. 40. Now there can be no question that the Son of Man shall then, for the first time, visibly to mankind, sit on his glorious throne ; and also, for the first time, sit there to execute final judgment on sinners : — but surely we have no warrant for saying, that the language of the text requires any thing more than this. ^ Dr. Gill, in his commentary on the passage, explains the sitting of the Son of Man on the throne of his glory, and the regeneration, exactly as I have done. He limits, however, U 290 OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL L. VI. things, so diverse from the Mosaic economy and so much more glorious, which is called " the world the apostolic thrones and judgment to the condemnation which the twelve passed upon the literal Israel, and the con- sequent vengeance which fell upon them as a nation, while the Gentiles succeeded to their blessings in the church of God. Lightfoot, Horse Hebraicse, on Mark ix. 1, Works, vol. ii, p. 447. takes a similar view of the promise. I am how- ever still inclined to give it all the breadth I have assigned to it above. For that such an authority was exercised by the apostolic college, none can dispute. That it was, in itself, a distinguished honour, is equally undeniable. Nor can we be surprised that it should be made the subject of a distinct and a reduplicated prediction, when we remember how great had been the authority up to that time exercised by Moses in the church of God. The Jews in general, as we learn from the Evangelists, appealed to him as the supreme arbiter in all matters of doctrine and discipline: Matt. xix. 7: xxii. 24. John ix, 28, 29. Acts vi. 14 : xxi. 21. Nor did the Lord Jesus himself fail to do him signal honour : Matt. viii. 4. Mark vii. 10. Luke xvi. 31. John v. 45, 46. Can it be doubted then that the apostles themselves entertained a like reverence for him? And yet in a very short time they were to establish an oeconomy, by which his law was to be superseded for ever! How needful then for their own assurance, how needful too for the guidance of their disciples, some such plain assertion of their rightful dominion as the passage before us contains ! That declaration was, as we have seen, repeated at that last and most solemn hour which preceded the passion of our Lord. Doubtless it was, among other sayings of Jesus, brought to the remembrance of the apostles after the day of Pentecost, and gi-eatly strengthened their hands in all their public ministrations. Nor let any one object to my speaking of them as still reigning over the Israel of God. For indeed the Lord Jesus regards his church in all generations as one ever-living corporation, and the apostles as their ever-living governors: just as in Matt, xxviii. 19, 20. he regards them as L. VI. IN THE REGENERATION ? 291 to come^" in the Hebrews, — "the new heavens and the new earth ^" in the sixty-fifth chapter of Isaiah, — and '^the regeneration^" here. their ever-living instructors and teachers. " Christ," says Archdeacon Garbett on these last quoted verses, " does not take into account the mutabilities and accidents of things — nor those limits which circumscribed the bodily presence, and goings in and out on earth of those whom he is address- ing. He looks upon the apostles in their relation to the everlasting Gospel, filled, as they were about to be, with the Holy Ghost for their peculiar office, and standing before him at once as the type of the Church yet unborn, and the pre- destined instruments by which it was to be evoked out of the elements of the world, still lying in darkness and the shadow of death. He regards them, therefore, so to say, in the essence of their office, as they embodied the great idea of spiritual unity — as the sole depositaries and expounders of his will to the end of time in those inspired records, in ivhich they, being dead, still speak — yea, live in the influences which issue from thence to the universal church, and bind it together in a real unity and unbroken continuity of faith." Bampton Lectures for 1842, Oxford, 1842, vol. i. p. 46. Compare with this, Deut. xxxiii. 4, 5. "Moses commanded us a laiv. ..and he was king in Jeshurun:" Matt, xsiii. 1 — 3. "Then spake Jesus... saying, the Scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses seat, all therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do." Of the word KuBedpa, " seat," Schleusner gives the following as his second meaning ; " subsellium, seu altior sella, in qua sedentes magistri Judfeorum (aequo ac sophistse, rhetores et philosoiDhi gentilium...) legem populo interpretabantur, aut de religione disserebant, cathedra, suggestus docentium. Hinc metonymice : potestas docendi, miinus et dignitas doctoris religionis. Matt, xxiii. 2." ^ Ch. ii. 5. See Lecture II, note o, on p. 57. ^ v. 17. ^ The words " in the regeneration" may also, by the trans- position of the comma after " me," be attached to the words immediately preceding, thus ; — " Ye which have followed me u2 292 IN WHAT SENSE L. VI. The interpretation I have thus given of that part of the promise which concerns the apostles in particular, receives confirmation from the very terms of that part which concerns believers in general. For we have no warrant for assigning the one to the present and the other to a future age. Now the promise to believers in general must certainly be accomplished in this present life, if accomplished at all. This is clear from the fact, that the stipulated compensation includes not only houses, and lands, and brethren, and sisters, and fathers, and mothers, but also wives and children. Now we know that the sons of the resurrection " neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven ^" If, after this, any doubt could remain as to the sera to which this promise belongs, St. Mark's version would remove it altogether. He records it thus^; "Verily I say unto you. There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the Gospel's, but he shall receive in the regeneration, wlien the Son of Man " &c. Tliis Bishop Hopkins calls "the common and usual reading." He explains " the regeneration" to be " the planting of my church, which is the renewing of the woiid," and then adduces 2 Cor. v. 17: Isaiah Ixv. 17 : Heb. ii. 5. as parallels. Doctrine of Two Sacra- ments, Works, vol. ii, p. 425. • Matt. xxii. 30. See Whitby, True Millennium, chapter iii, §. 7, p. 21. b ch. X. 29, 30. L. VI. SHALL THE MEEK 293 an hundredfold now in this time'', houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions : and in the world to come eternal life." Surely this promise does not belong to the Millennium. No ! it tells of present compensating blessing, not without admixture of trial, — and of future unmixed and eternal joy, when things present shall have passed away. And this takes me back to that wondrous beatitude in the fifth of Matthew ; — " Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." These are words of which it may well be affirmed, that as they were true in the days of David '^, so '^ 'Ez/ tw Kaipa tovtco, Luke xviii. 30. ^ " It is evident to a demonstration, that David did under- stand this of the present earth, or of the land of Canaan ; for the tenor of this whole thirty-seventh Psalm is designed to shew, that wicked men shall by God's judgment suddenly perish, whilst righteous men lived easily and quietly in the land of Canaan : so verse 9 ; verse 34. See also verses 14, 17, 19, 23, 24, 25, 29. 'Tis therefore unadvisedly said, ' The Psalmist could not understand this of the present earth, and that upon a plain mistake of the import of the phrase ; as if ' inheriting the earth ' was enjoying a vast fortune, or a great share of temporal enjoyments here; whereas, the cqmfort of this life, as our Lord teacheth, Luke xii. 15, consisteth not in the abundance of the things that ive j^ossess. The phrase rather imports, that meekness is the best way to procure us a long and peaceable life on earth, Ps. xxxiv. 12, 14 : 1 Peter iii. 10: and that the meek person shall ordinarily have the most sure enjoyment of these things as far as they are needful, that he shall enjoy them with the greatest quiet and tranquillity, without that strife, debate, anxiety, and trouble, which em- bitter the enjoyment of these things to others ; and with the 294 INHERIT THE EARTH ? L. VI. have they ever since been verified from generation to generation. For " a man's hfe consisteth not in the abmidance of the things which he pos- sesseth^" To inherit the earth, signifies to enjoy with a quiet and thankful heart what temporal good God sees fit to bestow. Now of the people of God in general it is declared, that " all things are theirs?' Federally, they possess them in their glorious head^ ; personally, they receive from that head as much as he sees them truly to require*". But it is, of all others, the meek who are able to recognize and to rejoice in this assurance. Nor only so, they have special experience of its cer- tainty. For in their case a rare, a living sense of their own unworthiness tempers every sorrow, enhances every joy. This excellent spirit ulti- mately conquers even the churlishness of man, while a bomitiful God delights to honour it by loading it with benefits. Verily the meek do eat, and are satisfied : they do find, that godliness hath promise of the life that now is, as well as of that which is to come\ There is but one passage more'', to which I can truest comfort, satisfaction, and contentedness of mind." Whitby, True Millennium, chapter iii, §. 3, p. 20. e Luke xii. 15. f 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. g Eph. i. 22, 23. ^ Phil. iv. 19. ' Ps. xxii. 26. 1 Tim. iv. 8. ** In addition to the passages now discussed, the following, namely, Heb. ii. 5 — B, and Rev. v. 10, have been frequently referred to as proving a Millennial sojourn of Christ and his L. VI. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE CREATION 295 feel myself justified in calling your attention, before I hasten on to the still remaining portions of my subject. It is a passage which is said to extend the blessings of Millennial promise beyond the narrow confines of the seed of Abraham, beyond the more expansive limits of the Universal Church, and to embrace within its comprehensive circle even the animal creation itself. You will find it in the eighth of Romans, at the eighteenth and following verses. " For I reckon," saith the apostle Paul, " that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not wilhngly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and tra- vaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within Church on the earth that now is. For the true meaning of the former, quoted by Burnet. Theory of the Earth, vol. ii, •p. 232, and Birks, Outhnes, p. 149, see note t, on p. 59 of Lecture II. For that of the latter, quoted by Burnet, vol. ii, p. 266, see the same Lecture, note b, on p. 63. 296 WHICH SHALL BE DELIVERED L. VI. ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body V You will readily imagine the use that is made of this passage by Pre-Millennarians. It represents the whole creation, they say, animate and in- animate, rational and irrational, as panting for deliverance from that yoke of suffering to which it has been subjected, unwillingly, by the sin of man. Nor, say they, shall this earnest expect- ation,— this aTroKapaSoKia, — be disappointed. The day of " the manifestation of the sons of God" is near at hand, — even that day on which Jesus shall personally come with all his saints to reign upon the earth. That same day shall witness the full accomplishment of creation's utmost longings. 1 Eom. viii. 18 — 23. "The difficulty of the passage has, to the English reader, been increased by the change in the rendering of the same original term — creature and creatioyi : — I would render it, throughout, creation. — Then further: the words 'in hope' should be joined with the verse following, and the particle rendered ^ecaitse, translated that— 'in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption." — And once more : the same words, 'in hope,' ought to be connected with the 19th verse, and the remainder of the 20th read as a parenthesis. The whole will then stand thus : — ' For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God — (for the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same) — in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the chil- dren of God. For we know, &c.' " Wardlaw, Sermon XVI, p. 460, 461. L. VI. FROM THE BONDAGE OF CORRUPTION 297 For, in that gladsome age, " the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the yomig lion and the fatlins together ; and a little child shall lead them ""." But I will not prolong the quotation. Now, with reference to the interpretation thus put upon that remarkable passage in the Romans, it is scarcely necessary to remind you, that other solutions than this are quite Scripturally possible. The creature, or *^ the creation," — y\ ktlctls, — may denote that spiritual creation, in which every man who is born again of the Holy Ghost becomes, by virtue of the quickening power, a new creature, a new creation". The whole surely of this creation groan eth and travaileth together in pain until now. *' Infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regenerated." " The flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : and these are contrary the one to the other : so that ye cannot do the things that ye would"." Nor were the apostles themselves, upon whom the firstfruits of the Spirit were bestowed, free from the same bondage of corruption. He was an apostle who cried, " 0 wretched man that I " Cadman, Rev. W. Bloomsbury Lectures, 1852, Lecture II. Bonar, Landmarks, p. 67. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 172—175. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 232, 233. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 171. For more on Isaiah xi. 6, see Lecture VIII. n 2 Cor. V. 17. ° Gal. v. 17. 298 INTO THE GLORIOUS LIBERTY L. VI. am ! who shall deliver me from the body of this death P?" But shall it be always so ? No ! The day is near at hand, when the whole of this new, this spiritual creation, shall be delivered, once and for ever, from the thraldom of the flesh, into " the glorious liberty of the children of God." " And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes : and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain : for the former things are passed away''." Nor, — even if we may not thus limit the ap- plication of the word ktlotls, can we allow that Pre-Millennarianism will meet the exigencies of the passage before us. While human corruption, sin, and death are present ; while Satan is eagerly expecting the darksome hour, when, as a lion from his lair, he may once more sally forth to kill and to destroy ; can it be said that the whole creation is delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God ? No ! whether we limit, or whether we extend the meaning of that word " creation," we must still look for its predicted emancipation to that hour, and to that horn' only, when " there shall be no more curse'';" — when he that sits on the throne shall say, '' Behold, I make all things new^" P Kom. vii. 94. i Rev. xxi. 4. "■ Rev. xxii. 3. ' Rev. xxi. 5. See Whitby on the passage, and Faber, Many Mansions, p. 2'26 — 230. To that hour the mention of" the glory L. VI. OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD ? 299 For notice, in the third place, yet another point of contrast between the Pre-Millennial and the Scriptural account of good things to come. The Bible seemed, in its literal portions, to comfort the saints with the assurance that, when the Lord appears, they shall enter upon an in- heritance untarnished by any, even the very shghtest alloy. And here again St. John the Divine confirmed our testimony. Speaking of " the holy city, new Jerusalem," he saith, there shall be "no more curse'," " no more death"," " there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a he V But, alas ! during the Millennium these antici- pations cannot be realized. I do not intend to speak of all the manifold incongruities which must attend a bringing down of the glorified Jesus and his risen saints in any sense to this earth. But what can be thought of their mingling here, not which shall be revealed in us," " the manifestation of the sons of God," and "the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body," would seem indissolubly to connect the deliverance of the " creation." Hence the difficulty of receiving the Millen- narian, though not Pre-Millennarian, interpretation given to the passage by Dr. Wardlaw, in his xvith Sermon. This author is however ready to confess, that, after all, the Mil- lennitim will be but an incipient accomplishment of the prediction, — the fulness of its completion being reserved for the eternal kingdom. * Eev. xxi. 3. " Rev. xxi. 4. ^ Eev. xxi. 27. 300 THE MILLENNIAL STATE L. VI. like the rare angelic visitants of ancient days^, but as constant fellow-inhabitants, — with sinful men clad in mortal flesh ? Shall those men themselves be able to endure the overpowering sight of their effulgent brightness ? And then how shall those blessed ones, wholly sanctified in body, soul, and spirit, brook a contact so painful even now to their renovated nature ! how much more painful then, when all within them shall be tuned in fullest harmony to the perfect law of God ? Surely their authority over five cities and over ten, their y For such are the precedents alleged by Pre-Millennarians, e. g. by Mr. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 147, 148 : Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 304, 305 : Mr. Molyneux, World to Come, p. 164, 165. for that mingled society of natural and spiritual, mortal and immortal, fleshly and glorified beings, which is, according to them, to prevail during the Millennium. " It will not do to refer to the angelic visits with which individuals under the Old Testament were occasionally favoured : to the Saviour's transfiguration, and the appearance of Moses and Elias in glory to the three disciples on the holy mount ; to the many bodies of sleeping saints which arose, and, after Christ's resurrection, went in the holy city, and appeared unto many ; and to Christ himself eating and drinking with his disciples after his resurx'ection. He that does not see the difference between the two cases — between such brief, rare, and exceeding partial glimpses of the world of glory vouch- safed to a few, and a thousand years constant personal access to the glorified Saviour, and open vision of the New Jerusalem in all its effidgence, — he that sees no difference between these two cases, or so little that the truth of the one perfectly reconciles him to the belief of the other, — is not likely to be convinced by any thing I could say on the subject." Brown, Second Advent, p. 362, 363. L. VI. SHALL BE TARNLSHED 301 ruling the nations with a rod of iron% were but a poor compensation for so disappointing a degra- dation ! And yet so it must be^ I know well that it is said that Jesus shall, diu'ing the Millennium, personally reign over a world in which all the fondest aspirations of man for good government, whether in church or state, shall be fully granted^. Satan also, his great enemy and ours, shall, we are assured, be re- strained from instigating mankind to spiritual rebellion. Moral and physical evil shall, in con- sequence, we are further instructed, be entirely banished from this our earths But how, beloved, ^ Eev. ii. 25, 27. * For more upon these incongruities of the Personal Keign, see Appendix, Note DD. b Burnet, Theory of the Earth, vol. ii. p. 232, 233. Brooks, Elements, p. 288. Birks, Outlines, p. 328, 329: Bloomsbury Lectures, 1852, Lecture III. Haldane Stewart, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1852. ° Thus Mr. Gi-eswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 143. " The king- dom to be established will be established in Judsea; its appointed duration will be one thousand years ; during its continuance there will be neither physical nor moral evil." And again, at p. 414, " The essential characteristics of such a dispensation as the Millennary, in the nature of things, must be the reverse of the present — no conflict of opposite principles — no combination of discordant ends and purposes — no doubling of things any more — no mixture of evil with good — no alloying of perfection with imperfection — but amidst all the variety of the same natural effects in genere, the predominance of one simple and uniform quality in specie — the possession of tli£ utmost perfection of which each is capable." Similarly at p. 151, 152, 424, 425. 302 BY INDIVIDUAL CORRUPTION, L. VI. can this bewitching phantasy be reahzed? For reflect upon the elements of evil which, by the tacit acknowledgment even of Pre-Millennarians themselves, must still be found in the saints' inheritance. Satan may be chained, — but shall the corruption of human nature be eradicated ? By no means. The Jewish people and the nations of them that are saved are all, without one single exception, in an unconverted state at the beginning of the thou- sand years'^. " Increase and multiply" shall still, — and that probably in a far greater ratio, — be the law of their existence. For they are spared, as our brethren believe, for the express purpose of peopling the globe during the thousand years with a new and multitudinous race of mankind. And if " increase and multiply " be the law, then also as now ; — then also, as now, shall men be shapen in iniquity, and conceived in sin"; — then also, as now, shall they err and stray from the ways of God like lost sheep ; — then also, as now, shall there be those among them who shall never return to his fold, but harden themselves in a '' " Thus the ' new earth ' is to be tenanted by a world of men in the flesh, the vast majority of whom [nay, rather every one of whom] at the first are total strangers to Christ, and dead in trespasses and sins. And this is ' the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness,' which 'we, according to his promise, look for.'" Brown, Second Advent, p. 286. « Psalm li. 5. L. VI. BY INDIVIDUAL SIN AND DEATH, 303 resolute rebellion against him ; — yea, then also, as now, shall death, the penalty of sin, reign over the sons of men^ Nor are we left to our own conjectures upon these several points. Those very passages of Holy Writ, which are supposed to unveil to our eyes the blessedness of the coming age, give inti- mations, and those of no doubtful character, of this admixture of most serious evil. I need scarcely remind you of those fancied strongholds of Pre-Millennial doctrine, the sixty-fifth of Isaiah^, and the fourteenth of Zechariah''. In the for- mer, we have individual sin and individual death : in the latter, national rebellion and national pu- nishment'. As to individual sin and death, Isaiah tells us, that '^ the child shall die an hundred years old ;" that " the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed ''." Now hearken to f Rom. vi. 33: v. 14, 21. s Homes, Eesurrection Revealed, p. 129. Bonar, Pro- phetical Landmarks, p. 101, 102. Birks, Outlines, p. 280, 281. Greswell. Parables, vol. i. p. 244, 245. ^ Homes, Resurrection Revealed, p. 216 — 219. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 110 — 113. Birks, Outlines, p. 299—302. Greswell, Parables, vol. i, p. 167, 168. i "Absolute righteousness, in the justification of every individual, either of Israel or of the world, it is manifest, cannot be in the Millennium on any theory. The 'sinner' of Isaiah Ixv. 20, will be found there, and some disaffected nations, even Apocalyptic nations, incurring God's displeasure. Zech. xiv. 17." Gell on the Second Coming, note on p. 41. ^ Isaiah Ixv. 20. " That all the just which live during the thousand years be supposed to be immortal, is a paradox I 304 AND ALSO BY NATIONAL SIN L. VI. Zechariah, as he tells of national sin and national chastisement. " 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 tahernacles. 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. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain ; there shall be the plague, dare not admit; understanding, not that all the individuals, but that the body of the Church here on earth, should successively reign with Christ her Lord a thousand years." Mede, Eemains on the Apocalypse, Works, p. 750. Dr. Sirr seems to go further far; — " None maintain," he says, " that death and the grave are destroyed at the first resurrection ; it remahis to be proved that they will be so at the latter." First Eesuri'ection, p. 21. Mr. Goodhart, on the other hand, expects that " death will scarcely happen, if at all, from the prolonged life of man ;" Bloomsbury Lectures 1850, p. 89: and again, "Sin and its punishment, desolation and death, appear to exist partially during the thousand years." Bloomsbury Lectures 1852, p. 221. Once more Mr. Elliott; — " Though death be not as yet extinguished, yet may the dying very possibly be not until the end of the Millennium : as it is said, ' As the days of a tree are the days of my people ;' ' the leaves of the tree ^being for the healing of the nations :' besides that death may be then without pain, and a mere easy translation to the heavenly state" ! There must be something very fascinating in a theory which can reduce such men to such extremities, and yet retain its hold upon their minds ! Compare with these speculations, 1 Cor. XV. 54, 26 : Rev. xxi. 4 : and say whether the only right course be not to abandon the Pre-Millennial expectation ? L. VI. AND NATIONAL PUNISHMENT. 305 wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles V 1 ch. xiv. 16 — 19. See Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 153, 154. At p. 146 of the same work, we find the followmg remarks : " The authority which shall be exercised [by the resurrection saints] over the nations, shall, it appears, be coercive : certainly it will be so at the commencement of the Millennium, when they shall go forth and tread down the wicked as ashes under their feet, Mai. iv. 3 ; but even aftenvards they are to rule the nations with a rod of iron, Eev. ii. 27 ; whilst the Lord, who shall then be King over all the earth, shall rebuke strong nations afar off, Micah iv. 3, Isaiah ii. 4." Again at p. 165; "In the Millennium, there is apparently to be a similar example to that of Sodom : some portion of the earth shall be so visited, that the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become hurydng pitch : it shall not be quenched night nor day, Isaiah xxxiv. 9, 10. And when upon the wicked the Lord shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, — a horrible tempest. Psalm xi. 6, the redeemed shall go forth (from one sabbath to another, according to the context,) and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me : for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched." These various and minute details, refute the ingenious suggestion of Mr. Molyneux, World to Come, p. 166, 167, that the "punishments" predicted in Zech. xiv. 17, 18, 19, are as consistent with the blessedness of the recreated earth, as the punishment threatened in Gen. ii. 17, was with the blessedness of earth before the fall. Dr. Gill is much neai-er the truth than either of these his Pre-Millen- narian brethren; on v. 17, he says, "This, though it follows upon the former account, must be understood of times X 306 VARIOUS SCHEMES BY WHICH FORMER L. VI. Such then is the testimony of the Old Testa- ment prophets to that corruption and defilement which, on the hypothesis of a personal reign, shall and must cleave to the saints' inheritance during the thousand years. The New Testament seer at once confirms their evidence, and opens to our view Post-Millennial prospects darker still. Mark the very words in which he describes the events which shall come to pass during the " little season" between the close of the expected Sab- batism and the consummation of all things. " When the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, -and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city"." Whence, my brethren, are all these rebellious hosts of evil to spring ? Shall we confine the purity of the Millennial earth within the limits of Europe, Asia, and Africa, and bring Gog and Magog preceding Ihe spiritual [and glorious, though Pre-Millennial] reign of Christ ; for the reign of the Gospel will be upon all the earth in the latter day glory, and all nations will then serve and worship the King .... the whole manifestly refers to the time of the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth ; Rev. xi. 16." Of the rain, he understands either "the sove- reign favour of God," or " the Gospel." "^ Rev. XX. 7—9. L. VI. AND PRESENT PRE-MILLENNARIANS 307 from the vast continent of America ? Or, com- prehending the whole terrestrial globe within the dominion of the Prince of Peace, shall we assign the perfection of his kingdom only to the first moments of his reign, and expect that a new race of sinful men shall gradually steal upon the scene of his empire, the offspring of some miraculous agency, prepared for the conflict of the latter days ? Or, neither narrowing the field, nor cur- tailing the duration of Millennial bliss, shall we assert, that the wicked dead shall at the close of the thousand years be raised from their graves, for the purpose of taking arms against the King of kings ? Strange as it may sound in your ears, these solu- tions of the problem have actually been proposed by distinguished Pre-Millennarians of former, though by no means remote, ages". Others again, as we have already seen, have taken refuge in the theory of Adamic but fallible innocency°. While a further escape from the difficulty has been found, in the gradual with- holding of divine grace as the thousand years ap- proach their end. Which of these two alternatives " The first by Mede, De Gogo et Magogo Conjectura, Works, book iii, p. 713 — 715 : the second by Burnet, Theory of the Earth, book iv, chapter x : the third by Gill, Body of Divinity, book vii, chapter ix. Of these, the last has, it appears, been adopted by Dr. Gumming, the, otherwise, dutiful expositor of the HoriB Apocalypticee. •* Homes, Resurrection Revealed, p. 310. Dallas, Intro- ductioh, p. 27 — 29. Greswell, Parables, i. p. 452. x2 308 HAVE ACCOUNTED FOR THE ORIGIN L. VI. is least objectionable, it is difficult to determine. Who, with the remembrance of the original fall imprinted upon his mind, and with the certainty of its being repeated — and that without the hope of recovery — can count the world happy in Para- disaical innocence^? And who can think that state really blessed, the spirituality of which shall gradually decline, until the vast majority of man- kind shall at the last yield only a feigned obe- dience'' to Jesus their King, visibly present amongst them ? Yet better far either of these alternatives, than the thought that the faith of God's elect, which, — if Scripture be read aright by the great majority of Protestant churches, — hath certainty and perpetuity now, shall have neither certainty p The following quotation from the Bloomshury Lectures for 1843, p. 383, 384, speaks for itself: "The answer is given from the lake of fire, teeming uith those infatuated multitudes of the Millennictl age, on whom fire had come down from God out of heaven and devoured them. ' Ours was the trial, from which you suppose you would have escaped unhurt. Sur- rounded by eveiy proof of God's unbounded goodness ; living on the earth when delivered from its curse, though not with- out its warnings of preceding judgment; left to the free exercise of our faculties, with every aid to their improvement; we continued hajjj^y and virtuous until we were tried. But at length Satan was loosed ; he tempted us, and tired our minds with the desire of independence. We fell ; and our doom is a monument to the universe, that faculties of the highest order, knowledge of the widest extent, habits strengthened by the longest exercise, can of themselves afford no security to the creature against the wiles of the devil.' " 1 Ps. xviii. 44. marcfin. L. VI. OF THE HOSTS OF GOG AND MAGOG. 309 nor perpetuity then. For in that case truly the sheep of Christ will be in an infinitely worse con- dition, when their chief, their good Shepherd is personally and visibly present among them, than they are now, when, though absent in the body, he cheers them with such good words as these, — " My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me : and I give unto them eternal life ; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all ; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's handV But why tarry here any longer ? Each several scheme is but a confession, that the actual presence of evil after the Lord's return is incompatible with Scripture's own account of the saints' reward. And yet after all, that difficulty remains in all its force. Pre-Millennarians cannot connect with the coming of the Lord an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled ; defiled it is by the confession of most, corrupted it must be by the acknowledgment of all. But here we are met by one or other of three several Pre-Millennarian arguments. In the first place, the well-known words of St. Peter are adduced as proving, that after all, the new heavens and the new earth will not be the scene of such absolute purity as that for which we contend. These are his words : " Nevertheless ' John X. 27—29. 310 TO WHAT PROMISE L. VI. we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness ^" The only "promise," we are told*, to which this can refer, is found in that sixty- fifth chapter of Isaiah, to which I have but recently alluded. Now that chapter, it is argued, certainly describes a state exactly corresponding to that mixed condition of things which is expected to prevail during the Millennium. Time will not permit me to do more than observe, that such an explanation of the chapter in question is by no means the only interpretation possible. It may well be, — and I venture to think certainly is, — a figurative description of the age of the Gospel oeconomy". This at any rate is ' 2 Pet. iii. 13. ' Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Part ii. Works, p. 662 : on 2 Peter iii. p. 762, 763. Homes, Resm-rection Revealed, p. 302. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 101. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticse, vol. iv, p. 184. " The principle on which Isaiah Ixv. 17 — 25 is constructed, is thus stated by Bishop Lovvth, (De Sacra Poesi Hebrseorum, Prfelectio ix, Oxonii, 1810, torn, i, p. 101.) " In describendis ornandisque factis gestisque illustribus, rebusque mirabiliter eventuris, solent Hebrsei vates uti imaginibus rerum prius gestarum atque ita coloribus plane alienis, sed aliquan- tum similibus, prseteritis futura, antiquis nova, notissimis minus nota, depingere atque illuminare .... Primum est in hoc genere Chaos et Creatio, unde ipsa exordium ducit Sacra Historia. Ex his desumptas imagines constanter trans- feruntur ad insignes Rerumpublicarum in utramque partem nmtationes, ad eversionem vel instaurationem regnorum iitque nationum. Poesi Propheticfe hoc maxime familiare L. VI. DOES ST. PETER REFER ? 311 certain, that it must refer to a state of things distinct from that of which the Apostle speaks. est, ac turn prsecipue cum audacissime insurgit." The Bishop then adduces as examples Jei\ iv. 23 — 26 : Isaiah xxxiv. 11: Joel iii. 15, 16: Isaiah xxxiv. 4: li. 15, 16. See also Haggai ii. 6. as expounded in Heb. xii. 26 — 28. In connection with this chapter, the remarks of Bishop Warburton, (Divine Legation, Book VI, §. 6, vol. iii, p. 227, 228.) are suggestive of much that is interesting: "Isaiah... declares, in direct terms, that the dispensation should be changed ; ' Behold, I create new heavens and a neiv earth ; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind.' This, in the prophetic style, means a new religion and a new law.... The prophet goes on to declare the change of the sanction ; and this was a necessary consequence of the change of the dispensation. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, &c. v. 20. i. e. the sanction of temporal rewards and punishments shall be no longer administered hi an extraordinary manner; for we must remember, that long life for obedience, and sudden and untimely death for transgres- sions, bore an eminent part in the sanction of the Jewish law." [Thus much we may well admit, without subscribing to the Bishop's well-known opinion, that Moses propounded only temporal rewards.] "Now these are expressly said to be abrogated in the dispensation promised; it being declared, that the virtuous, though dying inimaturely, should be as if they had lived an hundred years ; and sinners though living to an hundred years, as if they had died immaturely." The reader will find a beautiful and sound exposition of Isaiah Ixv, in Alexander's Commentary : and a very valuable note on it in connection with the present controversy, in Mr. Gipps, First Resurrection, Note X, p. 63, 64. I cannot however forbear adding a feAv words from Henderson's Isaiah, That strongly literal author thus writes in his annotations on chapter Ixv. 17, 18. "Creation is here to be under- stood not physically, but in a civil and religious sense. The subject is Jerusalem and the Jews. Their restoration will be like a fresh springing into existence : and the con- 312 SOME PRE-MILLENNARIANS SPEAK L. VI. For Peter plainly declares, that in the new heavens and the new earth which he predicts, shall dwell righteousness, and righteousness only ; whereas both sin and death are present in the new creation of which Isaiah tells. Hence also it must be concluded, that the apostle cannot specially allude to that sixty-fifth of Isaiah at all. Perchance he is himself enunciating a new prediction'' -. — perchance he is embodying in one comprehensive sentence^ the substance of the many " exceeding great and precious promises'," which tell of the inheritance incorruptible, and un defiled, and that fadeth not away. But then we are met by a second expedient. Its object is to preserve intact the purity of the more immediate dweUing-place of the resurrection saints. It is the strangest perhaps, — though by no means the least popular, of Pre-Millennarian stitution to be established among them will be entirely different from their ancient economy." Here surely our principle is conceded, though our application of it is denied. " For I cannot see what ground Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 248, has for speaking of St. Peter almost as though he totidem verbis referred to Isaiah Ixv. Ixvi. Why may not Peter be doing with regard to a promise of the Lord Jesus, exactly what Paul in Acts xx. 35 does with regard to a maxim which fell from his lips; namely, committing it to writing for the first time ? Of prophecies thus committed to the pages of inspiration for the first time we have a notable example in the words of Enoch, as recorded in the 14th and 15th verses of Jude. ^ In that case it would be a similar prophecy to that rehearsed in Matt. ii. 23. ^ 2 Peter i. 4. L. VI. OF TWO DEPARTMENTS 313 imaginings. There are, we are told, two depart- ments of the world to come. There is " Jerusalem which is above," and ^' Jerusalem which is beneath." The former, suspended in mid-air between heaven and earth, shall be the habitation of Jesus and all his glorified saints. There, as in the palace of their kingdom, shall they dwell uncontaminated and undisturbed by the evil that shall still be permitted to find place among the nations of the earths a Mr. Begg, (Connected View, p. 130, 131, 133,) and Mr. Brooks, (Elements, p. 294,) seem to expect that both these cities shall exist upon earth ; — sin and death having place in the one and being excluded from the other. Mr. Elliott {Horpe Apocalypticse, vol. iv, p. 209, 210,) quoting Isaiah iv. 5, and referring to " the pillar of fire on the tabernacle in the Avilderness, or the more awful gloom on the top of Sinai," believes that the New Jerusalem will " rest upon " the Earthly Jerusalem, He however touches the subject but briefly. Not so Mr. Molyneux : "Jerusalem," he says, " the city appertaining to the earth, the metropolitan city of the earth, will be quite distinct, and another, from the Jerusalem above, the New Jerusalem. They are totally ditferent cities — the earthly and the heavenly — and must not be confounded different in themselves, diff'erent in their occupants — one of heavenly mould and fabric, for the glorified church; the other of earthly character and structure, for Israel and the nations I believe, nevertheless, that a close connection will exist between them; so close, I mean, as to involve an actual link and means of communication — possibly even a point of contact, the one being in union with the other there will be a junction between them, represented possibly by Jacobs ladder, one end of which reached to heaven, while the other rested on the earth : or by the Transfiguration, when the cloud, though the Tabernacle exclusively of the glorified Loi-d and his glorified attendants, yet rested on the 314 IN THE WORLD TO COME. L. VI. I will not bring before you the variations of this fantastic scheme. Nor will I enquire which of the two Jerusalems is to be the object of attack^ when Gog and Magog shall " compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city." I will content myself with asking you to consider, whether this arrangement of the Millen- nial world will answer the purpose for which it would seem to have been devised ^ For observe that the saints who inhabit the celestial city will either be wholly isolated from the Millennial earth, or they will not. If they be wholly isolated from the earth, then where is the believer's re- compense in kind ? where is the apostles' govern- ment of the twelve tribes of Israel ? where the church's dominion over the world? If they be not wholly isolated from earth "^j then, disguise the earth and had contact with it." World to Come, p. 169 — 172. Israel's Future, p. 228, 249—251. See Appendix, Note EE. ^ " It seems to me probable, that by the beloved city of Apoc. XX. 9, we are to understand this earthly Jerusalem ; though it may also pei-haps be understobd of the heavenly or new Jerusalem. But in any case there must be supposed, I conceive, a most intimate connection of the one Jerusalem with the other." Elliott, Horfe Apocalypticge, vol. iv. p. 209. <= Molyneux, World to Come, p. 131, 132, 241, 242. ^ " The World to Come, though divisible into two great spheres — terrestrial and celestial — will yet comprise, gene- rally, but one kingdom, containing within itself the ordinary circumstances and accompaniments of a kingdom, namely, the residence and court of the government, and the dominions over which the government shall exercise its power and authority ; the L. VI. THE RISEN SAINTS NOT AFFECTED 315 fact as you may, their inheritance, the inheritance to which you direct their hopes in connection with the coming of the Lord, is not, what Scripture defines it to he, incorruptible, and undefiled. Nor will the third argument alleged be more successful in obviating the difficulties of the case. The happiness of the resurrection saints, it is affirmed, cannot possibly be affected by any thing that shall occur in any part of their inheritance ^ Sin may be present, and death also. The devil and his countless hosts may compass the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. Yet still shall their peace be as a river : — perfect at once, and perfect for ever — it shall flow on, deep and full, unruffled and undiminished, — yea, rather, deeper, fuller, smoother, even for ever and ever. I will not attempt to decide whether this can be so or not. For the question before us throughout this whole discourse has been, not so much con- cerning the happiness of the saints themselves, as concerning the character of their inheritance'^: and of that inheritance we have learned, that if its possessors be sanctified wholly in body, soul. celestial state Avill constitute the court, the terrestrial the dominions over which the court will reign and rule." Moly- neux, World to Come, p. 138. Sec also p. 1.32. ^ Mede, De Resurrectione Prima et Millennio Apocalyptico, Works, p. 712. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 147, 148. Moly- neux, World to Come, p. 242. f See note h, on p. 254. 316 BY EVENTS PASSING UPON EARTH. L. VI. and spirit, so shall itself be incorruptible, and iin defiled. Quitting these grounds of argument, our Pre- Millennarian brethren are apt to allege, that vi^hat- ever defects we may discover in the expectation they hold out to the church, it has this claim at least upon our attention, that it is one which can be realized at any moment of time. And herein, it is further alleged, is it of a strictly Scriptural character^: for when the apostles proclaimed that the Lord was at hand^ they meant, it is said, that he might at any hour personally come to bestow their promised reward upon his waiting servants. But are these things really so ? Can Pre-Mil- lennarians raise the cry, " The Lord is at hand," with the honest conviction that any hour may witness his appearing ? By no means. There are, as themselves are constrained to allow, certain events which must first have place before the end comes. The Gospel must be preached for a witness unto all nations ; Israel must be restored, at least in part ; the antichristian hosts must be mustered for the battle of Armageddon. None of these things can be done in a moment. Their necessary intervention between the present hour and the advent of the Lord, must effectually preclude the ^ Brooks, Elements, p. 166, 167. Birks, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. ;245 : Four Empires, p. 348. Bonar, Landmarks, p. 82, 83, 90, 91. ^ Phil. iv. 5. Heb. x. 25. L. VI. DID THE APOSTLES REALLY TEACH 317 possibility of our watching for that advent, as for an event which may at any instant occur'. Nor, in truth, did the apostles really so pro- claim it. They certainly taught believers to fix their eyes upon the Lord's return, as upon the consummation of all their hopes. Nay more, they sometimes used language which any who are ignorant of the one-ness of the Church in all generations, might easily construe into an expect- ation that they would themselves be alive upon the earth when that return took place''. But ' Will the reader permit me to place two short extracts before him? The first shall be from "Israel's Future:" " Sujiposing Israel then to be partially restored, actually re-established, and dwelling in the land of Judaea — the following, or some such enquiries, naturally suggest them- selves. First, how long will this state of things last, or what period of time will elapse between the commencement of this restoration, and the advent of our Lord .?.... I cannot but infer, .... that seven years or thereabouts will be the period which will elapse between the commencement of this restor- ation, and the advent of the Lord." p. 48, 51. The second extract shall be from the Prophetical Landmarks, substi- tuting the restoration of the Jews, and the seven years of Mr. Molyneux, for the Millennium of Mr. Bonar : "How can I watch, — watch with the eager throb of uncertainty and hope, — for that which I positively know to be separated from me by the restoration of Israel and the seven subsequent years? And especially if that restoration be so marked that it cannot be mistaken, there can be no watching at all. None just now, for I know that the restoration must take place before he comes. None when the Jews have been restored, for I know exactly the day when he cometh." p. 90. '' Exactly corresponding is the language of our Lord him- 318 THAT THE COMING OF THE LORD L. VI. they not less certainly declared, that great events and long periods of time must first intervene. For "the kingdom of God should" not "imme- diately appear';" — the armies of the king must first destroy them that slew his messengers, and burn up their city""; — the vineyard must first be let to other husbandmen, who shall render its fruit in due season"; — the leaven must work till the whole lump is leavened"; — the mustard seed must become a great tree, and fill the whole earth P; — the wise virgins and the foolish must first slumber and sleep, and the bridegroom must tarry **; — it will be a long time before the lord of those servants shall come and reckon with them""; — or, finally, to quit the language of parable, mercy must be shewn to the Gentiles, that through that mercy Israel also again may "obtain mercy'." self, in the two first parables in the xxvth of Matthew : — " From the first parable of the virgins," says Mr. Birks, " our natural impression would be, that the disciples, who were commanded to watch, would be found living in the flesh when the Bridegroom should come. Still more clearly, in the pai'able of the housholder, the same parties who receive the talents, when the journey begins, are described as if trading or refusing to trade with them when the housholder returns Yet the absence ranges really over sixty gene- rations of the world's history," Outlines, p. 355, ' Luke xix. 11. «» Matt. xxii. 7. " Matt. xxi. 41. " Matt. xiii. 33. p Matt. xiii. 31, 32. i Matt. xxv. 5. •' Matt. xxv. 19—23. '^ Kom. xi. 31. In addition to the remarks above made, I would submit to the reader, whether the primitive church L. VI. MIGHT AT ANY MOMENT OCCUR ? 319 Notwithstanding these plain intimations to the contrary, some at Thessalonica were led, — appa- rently by lying spirits, false ministers, and forged epistles, — to believe that the "day of Christ" was, in the very sense for whicli our Pre-Millennarian brethren contend, near " at hand." The apostle hastened to dissipate the delusion, and that in terms which prove that he at least regarded it not as a harmless phantasy. " Now we beseech you, brethren," he says, "by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falhng away first, and that man of sin be re- vealed, the son of perdition '." So far was the apostle from encouraging the idea, that the Lord might at any moment appear. Yea rather, he did the very thing which we are with the Apocalypse in her hand, and with chapter i. 19. as the summary of the book, must not necessarily have been ohlvjed to expect, that very much of what is there written would take place before the Son of man was revealed, and therefore that the time must be before that event occurred of considerable duration, even though the Holy Ghost had said to her, at the very opening of that book, " Behold, he cometh with clouds," i. 7; and, at its close, the Lord himself had repeated the cry, "Surely I come quickly; Amen," xxii. 20. * 2 Thess. ii. 1—3. 320 THEY LOOKED TO THEIR OWN DEPARTURE. L. VI. told should never be done : in individual cases, — when the perpetual corporate existence of the church was no longer the prominent idea, — he virtually identified the day of the Lord's coming with the day of the saint's departure. Yea more even than this, he sometimes practically sub- stituted the bliss upon which the saint should enter at the hour of his dissolution, for the bliss which shall succeed upon the coming of the Lord ; for he placed it in the very forefront of all his own hopes and all his own desires. Witness for the truth of my former assertion those memorable words in the fourth chapter of the second of Timothy : " I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. . . Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day"." Witness, for the correctness of my latter statement, those not less remarkable words in the first chapter of the Philippians, and in the fifth chapter of the second epistle to the Corinthians ; — " I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ ; which is far better"." — ^* We are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord .... we are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord^." But I must no longer detain you upon this " 2 Tim. iv. 6, 8. ^ Phil. i. 23. y 2 Cor. v. 6, 8. L. VI. THE PRE-MILLENNIAL DOCTRINE 321 point. All I wished to do was to shew you, that while the Pre-Millennarian expectation differs materially in its character from the hope which the Lord and his apostles seem to set before us, it cannot be asserted on its behalf, that as to the speed with which it may be realized, it has a decidedly Scriptural advantage over that which we entertain. For it is evident that, even if we anti- cipate a Millennial Sabbatism before the reve- lation of Jesus Christ from heaven, we can re-echo the cry, "The Lord is at hand," exactly as the first Evangelists themselves sounded it abroad. How much more so, if we have reason to believe that the thousand years are already past ! Then indeed is the Lord very near at hand ! A few short years, and he shall be seen " sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven V' "to give every man according as his work shall be^" But I must not enter upon this question now ; for there remains, in the fourth place, yet one more point of contrast between the Pre-Millennial, and what, for brevity's sake, I may now venture to call the Scriptural expectation of good things to come. " Eternal," as we have seen, is the only word by which, in their unfigurative portions, the Scrip- tures mark the duration of the saints' inheritance. And the Apocalypse confirms this testimony. ^ Matt. xxvi. 64. ^ Rev. xxii. 12. 322 REDUCES ETERNITY ITSELF L. VI. " There shall be no night there ; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun ; for the Lord God giveth them light : and they shall reign for ever and ever^." But with our brethren this cannot be. Our very vocabulary must be modified. The word " Millennial," a word which can no where be found on the pages of the book of God, must, practically, in almost every case, be substituted for the word " Eternal." And our faith, which had been encouraged to soar into the boundless regions of an unclouded eternity, must curb its adventurous flight, and hover still over the sin-stricken limits of time. Far be it from me to insinuate, that Pre-Millen- narians speak of no eternity beyond those thousand years upon which their eager gaze is fixed. This is by no means the case. But this I do say, that whereas faith's only pioneer is the Scripture of truth, that divine word as interpreted by them cannot lead us onward from time to eternity. The Millennial inheritance in all its essential characteristics belongs to time. Yet in their desire to enhance its glories, they have lavished upon it almost every thing that Scripture can by any possibility be supposed to speak concerning the ages of eternity. The inevitable consequence is this, that they are reduced to one of two alter- natives. Either they leave their disciples wholly '• Rev. xxii. 5. L. VI. TO THE LEVEL OF TIME : 323 without instruction concerning things eternaP : or, taking the Millennium for a basis in the calcu- lations of their spiritual astronomy*^, they lead them onward, with far too presumptuous a course, to expect an eternal reign of Christ upon earth, — an eternal duration of this terrestrial globe, — an eternal possession of the land of Canaan by the Jewish people, — an eternal recurrence of sacrificial <= Thus, for example, Mr. Greswell, even though acknow- ledghig (Parables, vol. i. p. x, xi.) tliat the " Millennary dispensation ... is [i. as to duration] absolutely no more than a point of time, or even as nothing, in comparison of eternity . . . [ii. as to happiness,] immeasurably below the bliss of heaven ;" — does, notwithstanding (at p. 479, 480,) avow that " upon the nature, and circumstances of the [heavenly and eternal] state . . . Scripture has observed a profound silence. . . . The peculiar hopes and expectations of future happiness proposed in the word of God, as the great encouragement to the patience and perseverance of the Christian — must be understood to refer primarily, if not exclusively, to the rewards which are promised beneath the Millennary kingdom of Christ." On a statement similar to this, Mr. Gipps remarks : " When I consider that a period of a thousand years bears less proportion to eternity, than the smallest grain of sand does to the whole earth ; and that the saints are to live for eternity, I never can conceive, that the Holy Ghost has given such numerous and glorious descriptions concerning the state of the saints during the period of a thousand years, and has left the infinitely more important eternity which follows, wrapt up in darkness. ... I therefore feel convinced, that an interpretation which would necessarily involve this, to my mind, insuperable, difficulty, cannot be the true interpretation, according to the mind of the Spirit." First Resurrection, Note I, p. 17. " Birks, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 243, 344. y2 324 NOR CAN IT EVEN EXCLUDE L. VI. rites, — an eternal succession of generations of mankind *", and consequently (for we cannot close e Such are the expectations entertained by modem Pre- Millennarians of note: — witness Mr. Bickersteth, Bloomsbmy Lectures, 1843, Lecture XI: Mr. Birks, Four Prophetic Empires, chapter xvi; Outlines, chapter xv: — Mr. Brock, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1849, Lecture X: — Mr, Dallas, Intro- duction, p. 31, 32: — Mr. Molyneux, Isi-ael's Future, p. 264 — 266 ; World to Come, p. 284—289. Of the arguments by which those expectations are corroborated, see Appendix, Note U. Meanwhile these excellent men are, very naturally, most unwilling to allow, that the eternal perpetuation of human corruption and sin must follow as a necessary consequence from the eternal continuation of generations of mankind. Yet surely the conclusion is inevitable. And this Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 355, practically concedes, even when attempting to disprove it. These are his words : " The grace of God which will abolish sin for ever in the children of the resurrection, and swallow up death in victory, must be able to sanctify the infants of a fallen race from their very birth, so that their whole life may be one continual and unbroken progress in the love of God their Saviour. Their whole spirit, soul, and body, may thus be upheld in blameless purity by the mighty and victorious power of the indwelling Spirit of God. To treat this as a thing impossible in its nature, is simply Manichean vmbelief, and would imply, that evil must be eternally more powerful than the redeeming grace of God." Does not Mr. Birks, in speaking of ''infants of a fallen race,'' who I'equire to be " upheld from their very birth" by the "victorious power" of the "sanctifying" Spirit of God, admit the perpetual transmission, from father to son, of a corrupt nature? and will not original sin be still im- puted by virtue of Adam's transgression '? And do not both these, in the words of the IXth Article, " in every person born into the world deserve God"s wrath and damnation?" Thus it is tacitly confessed, that there will be " an eternal perpetuation of human corruption and sin" — and Avhy not. L. VI. HUMAN CORRUPTION AND SIN. 325 our eyes to the legitimate issue of this exegetical process,) an eternal perpetuation of human cor- I may surely add, of death also? for the wages of sui, original as well as actual, is death ? Upon this point I may well adopt the words of Bishop Hall : — " As for those living saints . . . they must still have original corruption in them ; that cannot be denied : but it shall be so yoked and restrained, that it shall get little or no ground of them. What a paradox is this ! If little, if any at all, surely they are sinners : and sin, wherever, whatever it be, defileth ! . . . . But shall men have hearts then? And are not the hearts of men deceitful above all things ? . . . . The children of the saints, who are the free subjects of this kingdom, shall be begotten in sin, conceived and born in sin ; and yet be true saints ; as if only gross actual sins, from which they shall be restrained, were inconsistent with holiness ! Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? saith Job, chapter xiv. 4." Eevelation Unrevealed, p. 108, 109, 117. Mr. Dallas, however, has endeavoured to anticipate and to obviate this serious difficulty. He supposes, that during the Millennium, the nations of the renovated earth will be the subjects of " an educational system," under which that " internal disease, — the flesh, — the birth-sin of the children of fallen Adam, — the carnal nature . . . will be gradually removed by a process of practical and habitual conduct, in a new state of society, under holy influences, with holy examples amongst men, and with enlarged knowledge of God." " This work of eradicating the carnal nature in men, in the Millen- nium, will be wrought by the Holy Ghost with them, and upon them, it may be, but not in them, as he works now in the saints, and will work then in the Jews " ! It appears, however, that universal success will by no means really attend this educational process. There will, indeed, be the appearance of such success. But to " detect the latent poison," Satan will be let loose. Thus will all be discovered in whom " the sediment of original corruption " yet remains. These will perish in the final overthrow, and none will 326 THE INTERMEDIATE STATE SHALL BE L. VI. ruption and sin ! The result is, in both cases, practically the same ; their thoughts linger amongst the things which are seen and are temporal, when they should be stretching onward and upward to the things which are not seen and are eternal. And now permit me to gather up and to place concisely before you the whole argument of my discourse. The subject of our enquiry has been the true nature of the saints' inheritance. Of " our Saviour Jesus Christ" it is testified that "he hath brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel V To him therefore, as he speaks in the New Testament Scriptures, have we betaken ourselves for instruction upon the point. Nor have we applied to him in vain. He has indeed assured us, that even now the souls of them that depart hence in the Lord are in joy and felicity. Absent from the body, they are present with Him^. But it is to the day of continue upon earth, but such as are, like Adam of old, " very good." Introduction, p. 27 — 29. I will not venture to point out all the serious doctrinal error herein contained. Let the reader " prove all things, and hold fast (only) that which is good." f 2 Tim, i. 10. 8 2 Cor. V. 6 — 8. See also Phil. i. 23. " The original terms convey the idea of a present and future residence, or home: and of migration from the one, and innuediate settlement in the other : ivh-q^ovvm iv rco 0"a)jU.ari, fK8r][jiovfJ.ev ano rov Kvpiov (vboKoiififV jiaXkov, eKdijiJirjcrai eK rov aafiaros, Koi evSrjfiricTai npos rov Kvpiov. I miglit add to these passages, the case of Stephen. He saw, in vision, ' the glory of God, and Jesus standing on L. VI. ONE OF JOY AND FELICITY : 327 his appearing that he directs our eyes, if we y>'^ould learn the full excellency of that glory which shall be revealed\ " Behold," he saith, " I come quickly ; and my reward is with me'." And what is that reward ? It is " an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away." It is for the whole ransomed church of God to be "for ever with the Lord" in heavenly mansions, to which neither the world, the flesh, nor the devil can ever approach. These are enemies witli whom each faithful soldier and servant of Jesus Christ hath to Imttle here on earth. But they cannot pursue him beyond the grave. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth : yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours'"." Much less the right hand of God.' When, in the moment of departure, he said, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!' did he not expect his departing soul to be admitted to that place of glory, where he had just seen his exalted Lord ? Was Jesus to receive it any where else than where he himself was? And is the sf)irit of the martyred saint not, even to this hour, with the Lord, whom he prayed to receive it?" Wardlaw, Sermons, p. 497. ^ So much is Mr. Cuninghame mistaken, when, in his answer to Dr. Wardlaw's remarks on 2 Cor. v. 6 — 8. quoted above, he imputes to Anti-Millennarians the idea that death is followed by glory, and then labours to prove, what is not denied, that glory is associated with the coming of the Lord. » Eev. xxii. 12. ^ Kev. xiv. 13. " The word henceforth may refer to the particular period of the great tribulation ; but the latter por- tion of the verse contains a general statement, so that in all 328 NOR CAN THERE BE RETROGRESSION L. VI. shall any of these foes spring to life again after the resurrection of the just. That were indeed a dismal retrogression from the perfectly bhssful repose of the intermediate state'. But it shall ages and under all circumstances, those that die in Him rest from their labours There they are, at this very moment, before the throne of the Lord. Eeraember how they mourned for sin, how they wept over its clinging character, how they struggled and prayed against its power ; but the last tear was shed when they parted from you, and now they rest, being perfect before God. Eemember how the poor, frail, dying body clogged and fettered the motions of the spirit, and how often, with bitter pain, they experienced the fact, that, though the spirit was willing, the flesh was weak ; but now these hindrances are for ever gone ; they can serve the Lord with- out either hindrance or fatigue ; for though they rest from labour, they never rest from praise Eemember how they longed after their Saviour, how their heart panted, and their soul thirsted for him ; how they mourned the weakness of their faith, the coldness of their love, and the dimness of their spiritual sight. But now they are satisfied in him and by him. There is not even an angel's form to intercept their view of him. They behold his countenance, they rejoice in his love, they hear his voice, and their peaceful resting-place is in the very midst of his throne." Eev. E. Hoare, Blooms- bury Lectures, 1849, p. 125, 126, 128, 129. 1 The following remarks of Bishop Hall are quaint, but just. " What an apparent disadvantage should this be to the blessed souls of the saints departed, to be fetched down from heaven, where they are in perfected bliss, to spend a thousand years upon earth, ere the consummation of their glory ? to change the company of angels for men, heaven for earth? To which main and choking objection, there is wont to be offered a double solution. First, were these departed souls in the highest heaven, yet it becomes them, as the angels do, to come down to serve the saints; and... to retm-n to tlieir L. VI. IN THE BLISS OF THE REDEEMED. 329 not be"". Immediately the Lord appears shall bodies again at the commandment of Christ. True ; all crea- tm^es owe their obedience to their Maker and Kedeemer; and the more holy they are, the more ready still they are to pay this tribute of their humble obsequiousness to the will of their God, which is the supreme law, without all pleas of their own inconveniences : but, in this case, where shall we find any such command? where the least signification of the Divine pleasure ? Secondly, they say, it is likely the souls of the dead saints are not in the highest, but in a middle place, better than the world, but inferior to the imperial heaven, which is meant in the New Testament by Paradise." Eeve- lation Unrevealed, §. 9. p. 115, 116. The Bishop truly is dealing with Millennarians of a bygone age ; but there is no little affinity between the " solutions" to which he replies, and those which are given now-a-days. Witness as to the first, Mr. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 147, 14H: Mr. Birks, Out- lines, p. 304, 305 : as to the second, Mr. Cuninghame's Answer to Dr. Wardlaw, p. 5 — 14 : Mr. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 120—1-20. ™ "But even their rest, — the rest of the departed, — is imper- fect. It is but the foi'eshadowing of that which is to come, — one of the lower ridges of the mountain range In the first place, it is the rest of only a portion of God's elect In the next place, even with themselves it is incomplete... the poor body is [still] lying under the curse of death, corrupting in the grave... Nor is the triumph of the Redeemer yet perfected ...how can there be perfect rest. ..till the last enemy is de- stroyed? We have ascended two of the lower ridges in the range, but now we are to look out for the lofty mountain-top, which towers in heavenly grandeur above them all. This perfect rest we shall find in the advent. 2 Thess. i. 7.... There is much added, but there is nothing taken away There will be nothing remaining, nothing undone ; all will be finished, all complete ; and he will rejoice over us with joy, while he rests in the blessedness of unfathomable and unfettered love." Hoare, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1849, p. 131, 132, 133, 144. 330 THE PRE-MILLENNIAL HOPE L. VI. his Church, now for a time mihtant here on earth, become, on the destruction of every foe, the Church everlastingly triumphant in heaven. This blessed, this satisfying hope is, I am bold to say, the only hope which the Lord himself connects with his glorious appearing. But our Pre-Millennarian brethren cannot ac- cept this unequivocal testimony of Scripture's most plain, hteral, and dogmatic portions. True it is, that that testimony is confirmed by the whole tenor of those resplendent chapters, in which, as though ordinary language were unequal to the task of adequately representing the glories of the redeemed, the Apocalyptic seer has taken refuge in a crowd of the very choicest symbols which earth can afford. Still must the doctrines of a first resurrection and a personal reign be retained, still must they be permitted to dim the whole brightness of our prospect. The inheritance of the risen saints is no longer heavenly, but earthly ; no longer incorruptible, no longer undefiled. Yes! the whole scene is changed ! We find that we have been brought once more to earth; — not a newly created earth, which may possibly be a fitting abode for Christ and his Church during the countless ages of eternity, but to the very earth that now is, improved it may be, but by no means perfected. True it is, that the same illustrious being stands foremost as the object of supreme admiration. But no longer does he stand alone : L. VI. CARNAL AND UNSATISFYING : 331 no longer can the bride, rejoicing in the individual perfection of her members, and the corporate completeness of her company, gaze only on him whom her soul loveth. No ! the seed of Jacob, the nations of the Millennial earth, conspire to distract her affections and to awaken her solicitude. For the marriage supper of the Lamb is not without its cup of bitterness ; the world is there, sin is there, death is there : and soon will Apollyon himself come forth with all the hellish malice of aggravated despair to mar, perchance for centuries, the Millennial bliss of those high festivities". And what lies beyond the day of his signal overthrow ? Every thing definite is earthly still ! Surely, brethren, it is but prudence to pause before we accept these carnal, these shortlived, these disappointing Pre-Millennarian complexities in exchange for the spiritual, the eternal, the satis- fying felicity of the catholic hope. Nay, rather, it is our duty to reject them altogether. For the written word has, not on the present occasion only, but at every previous stage in the progress of our enquiry, recorded its most emphatic protest against the doctrine of a personal reign. And yet in the very teeth of Creed and Scripture alike, that doctrine holds its ground. What can be the secret of its strength ? That secret may be detected, I believe, in its sensuous character. Things heavenly are clothed in beautiful earthly " Molyneux, World to Come, p. 234, 235. 332 ITS SENSUOUS CHARACTER L. VI- forms. Man, shrinking as he ever does from the effort which faith requires, eagerly embraces a tenet, which gives to things future a substance and a form cognizable by his natural senses. And the stern reluctancy of the apostolic writings, and the startling self-contradictions of Chiliasm itself, are as nothing beside the ravishment with which fancy wanders amidst the varied scenes of Millennial glory. Many of our brethren doubtless, — protesting that we have nothing to do with details, and that we should leave difficulties with God, — soar far above these carnalities. With them an inverted order of enquiry into the sacred records has been the main, though probably not the only, cause of their embracing the hope of a personal reign. But they have a heaven-born nature, which refuses to submit to the consequent degradation. They are therefore apt to leave every thing behind which is specifically Millennial, and to advance with us into the Scriptural, the real glories of eternity". Even these suffer by the admixture " See, for example, that richly edifying Sermon by the Rev. Edward Hoare, (in the Bioomsbury Lectures for 1849,) on " The Eest which remaineth for the people of God," from which extracts have been given above. I do not think that his application of Rev. v. 8, 9, 1 0, to the departed saints, is correct : nor am I quite sure that he has taken Heb. iv. 9, in its intended meaning ; but as to the three stages of rest, which he enumerates and beautifully describes, there is scarcelv a word which I do not conceive to be tlioroufrldv L. VI. THE SECRET AND PERILOUS CAUSE 333 of the sensuous element. For to debase, to vitiate, and to limit the Christian's expectation, must ever, so far forth as it has any effect at all, have a deteriorating influence upon the tone of Christian piety. The stream never can rise higher than its source. And then the majority of their disciples are not so spiritually minded. Such will, and such do, eagerly seize upon those carnalisms, which are in very truth part and parcel of the Pre-Millennial system P. And great is their consequent peril. Scriptural. In these statements especially is he right ; i. that there is no retrogression in the future happiness of the redeemed : ii. that they shall enter upon their perfect con- summation and bliss at the second advent of the Lord. '* How then," the reader will ask, " does Mr. Hoare deal with the Millennial phoenomena, to which I have been compelled to direct my attention ?" Let Mr. Hoai'e himself reply ; " In thus speaking of the rest of the advent, it ivill be needJess to draw any distinction betiveen the ttoo great periods into vhicli the coming rest may he again divided, by the delivering up of the kingdom as described in 1 Cor. xv. 24. The final hope jtreseiited to us in Scripture is the advent; and the kingdom, then to be introduced is the resting-point for oiir present faith. Now, this rest has all the features of the rest in heaven. Tliere is much added, hut there is nothing taken away." That is to say, this holy man quits all that is specifically IMillennial, and advances with us into the Scriptural glories of eternity. p That the reader may judge that there is reason for such severe censures, I place before him the following extracts, " People complain," says Mr. Molyneux, " of sameness in Holy Scripture, of difficulty to keep up a lively interest in its study and investigation ! and how is it possible to be otherwise, when the most intensely interesting portions, the 334 OF THE EAGERNESS L. VI. Sentimentalism may easily be mistaken for spiri- tuality. And imaginative students of prophecy may fondly persuade themselves that they are believers, when they are but speculators ; that they love Christ's future appearing, when indeed they know little of his present manifestation in their souls. Let us, my brethren, beware of so great a delusion. Whatever may be the opinions we form concerning the future, let us pray, as those who know that except Christ be revealed in them now, the day of his second coming must most diversified in subject matter, the most animating in prospective influence, the most stirring in immediate tendency — are deliberately and systematically passed by? There must be, thus, a sameness in Scripture ; how is it possible to be otherwise? And how is it possible that a lively and growing interest in its investigation and research should thus be sustained?" Israel's Future, p. 267. "Some," says Mr. Bonar, " wish to brand all this as carnal. But what do they mean by carnal? Is it sinful, fleshly, corrupt? Do they mean this? Then I answer, it is not carnal; it is holy, it is spiritual. If by carnal they mean human, natural; I admit it. It is human, it is natural. God meant it to be so. It was the God who made us, that gave us these longings for visible, palpable intercourse, this delight in hearing, seeing, handling each other. Without these, our nature cannot be satisfied. And just that we might be satisfied, he sent us his Son in the likeness of an elder brother. ... Our union with Christ by faith necessarily leads us to desire closer and more sensible union. . . . To know that I am his and that he is mine, and yet not to long to behold and embrace him, is strange inconsistency, nay, it is undisguised coldness and estrangement." Landmarks, p. 79, 80. L. VI. WITH WHICH IT IS EMBRACED. 335 be to them a day of unutterable woe ; let us, I say, pray with the Psalmist, " Remember me, 0 Lord, with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people ; O visit me with thy salvation ; that 1 may see the good of thy chosen, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thine inheritance''." *> Psalm cvi. 4, 5. LECTURE VII. THE THOUSAND YEARS AND THE LITTLE SEASON. Revelation xx. 1 — 9. AND I SAW AN ANGEL COME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, HAVING THE KEY OF THE BOTTOMLESS PIT AND A GREAT CHAIN IN HIS HAND. AND HE LAID HOLD ON THE DRAGON, THAT OLD SERPENT, WHICH IS THE DEVIL, AND SATAN, AND BOUND HIM A THOUSAND YEARS, AND CAST HIM INTO THE BOTTOMLESS PIT, AND SHUT HIM UP, AND SET A SEAL UPON HIM, THAT HE SHOULD DECEIVE THE NATIONS NO MORE, TILL THE THOUSAND YEARS SHOULD BE FULFILLED : AND AFTER THAT HE MUST BE LOOSED A LITTLE SEASON. AND I SAW THRONES, AND THEY SAT UPON THEM,. AND JUDGMENT WAS GIVEN UNTO THEM : AND I SAW THE SOULS OF THEM THAT WERE BEHEADED FOR THE WITNESS OF JESUS, AND FOR THE WORD OF GOD, AND WHICH HAD NOT WORSHIPPED THE BEAST, NEITHER HIS IMAGE, NEITHER HAD RECEIVED HIS MARK UPON THEIR FOREHEADS, OR IN THEIR HANDS; AND THEY LIVED AND REIGNED WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS. BUT THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED. THIS IS THE FIRST RESURRECTION. BLESSED AND HOLY IS HE THAT HATH PART IN THE FIRST RE- SURRECTION : ON SUCH THE SECOND DEATH HATH NO L. VII. OBJECT OF THE PRESENT LECTURE 337 POWER, BUT THEY SHALL BE PRIESTS OF GOD AND OF CHRIST, AND SHALL REIGN WITH HIM A THOUSAND YEARS. AND WHEN THE THOUSAND YEARS ARE EX- PIRED, SATAN SHALL BE LOOSED OUT OF HIS PRISON, AND SHALL GO OUT TO DECEIVE THE NATIONS WHICH ARE IN THE FOUR QUARTERS OF THE EARTH, GOG AND MAGOG, TO GATHER THEM TOGETHER TO BATTLE: THE NUMBER OF WHOM IS AS THE SAND OF THE SEA. AND THEY WENT UP ON THE BREADTH OF THE EARTH, AND COMPASSED THE CAMP OF THE SAINTS ABOUT, AND THE BELOVED CITY : AND FIRE CAME DOWN FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN, AND DEVOURED THEM. I SAID in my opening lecture, that though the Millennarian controversy originates in the Apo- calypse, it cannot be decided by it. Recourse must be had to those portions of the divine word which excel, not in point of inspiration, but in point of literality of doctrinal statement concerning the matters involved^ ^ p. 10 — 13. "Id primnm generatim observe: ea quae nos de resurrectionis tempore produximus, ex concionibus Christi et Seriptis Apostolorum dogmaticis desumpta, propriis ac planis verbis exposita esse : ea vero qufe ex prophetico et mystico Apocalypsios volumine proferuntur, arcano et aenig- matico involuta esse dicendi charactere. Utrum autem pro- babilius est, magisque cum rations consentit, ut plana et dogmatica dicta a nativo verborum significatu detorqueamus, quo cum iis consentiant quae ex vaticiniorum perplexis aenig- matibus collegisse nobis videmur : an vero ut anxio pede proeedamus in evolutione arcanorum istorum oraculorum, nihilque nobis in iis imaginemur quod a clare expositis fidei dogmatibus abludat?" Witsius, in Symbolum, Exercitatio '»^. - ^^ xxvi, Herbornae Nassaviorum, 1712, p. 455. "Let anv sober J ^ I , man judge whether this one only mention of a thousand Z 338 TO GIVE ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS L. VII. I have, accordingly, endeavoured to ascertain from the other New Testament Scriptures, (as being at once unfigurative in their style and full in their statements,) whether that interpretation of this passage is admissible, which conducts us to a Pre-Millennial Advent and a Personal Reign. The answer has, we think, been in the negative. For we have found, that the doctrine of such an advent and such a reign is incompatible with what the Lord and his apostles plainly and abundantly teach concerning the kingdom of heaven, — the ingathering and glorification of the church, — the judgment of quick and dead, — and the future state of the blessed. Now it cannot indeed with justice be demanded, as the price of your adhesion to this negative conclusion, that I should set up another and a counter interpretation of the passage before us^. years in a hard prophecy, Eev. xx. under the expository circumstances now named, will warrant a man to preach a new gospel and kingdom of Christ to the world, without any proof from all the plain words of Christ himself and his apostles, and directly against them. He that well con- sidereth Prophetical language, will think that articles of faith should be founded on plainer words." Baxter, Glorious Kingdom, p. 40, 41. *> This is what Mr. Bonar demands in his Prophetical Landmarks, p. vii, xx, 69 — 71. But surely something was done when the systems of Ptolemy and Tycho Brahe were proved to be unsound, even though Galileo and Newton had not yet established the general truth of the Copernican theory of the universe. Nor would an astronomer have been justified L. VIl. OF THE MILLENNIAL QUESTION. 339 The question will, notwithstanding, recur to every thoughtful mind, " The Revelation of St. John is a divine book ; — I am encouraged to study it by the promise of a special blessing'', — and this chapter is a portion of it, — how am I to under- stand it ?" I shall not have done amiss to day, if I can satisfy such an enquirer that other solutions of this remarkable vision are possible than that which Pre- Millennarians would have him adopt. More than this I can scarcely hope to do. For these verses have exercised the ingenuity, and laid under contribution the learning of great and good men, more in number perhaps than have laboured upon any other single passage of God's word*^. And yet the problem remains undetermined still. Before we begin, let us not fail to call upon the Father of lights % — beseeching him for Jesus' sake to open the eyes of our understanding, so that, even if this mystery be not revealed to us, we may at least, by the illumination of his Holy Spirit, behold such other wondrous things in this part of his law*^, as may prove that it also is " pro- in adhering to either of the former, because, as yet, the latter had not been to his mind satisfactorily proved. c ch. i. 3 : xxii. 7. ^ Mr. Elliott gives, in the Appendix to the fourth volume of his Horas Apoealypticae, a very complete " Sketch of the History of Apocalyptic Interpretation." « James i. 17. ^ Psalm cxix, 18. z2 340 THE APOCALYPSE ABOUNDS IN SYMBOLS L. VII, fitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness^." It will serve at once to reduce the field of enquiry within the limits of a single discourse, and to prepare the way for the two alternative expositions I wish to submit to your notice, if, before entering upon the direct consideration of its twentieth chapter, I first lay down, as pos- tulates, certain fundamental principles with regard to the Apocalypse in general, upon which the majority of Protestant interpreters, whether Mil- lennarians or not, are (as I think, upon sufficient and satisfactory grounds) fully agreed. I assume then, in the first place, that, as to its subject and style, the Revelation is a book, in which events belonging to the Christian dis- pensation are set forth in symbols ^ many of s 2 Tim. iii. IG. ^ If the reader concede the fact, that the Apocalypse is generally symbolical in its character, he will understand me when I say, that the alleged facility with which a literal con- struction may be placed upon the earlier part of the chapter now before us, is no proof that such an interi:)retation is the right one. On the contrary, there is a prima facie presump- tion against it, on account of its very literality ; — for that literality is out of keeping with the generally figurative style of the book. It is however replied, that we give a literal construction to the closing verses of the very chapter in question, and thus desert our own fundamental princij)le. This however is not a correct representation of the case. We regard this part also of the chapter as symbolical. But in the course of our hermeneutical researches, we are led by L. VII. TAKEN FROM THE JEWISH (ECONOMY. 341 which are borrowed from the times of the Jewish ceconomy\ From this it follows, as a corollary, that, in dealing with those symbols, we must beware of such interpretations of them, as, being drawn from other than inspired sources, may have no better authority than accidental coincidence, prejudice, or fancy. A comparison of any given passage with other Scriptures may lead to a re- sult very different from that which may, from the the literal portions of the divine word to the conclusion, that this is one of the instances in which the thing signified is its own pymbol. See Lecture I. p. 11. Thus do we admit a literal construction, if our brethren will have it so, — not because it is literal, — not because it is, in itself (taken apart from all the rest of Scripture) possible, — but because, being thus possible, the rest of Scripture proves it to be also necessary. On the other hand, supposing a literal con- struction of the earlier part of the chapter to be as easy as Mede, (Epistle xx. Works, p. 943.) Greswell, (Parables, vol. i. p. 315, 310.) and others assume it to be, we reject it notwith- standing, because of its incompatibility with the analogy of Scripture in general ; and in doing so, we are, as I observed above, confirmed by the general character of the Apocalypse itself The reader who is at all disposed to question the symbolical nature of the Kevelation, will do well to consult Mr. Birks' Sacred Elements of Prophecy, chapter x. §. ii. pages 250 — 260, from which extracts are given in the Appendix, Note FF. ' See Mede, as quoted in note m on p. 84 of this work. See also ^ir^Isa^Ne^ytoia's Observations on the Apocalypse, chapter ii; Birks, Elements of Sacred Prophecy, p. 296; Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 220 — 222 ; Elliott, Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 200 ; Daubuz, Preliminary Discourse, p. 5—7. 342 IT TELLS THE PROPHETIC STORY L. VII. neglect of this principle, have preoccupied our minds'". I assume, in the second place, that as to its chronology, the Revelation ranges over a period of time neither wholly past nor wholly future ; but extending, if not from the ascension of Christ^, at least from the date of the book to the consum- mation of all things"". It is, in fact, the prophetic story of " the kingdom of heaven," — setting forth the sowing of the good seed, — the springing up of the tares, — the growing together of both until the harvest, — their final severance, and the shining forth of the righteous in the kingdom of their Father". '' " You, my younger friends, will be surprised with the light which the ancient Hebrew prophets reflect on the Apocalypse. Let them be your commentators. You will perceive hoAv St. John the Divine adopts their glowing imagery : how he takes up the prophecies of David, Joel, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah, and of other Hebrew seers, as if they were earlier chapters of his own Apocalypse : how he adds his prophecy as a sequel and continuation of theirs; or rather, to speak more correctly, how the same Divine Spirit, who spake by the prophets in the Old Testament, completes his own work by the Book of Revelation in the New." Words- worth, Christopher, D.D. Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse, London, 1849, p. 162—164. 1 See the opening of the First Six Seals, by the Kev. H. Moule, Vicar of Fordington, Dorset, 1853, p. 31, 32. " Thus Mede calls the Apocalypse the " Codex fatidicus consiliorum Dei, quo series et ordo rerum gerundarum ad secundum ilium et gloriosum Christi adventum pertexebatur." Works, b. iii, p. 545. " See Lecture IL p. 48—51. L. Vll. OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN : 343 From this it follows, as a corollary, that, while'' we may not, on the ground of Prseterism", positively affirm that the thousand years are certainly past, — so neither can we admit, on the ground of Futurism p, that they are unquestionably yet to come. I assume, in the third place, that, as to its method, the Revelation does not, in thus treating of the history of Christendom, observe an unbroken and continuous order. It is " not," says a learned writer of the present day, " a consecutive prophecy. Rather it is to be regarded as a synoptical system of coordinate prophecies." For it consists " of frequent anticipations, and frequent recapitulations. The inspired writer, borne as it were on the wings of the Spirit, hastens on to future events, which he will again describe more fully hereafter ; then, " For a full discussion and refutation of the various modi- fications of Prteterism, see Mr. Elliott's Appendix to the Fourth Volume of his Horse, Part ii. p. 529 — 557. P The reader who is anxious to arrive at the truth con- cerning the Futurist Scheme, — a scheme so much in favour with Romanizing divines, — will do well to consult Mr. Birk's masterly work on " the Elements of Sacred Prophecy," a hook of which it may well be said in words which the late Mr. Faber (Prophetical Dissertations, vol. i. p. xii, xiii.) applies to Mr. Birks' subsequent work on the Four Prophetic Empires of Daniel, that " it fixes the old protestant found- ations .... which some modern adventurers have attempted to shake, by a strength of almost mathematical demonstration, which few indeed have equalled, and which certainly none have excelled." See also Mr. Elliott's Appendix, as quoted above. 344 THOUGH NOT IN AN UNBROKEN L. VII. when he has arrived at the brink of the consum- mation of all things, he suddenly returns, either to the first age of Christianity, or to some inter- mediate point ; and then, beginning as it were from a fresh source, he travels down by a new stream : and this he does several successive times''." From this it follows, that, if notes of sequence be not found, we cannot positively conclude, from the fact that chapter twenty succeeds chapter nineteen in the order of the text, that therefore the events prefigured in the one shall succeed the events prefigured in the other. " If notes of sequence," I say, " be not found." For such notes do, in certain cases, determine for us the order of time. Thus, in the seventh chapter, the relative chronological position of the sealing vision is determined by the introductory words, " And ^ Wordsworth, Hulsean Lectures on the AiDOcalypse, p. 80. For further information upon this point, and a just estimate of the invaluable services of Joseph Mede in the matter, see Bishop Kurd's tenth Sermon in his Introduction to the Study of the Prophecies. Mede " constructed," says Mr. Marsh, (Essay V, p. y,) "his famous scheme of the Apocalypse hy a reference to the chronological marks in it alone without any aid j'rom history, judging it fit to lay down canons of interpretation, before history u:as consulted, lest points of resemblance should bias tJie judgment, and lead it to construe j)artial coincidences into actual fidjilments of jyrophccy. We may not perhaps acquiesce in the correctness of all his synchro- nisms. But it is impossible not to admire the cautiousness of his research, and the impartial fairness and honesty of his method of reasoninGr." L. VII. AND CONTINUOUS ORDER. 345 after these things I saw four angels, standing on the four corners of the earth'." Such notes again you will observe in both the eighteenth and nineteenth chapters. In the former we read, " And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven'," In the latter we find the words, " And after these things I heard a great voice of much people*." But the case is otherwise when we come to chapter twenty : there we have no such mark of chronoloarical sequence ; we simply read, " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand"." The question therefore of the chronological position f this chapter remains open. Chapter twenty may, or may not, chronologically follow chapter nineteen. It may be that it carries on the pro- phetic series which begins with chapter seventeen ; or it may be that in it we are invited to retrace our steps, and to contemplate, from another point of view, events which have already been prophetically told. Which of these alternatives we adopt will almost entirely depend upon the interpretation r V. I. "That the seahng of the 144000 succeeds upon the expiring of the sixth seal the transition shews, ^lera ravra eldov, after these things I saw: wliich I never find used but when X that which follows in the narration, follows also in order of time." Mede, Remains on some passages in the Apocalypse, Works, Book III, p. 724, 726. ' v. I. ' V. 1. " V. 1. 346 THE POST-MILLENNARIAN L. VII. we are led to give to the symbols of the twentieth chapter itself. To that chapter therefore we may now, without further delay, direct our attention. I may safely assume, that it exhibits symbolically two successive periods in the history of Christen- dom ; periods the latter of which is immediately followed by the final judgment and the eternal state. The first is represented as lasting for a thousand years, and is characterized by a binding of Satan, a reign of the martyrs with Christ, and a first resurrection''; — the second is said to endure but for a little season, and is marked by a loosing of Satan, a deceiving of the nations, and the attack of Gog and Magog upon the camp of the saints and the beloved city^. It is with the former of these two periods that we are to day principally concerned. What is meant by this binding of Satan, — this reign of the martyrs, — and this first resurrection ? My purpose is to set before you, with a concise summary of the arguments by which they are respectively maintained, two different anti-Pre- Millennarian views of the subject; — the one regarding the thousand years as yet to come, — the other treating them as already past. And First let me exhibit in outline that very generally received anti-Pre-Millennarian theory, which, regarding the thousand years as still future, has been commonly called " the spiritual view," " V. 1—6. >■ V. 7—9. L. VII. OR SPIRITUAL VIEW. 347 from the fact that it gives a spiritual significance to Satan's binding, the martyrs' resurrection, and the reign of the saints with Christ. Its advocates agree with Pre-Millennarians in the opinion, that the twentieth chapter of Reve- lation chronologically follows the nineteenths With them they affirm, that the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth chapters set forth the fall of Papal Rome, the mystic Babylon S That fall truly has not yet taken place. But it soon shall. The various lines of the prophetic periods, traced by Daniel and St. John, meet in a point of time not far distant**. When those periods have ex- pired, then shall the Lord consume that wicked one with the spirit of his mouth, and destroy him ^ Vitringa, Anacrisis Apocalypsios, hi cap. xx. 1 — 15, p. 836 — 844. Birks, Outlines, p. 103: Four Empires, p. 296, 297. ^ The reader who is anxious to arrive at a correct con- clusion on the question, " Is the Church of Eome the Babylon of the Book of Kevelation ?" will find himself well repaid by a reference to Kurd's Introduction, Sermons vii, viii, xi ; Davison on Prophecy, Discourse x; and Wordsworth's Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse, Lectures xi, xii ; or to a separate Essay by the same author, having the above question for its title, and published by Puvingtons, London, J 850. I refer to these authors more particularly, not only because of their well-established reputation for learning and ability, but also because they cannot be suspected of having what some might consider too strong a Protestant bias. ^ See an interesting diagram opposite p. 239. of Mr. Elliott's fourth Volume. 348 EXAMINATION OF THE SYMBOLS. L. VII. with the brightness of his coming, — as described in the nineteenth chapter, — and the church enter upon the glories of the Millennial age, as described in the twentieth chapter. But here Post-Millennarians, — for by that name I venture, for brevity's sake, to designate those writers whose views 1 am now propounding, — here, I say, Post-Millennarians diverge from their Pre-Millennarian brethren. For what is the nature of this coming? and in what do those glories consist ? Pre-Millennarians, as you have already learnt, affirm, that this coming of Christ will be personal, and that the glories of the Millennial age will consist, negatively in the complete cessation of all moral and physical evil, in consequence of the literal incarceration of Satan ; — positively in the abundant outpouring of every temporal and spiri- tual blessing upon earth and its inhabitants, in consequence of the visible and personal presence of Christ and his glorified saints among men. But Post-Millennarians contend, that they who thus interpret the Apocalyptic symbols, do not interpret them according to the strict analogy of the passages in which they have been previously used. And you will judge that herein they reason well, if with me you will carefully examine, in the light of Scripture itself, the several symbols em- ployed in the passage under debate. L. VII. THAT OF THE WARRIOR HORSEMAN 349 Take that symbol in the nineteenth chapter, which is supposed to describe the personal advent of the Lord*". The words run thus : " 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 with 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'^." The very reading, surely, of this passage is enough to convince you, that that interpretation which makes it describe a potential coming of the Lord by the triumphs of his Gospel is far more natural than that which makes it announce his personal advent^ And Scriptural precedent is decidedly in favour of such a conclusion. Listen to the words of the forty-fifth Psalm : " Thou art fairer c Begg, Connected View, p. 85 — 88, Birks, Bloomsbury Lectures, 1843, p. 201—203: Four Empires, p. 329, 330: Outlines, p. 81—94. d V. 11—15. ^ See Faber, Sacred Calendar, vol. iii. p. 424 — 466 : Pro- phetical Dissertations, vol. ii. p. 125 — 135. .Brown, Second Advent, p. 442 — 446. Gipps, First Kesurrection, Note D, p. 6, 7. 350 PREFIGURES A POTENTIAL ADVENT. L. VII. than the children of men : grace is poured into thy lips : therefore God hath blessed thee for ever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O most mighty, with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness ; and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp in the heart of the king's enemies ; whereby the people fall under theeV Listen once more to the words of the sixth chapter of the Revelation : " And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four living crea- tures saying. Come and see. And I saw, and behold a white horse : and he that sat on him had a bow ; and a crown was given unto him : and he went forth conquering, and to conquer^." In respect of both these passages, we have high Pre-Millennarian authority'' for discerning a po- tential, as distinguished from a personal coming of the Lord, — by those successes of his Gospel which marked the progress of his apostles. *' Thanks be unto God, which always causeth us f V. 2—5. g V. 1, 2. ^ Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i, de Sigillis, Works, p. 547. Daubuz, Perpetual Commentary, p. 229 — 236. Cu- ninghame, Dissertation on the Seals and Trumpets of the Apocalypse, London, 1832, p. 3 — 7. Jenour, Rationale Apo- calypticum, vol. ii. p. 218 — 222. See also that modest but valuable auti-Millennarian work by the Rev. H. Moule, " The Opening of the First Six Seals." Lecture III. L. VII. THE SYMBOL OF SATAN's BINDING 351 to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savom' of his knowledge by us in every place'." We are but consistent if we discover a similar advent, — a similar potential coming for the de- struction of antichrist, in the closing vision of the nineteenth chapter''. But we leave this, and come to the symbols of the twentieth chapter itself. Take the binding of Satan. The words are these ; " And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more'." These words are, as 1 have already intimated, taken by Pre-Millennarians to foretell the com- plete suspension of all Satanic agency upon earth during the thousand years". i 2 Cor. ii. 14. ^ Mr. Birks, Four Empires, p. 330. affirms, that if we exclude the personal advent from Kev. xix. we leave it un- predicted in the Apocalypse altogether. But surely this is not the case. Does not Rev. xx. 11 — 15. exhibit a distinct figuration of that advent ? a figuration moreover, which harmonizes better with other predictions of the same event, than the vision of the Warrior Horseman? See, for example, Matt. XXV. 31—46 : 2 Peter iii. 10—13. 1 Rev. XX. 1, 2, 3. ■" Greswell, Parables, i. p. 143, 230. Birks, Outlines, 352 BY NO MEANS NECESSARILY DENOTES L. VII. But Post-Millennarians very truly deny, that such an interpretation of the symbol is according to Scripture precedent. To prove that they are right, I might refer you to the words of our Lord, " I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven";" — and to the words of St. Peter, " God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment"." These surely, when viewed in con- nection with those other words of St. Peter, " Be p. 94 — 99. The latter author adduces Isaiah xxiv. 21, 22, and xxvii. 1 , as passages in which " the same fact is sub- stantially revealed, and which establish a conclusive har- mony of Scripture statement upon the subject of Satan's binding." With regard to Isaiah xxiv. 21, 22, he asserts that " the statement is specific, and the agreement with the words of the Apocalypse is punctual and complete"! Let, however, Dr. Henderson be heard. On Isaiah xxiv. 21, 22, he re- marks with reference to an exposition akin to that of Mr. Birks, that " the ivpoiTov i\revbos of all such interjjretatlo^i lies in taking the ifords Dll^n S2^ in a literal sense, ivhereas it is manifest from the connexion, they are to he understood figura- tively What Isaiah, therefore, here predicts, is the subversion for a season of the entire Jewish polity, or the removal to Babylon both of those who ministered in the temple, and of the royal state . . . "I'^S and ~I3P^ are parallel. The former is descriptive of the most ancient kind of prisons, which consisted of empty cisterns that narrowed towards the mouth, so that it was scarcely possible for those who were confined in them to make their escape without assistance." Dr. Henderson explains, ch. xxvii. 1 of " the complete de- struction of the Babylonians." " Luke X. 18. "2 Peter ii. 4. L. VII. A TOTAL CESSATION OF HIS AGENCY. 353 sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour p," — would prove, even if we had no other passages to adduce, that a fall, an incarceration of Satan, may be consistent with a restless activity of that evil one among men'^. But we need not to travel out of the Revelation : for we have in that book frequent reference to the energizing of Satan. A review of his Apo- calyptic history will prove, that his symbolic binding by no means implies his personal banish- ment from this world, or the total cessation of all his personal agency among men. Let me refer you in the first place to chapter nine. It is one to which I shall have occasion, more than once, to recur. At the first verse we read, " And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth : and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit. And he opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power." The special mission of these locusts is next declared, and their bodily appearance described. It is then added in the eleventh verse, " And they had p 1 Peter v. 8. i Similarly Matt. xii. 29. A a L. 354 THIS IS EVIDENT FROM A REVIEW L. VII. a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in the Hebrew tongue is Abaddon, but in the Greek tongue hath his name Apollyon." This vision, — by the almost unanimous consent of Apocalyptic interpreters, — prefigures the rise and spread of the Mahomedan imposture^ But does that emission of Apollyon from the abyss, which the coherency of the symbolic story seems to require, imply that, till he was so released, he was personally banished from earth, and, with him, all moral and physical evil ? Certainly not. Let me now direct your attention to another passage. In the seventh and following verses of chapter twelve we thus read : " And there was war in heaven : Michael and his angels fought against the dragon ; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not ; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels ' Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i. Works, p. 579 — 584, Daubuz, Perpetual Commentary, p. 298 — 322. Newton, Bishop, Dissertations, vol. iii. p. 96 — 126. Faber, Sacred Calendar, book iv. cliapter vii. Cuninghame, Seals and Trumpets, p. 102—109. Birks, Eev. T. E., The Mystery of Providence, or . . . Historical Exposition of Rev. viii. ix. London, 1848, chapter ix. p. 238—298. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticae, vol. i. p. 389 — 442. Gell, Rev. P., on the Revelation, London, J 854, vol. i. p. 124 — 152. I-. VII. OF HIS PAST APOCALYPTIC HISTORY. 355 were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ : for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." This vision is, by a very large class of expositors, taken to foretell that overthrow of Paganism, which followed upon the conversion of Constantine^ Until that era Satan had ruled in the political heaven. But the Gospel had been gradually winning its way, and now it has triumphed. Michael and his angels have prevailed against the Devil and his angels, neither is Satan's place found any more in heaven. The state has become Christian. But does this imply that Satan has ceased to be present as a tempter, or as the author of moral and physical evil ? — does it even imply that he has no longer any influence in matters of religion, in those high places of pohtical power which are symbolized by heaven * ? Assuredly not ! • Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars II, Works, p. 610 — 617 Vitringa, Anacrisis Apocalypsios, in Cap. xii. 7 — 12. p. 535 — 548. Daubuz, Perpetual Commentary, p. 378 — 381. Newton, vol. iii. p. 210 — 214. Cuninghame, Seals and Trumpets, chapter xi. p. 177 — 190. Elliott, Horje Apoca- lypticse, vol. iii. p. 5 — 28. * Mr. Birks, in his Outlines, p. 99 — 101, meets this argu- ment by what seems to be, in effect, a denial of the figurative character of the ejection of Satan from heaven. He takes it to pourtray the fulfilment of the Lord's words in Luke x. 18. A a 2 356 IT DENOTES THAT HE IS FORBIDDEN L. VII. And now to return to the twentieth chapter. We cannot, as Post-Millennarians very reasonably protest, with the recollection of these previous uses of analogous figures fresh in our minds", — He evidently believes the "heaven" to be literal, and the dejection of Satan therefrom to be his expulsion for ever from all such immediate access to the Divine presence, as he is represented as enjoying in the case of the patriarch Job ! "The binding of Satan," adds Mr. Birks, "is a second stage of the same overthrow." But can Mr. Birks go through with this exposition of Rev. xii. ? Was the par- turient woman also " in heaven ?" And is it true that the Devil and his angels " fought" " in heaven," against Michael and his angels? " " There is nothing in Sci'ipture," says Ai'chdeacon Garbett, " to justify the conclusion, that the binding of Satan means a complete suspension of his influence, or a removal of sin from the world at large. Mans heart has sin enough urithout the temptation of Satan. Nor will there ever be a time, till the final judgment removes both sin and death, when the people of God will be free from warfare in their own souls, or Satan cease from influencing with a fatal delusion multitudes of souls Avithin the visible Church At all events, if we explain it to mean merely a partial suspension of his influence in mundane affairs, the analogy of Scripture is in favour of such an interpretation. Thus even at present, Satan and his angels are described as being 'cast into hell' — 'delivered into chains of darkness, and reserved in everlasting chains unto the judgment of the great day.' '2 Peter ii. 4. and Jude 6. So the occasion of the disciples of Jesus casting out devils, drew from our Lord the declaration, ' I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.' And in this very book of the Revelation, which is more to the purpose, chap. xii. 7. ' And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels, and pi'evailed not; neither was their L. VII. TO GATHER A DOMINANT PARTY 357 admit that the Millennial binding of Satan must mean his personal banishment from earth, and the total suspension of his personal agency among men. The utmost, they say, that we can concede is this, — that he may, for the period denoted by the thousand years, be withheld from attaining a dominant influence among the nations of the earth. Popery and infidelity have been his alhes, — by their means he has deceived the nations, place found any more in heaven. ... He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.' Now here is strength of expression at least equal to that ivhich we are now considering ; and yet the best commentators consider it to have been fulfilled ivhen idolatry, as the religion of the Roman empire, was overthrown by Constantine and his immediate successors. If a pei'son unacquainted with the genius of the prophetical Scriptures were to interpret this passage with reference solely to the force of the expression, as it stands by itself, he would certainly infer, that less could not be intended than the total suppression of idolatry, and subjugation of the Satanic influence. Yet, in reality, the fulfilment only ex- tended to the Koman empire, and left the greater part of mankind, as now, sunk in gross idolatry. And even in the Roman empire itself, idolatry, though no longer the religion of the state, can hardly be considered to have been effectually suppressed ; and soon sprang up, after its temporary defeat, with fresh vigour under the papal rule. No doubt every thing in these and other prophecies is not partially but completely fulfilled according to the Divine intention; and there are many spiritual relations and connections in them all which we cannot discern or estimate; but there is enough in what I have here mentioned to suggest great caution in the specific fulfilment on which ardent minds insist, admitting no degrees, or any thing short of what they judge the very mind of the Spirit.'' Bampton Lectures, vol. ii. 364, 365, note. 358 AMONG THE CHILDREN OF MEN. L. VII. — but (on the present hypothesis,) they exist no more, and for a thousand years the evil one is not permitted to gather another host. And such is, accordingly, the explanation they give of Satan's binding : an explanation which, in their judg- ment, harmonizes well with his foregoing symbolic history. But Post-Millennarians invite us further to consider the symbol of the First Resurrection. We read at the fourth verse these words ; " And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judg- ment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years This is the first resurrection." We shall have occasion by and by to ask you whether the original Greek warrants that variation of tense which the English exhibits, when it renders the Greek aorist in one part of the verse by the English pluperfect ; in another part by the English imperfect. But I leave the former part of the verse for the present, and take only the words, " This is the first resurrection." Pre-Millennarians, as you are well aware, take these words to signify, that they who so live and reign with Christ for the thousand years, are the L. VII. THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 359 saints who shall have been raised from the dead at his appearing. Now, without pausing to enquire by what au- thority that which is certainly spoken of the martyrs only% is extended to all the people of God alike, it may well be asked, whether a sym- bolic Resurrection necessarily implies the resur- rection of the persons, — whether it does not rather designate the revival of the principles of which those persons were once the representatives ? " As confessed by Mede, Remains, Works, p. 750. The remarks of Mr. Gipps upon this point are valuable : — " Not only would the description here given exclude all the living saints, but it would exclude the far greater part of the saints who have died. For only those who have been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and who worshipped not the beast and his image, dc. are described as reigning with Christ. This limitation, therefore, would exclude all the saints who lived during the four thousand years which preceded Christ's first coming; and all that vast multitude of men who lived during the first ages of Christianity, previous to the establishment of Popery, except such of these three classes as actually suffered martyrdom. When, there- fore, I consider the infinite importance to all the saints, of the event here described, if it were really intended to in- clude them all, and when I find that the Holy Ghost, instead of giving a description of those that reign, which will include all the saints, has given one, the obvious meaning of which excludes the greater part of them ; I feel convinced that he cannot intend to signify all the saints reigning with Christ after his second coming, by the reigning with him here described, but some entirely different event; and conse- quently, that the first resurrection cannot be the resurrection of the saints in their glorified bodies." First Resurrection, p. 15, 16. 360 RESURRECTION OF THE WITNESSES. L. VII. Look at chapter eleven. There we read of a Resurrection. " I will give power unto my two witnesses, and tliey shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. . . . And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them. And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. . . . And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet ; and great fear fell upon them which saw them-^." What does this symbol mean ? There are few, even among Pre-Millennarians, who would hesitate to say, that it signifies that the principles, whatever they may be, — for this is immaterial, — represented by the sackcloth witnesses, and which seemed to have been entirely vanquished, finally obtained a great and signal triumphs But does this imply the corporeal resurrection, at the day of that y V. 3, 7—11. ^ Mecle, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars ii, Works, p. 601, 604. Vitringa, Anacrisis Apocalypsios, in Cap. xi. 10. p. 481. Daubuz, Perpetual Commentary, p. 365. Newton, vol. iii. p. 140. Faber, Sacred Calendar, vol. iii. p. 86 — 88. Wode- liouse, on the Apocalypse, London, 1805, p. 299, 300. Cu- ningliame, Seals and Trumpets, p. 137 — 145. Elliott, Horfe Apocalypticse, vol. ii. p. 442. L. VII. RESURRECTION OF THE DRY BONES. 361 triumph, of all the martyrs and confessors by whom those principles were maintained ? Sm'ely not. So, once more, to quit what, after all, is de- bateable ground, we read in the thirty-seventh of Ezekiel of a Resurrection. The prophet is, as you will remember, " set down" — in vision — " in the midst of the valley which was full of bones." He then proceeds, " Behold, there were very many in the open valley ; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me. Son of man, can these bones live ? And I answered, O Lord God, thou knowest. Again he said unto me. Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, 0 ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army""." Thus far the vision : — now for its inspired explication. The prophet thus continues his discourse : " Then he said unto me. Son of man, these bones are the wh^le house of Israel : behold, they say. Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost : we are cut off' for our parts. Therefore prophesy and say unto them. Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves And ye shall know that I am the Lord, when I . . . . shall put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall a V. 2— ]0. 362 THE martyrs' principles L. VII. place you in your own land : then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord\" Surely these words are as strong as the imagery is vivid upon which they are a commentary. And what did they signify ? They signified that the Israelitish people which V had long lain politically and ecclesiastically dead, should be,- by the mighty hand of their God, recovered from that state, and become once more a flourishing church and nation". But does the symbol require for its accomplishment the per- sonal resurrection of all the deceased members of the house of Israel ? Surely not. In like manner, in this twentieth chapter of the Revelation, the Resurrection of the martyrs is taken by Post-Millennarians to signify the triumphant establishment, in the persons of their successors'^, " V. 11—14. *= See Lowth and Gill on the chapter. •* Both Rev. V. iO. and Rev. vi. 9 — 11. are said to require another interpretation of the verses before us, namely, that personal reign of Christ and his risen saints which Pre- Millennai'ians anticipate. Of the former passage, quoted by Begg, p. 116. I have already had occasion to affirm, that it expresses the anticipations of the ultimate and signal tri- umph of the Gospel entertained by the then militant Church on earth. See note b on page 03. That anticipation received its accomplishment when, on the overthrow of Paganism, that cry went forth which is recorded in ch. xii. 10. Similarly with regard to Rev. vi. 9 — 11. quoted by Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 108, 109. The burden of the passage is this — (for we may not lay much stress upon the supplicatory form which the vision assumes, as though a real prayer were offered after the L. VII. REVIVED IN THEIR SUCCESSORS. 363 ^f the principles for which tliey once testified even unto death ^ I will not detain you by rehearsing the argu- ment in favour of this interpretation, which has been drawn from the use of the word " souls" — " I saw the souls," — not the bodies, — " of them that fashion of such prayers as we find in the Psalms) — there should be a fierce and sanguinary persecution of the Christians during the time of the fifth seal, — that that persecution should be terminated by a temporary and judicial deliverance of the oppressed ones, — but that upon that deliveiance would supervene another terrible persecution. When the destined number of the suff'erers was thus completed, then should the Christian cause be avenged upon the tyrant power of Pagan Eome. How punctually all this came to pass in the per- secution of Valerian, the tolerating edict of Gallienus, and the persecution of Diocletian and Galerius, all which imme- diately preceded the era of Constantino, the reader can see by referring to Mr. Gell's Commentary, vol. i. p. 41 — 53. Mede takes a similar view of the passage, see his Comment. Apocalypt. Part i. De Sigillo v. Works, p. 553, 554. Be this however as it may, there is nothing in it to render a personal reign of the martyi's imperatively necessary. The signal triumph of their cause over its cruel oppressors will satisfy all its requirements. The case is not dissimilar to that pre- sented by the destruction of Jerusalem. Then, as the Lord himself instructs us, did there come upon that generation " all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Bara- chias, whom they slew between the temple and the altar." Matt, xxiii. 35, 36. The vengeance indeed was complete, and yet were not any of these righteous men raised again to see it with their eyes. « Such a triumph as, in the judgment of many, is predicted in Daniel vii. 18, '27 : see note s on page 74. 1 364 THE LIVING AGAIN L. VII. were beheaded V' Nor will I dwell upon the alleged significancy of the word " first ;" — " this is the first Resurrection ;" — as though that idiomatic epithet were meant to shew that it is not a Resur- rection properly so called which is signified, — but rather an event so striking, as to suggest the idea of that great Resurrection which is yet to come^. I will rather ask you to observe, that this explanation of the symbols in which the longer, the Millennial, period is described, introduces us to such an interpretation of the symbols in which the shorter or Post-Millennial period is depicted, as few will be disposed to question. Satan will then be loosed. And what does this mean ? It means, that once more he will be per- mitted to gather a party, and to make head for a last, a desperate, struggle with Christ and his Church. There will also, it is plainly seen from the f Whitby, True Millennium, chapter iii, §. i. p. ItJ. Words- worth, Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse, Lecture ii. p. 54. For myself I am inclined to think, that as we cannot concede to Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 108, that " the mention of the souls is a proof that it is a real resui-rection," so neither can we affirm that it is a proof to the contrary. The '• souls" seem N^ to me simply to signify " p.ersons ;" — whether •' in the body," or " out of the body," must be determined by other considei'- ations. s Marsh, Essays on some of the Prophecies in Holy Scrip- ture, which remain to be fulfilled ; Essay the First, on the First Resurrection, p. 15 — 18. and Defence of the same, p. 18, 19. L. VII. OF THE REST OF THE DEAD 365 passage, be a resurrection at the end of the Mil- lennial period. " At the end," I say, " of the Millennial period," — for they do not well, who (understanding it of the resurrection of the wicked) postpone it till that little season is over which succeeds the thousand years\ The words are '^ Pre-Millennarians, as is well known, take this resur- rection to be that which results in " the dead, small and great," standing "before God." But is it so? "It seems to me," says Mr. G^n^, " to be clearly implied, that the resur- rection of the rest of the dead signified in ver. 5. will take place after the ending of the thousand years; at the same time that Satan is loosed from his prison, ver. 7. But the dead, small and great, stand before God, not after the ending of the thou- sand years, but of the intervening period described vers. 7 to ]0. Consequently, this cannot be the same as the living again of the rest of the dead, described in v. 5, but must be separated from it by this intervening period. I would call the reader's particular attention to this point. The Holy Ghost appears to me to have defined the periods in this pro- phecy in a peculiar manner. He has noticed the ending of the thousand years in three verses, 3, 5, 7. (the same Greek word ended being in each) ; and has given us a minute de- scription of the sepai'ate and independent period which follows the thousand years, vers. 7 to 10 ; and has expressly called this period a season, though but a small (^iiiKpov) one, ver. 3. Hence as the dead do not stand before God until after, not only the thousand years, but also the period, ver. 7 to 10. are ended, I cannot but conceive, that if ver. 5, had been intended to describe the same event as ver. 12, the de- scription of the time in each verse would have, agreed. And, therefoi'e, as the little season is expressly noticed both before and after the 5th verse, which foretels the living of the rest of the dead, I conceive the 5th verse would have been. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years and the 366 HOMOGENEOUSLY INTERPRETED. L. VII. these ; — " But the rest of the dead lived not again', until the thousand years were finished." And what does this mean ? Surely it predicts, on the principle of a strictly homogeneous inter- pretation'', the resuscitation of those dormant, little season were ended. Instead, however, of this, not the least notice is taken in ver. 5. of this little season; and the mode of expression which is adopted evidently implies, that the rest of the dead here signified will live again as soon as the thousand years end, and either immediately before, or at the commencement of, the period described, vers 7 to 10. This evident non-agreement of time in verses 5 and 12, convinces me that the events also do not agree ; and that the.rest of the dead living again, ver. 5, is not the same as the dead standing before God in ver. 12." First Resurrection, p. 19, 20. ■ The word " again" is pointed out by Begg, Connected View, p. 92, as conclusively proving that a corporeal resur- rection is predicted in Rev. xx. 4. His argument is this; as it is " a living again" that is foretold in v. 5, so it must necessarily be " a living again" that is foretold in v. 4 : now the " souls "of the martyrs having never been dead, cannot live again; their bodies therefore must be signified. The progress of this lecture will demonstrate the fact, that we may retain the word ai/e^Tjo-ai/, and yet not be compelled to accept Mr. Begg's conclusion. For the present I may remark, that Griesbach, Scholz, Wordsworth, and Tregelles, all read fCrjcrav instead of dve^Tja-av, and accordingly translate " the rest of the dead lived not." This harmonizes well with the view taken below. ^ Mede (De Resurrectione Prima, Works, p. 711 : Epistle XX. to Dr. Meddus, Works, p. 943,) Newton, (Diss, xxv, vol. iii. p. 33 1—333,) and Greswell, (Parables, vol. i. p. 326—328,) all assume, that the " living again of the rest of the dead" is the resurrection of the unrighteous dead at the last day. From this they argue back to the first resurrection, and maintain, that, on the principle of homogeneity, it also must L. VII. THE REBELLION OF GOG AND MAGOG. 367 tlicjse deftmct, parties ajjd powers of, e^dl which were in full activity before the Millennial age began. And what shall the consequence of that revival be ? The consequence shall be that grand, — that desperate, — that final, — attempt of Satan to over- whelm the people and the cause of Christ, which shall be signally defeated by the sudden, the personal appearance of the Judge himself of quick be a resurrection of the body. Mr. Faber, however, having come to the same conclusion as Mr. Gipps in the preceding note, turns the tables upon them in the following words : " The resurrection of the rest of the dead, occurring as it does only at the end of the thousand years, and long before the final consummation of all things, cannot be the literal resur- rection of the dead, both small and great, both from the sea and from hades, which the prophet, as might naturally be expected, determinately fixes to the unknown and undefined epoch of the literal day of universal judgment. But, if it cannot be the literal resurrection at the literal day of universal judgment ; it must be a figurative resurrection before the literal day of universal judgment. Otherwise, what is a palpable contradiction, we shall make two general and literal resurrections : the one general resurrection at the end of the thousand years ; the other general resurrection, at some undefined epoch subsequent to the destruction of Gog and Magog. The resurrection, then, of the rest of the dead, at the end of the thousand years, has been shewn by the very necessity of its collocation, to he figurative. But homogeneity requires, that the two resurrections, the one at the end and the other at the beginning of the thousand years, should he similarly understood and interpreted. Therefore the resurrection of the martyrs at the beginning of the thousand years must be a purely figurative resurrection also." Sacred Calendar, book vi. chap. ix. vol. iii. p. 470, 471. 368 OBJECTIONS TO THE SPIRITUAL VIEW. L. VII. and dead. What shall be the exact nature of that conflict, we cannot tell. We can but look with awe upon the symbols in which it is prefigured. These are the words : " And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle : the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city : and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them 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." I have now exhibited in outline that explanation which Post-Millennarians, or, in other words, such Millennarians as look for a spiritual reign, are wont to give of this interesting chapter. It is one which does not, so far as I can perceive, involve its advocates in any of those palpable con- tradictions to the plain statements of God's word upon points of fundamental importance, in which we have found Pre-Millennarians to be entangled^ There are, however, arguments of greater or less cogency which can very reasonably be urged 1 For a very powerful exhibition of this view of the thousand years, see Dr. Brown's work on the Second Advent, part ii: see also Faber, Sacred Calendar, book vi. chapter ix. L. VII. THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM 369 against our acceptance even of this interpretation of the chapter before us. I can but rehearse them, with such very brief observations as may serve iflLiead you on to that pther sokLtion of the Millennial question, which I have y;et to submit to your notice. It is answered then, in the first place, that the language in which Old Testament prophecy pour- trays the glory of Messiah's kingdom, requires for its fulfilment nothing less than his personal presence among men during the Millennial age. This assertion I pass by for the present, hoping to be able to satisfy you concerning it in my con- cluding lecture. It is objected, secondly, that that memorable prophecy which our Lord delivered on the Mount of Olives, — giving, as it is affirmed, a sketch of all the events which should happen from the de- struction of Jerusalem to the commencement of the Millennium °, — winds up with such a de- scription of the coming of the Son of man, as cannot be understood of any thing but his personal advent". That advent must therefore, it is argued, be Pre-Millennial. Much might be said to shew the inconclusiveness of this reasoning, even on the hypothesis that the chronological range of the prophecy is rightly " Birks, Elements of Sacred Prophecy, chapter ix. ° Begg, Connected View, p. 58 — 67. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 63, 64 : 113—115. Birks, Outlines, p. 67. Bb 370 IS THE TRUE BURDEN L. VII. stated P. But it is enough to reply, that we are ' forbidden to extend any part of the prophecy beyond the aera of the destruction of Jerusalem, , by those doubly emphatic words of the Lord , Jesus which each evangelist is so careful to record ; " Verily I say mito you. This generation ) shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away V I know well what efforts have been made, and those not by Pre-Millennarians only, to prove that it is by no means necessary to understand the words just cited, as confining the events foretold within the limits of the then existing generation'. It does not however appear to me, that these efforts have been very successful. The fact remains, that the only unconstrained interpretation which can be assigned to the words in question, is that which I have indicated above. And if so, then must we understand the darkening of the sun, the with- drawing of the light of the moon, the falling of the stars, the appearing of the sign of the Son of man in heaven, his coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and all asso- ciated details ^ as so many symbols of that fearful p See, for example, Faber, Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, book ii. chapter i. 1 Matt. xxiv. 34, 35 : Mark xiii. 30, 31 : Luke xxi. 32, 33. ' See Appendix, Note GG. » Matt. xxiv. 29, 30, 31. L. VII. OF THE MEMORABLE PROPHECY 371 judgment which marked the close of the Mosaic economy. Nor is there wanting Scriptural precedent for such an exposition of the passage. Need I re- mind you of that awful word in the second of Joel, which pourtrays the very same events, under the name of the "^ great and terrible day of the Lord"? After predicting the Pentecostal effusion, the divine message thus proceeds, " I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come*." Or need I remind you of that still more awful vision, which, as we are taught by Pre- Millennarians of high repute % symbolizes the overthrow of Paganism ? " And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven de- parted as a scroll when it is rolled together ; and t Joelii. 30, 31. " Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i. De Sigillis, de Sigillo vi. Works, p. 554 — 559. Daubuz, Perpetual Com- mentary, p. 251 — 259. Newton, Bishop, Dissertation xxiv. vol. iii. p. 68 — 74. Elliott, Horse Apocalypticse, vol. i. p. 221—236. Bb2 372 ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES. L. VII. every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond- man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is come ; and who shall be able to stand ^?" With these precedents before us, and with the plain words of our Lord inserted, as it would appear, for the purpose of pointing out to us the duty of following them as our guides, we are constrained to adhere to the opinion, that what- ever may ]^ tljp se(^ondary application of the prophecy % it refers in its primary intention to the judgment so soon coming upon the Jewish church and nation ^ Hence no argument with re- gard to the yet future coming of the Lord can be lawfully built upon it^ " Rev. vi. 12—17. y See Warburtoii, Divine Legation, book vi. section vi. vol. iii. p. 208 — 211. ^ See Newton, Dissertation xviii. vol. ii. p. 290 — 358. Hurd, Introduction, vol. i. p. 163 — 172. Marsh, Essays, Essay the Fifth. Brown, Second Advent, p. 434 — 442. * Luke xviii. 8. " Nevertheless when the Son of man Cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" These words have been oft-times quoted, (e. g. Bonar, Prophetical Land- L. VII. THE PROPHECY OF THE MAN OF SIN 373 It is however alleged, thirdly, that the language in which the destruction of the man of sin is in one place foretold, — a destruction which, on either hypothesis, must take place before the Millennium begins, — requires nothing short of a personal advent of the Saviour for that purpose \ The passage (which is found in the second chapter of marks, p. 65.) as proving the necessity of a Pre-Millennial advent. But why so ? Will they not, on the hypothesis of a future Millennium, be equally true, if the coming of the Son of man be Post-Millennial? For let it be remembered that he will come, not immediately at the close of the thousand years, when faith might perhaps abound among men, but after the little season, and when the hosts of evil shall have already compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. Surely then, once more, faith will be but rare on the earth, and then, and not till then, shall the Son of man " come." Similar observations might be made with reference to 2 Peter iii. 3, 1 John ii. 18, quoted by Bonar, Landmarks, p. 132, 138. If the question be asked. Why does the Holy Spirit give but one hint of the bi-eak that the Millennium will certainly interpose in the even continuity of evil? The answer is, that the Millennium will in no essential point differ from the state of things that now is; the only difference will be one of degree. It would therefore very probably be omitted, as it is, where the only object proposed by the Holy Ghost is to exhibit the distinguishing features of the Gospel oeconomy : while it would be men- tioned, as it is, where his purpose is " to hold forth prophe- tically the fortunes of the Church upon earth, and shew it passing into the perfect and eternal state," Brown on the Second Advent, p. 453. *> Begg, Connected View, p. 78 — 81. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 120 — 132. Elliott, Horae Apocalypticse, vol. iv. p. 176—179. Birks, Outlines, p. 70. 374 DOES NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRE L. VII. the second of Thessalonians) is this : " The mys- tery of iniquity doth ah'eady work : only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming"." Here it is plainly declared, that the Lord will destroy that wicked one, which is unque,stionably the Papal antichrist*^, " with the brightness of his coming." Now it is equally plain, that the only " coming" of our Lord Jesus Christ which has yet been mentioned in the chapter is a personal coming. " Now we beseech you, brethren," says the apostle in the first and following verses, " by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means : for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition." It is therefore argued, that seeing that a personal coming is *' the" coming, the " only" coming, which « V. 7, 8. • d See a Sermon preached at Westminster Abbey, by the Eev. Canon Wordsworth, " On St. Paul's Prophecy con- cermng the Man of Sin," appended to the second edition of his Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse : or published separately. L. VII. A PERSONAL ADVENT OF THE LORD 375 has hitherto been spoken of, — it is most unhkely that the Apostle (using as he does identically the same word Trapovaia^ can mean any other than that same personal coming, when (still treating of the same general subject, and continuing almost up to the last moment to speak of the same personal advent,) he uses the word again. And the case, it is further urged, is stronger even than this ; for the expression, " the brightness of his coming," — ttj e7n(j)aveLa ttjs Trapovcrlas avrov % — is emphatic. Now, with regard to this repetition of the word TrapovcTLa, it might well be replied, that^ according to the usage of Scripture, it is by no means necessary, that when the same word^, occurs more than once in the same context, it/ should be used uniformly in the same sense* Many are the instances of the contrary practice which the sacred books present. But we need not go far to find one, — for the very context under consideration presents an example, and that too in respect of the very word which has given rise to this discussion. If Trapovala is used seven verses back of a personal coming of Christ, it is used in the very next verse of a potential coming of antichrist. Notice the words : " And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord .... shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, « Begg, Connected View, p. 81. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 126, 127. 376 FOR THE DESTRUCTION OF ANTICHRIST. L. VII. irapovaias: — even him, whose coming — irapovaLa — is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders'." It appears then that — so far as the mere word- ing of the passage is concerned — the coming of the Lord here predicted as the efficient cause of the destruction of antichrist, may he not personal but potential, by his word, by his Spirit, and by the judgments of his providence. Nor can it be said that the apostolic argument absolutely forbids an interpretation, which is, in itself, so agreeable to Scriptural precedent^. But I will not detain you longer upon this passage. For I must confess that, taken in con- junction with that patuble of the tares apd the wheat to which I have in the course of these lectures so often referred, it does appear to me to render it probable that Popery, among other delusions, shall survive to the coming of the Lord^. The whcEit and the tares grow together f V. 9. K See Brown on the Second Advent, p. 426 — 4^3. Faber, Many Mansions, p. 188—196. ^ The question is worthy of consideration, whether there may not be two stages in the downfal of Popery indicated, — in Daniel vii. 26, by the terms "consume" and "destroy it unto the end," — in 2 Thess. ii. 8, by the terms " consume with the spirit of his mouth" and "destroy with the bright- ness of his coming"? Popery may waste away under the preaching of Jesus' word, so as to make way for that wide extension of Gospel peace which so many anticipate, even while as a system it may be reserved for utter destruction until L. VII. MAY NOT THE CHAPTER BEFORE US 377 until the harvest ; then, and not till then, shall all things that offend be gathered out of the kingdom'. But must vv^e therefore, after all, fall back upon the Pre-Millennarian doctrine of a divided resur- rection and a personal reign ? By no means. For it is possible — and this is that Second view of this twentieth chapter of the Revelation, which I desired to submit to your consideration — that tjie thousand years may be even now in progress, if not entirely past. I well know that the mere mention of such an idea is enough, with some minds, to forfeit all further forbearance. With them the word " Mil- lennium" is a convertible term for such general, such unmixed, such long continued terrestrial blessedness, as the world has certainly never yet beheld. Nor is it easy for them to pause for one single moment, and enquire whether they have the day of the Lord's final appearing. And this double process may be indicated in the vision of the warrior horseman in Eev. xix; the "consuming" by v. 11 — 16, the "utter destruction" by v. 17 — '21. Nor let any one think it an insuperable difficulty in the way of receiving this view, that thus Eev. xix, will not be followed chronologically by Rev. XX. but will rather run parallel to it even down to the end of all things. For this, as we have already observed, is quite Apocalyptically possible. For more upon this subject, see Gipps, First Eesurrection, p. i45 — 147. ' Matt. xiii. 40, 41. The reader will find these points concisely and clearly stated in chapters iv. and v. of Mr. Gipps' First Resurrection. 378 CONTAIN AN ENTIRELY NEW VISION L. VII. sufficient grounds for such an assumption''. But you will not, I trust, be quite so impetuous ; you will, at least, patiently hear and candidly weigh whatever may now be adduced in favour of what I am disposed to consider the true character of the thousand years, and the little season. With regard to the chronological position of the chapter before us, I am, as I have just intimated, inclined to think, that it does not, in respect of the events which it prefigures, follow chapter nine- teen'. I take it to contain a new vision, in which ^ The following sentences from Mede may not be inap- propriate here. " Non est ex veto nostro interpretatio diri- genda." Comment. Apocalypt. Works, p. 600. " Tu rem, Lector, omni semoto prasjudicio, in Dei timore expendas, mihique, sicuti erravero ex charitatis judicio ignoscas." p. 601. Will the reader pardon me for adding a third extract? "A truth not yet admitted must be urged very warily and ten- derly, for fear of incurring such a dangerous prejudice by an over potent opposition. For the sons of men are untoward creatures, that talk much of reason, but commonly steer by another compass, as of passion, faction, or afi'ection." Epistle xli. p. 975. 1 I may safely affirm, that the question of the relative posi- tion of chapters xix, xx, mainly hinges upon the true signi- ficance of one single symbol ; the symbol, namely, of Satan's binding. Take for one illustration of the truth of this asser- tion, that Fourth Synchronism of Mede in the second part of his Clavis Apocalyptica, in which he attempts to prove, that the thousand years of Satan's binding must folloAv the de- struction of the beast : Works, p. 531 — 533; also Epistle xcv. p. 1080. For another illustration of the same statement, read Vitringa's proof that Kev. xx. succeeds chronologically to Kev. xix. in his " Anacrisis Apocalypsios," p. 836 — 844. See for more upon the subject, Appendix, Note HH. L. VII. RETROGRESSIVE IN ITS CHARACTER ? 37^ the history of the Dragon, (broken off at the end of the second verse of the thirteenth chapter,) is resumed for the purpose of accounting for several phaenomena which the Apocalyptic history has, since that interpretation, brought before us. What those phaenomena are, you will, in perus- ing the book, readily discern, if I am able to ex- hibit the full meaning of the symbols which our chapter contains. I do not stop to enquire, whether the abyss, — rendered in our authorized version "the bottom- less pit,"— may not be distinct from the lake of fire, and be in truth a symbol for the peoples and nations of the earth™. Nor do I pause to consider, whether the thou- sand years are to be taken literally, or as merely signifying a long period of time". ° The following extract from Daubnz is interesting. "Abyss in several places signifies the deep, or great sea, in opposition to little watei-s or seas. Thus in Tsaiah xliv. 27, what in the LXX i^ibyss, is in the Hebrew, deep, that is, 'the great sea;' meaning Babylon, as the Targum turns it. And in a like place for sense, Isaiah xix. 5, both the Hebrew and the LXX have sea, which shews that the deep signifies the great sea In this sense the abyss symbolically signifies a hidden 7nultitude of con/used men." Symbolical Dictionary prefixed to his Perpetual Commentary, p. 142. ° Dr. Wordsworth calls attention to the fact, that " the word thousand is used more than twenty times in the Apo- calypse." He adds, " Not once, as I believe, is it used literally. It is employed as a perfect number." See his Hulsean Lec- tures on the Apocalypse, Lecture ii. p. 67 — 72. Without 380 WHAT IS MEANT BY SATAN's L. VII. / I turn at once to the binding and the loosing of Satan. I have already had occasion to remark, that, judging by the analogy of former passages, the binding of Satan by no means implies his personal banishment from the theatre of this world, and the cessation of his personal influence among men. It implies merely his being withheld from the special trade of deceiving the nations, just as his being loosed implies his being permitted to resume it. I would now go one step further, and suggest, that (as I gather from a careful com- parison of all the passages in which the verb ^ irXavaco and its derivatives are used in the New Testament Scriptures",) the " deceiving" of the nations may signify the invention and propagation among them of rehgious imposture p. adopting this learned writer's opinion — derived as he reminds us from Augustine, C. D. liber xx. cap. ix. — that the thousand years begin with the incarnation, and extend nearly to the end of time, — we may be reminded by his remarks of the fact, that " the thousand years" may be a moi-e indefinite period than some have imagined. See Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i. Woi'ks, p. 588 : Remains on some passages in the Apocalypse, Enquiry vi. Works, p. 741. ° See Appendix, Note II. p " The text... seems to confine the suspension of his power to deceive, to some grand delusion, probably, like Mahom- medanism, upon the nations — the people without the pale of the Christian Church." Garbett, Bampton I^ectures, vol. ii. p. 264. Similarly Gipps, First Resurrection, p. 155. Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i. ad cap. ix. Works, p. 581, has a L. VII. DECEIVING OF THE NATIONS ? 381 In this case I should think, that when Satan is said to be restrained from deceiving the nations any more for a thousand years, it is meant that he is for that period forbidden to invent and propagate any new rehgious imposture among nominal Christians. On the other hand, when he is said to be loosed, it is meant that now he is permitted to return to that device again, and again to palm religious im- postures upon Christendom. I speak of " nominal Christians" and " Christen- dom"— for the Greek words for the nations are TO. eOvTj, which might well be rendered here, as they are rendered in the eleventh chapter, " the Gentiles'"". Now if the name " Jews" be, as I think it certainly is, the Apocalyptic denomination striking enumeration of the " nations" deceived by the Ma- hommedan imposture. ^ Rev. xi. 2. " The court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not : for it is given unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months." On this Mede remaiiis, " The second or 07Uer court represents the state of Apostasie under the man of sin, when the visible Church being possessed by idolaters, became in the public worship so inconformable and unapt for divine measure, that it was to be cast out, and accounted not as Christian and sacred, but prophane and polluted." Remains on the Apocalypse, Works, p. 7.30. Thus again, " I make the apostasy of the visible Church to consist not in Judaism but in Gentilism; the constant character of the Apocalyptical allegories warranting and first suggesting this conceit, where namely I observed Judaism, to bear the type of the true Church, and Gentilism of the false." Answer to Dr. Twisse's Eighth Letter-, Works, p. 1017. Similarly at p. 1113, 1126. 382 AND WHO ARE THE NATIONS DECEIVED? L. VII. for true Christians, — the name Gentiles will be the appropriate term for such as are Christians only in profession. Thus the thousand years would be marked, — not by the absence of all moral and physical evil, nay, not even by the banishment of all error in rehgious belief, — but by the uniform prevalence in Christendom of the same fundamental errors as existed at the beginning, without the promul- gation or establishment of any new and grand imposture. The little season, on the other hand, would be marked by the appearance and extensive propagation of new and great and various religious deceits. Nor let it be said, that the doctrine thus drawn from the word 7rXai>dco, is out of keeping with the symbols of closing and opening the abyss. For in very truth it strictly harmonizes with that inter- pretation which history has (by the almost unani- mous consent of interpreters,) given of one of those symbols as used in the ninth chapter. There, as we have already seen, we have the abyss opened, and Satan issuing forth. For what purpose ? For the purpose of promulgating the delusions of Islam. " This plague," says Sir Isaac Newton, " began with the opening of the bottomless pit, which denotes the letting out of a false religion'." ' Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel and the Apocalypse of St. John, London, 1733, chap. 3, p. 304. L. VII. RISING AND REIGNING WITH CHRIST 383 Nor let it be said that this doctrine is irrecon- cileable with the reign of the martyrs and the first resurrection. For may it not be that the attention of writers has been directed too exclu- sively to that reigning and that resurrection ? The Millennial saints do indeed reign with Christ, — for kings and priests they are unto God and his Father", — they sit in him in heavenly places*. But there are other marks given, by ' Kev. i. 5, 6. ' Eph. ii. 6. " Let us observe the description given of the present state of the hehever under the Gospel. Thus he is said to have been ' raised with Christ, and made to sit with [in] hira in heavenly places,' Eph. ii. 6. Here the reader will observe, that the believer is notv sitting with [in] Christ in heavenly places, in consequence of having been raised luith him. So in 1 Pet. ii. 9. believers, in their present state, are called 'a kingly- priesthood.' In Rev. i. 6. they are described as being ' made kings and priests ;' which evidently refers to this life, because they are in tliis life ' washed from their sins in the blood of Christ,' (v. 5.); and the verbs, 'washed' and 'made,' being both in the same tense, must, consequently, refer to the same time. The resemblance to this of the declaration in chap. XX. 4, ' they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him,' leads me to conceive, that the state of the persons so described is the same as that of those who are designated, in chap. i. 7. as having been made ' kings and priests:' and, consequently, that the time signified in chap. XX. 6. also must be that of the present life ; and that ' the sitting on the thrones, living and reigning with Christ,' take place in this life under the Gospel. This appears to me to be confirmed by referring to the ' priesthood ' of the be- liever. 1st. This is expressly declared to be of a spiritual kind. 1 Peter ii. 5. As therefore the priestly office of the believer is not carnal, but spiritual, so, by analogy, the kingly 384 NOT THE ONLY CHARACTERISTICS L. VII. which their description is completed. They are also sufferers at the hands of men, — -sufferers even to the extent of laying down their lives for Christ's sake. Sufferers, I say, even unto death, and that at one and the same time with their reigning. This does not appear in our authorized version. I will therefore read the more exact rendering of Dr. Wordsworth. '^And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them : and I saw the souls of them that had been beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and of them who worshipped not the beast, neither his image, neither received his office, which is connected with it, is also spiritual. ... Sclly. The time of the priesthood of the believer is described in the above passage to be that of the present life ; and the sacrifices which believers are to offer up as priests, are such as they offer in this life, See Eom. xii. 1, Heb. xiii. 15. But the time of his reigning is the same as that of his priesthood, and connected with it; and therefore, I conceive, the time during which he reigns must also be that of the present life. These considerations, therefore, convince me, that the reigning in chap. xx. 6. does not foretell any carnal power conferred upon the saints, but spiritual authority, answering to the description which Christ gives of his ' kingdom ' under the Gospel, John xviii. 36, 37, and to that of 'the kingdom of God' in Eom. xiv. 17. Hence I conceive the living and reigning of the persons there described foretells their spiritual life, and reigning over the fear of man, and the errors and "^seductions of the beast, over sin, the world, &c.'' Qjpps, First "Eesurrection, p. 142, 143. L. VII. OF THE MILLENNIAL SAINTS : 385 mark on their foreheads, or in their hands ; and they hved and reigned with Christ for a thousand years "." This is, I say, a more exact translation ; for there is not in the original that variation of tense which the authorized version presents''. The verbs are in the aorist. Kal elSou Opovovs, koll eKaOlaau eir avTovs, kolI Kpljia iSodrj avTols' kou ray y^v^as Twv 7re7reXeKi(TfJL€V(ou dia rrjv fiapTvplau lyaov, Kai Sia Tov Xoyou rod Qeov, Kac oLTLves ov irpoa- ^ The Apocalypse . . . the original Greek Text with Mss. Collations, an English Translation and Harmony; London, 1849. ^ And upon which Mede builds so much, Clavis Apoca- lyptica, Pars ii, Synchronismus v, Works, p. 533 : Kemains on some passages in the Apocalypse, chapter xii, Works, p. 748. "I would begin," Mr. Gipps writes, "by suggesting an enquiry as to whether the fourth verse is correctly trans- lated. The reader will observe, that in our translation the verbs sat, was given, lived, reigned, are in one tense ; but the verbs had worshipped, and had received, are in another. In the Greek however they are all in the same tense, the aorist The impression which our translation conveys is, that the ivorshipping the beast, <&c. took place in some period antecedent to that during which the persons reign with Christ Itjippearsjiowever to me, that as these ye j^g g^^^g^ all in the same tense in the original, so they must all refer to the same time; and that, whatever be the time of not wor- shipping the beast, nor receiving his mark, the same is the time of the sitting on thrones, living and reigning. I conceive,^ therefore, that the time during which the persons described) refuse to worship the beast and his image, is that during which they are sitting upon the thrones, living and reigningV with Christ." First Resurrection, p. 133, 134. c c 386 MARTYRDOM ALSO IS THEIR LOT, L. VII. €Kvi>7j(rav Tw OTjpicpf ovre rfj elKoi/t avTOv' icat ovK eXa^ov to yapay^a iirl to fieTcoTrov avTcav, KCLL eTTL Tr)v X^^P^ avTcou' Kou e^rjaau Kat ijBaai- Xevaaif jxeTa tov ^piaTov ra )(LXia eTrj. And how does it come to pass that they are willing thus to suffer ? The secret of their faith- fulness is this, that they have been quickened when dead in trespasses and sins'". They have heard the voice of the Son of God, and hearing they have livedo and now they shall live even though they die, and that even by martyrdom, for upon such the second death hath no powers "I am the resurrection, and the hfe : he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live : and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die''." If this view of the verse be correct, the thousand years will prove to be a period in which Christ's witnesses are witnesses even unto death, — a period, i^ahoj:i>-iif njartyrdom, not of tiiumph, — a period in which Satan, (being precluded indeed from the invention of fr^sh delusions,) is able notwithstand- ing to wield those already in existence with such effect, as to make the church of God to prophesy in sackcloth and ashes. And what is the instrumentality by which the devil effects this purpose? IJ^ employs the po^_ers th^t b^ as the executioners of his malice. » Eph. ii. 1. y John v. 25. ' Eev. xx. 6. a John xi. 25, 26. h. VII. INFLICTED BY THE POWERS THAT BE. 387 For they also, as some think, are represented on the prophetic canvass. They are described, it is said, in the words, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them^" But upon this interpretation I do not desire to lay much stress'. In strict harmony with this view is the special word of comfort inserted : " Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection : on such the second death hath no power." It is precisely similar to that message of consolation which was sent to the church in Smyrna. " Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer : behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried ; and ye shall have ^ Witsius gives it as his opinion, that the martyrs and the sitters on the thrones are probably distinct parties : " Non dicit Johannes vidisse se animas securi percussorum, multo minus ipsos martyres securi percusses, insedisse thronos. Sed solum se thronos vidisse, et qui sederunt in iis : non determinans quos. Imo satis determinans, non esse illud intelligendura de animabus. Non enim convenit vocum genus. Ita Grteca verba habent, kuI Kpifia i^odrj airols. Quod si ad TCLs ^|/^vxas pertineret avTois potius dixisset." In Sym- bolum, Exercitatio xxvi. de Resurrectione Carnis, p. 455. " It would however perfectly satisfy the requirements of ' the text, as stated by Mr. Birks, Outlines, p. 107. " The symbol," he says, " imports the reign of those who sit upon the thrones, over others who do not sit upon them, by the natural force of the terms, and the constant usage of all Scripture. The second clause further explains the first, since judgment evidently means judicial authority." I c c 2 388 A YET MORE SIGNAL RESURRECTION L. VII. tribulation ten days : be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. . . . He that overcometh, shall not be hurt of the second death ^" This view of the case is, I think, further con- firmed by the emphatic declaration, " This is the first resurrection^:" — that is, as I am inclined to postures innumerable. Say rather that Satan, seeing the great spiritual revival which followed the free proclamation of the everlasting Gospel, immediately planned to defeat it all by the in- vention and propagation of every kind of spiritual error. And he was permitted to make the at- tempt". ^ I am indebted to a valued friend for the following observ- ations. " It is very remarkable, that in Eev. xii. we find (as is commonly believed) the casting of Heathenish power out of the ruling government is set forth ; and then in verse 1 2. it is said, " the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time." Now the course which the serpent theji took was to cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. By which, it is thought, is signified the bursting forth of Arian and other false doctrines, destructive of the Church. So, according to the suggestion in this lecture, no sooner was the Reformation established, and the devil was loosed for a little season, than he began to pour forth strong and many and new delusions in doctrine, &c. from his mouth as it were ; as by the preach- ing and writing of his false teachers ; and this to crush, if possible, both the Church and Christ's truth. But as on the former occasion the earth helped the woman, so in this case we may believe that the Lord of heaven himself shall inter- pose, and in his second appearing overwhelm the enemy. It may be a question, what is the exact difference between the two meanings, (if any,) of " uKlyov Kaipov," in Rev. xii. 12, and " fjLiKpov xpovov" in Rev. xx. 3 : docs not the former imply a shorter and more defined period than the latter? If the L. VII. REVIVAL OF ANCIENT SUPERSTITION. 395 Were not new impostures palmed upon the world ? Need I speak of the frenzied Antinomian, who pretended to follow the banner, while in truth he grievously retarded the progress of the earlier reformers ? Need I tell of the coldly philosophic Sooiniian, who, while he promised to emancipate the mind, did but bring it beneath the yoke of a bondage more cruel still than that from which it had but just escaped, the deadly yoke of a doctrine excluding a quickening Spirit, and excluding an atoning Son ? And then, was not new life infused into the ancient superstition ? Shall I tell of the congre- gation for the propagation of the faith"? Or need I remind you of that master-piece of Satan, — the society q£ Jesus p? That order which, when the fairest provinces of its former territory were well nigh lost to the apostasy, undertook to repair that formei" reached from Constantine's conversion to the time of the Emperor Pliocas, as some think, the " oXiyov Kaipov" was not much short of three hundred years : then perhaps " (iiKpov xpovov" may be a little longer. Thus from the begin- ning of the Reformation, circum 1517, more than that time has passed ; hence we have reason to think that the day of the Lord may not be far distant." " Established by Pope Gregory XV, A.D. 1622. p The reader who has yet to learn the true character of early Jesuitism, would do well to read the Provincial Letters of Pascal. He who is disposed to think that modern Jesuit- ism diffei's from the original model, may consult " Cases of Conscience," by Pascal the Younger, Sixth Edition, Bosvvorth, Regent Street, London, 1853, a work by no means unworthy of so noble a name. 396 PROMULGATION OF NEW IMPOSTURES. L. VII. loss by the conquest of India, of China, and of Japan ? That order which, with tremendous, be- cause with secret, versatile, ubiquitous power, has not scrupled to do battle with kings and with popes ; and even when appearing most to succumb, has indeed been but preparing for a more signal triumph ? And after all, these w^ere but specimens of the countless workings of the evil one. Nor is the conflict oyer! The strife is..e\Len ilQF wa^xing fiercer still. In every quarter of the world, — in our Churches at home, in our Mission fields abroad, — is Rome arrayed against truth. And then, are not new impostures spreading among mankind''? The more soberminded among Christians look with anxiety to that movement in the far east, which is revolutionizing the teeming millions of China. Nor can they but fear as they turn to the far west, and contemplate that se^iiiid Mahommedanism, which has sprung to maturity in the wilds oXAmerica. And what shall be said when we survey the continent of Europe, yea, and the land of our own nativity ? The heart faints even to think of the bojd atheism of Fraiu:e, of the subtle rationalism of Germany : but, my brethren, I must draw a vail over this part of my picture. Enough has been said to suggest the ^ J enquiry, " Are we not living in that shoilei: period ' ' which precedes the end..?" I desire now to make two concluding remarks. ^ See Mr. Bonar's Prophetical Landmarks, p. 382, 383. L. VII. CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 397 The first regards the subject of to day as a matter of Scriptural exposition. Tvv:a-SQlutions of _the passage before us have n.Qw.^befin submitted to your notice. If you are at all acquainted with the history of Apocalyptic interpretation, you will bear me out when I say, that as, on the one hand, many names of high repute are to be found among the advocates of the spiritual view of a future Millennium ; so also, on the other hand, might men of great celebrity be mentioned, who, viewing the thousand years as pas_sing or past, have more or less approximated to the interpretation which I have now suggested ^ Objections may doubtless be urged to both expositions. But this I may say in their behalf, that they do ngt dislocate the whole framework of Christian trylh, as that truth is set forth in the New Testament Scriptures. On the contrary, leaving those Scriptures to be under- stood in their plain, literal, and obvious sense, they do but relegate to their proper quarter herme- neutical difficulties arising from the interpretation of prophecy. This at least I must take leave to impress upon your minds once more, that e¥en. if you should j?ea reason to withhold your couijent from both tjie viejys which T have propounded, you are npt therefore compelled to accept, as the only alternative, th^ docirine of a personal reign. ^ See Appendix, Note JJ. 398 MIGHTY ANTAGONISMS ARE AT WORK, L. VII. Nay more ; if that doctrine has been tried and found wanting, you are not permitted to embiace it, even though mine should not stand the test\ r Perchance we shall, after all, have to do that [ which we are all, by nature, so unwilling to do, — to confess our ignorance, and wait until the p9,ge of the prophecy of this book is plainly illuminated by the light of history. Be this however as it may, there is, secondly and lastly, a practical application of the subject which cannot be unseasonable. Whatever view we take of the Apocalypse, the signs of the times are. alone sufficient to lead us to .-«;. this one conclusion g,t least, that a gi'eat crisis is near at hand. I do not speak of the political combinations that have been forming, or may yet be formed, in this our world. He must be but a very superficial observer indeed who regards the I rivalry of parties, or the antagonism of empires, as ' the great phenomenon of our age. For there is another antagonism at work, — an antagonism of spiritual principles, which bids fair soon to be felt in every country, in every city, in every 8 " I may utterly fail in attempting to give any interpretation of a prophetical passage; yet the objections which I have brought forward to other interpretations will remain entirely unaffected by such a failure. If, therefore, the view which I suggest be altogether erroneous, yet this cannot prove either of the other views to be true. The question as to them is entirely independent of this." Gipps, First Resurrection, p. 133. L. VII. A GREAT CRISIS IS NEAR AT HAND : 399 house. It is an antagonism of principles, which ~^ within the last few years has been in many cases so rem^'kably, aiid I may well add so disastrously, developed in this our University. We see ancient superstition in all its various phases, modern / scepticism in all its many garbs, — mistrusting, fearing, despising, hating each the other ; yet both united in one greater enmity, in one ab- sorbing antipathy ; an enmity, an antipathy to Christ and his truth. That antipathy and that enmity may, as some have been led to think, ultimately give a greater than political significancy ] to the struggles and the conflicts of nations. ( It may bring together the hosts of evil in one concentrated (and, thanks be to God for the word of his promise, one fruitless) effort to crush the nation, whatever that nation be, which keepeth the truth. Or, as others have not less probably judged, the spiritual battle may still continue to be fought, only with greater intensity, on a thousand fields at. once ". Be this however as it may, " For it does not appear to me that the terms camp and city, borrowed from Israel's history, necessarily imply the actual gathering together of the Church of God into one locality. See Heb. xii. 22. They imply however holiness in heart and life, (I Peter ii. 11.) — strength in spiritual defence, (Isaiah xxvi. 1 — 4.) — unity in doctrine and love, (Eph. ii. 19.) — in all saints throughout the world. These marks do actually belong to the true people of God already, even though they are obscured by the abundant intermixture of false brethren. It may be that as the end approaches, and as the contest described above waxes more fierce, these false 400 ARE WE RANGING OURSELVES L. VII. one thing at least seems certain, that a day is not far off when we must each man for himself take his side. Even now is the trumpet sounding. Who is preparing for the battle ? Yes ! and on which side are we ranging ourselves, we who are here present before God to day ? Are we among those who are yielding to the deceptions of Satan ? or are we taking our place under the banner of Christ our Lord ? Remember, I pray you, ye that are tempted, — whether it be by intellectual conceit, or sensuous formalism, or sordid calculations of worldly in- terest, to quit the sure holding ground of immu- table Scriptural truth, and to yield to the deep, strong currents of prevailing opinion, — remember, I pray you, whither you are tending. Far be it from me to tax you with wilful deceit. But surely your peril is not the less real, because it is unsus- pected. Your com'se may be smooth ; every wind that blows may gently fill the sails of your barque ; but remember, that the Siren enchants but to destroy : the end of all must be the ship- wreck of your souls. And if, for a moment, you are persuaded to pause in your career, plead, I earnestly entreat brethren will visibly fall away, and, the Spirit being more largely poured upon her from on high, the Church be thus more openly manifested to those who have eyes to see her as in very deed, " the holy people, the redeemed of the Lord, sought out, a city not forsaken," Isaiah Ixii. 12, or as our text hath it, " the camp of the saints and the beloved city." L. VII. ON THE SIDE OF CHRIST THE LORD ? 401 you, for the gift of the Holy Ghost. He can teach you your corruption and your guilt, — a cor- ruption which has prostrated the whole moral, the whole intellectual man in the dust, — a guilt that makes you loathsome in the eyes of your God, and exposes you, naked and helpless, to the fierce flames of his eternal wrath. He can manifest these things to you. And if he does, then will he also bring you to Christ, the full, the overflowing fountain of all wisdom, all righteousness, all sanc- tification, and all redemption. Then, in the assurance that he is your salvation, shall you possess, in the momentous struggle that lies before you, an inspiring motive, a sufficient strength, a certain success. Truly you will find yourself in a minority. Whether you become a minister of Christ's Church, or remain among the less re- sponsible members of his mystical body : neither numbers, nor renown, nor influence, nor vaunting genius, will be found on your side. The princes of this world knew not the Lord of glory, how then shall they know you ? But these things will be on your side, present pardon and present peace, future victory and future glory. Yes ! truly yours will be the side of reproach, of persecution, it may be too of martyrdom ; but fear not for the result, the issue is certain, you are on Christ the Con- queror's side. Now unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us Dd 402 CONCLUSION. L. VII. kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion, for ever and ever". Amen. " Eev. i. 6, 6. LECTURE VIII. THE TRUE BURDEN OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. Acts iii. 24. YEA, AND ALL THE PROPHETS FROM SAMUEL AND THOSE THAT FOLLOW AFTER, AS MANY AS HAVE SPOKEN, HAVE LIKEWISE FORETOLD OF THESE DAYS. I ENDEAVOURED in my last lecture to shew, by a careful analysis of the first nine verses of the tw^entieth chapter of the Revelation, that the Apocalypse does not encourage us to look for a personal reign of Christ upon earth ; — nay more, that it does not even require us to expect a yet future Millennial Sabbatism. It vi^ill however doubtless have occurred to your minds, that, even if I were right in my inter- pretation of the New Testament symbols which have so frequently been taken to prefigure that happy age, the favourers of Chiliasm in either of its aspects would still be ready to appeal to many a glowing prediction of the Old Testament seers. Dd2 404 DOES OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY, L. VIII. "Those predictions," they might . all say, "may not indeed fix the duration, but surely they an- nounce the approach of a period of unmingled righteousness and peace." " Nor do they permit us to doubt," Pre-Millennarians would add, "that that blissful aera shall be ushered in by the coming of the Lord himself." These statements depend upon arguments drawn partly from the subject-matter, partly from the tone of those ancient Prophecies. With regard to their subject, it is assumed, that those lively oracles almost exclusively pourtray the fortunes of the literal Israel. The present degradation of the Jew is then contrasted with his expected glories; and the conclusion inevitably follows, that a day of Millennial bliss must yet dawn upon Jerusalem and the world. With regard to its tone, it is contended, that, even were a spiritual Israel the principal subject of Old Testament Prophecy, nothing has yet been seen commensurate to the grandeur of its announce- ments. And then once more the assertion is made, that the six millennaries of earthly toil shall be succeeded by a corresponding Sabbatism of terrestrial peace. It will however be well to pause and enquire, whether an interpretation more consistent with those first principles of the doctrine of Christ, which the previous lectures have established, be not hermeneutically possible. L. VIII. WHEN IT IS VIEWED IN THE LIGHT 405 Nor are materials wanting, by the use of which we may hope to arrive at a satisfactory conclusion. The Old Testament itself contains passages of early date, — highly poetic in their style, and more or less prophetic in their subject, — which will be found on examination to furnish valuable aid in determining how much stress can safely be laid upon the impassioned language of the compa- ratively later seers. Such passages, — to mention no other, — are the dying blessings of Jacob, and of Moses, and the songs of Moses, of Deborah, and of Hannah. Nor do the writings of those later seers them- selves altogether refuse their independent assist- ance. For, apart from the prophecies actually cited by the Apostles and Evangelists, they contain other predictions which have already been de- monstrably fulfilled. And a comparison of the terms in which those predictions are couched, with the events by which their meaning has been exhausted, will throw no little light upon pro- phecies which are supposed still to await their accomplishment ''. • " Some light may be expected to arise from the study of the prophecies themselves. For the same symbols, or figures, recur frequently in those writings : and, by comparing one passage with another ; the darker prophecies with the more perspicuous ; the unfulfilled, with such as have been com- pleted ; and those which have their explanation annexed to them, with those that have not ; by this course of enquiry, I say, there is no doubt but some considerable progress may 406 OF NEW TESTAMENT QUOTATIONS, L. VIII. But it is to those many quotations from their sacred pages which are scattered over the New Testament volume that we most confidently look for guidance in the matter. The Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets, are unequivocally^ cited by the apostles and evangelists, very nearly if not quite two hundred times. Of these, more than one half are predictions adduced with express declarations concernins: their fulfilment. And in this manner we have keys, so to speak, by which to open at least thirteen out of those twenty-seven later chapters of Isaiah, with the true interpretation of which our present controversy is mainly con- cerned. be made in fixing the true and proper meaning of this mys- terious language." Bp. Hurd on the Prophecies, Sermon ix. vol. ii. p. 91. ^ I speak of ' unequivocal' citations, for it is only upon such that any conclusive argument can be founded. This fact is forgotten both by Mr. Greswell, (Parables, vol. i. p. 176.) and Mr. Birks, (Outlines, p. 279.) when they treat Rev. i. 7. as a quotation from Zech. xii. 10; and seem thence to con- clude, that that prophecy shall be fulfilled at, and not before, the second advent of the Lord. A still more striking example of this error is presented by Mr. Birks, (Outlines, p. 279.) where, speaking of Isaiah Ixi — Ixiv, he says " they are con- nected with the first advent, by our Lord's own application of the opening verses in the synagogue of Nazareth, Luke iv. 16. And they are equally (!) linked loith the second advent by his oivn lips, speakin(j from heaven to the beloved disciple, at the close of the Apocalypse, where he makes a further quotation from the same prophecy. ' And behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.' Rev. xxii. 12. Isaiah Ixii. 11." L. VIII. FAVOUR THE MILLENNARIAN HOPE ? 40? Now it can, I think, be shewn, that our great Prophet*" has herein estabhshed such exegetical precedents, as are intended directly to guide us by infalhble way-marks into the pathway of another than the Millennarian interpretation of Old Testa- ment prophecy. To those way-marks I would invite your attention in this my concluding lecture. In so doing I would pray — for myself, that I may be preserved from a spirit of unbecoming dogma- tism ; — for my hearers, that they may be enabled to receive with candour and simplicity the state- ments that I shall lay before them. I cannot hope to exhaust a boundless subject. Nor can I expect to make that transparently clear, which must from its very nature be fi-equently obscure. But this I may perhaps be able to do : — I may be able to shew, that the language of the Old Testa- ment prophets does not imperatively require that, in spite of all the plain statements of Christ and his apostles, we should still harbour the expect- ation of a Millennial Sabbatism and a Personal Reign. Before I begin, it may be as well to remind you, that a very important division of my subject has been reviewed in a previous discourse. In my third lecture, I dealt at some length with that plea for Pre-Millennarianism which is drawn from pro- phecies connecting the royal authority of Messiah with the house of Israel and the throne of David. "^ See Lecture I. p. 24, 25. 408 WHAT IS ITS TRUE SUBJECT-MATTER ? L. VIII. I shewed then, that those prophecies, as explamed by the very apostles themselves, do not w^arrant US in expecting a future manifestation of Christ upon earth as the king of the Jews. On the contrary, they have already received their intended, their adequate accomplishment in the exaltation of Jesus of Nazaretli to the right hand of power. I shall not therefore go over that ground again on the present occasion. But I promised then to take up, as a separate subject, those Old Testa- ment predictions which describe the nature and extent of the kingdom of Messiah. To redeem that pledge is all that remains to be done to day. Let me follow the division indicated above, and speak first of their subject-matter, and secondly of their tone. And First for the subject-matter of the Pro- phecies in question. The inspired precedents to which I have already referred seem to me to encourage the belief, that that Israel which is, next to the Messiah himself, their most prominent subject, is not the nation of the Jews, but the whole mystical church of Gospel times, including both Jew and Gentile alike within its pale. I will lay before you, one by one, the consider- ations which have led me to this conclusion. You will then, in the first place, observe, that, in the exposition of the prophetic writings. L. VIII. SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SANCTION 409 Scripture does not sanction a rule of unbending literalism in matters of detail. There are doubtless many words of prophecy which have been literally fulfilled ; — but there are also words of prophecy, the accomplishment of which has proved that they were clothed in the language of imagery. Nay further, there are prophetic passages which have been shewn by the result to be couched partly in literal and partly in figurative terms \ For proof, one example will suffice. It shall be that portion of the fortieth of Isaiah, of which St. Luke records the fulfilment in his third chapter. John the son of Zacharias . . . . " came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins ; as it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth ; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God^" Here surely the voice and the wilderness are hteral, while the way, the path, the valley, the mountains, the hills, the "* See p. 12, 13, 125, 126 of this volume, and also Appendix, Note C. e Luke iii. 2—6. 410 A RULE OF UNBENDING LITERALISM L. VIII. crooked places, and the rough ways, all are figurative'^. And in very deed a rule of unbending hteralism is incapable of universal application. Attempt to carry it out, and the Old Testament is brought into immediate collision with the New : nay more, it is made to contradict itself. In short, a rule ^ And thus may we see the inconckisiveness of the popular Pre-Millennarian argument derived from Isaiah ix. 6, 7. That argument is briefly this : — " The child, the son of v. 6, is literal: literally is He the Mighty God, the Prince of Peace : therefore literal also must be the throne and kingdom of David in v. 7." Quite as certainly might it have been urged before the Gospel of St. Luke was written, that " literal was the voice, and the ivilderness, literal also must be the valley, the mountains, and the hills." The fact is, that had prophecies of spiritual things concealed under figures been figurative throughout, it would have been easy for interested parties, — as the Jews in the case of the Messiah, the Papists in the case of Babylon, — to escape into another and a more palatable solution. Hence the importance of introducing either literal marks that tie us down to the right solution, or explanations (very short perhaps) which effect the same purpose. From this view of the matter it is seen, that so far from it being impossible to have literal features in a figurative prophecy, it is most likely that such should be the case : and further, that such literal features were intended to tie down the Jew and us to the spiritual meaning of the whole. Hence to argue from the literal fulfilment of details in a prophecy relating to the first Advent to a literal accomplishment of contiguous words at the second Advent, is to defeat the very purpose for which those details were introduced into the prophecies ; — namely, to compel the Jews to accept Christ, even though he fulfilled not their carnal expectations. See for more upon this question, Appendix, Note P. L. VIII. IN MATTERS OF PROPHETIC DETAIL. 411 which is recommended for adoption on the score of its extreme simplicity, is found, on appKcation, to involve its adherents in multiplied and hopeless perplexities^. But there is no need for further argument upon the point. It is one which, practically, all Pre- Millennarians concede. Nor should I detain you upon it at all, were there not one simply " literal " plea for the personal reign which cannot be left altogether unnoticed. It is drawn from predictions which seem to foretell changes, wonderful and glorious, in the vegetable and animal kingdoms ; nay more, in the very lights of heaven themselves. The sun, it is alleged, shall one day burn with a seven-fold splen- dour, the moon shall shine with all the brilliancy of day, the wilderness rejoice in the rose of Sharon, the pastures of Carmel, and the cedars of Lebanon; while the very beasts of prey themselves shall return to the primaeval harmlessness of Paradise \ In reply, let me, by way of example, discuss those memorable words in the eleventh of Isaiah : " The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; «nd the s See, for an example, Lecture III. p. 95, 96. h Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 234—237. Marsh, Eev. W., a few Plain Thoughts on Prophecy, in Five Letters to a Friend, p. 73, 74. Begg, Connected View, p. 31, 32, 99. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 208, 209. Molyneux, Israel's Future, p. 229—231 : World to Come, p. 99—102, 278—280. 412 WE NEED NOT THEREFORE EXPECT L. VIII. calf and the young lion and the fatlmg together; and a httle child shall lead them V' We neither explain, nor desire to explain, all the glowing predictions of Isaiah as mere orient- alisms. But still we do assert that orientalisms exist, as might well have been expected \ in Old Testament Prophecy. Of these, none are more certain than the metaphorical use of the names of animals, to signify " persons resembling them in their natural dispositions and habits." Call to mind the words of the patriarch Jacob : " Judah is a lion's whelp ;" — " Issachar is a strong ass couching down between two burdens;" — " Dan ' See Isaiali xi. 6 — 9. ^ " The style of the pi'ophets was the known authorized style of their age and country, in all writings especially of a sacred and solemn character; and is even yet in use with a great part of mankind." Bp. Hurd, Introduction to the Prophecies, Sermon ix. vol. ii. p. 105, 106. "From this verse to the ninth inclusive, the prophet furnishes a de- scription of the peace and happiness to he enjoyed under the reign of Messiah, which, for boldness and exquisite choice of imagery, far surpasses the sublimest passages in which the classical poets celebrate the renewal of the golden age ; indeed, nothing can exceed in beauty the scene here depicted. Numerous passages adduced by liowth and Gesenius from Virgil, Horace, Theocritus, Ferdoosi, Ibn Onein, as also from the Zendavesta, and the Sibylline Oracles, clearly establish the fact of the prevalence of such figurative lan- guage ; and render in the highest degree improbable the inter- pretation of Hengstenberg, and some other exjwsitors, who consider Isaiah to be literally predicting an entire change in the stature of the brute creation, and its restoration to its primaval state before the fall." Henderson, on Isaiah xi. 6 — 9. L. VIII. FROM THE ELEVENTH OF ISAIAH 413 shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels ;" — " Naphtali is a hind let loose ;" — " Benjamin shall ravin as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil'." Or, if you desire words of purer allegory"', reflect upon the prophetic sorrows of Messiah : — " Many bulls have compassed me : strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round Deliver my soul from the sword ; my darling from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth : for thou hast heard me from the horns of the unicorns"." With figures like these before us in the writings of Moses and of David, why look for a change in the nature and habits of the animal creation, in consequence of the employment of similar lan- 1 Genesis xlix. 9, 14, 17, 21, 27. "■ "Non autem alienum erit ab hoc loco paucis notare peculiarem usum cognatarum figurarum Metaphorse, Al- legorise, et Comparationis, in quo sibi indulgent Vates Hebraei, ac prtecipue in Poesi Proplietica. Cum enim, quamcunque materiem adornandam suscipiunt, earn summa imaginum copia et varietate illustrent, turn porro ipsas imagines non una ratione formaque inter se temperant et conciliant. Simplici Translatione raro contenti, sa^pe in Allegoriam excurrunt, spepe apertam Comparationem immiscent: Simi- litudinem nonnunquam subsequitur Allegoria, nonnunquam praevenit: hue accedit crebra Imaginum, nee minus temporum ac personarum, mutatio ; perque omnia in verbis sensibusque sua qusedam vis atque audacia, nullis mancipata legibus, libe- rumque Hebrsene poeseos genium unice spirans." Lov^rth, De Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum, Pi-ael. x. tom. i. p. 116, 117. " Psalm xxii, 12, 20, 2J. 414 A CHANGE IN THE NATURE AND HABITS L. VIII. guage in the pages of Isaiah ? For indeed the prophecy in question, says a learned writer of strongly literal bias", "has been verified in every age, in proportion to the extent in which genuine Christianity has exerted its influence. Characters the most ferocious have been subdued ; and those who had been ' hving in mahce and envy, hateful and hating one another,' have ' put on as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long- suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one another P.' " o Henderson, m loco citato, see note k above: "By the animals specified are meant persons resembling them in their natural dispositions and habits ; and by their living and feeding together in peace and harmony is adumbrated that state of true union, fellowship, and peace, which those enjoy who submit to the reign of the Redeemer, and conform to the laws of his kingdom. To look for the accomplishment of the prophecy in the experience and conduct of such as possess merely the name of Christians, or to refer its fulfilment to some ftiture day, because so many wars, bickerings, and contentions have more or less hitherto obtained among nations or commu- nities professedly Christian, would be to torture the passage in order to make it speak a language foreign to its spirit and design." Dr. Henderson then proceeds as in the text of the Lecture. p Col. iii. 1'2, 13. Mr. Gipps gives a different, but still a figurative, interpretation to the passage before us. He con- ceives Isaiah xi. 6 — 8. to be parallel to Acts x. 12. and to " foretell the calling in, at the first coming of Christ, of the Gentiles, described under the figure of the wolf, leopard, &c. and their union with the elect remnant of the Jews, described as the lamb, kid, &c. in one church, after the ceremonial law, which was the enmity and middle wall of partition between Jew L. VIII. OF THE ANIMAL CREATION. 415 Did time permit, I might now shew, that all analogy of Holy Writ requires us to interpret in like manner the prophecies which have been sup- posed to predict Millennial changes in the vast and Gentile, was abolished, and peace was thus viade between them." See Eph. ii. 14 — 16. Whatever may be the reader's judgment upon the alternative exposition thus proposed to his notice, he will, I think, feel the cogency of the previous argument, by which this saintly as well as talented writer proves the necessity of some such figurative interpretation. " I cannot," he says, " conceive this [the literal] to be the true interpretation of the passage, for the following reasons : — First, the rod, stem, hrancli, root, in ver. 1, do not foretell that a material rod and a material branch would grow out of a material stem and roots, but are used in a figurative sense. Hence as this is the introductory verse of the prophecy, the analogy of interpretation would lead me to conclude, that the expressions also, in vers. 6 — 8, do not foretell any thing re- specting these material animals, but are used in a figurative sense. Nor can I conceive what interpretation can be given of Isaiah xxxv. 9, if we understand these expressions in a material sense in Isaiah xi. 6 — 8. Second, As ihe first coming of Christ is expressly foretold in ver. 1, if vers. 6 — 8, had been intended to foretell events which were to take place after his second coming, I feel convinced that there would have been some express prediction of that second coming, as there had been of the first. Instead, however, of this, on the one hand, there is not the least intimation of any other coming than his first, as described in ver. 1 : and, on the other hand, the con- nective particle, and, running through every one of the verses, (hut, ver. 4, in the original is and,) shews that all these verses are connected with ver. 1 ; and that all the events described in them are to be the consequences of the coming described in ver. 1 ; that is, of his first coming." First Resurrection, NoteDD, p. 123, 124. 416 NOR IS PROPHECY ALWAYS LITERAL L. VIIL domains of inanimate nature''. But I may not tarry here. For the main strength of the Pre- Millennial cause hes not in the rule of an universal literalism extending even to details, but in the law 1 As prophecies of Millennial changes in the external face of the terrestrial globe, Mr. Greswell (Parables, vol. i. p. 234, 235.) adduces Isaiah xxxii. 14, 15: xxxv. 1, 2, 6, 7 : xli. 18, 19 : xliii. 19, 20 : li. 3 : Iv. 13. In reply, it will, I think, be sufficient to refer the reader to those beautiful verses in Gen. xlix. (22 — 26.) which pourtray the prosperity of Joseph : or again to that rich passage in which the blessedness of repentant Israel (what Israel, it matters not now to enquire) is pictured forth by the prophet Hosea (ch. xiv. 5 — 8.). Many more references might be given, but these surely will suffice. And indeed the last of Mr. Greswell's quotations should, when taken with its context, have directed him to the right interpretation of the kindred passages. They all fore- tell the wonderful effects wrought upon the Gentile world in its wilderness state by the preaching of the Gospel, when accompanied by the power of that Holy Ghost, of which water is the frequent emblem. See Isaiah Iv. 8 — 13: Ixi. 1, 2, 3. As to the expected Millennial splendour of the heavenly bodies, the same learned author cites (p. 237.) Isaiah xxx. 26. But here again passages to which he himself has referred might have put him right. In a foot note he says, " cf. xxiv. 23 : Ix. 19, 20." These passages remind us of the Scriptural fact, that the Sun and the Moon are symbols both of the civil and ecclesiastical powers, and also of the Church, or of Christ and his Church, or of God himself. See Song of Solomon vi. 10: Malachi iv. 2: Psalm Ixxxiv. IJ : Luke i. 78: Kev. xxii. 16. Hence the quotation which has led to these remarks may, very pi'operly, be understood to indicate the increased light and fulness with which, under the Gospel oeconomy, God would manifest himself in Christ to his Church ; who would, consequently, in her turn, reflect a far more brilliant light upon the world around. See in con- nection with this, Isaiah Ix. 1 — 3. L. VIII. EVEN AS TO ITS LEADING SUBJECTS. 417 of a modified literalism applicable only to the more prominent features of sacred prophecy. I would therefore have you notice, in the second place, that even when so qualified, the principle in question is not one to which, judging by Scriptural precedent, the Hebrew seers rigidly adhere. In other words, it can I think be very certainly proved, that the terms Israel, Zion, Jerusalem, and the like, which are at times so plainly apphed in another than their primary intention in the New Testament Scriptures'", are no less certainly some- times so apphed in the Old Testament prophecies. ' " Israel," Eom. ix. 6: John i. 47: Gal. vi. 16.— "Zion," Heb. xii. 22.— "Jerusalem," Heb. xii. 22: Gal. iv. 26. The principle upon which this application of the terms in question is founded, is distinctly enunciated in Rom. ii. 28, 29 ; — ■" For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh : but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly ; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter ; whose praise is not of men, but of God." [See Appendix, Note 0.] It is indeed true that, (as might most naturally be expected in a narrative of events occurring in the land of Israel, and of controversies in which its people, whether dwelling there or scattered abroad, bore so conspicuous a part,) the words Israel, Jeru- salem, Jew, are also, and that much oftener, used in their primary intention in the New Testament. But this will not avail to over-rule, as it were by a majority of voices, (see Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 309, 310.) the principle which the quotations at the head of this note so clearly establish, — the lawfulness, namely, of a spiritual application of the terms in question. Nor will it avail to prevent our applying that principle to Old Testament Prophecy : the more especially when, as will presently appear, the Holy E e 418 FOR THE NAME ISRAEL IS USED L. VIII. For proof I will, for the present, content myself with but two quotations. Read, in the first place, the first six verses of the forty-ninth of Isaiah. " Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb ; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword ; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a pohshed shaft ; in his quiver hath he hid me ; and said unto me. Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified. Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain : yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him. Though Ghost has himself led the way. And truly such a use of the terms under debate is quite consistent with the general usages of language. " A precisely analogous example is afforded," says Dr. Alexander, (who maintains that this is a primary not a metaphorical sense of the term Israel,) " by the use of the name Eome in modern religious controversy, not to denote the city, or the civil government as such, but the Roman Church, with all its parts, dependencies, and interests. The one usage is as natural and intelligible as the other ; . . . . and the arguments employed to prove that the Israel and •Jerusalem of these predictions are the natural Israel, and the literal Jerusalem, would equally avail to prove, in future ages, that the hopes and fears expressed at this day in relation to the growing or decreasing power of Rome, have reference to the increase of the city, or the fall of the temporal monarchy established there." On Is. Ix. 1. See p. 429, 430. L. VIII. TO SIGNIFY THE MYSTICAL CHURCH 419 Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he said. It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel : I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth ^" It is obvious that the word Israel is, in this passage, used in two distinct senses. In the fifth and sixth verses it signifies the literal Israel, the carnal posterity of Abraham. But in the third verse it is predicated of one who has, in the exercise of a ministerial office, approached that Israel in vain. And who is this ? It might indeed at first sight appear to be simply the Messiah. But the use made of the passage and its context by the apostle Paul, in his sermon at Antioch, and in his second epistle to the Corinthians, seems to point to an Israel, if I may so speak, of a more complex character, even that mystical body of which Christ is the head, and his people are the members*. For s Isaiah xlix. 1 — 6. ' "By 'the servant of Jehovah' m these later prophecies of Isaiah, we are to understand the Church with its Head, or rather the Messiah with the Church, which is his body, sent by Jehovah to reclaim the world from its apostasy and ruin. This agrees exactly with the mission both of the Eedeemer and his people as described in Scripture, and accounts for all the variations which embarrass the interpretation of the passages in question, upon any more exclusive exegetical E e 2 420 BOTH BY THE PROPHET ISAIAH L. VIII. turn to the thirteenth of Acts. Paul and Barnabas are reproving the unbeheving Jews of Antioch in Pisidia. " It was necessary/' they say, " that the word of God should first have been spoken to you : but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting hfe, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord com- manded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth V How plainly do the Apostles hereby determine that the prophecy before us is directed to their Master and them- selves^; and, in them, to all that believe in his hypothesis. It is also favoured by the analogy of Deut. xviii, Avhere the promised Prophet, according to the best inter- pretation, is not Christ exclusively, fcut Christ as the head of the prophetic body who possessed liis spirit. Another ana- logy is furnished by the use of the phrase ' Abraham's seed,' both individually and collectively. He whom Paul describes as the seed of Abraham, and Moses as a prophet like unto himself, in a personal, but not an exclusive sense, is described by Isaiah as the servant of Jehovah, in his own person, but not to the exclusion of his people, so far as they can be considered his co-workers and representatives." Alexander on Isaiah xlii. 1. See also Calvin on Isaiah xlix. 3. " Acts xiii. 46, 47. " *' The application of this verse by Paul and Barnabas, in their address to the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia, (Acts xiii. 47.) is very important, as a confirmation of the hypothesis as- sumed above, that the person here described is not the Messiah exclusively, but that his people are included in the svibject of the description." Alexander on Isaiah xlix. 6. On verse 8, the same learned writer continues, " Here again we have clear Apostolical authority for applying this de- L. VIII. AND BY THE PROPHET HOSEA : 421 word. And what is the collective name by which they are there addressed ? " Israel." So certainly is that term, in this passage at least, employed to signify the one church of the living God''. But there is yet another passage for which I must crave your attention before I pass on. It is to be found in the book of the Prophet Hosea. There, in the first chapter at the ninth verse, the seription to the Church, or people of God, as the boJy of which Christ is the head. Paul says to the Corinthians, ' We then as workers together (with him) beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee.' What follows i^ no part of the quotation, but Paul's comment on it. ' Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.' (2 Cor. vi. 2.) This, taken in connection with the citation of v. 6, in Acts xiii. 47, precludes the supposition of an accidental or un- meaning application of this passage to the people or ministers of Christ, as well as to himself." y It has indeed been proposed to vary the translation of Isaiah xlix. 8, in such a manner as to render the argument now founded upon it entirely nugatory. Dr. Henderson, for instance, supposes " a sudden apostrophe to [the literal] Israel, after addressing the Messiah, or the Prophet." " The natural, however, and obvious " meaning of the sentence, the rendering " which suits the Hebrew best," is that which is given in our authorized version. (See Calvin, Gill, both the Lowths, Alexander, and Birks, Outlines, p. 291.) "Israel," says the second of these commentators, " is a name of the church often given to it in this prophecy; Christ and his church, by virtue of the union between them, have the same names; as she is sometimes called by his names, 'Christ" and ' the Lord our righteousness,' so he is here called by her name, 'Israel,' 1 Cor. xii. 12, Jer. xxiii. 6, and xxxiii. {&.'' 422 AND THE LATTER INCLUDES L. VIII. Holy Ghost speaks on this wise of the rejection of a Hteral Israel ; — *' Call his name Lo-ammi : for ye are not my people, and I will not be your God." Now mark the words that follow in the tenth verse. " Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered ; and it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them. Ye are not my people, there it shall be said unto them. Ye are the sons of the living God." Does the Spirit here speak of a yet future restoration of the house of Jacob ? That were indeed a possible interpretation, had not inspiration itself determined otherwise. Look at the ninth of Romans. At the twenty-second and following verses we thus read ; — *' What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsufFering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction ; and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory, even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles ? As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people ; and her beloved, which was not beloved. And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them. Ye are not my people ; there shall they be called the children of the living God." This infallible commentary on the words of Hosea proves even more than was L. VIII. EVEN GENTILES WITHIN THE TERM. 423 established by the citation from the pages of Isaiah. There we learnt, that the term Israel, as used by the ancient seers, does, sometimes at least, signify a spiritual, as distinguished from a carnal people of God. But there was nothing to carry our thoughts beyond the confines of the natural posterity of Abraham. Here we learn, that that boundary has been passed, even in the books of the elder covenant. For Hosea, as ex- pounded by Paul, extends the significance of his spiritual Israel to the "■ called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles V Enough has now been said to prove, that it is hermeneutically lawful to give another than the ^ " Though called Lo-ammi, and rejected from being the people of God; yet there is a time when their number shall be as the sand of the sea, and the stars of heaven; which was to be at the first times of the Gospel, when multitudes w"ere converted at the day of Pentecost, and great numbers, who were met with .... in the several parts of the world, and not these only are meant, hut the vast numbers of Gentiles, who were effectually called by grace every where, and were true Israelites, the spiritual seed of Abraham ; and to whom the apostle Paul applies these words, producing them as a testimony of the election and calling not of the Jews only, but of the Gentiles also, Kom. ix. 24 — 26." Gill on Hosea i. 10. " Though God casts off the Ten Tribes," says Prebendary Lowth on the same verse, "yet he will in due time supply their loss, by bringing in great numbers of true Israelites into the Church, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles, and making them who before were strangers to the covenants of promise, fellow-heirs with the Jews: see Rom. ix. 25, 29: 1 Peter ii. 10." Similarly Calvin. 424 NOR IF METAPHOR WERE USED AT ALL L. VIII. strictly literal interpretation to that proper name of the ancient people of God, which most fre- quently occurs on the pages of prophecy. Did time permit, we might, by a similar process, conduct you to a like conclusion with regard to the appel- latives "Zion" and "Jerusalem." But I forbear. For all that I at present desire to effect is ac- complished, if we have succeeded in convincing you, that it is Scripturally possible, that the names in question may be part of a large and varied system of metaphors, by which the Holy Ghost did, in Old Testament times, picture beforehand the dealings of God with his Church of Gospel days. Meanwhile let us pause for a moment to observe, that the case could scarcely be otherwise than as I have supposed it to be, if figure was to be em- ployed at all in foretelling the Christian dispens- ation,— a state of things differing in so many essential points from the oeconomy then existing. To be intelligible by those to whom they are addressed, poetical images must be borrowed from surrounding familiar and analogous objects. Hence would arise the frequent mention of metals, trees, animals, places, events, and ceremonies, connected with the land, the history, and the religion of the Jews, in predictions intended, as we shall soon still more abundantly see, to instruct that people in the knowledge of good things to come, in the times of the new and the better covenant. Leba- L. VIII. COULD IT WELL HAVE BEEN OTHERWISE. 425 non and its cedars'*, Sharon and its flocks ^ the call of Abraham % the Exodus^, the trials and deliverances of Israel in the wilderness % the city of Jerusalem with its gates and walls and bul- warks*^, the house of the Lord on the mountains of Zion^, the thronging worshippers ^ the camels and the mules with which they journeyed', the first- fruits ^ the rams and the lambs' which they brought in sacrifice, the whole burnt offerings "", the fra- grant incense", the trumpet sound ° and the pealing chorus P, the priests and the Levites*!, the new moons and the Sabbaths'", all would naturally be put in requisition to pourtray the coming blessed- ness of a more expansive Israel, partakers of a mightier redemption, and worshippers in a more spiritual service \ * Hosea xiv. 5, 6, 7. *• Isaiah XXXV. 2: Ixv. 10. Ezekiel xxxiv. <= Isaiah li. 1, 2, 3. ^ Isaiah xi. 10 — 16: xUii. 1 — 3. Jer. xxiii. 5 — 8. « Isaiah iv. 5, 6 : xli. 17, 18 : lii. 11, 12. Jer. xxxi. 8, 9. f Isaiah xxvi. 1, 2: xxxiii. 20: Ix. 18: Ixv. 18. e Isaiah ii. 2, 3 : Ivi. 3—8. ^ ^ech. xiv. 16. • Isaiah Ix. 4—6. ^ i^vi. 20. i Ix. 7. m Isaiah Ivi. 7. Mai. iii. 4. " Mai. i. 11. ° Isaiah xxvii. 13. Zech. ix. 14. p Isaiah xxxv. 10. <» Isaiah Ixvi. 21. Jer. xxxiii. 19—26. Mai. iii. 3. ' Isaiah Ixvi. 23. s The following eloquent passage fully expresses the sentiments I have endeavoured to convey to the reader. It is taken from p. 218 — 220. of Mr. Bonar's Prophetical Land- marks; — "It is to the facts of events of Scripture history, the characters of Scripture pei'sonages, the records of Scrip- ture places and nations, the rites and ceremonies of Scripture 426 BUT WHY SHOULD PROMISE NOT BE L. VIII. But here we are met by reasoning like this. " The whole of this argument proceeds upon the hypothesis, that these Old Testament prophecies speak of New Testament times. Now this we cannot, in common justice to the seed of Abraham, admit. The prophets wrote for the Jews. In so doing, they used the language of reproof and worship, that we are to look for the storehouse out of which the prophets drew their figures and symbols ; and by these we must interpret all their peculiarities of style. To the events of Providence and the services of the sanctuary, under the Jewish oeconomy, the prophets seem to resort as furnish- ing materials of the only language through which they could adequately express themselves. They appropriate Jewish words and allusions ; they embody Jewish history and ordi- nances in their style, and thereby construct to themselves a peculiar language, — a rich and noble dialect, — the fullest and most beautiful, the exactest and most expressive that mortal has ever attained to. The language of heathen poets has been lauded as exquisite, and we say not but that it is worthy of uninspired men ; but it is poverty and meagreness in comj)arison with this. And why ? Not merely because they were uninspired men and pagans, but because they wanted the rich materials to which the prophets had access. Their language embodied merely the common events of life, the common objects of nature, and the fables of a puerile and unclean mythology. The prophets had all natural events to resort to and to draw from, but they had more. They had the history and the ordinances of God's people ; which history seems to have been recorded, and which ordinances seem to have been constructed, with the design of furnishing materials for a language to the prophets of Jehovah, by which they were enabled to express ideas, and declare events, which in no other way they could have succeeded in making known." L. VIII. LITERAL AS WELL AS THREATENING ? 427 threatening. No one hesitates to understand that reproof and that threatening hterally. Events have shewn that we cannot do otherwise. Why then, when words of encouragement and promise occur, are they not also to be interpreted hterally? If Zion, Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel, mean in the one case Zion, Jerusalem, Judah, and Israel, why may they not mean the same in the other ? And if so, then surely we must look onwards to some future period in the history of the tribes of Jacob, which shall satisfy the requirements of the prophetic announcements. And this without at- tempting a minuteness of literal exposition, and without even asserting, that the special terms under discussion are not on rare occasions used in another than their ordinary significance^" In reply, I will not affirm as some have done, that in the restoration from Babylon, and in the subsequent fortunes of the Jewish Church and nation, all the prophecies alleged have received an adequate accomplishment". Nor will I assert. t M'Neile, The Church and the Churches, London, 1846. p. 342, 343. Kelly, Prophetical Lectures, p. 168. Eonar, H. Prophetical Landmarks, p. 295. Bonar, A. Kedemption Drawing Nigh, p. 76, 77. " I may however suggest to my younger readers the duty of carefully separating off, and diligently studying proj^hecies which have been already fulfilled, before they enter upon speculations with regard to the future. " Eead the book of the Maccabees and other History," says Richard Baxter, (Glorious Kingdom, p. 57,) "that you may not be ignorant 428 BECAUSE THE LITERAL ISRAEL IS NOT L. VIII. as others have done^ that there are not blessings, yea, even great blessings, yet in store for Israel after the flesh. But this I am constrained to affirm, (for Scriptural precedent gives no doubtful judgment upon the point,) that Israel after the flesh is not the exclusive, nor even the main subject of the glowing predictions in question. This is the third consideration to which I desire to call your attention to day. It is one of primary of what is already done." The wisdom of such a course is obvious. Yet it is one which does not seem to have been followed even by all the writers upon prophecy. Witness Mr. Molyneux (in Israel's Future, p. 126.) applying Ezekiel xxii. 18 — 22. to the battle of Armageddon, and (in the World to Come, p. 104.) applying Joel ii. 21 — 27. to the future " local sphere" of blessedness. " There was," says Mr. Birks, when speaking of the school to which Mr. Molyneux belongs, " a natural recoil from the prevalent doctrine which had proscribed the study of unfulfilled prophecy as useless and dangerous. But the correction of this error led, in many cases, to an opposite extreme. Many seemed to fancy, that a prophecy, when fulfilled, had lost nearly all its power to instruct or benefit the Church. The office of warning and guidance as to the future was clearly at an end. The use, as evidence, of revealed truth might appear superfluous in proportion to the depth of their own conviction. The higher purposes which it might still answer were overlooked or for- gotten. Fulfilled prophecies, as if the precious extract of warning and counsel had been separated and passed away, were thrust down to a place of secondary importance. And hence a natural tendency to transfer as many predictions as possible into the class of unaccomplished prophecies, which might thus be still available for the guidance of the Church." Elements of Sacred Prophecy, p. 423, 424. L. VIII. THE MAIN SUBJECT OF PROPHECY : 429 importance, and requires full explanation. Let me therefore remind you of the distinction which always existed between the nation of the Jews, and the holy seed which was the substance thereof: or, in other words, between the carnal and the spiritual seed of Abraham. The nation of the Jews consisted of all the carnal posterity of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It went by the name of Israel. But within its larger circle was contained a smaller company ^ That company was the invisible or mystical " " Answerably unto this twofold end of the separation of Abraham, there was a double seed allotted unto him. A seed according to the flesh, separated to the bringing forth of the Messiah, according unto the flesh : and a seed accord- ing to the promise, that is, such as by faith should have interest in the promise, or all the elect of God. Not that these two seeds were always subjectively diflferent But sometimes the same seed came under different considerations, being the seed of Abraham both according to the flesh and according to the promise ; and sometimes the seed itself was different, those according to the flesh not being of the pro- mise, and so on the contrary Multitudes afterwards were of the carnal seed of Abraham, and of the number of the people separated to bring forth the Messiah in the flesh ; and yet were not of the seed according to the promise, because they did not personally believe, as our Apostle declares, chapter iv. of this Epistle. And many afterwards, who were not of the carnal seed of Abraham in the flesh, were yet designed to be made his spiritual seed by faith ; that in them he might become heir of the world, and that all nations of the earth might be blessed in him. Now it is evident that the Church to whom the promises are made, doth consist of them who by faith are interested in the covenant of Abraham, whether they be of the carnal seed or not. And herein lay 430 FOR WITHIN THE LIMITS OF THE NATION L. VIII. church. It comprised all those who were " not of the chcumcision only, but who also walked in the steps of that faith of their father Abraham, which he had yet being uncircumcised^" And it also was called by the name of Israel. Did time permit, I might prove this statement to be true by an independent citation of Old Testament passages'. But it is the less needful to do so, because the Holy Ghost has in the ninth, tenth, and eleventh of Romans at once affirmed the existence from earliest days^ of this distinction between the nation and the church, and sanc- tioned the double application of the name common to them both. Now Prophecy was undoubtedly charged by the great mistake of the Jews of old, in which they are followed by their posterity unto this day. They thought that no more was needful to interest them in the covenant of Abraham, but that they were his seed according to the flesh." Owen on the Hebrews, Preliminary Exercitation VI. §. 4, 5. y Rom. iv. 12. * See, for example. Psalms 1. Ixxiii. and cxxv. in each of which the inner Israel, distinct from the ungodly belonging to the nation, is clearly discernible. See also Psalm xxii. 22, 23. as compared with Heb. ii. 11, 12, where the " seed of Jacob" and " seed of Israel" are identified with " the Church" of the "sanctified." See again, Ps. li. 17, 18: cxxx: in both of which (as also in Psalms xxv. 22 : cxxxi. 3.) there seem to be incontrovertible marks of a spiritual Zion and Jerusalem as well as Israel, even in David's days. So that Alexander is right when he affirms, that this is a primary and not a meta- phorical usage of the terms in question. See note on p. 418. 2 Rom. xi. 1 — 5. L. VIII. WAS INCLUDED A SPIRITUAL SEED : 431 Jehovah with messages of remonstrance and warn- ing to the nation, both in its state before Jeroboam's revolt, and after''. Trace its progress from the days of Moses downwards, and you will find that this was a principal part of the work committed to its hands. And terrible as its denunciations were at the beginning, they only became more emphatic still, as the obduracy of the people was more strikingly manifested. Yet both remonstrance and warning were in vain. "They mocked the mes- sengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy"." But what of "the remnant according to the election of grace ?" Of them it is affirmed, that they sighed and they cried for all the abominations that were done in the midst of Jerusalem*^. Nor was it merely for the affi'ont thus offered to Jehovah that they mourned. Their fondest affec- tions, their most hallowed memories, their most cherished anticipations, all were bound up with Jerusalem, its temple, its priesthood, and its sacri- fices. With profoundest grief they heard tidings, and witnessed symptoms of the approaching deso- lations of Zion ; for they could scarcely conceive of any thing else than that the church would perish in the destruction of the nation. *» See Davison, Discourses on Prophecy, Discourse vi. Part i. p. -230—244. "= 2 Chron. xxxvi, 16. ^ Ezek. ix. 4. 432 FOR WHICH PROPHECY WAS CHARGED L. VIII. Had prophecy no message for this Israel also ? Yes truly ; as the voice of warning to Israel after the flesh waxed sterner and yet more stern, so did the voice of promise to Israel after the Spirit speak in tones of increasingly abundant and rich con- solation. I need not labour to establish this point. For it must be most plain to every one who peruses the prophetic booiis with attention. But in what, we may be asked, did that comfort consist ? It consisted, we reply, partly in promises of returning bliss on the restoration from Babylon ; partly in a more full revelation of the person, offices, and work of that long-expected Messiah, who must next appear® ; partly in the opening out e " This was a time in which true faith wanted the comfort of future hopes. The present state was dark and gloomy, the lovingkindness of the Lord was hid from his people, and they saw nothing but tokens of anger and displeasure on every side : in this time therefore God thought fit to give more and plainer intimations of his purpose to establish the kingdom of righteousness, than ever had been given before from the days of Adam. Now was it that the seed in whom all nations were to be blessed was manifestly described ; that the time and place of his birth were appointed; his great work, his glories, and his sufferings were foretold. Now was it that God taught his people plainly to expect a new covenant, a better than that made with their fathers : in a word, now was it that all eyes were opened to look for his coming who was to be the glory of Israel ; the desire of all nations ; a light to lighten the Gentiles." Bp. Sherlock on Prophecy, Discourse vi. p. 170. L. VIII. TO PROVIDE RICHEST CONSOLATION. 433 beyond of a new and glorious vista of hope to his Church ^ These spiritual mourners were assured, that the overthrow of the nation would issue in the greater exaltation of the Church^. No lono-er confined o ' See Davison, Discourses on Prophecy, Discourse vi. Part ii. and especially p. 268, 209, 281, 282, 283. "How can we think," that profound writer says at p. 282, " that such scenes of ruin and confusion, such times of perplexity and dismay, were not afflicting to the minds of the good and faithful servants of God, few as they might be, who, if not involved in the actual suffering, could not escape the doubt and disquietude of feeling attached to the mysterious course of Providence which was before them? In the ftice of these troubles the evangelical prophecy was interposed. It ojiened new resources of hope to the faithful servant of God. When the first covenant was in its wane, the light of Prophecy was augmented. And it was augmented in all those respects in which the faith of religious minds required the greatest support, viz. in the promise of a better covenant; in dis- coveries of God's unchangeable purpose of mercy ; and the prospect of a future state of life and immortality ; — a con- formity of prophecy to the exigencies of religion, which speaks for itself in its wise and merciful adaptation. Prophecy began at the first to remedy the dark and desolate state of nature. It now furnished the like remedy to the dark and desolate state of the existing dispensation of Revealed Religion." s " For these and other consequent offences, Israel as a nation was to be rejected, and deprived of its pre-eminence. But in so doing God would not cast off' his people. The promises to Israel, considered as the people of Jehovah, should endure to the body of believers, the remnant according to the election of grace. These were in fact from the be- ginning the true Israel, the true seed of Abraham, the Jews who were Jews inwardly. In these the continued existence of the Church should be secured and perpetuated, first witliin Ff 434 OF THAT CONSOLATION L. VIII. within the limits of one carnal descent, and one territorial habitation, the Israel of God should " lengthen her cords, and strengthen her stakes ; for she should break forth on the right hand and on the left ; and her seed should inherit the Gentiles, and make the desolate cities to be inhabited V This accession to her ranks should be great and rapid'. The blindest of idolaters, the greatest of monarchs, people in short of every grade and every race, should crowd her courts^ Nor should one single vestige of her former pupillage remain'. Her gates should be open continually to the free ingress of her spiritual children of every land". To them the King, the Lord of hosts, would manifest the full glory of his grace without the the limits of the outward Israel, and then by the accession of believing Gentiles to the spiritual Israel. When the fulness of time should come for the removal of the temporary and restrictive institutions of the old oeconomy, that change should be so ordered as not only to effect the emancipation of the Church from ceremonial bondage, but at the same time to attest the divine disapprobation of the sins committed by the carnal Israel throughout their history. While these had every thing to fear from the approaching change, the spiritual Israel had every thing to hope, — not only the con- tinued existence of the Church, but its existence under a more spiritual, free, and glorious dispensation, to be ushered in by the appearance of that Great Deliverer, towards whom the ceremonies of the law all pointed." Alexander, Intro- duction to the Later Prophecies, p. 566, 567. h Isaiah liv. 2, 3. * Isaiah Ixvi. 7, 8, 12, 20. k Isaiah xlv. 16 : xlix. 7, 12, 22, 23. 1 Isaiah Ixv. 17. ■" Isaiah Ix. 10, 11: Ixii. 10. L. Vlll. GOSPEL BLESSINGS WERE THE THEME. 435 intervention of shadowy ordinances". Only within her precincts should salvation be found °. Her offspring should be eternally secure p; all else should utterly perish''. Nor should this new and enlarged blessedness pass away^ The new cove- nant would be as enduring as that which it super- seded was transitory ^ And as the covenant en- dured, so should they continue who were partners in its benefits*. "As the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain''." And, finally, was a pledge re- quired that all these things should surely come to pass ? The deliverance of Israel from Babylon at once supplied that pledge, and added another splendid illustration to the treasures of prophetic imagery\ " Isaiah xxxiii. 17: Ivii. 19. ° Isaiah Ix. 2: Ixvi. 13. p Isaiah liv. 17 : Ixii. 12. i Isaiah Ix. 12. r Isaiah Hv. 9, 10. ' Isaiah Ixv. 17—23. * Jer. xxxiii. 17, 18. " Isaiah Ixvi. 22. ^ " To excite attention to these spiritual predictions, more obscure than the other, and regarding events more remote, care was taken to secure the authority of the prophet by the completion of the civil predictions in events distinctly de- scribed and near at hand Thus... their prophet, Isaiah, might reasonably expect to find credit with them, for the glorious things predicted by him of the great Deliverer, the Messiah; when their deliverance from the Babylonish cap- tivity was seen so certainly to verify his prediction of that event. The prophet himself exults in this argument, as decisive and unanswerable. 'Behold,' says he in the text, Ff2 436 so THAT THREATENING AND PROMISE L. VIII. Such was, I firmly believe, the true burden of Old Testament prophecy, as originally addressed to the seed of Abraham. It spake in voice of warning to Israel the nation — it spake in voice of (Isaiah xlii. 9.) ' the former things are come to pass,' i. e. the pi'ophecies I have clehvered to you concerning your redemp- tion from the Assyrian bondage, will soon be so exactly com- pleted, that I regard them as things past ; and therefore new things do I declare; hence I claim your belief of other pro- phecies, concerning a much greater redemption, to take place hereafter, though there be no appearance, as yet, of any causes tending to produce it: 'for before they spring forth, I tell you of them.'" Hurd, on the Prophecies, v. i. p. 131, 132. It is, I think, worthy of enquiry, whether the principle thus enunciated may not account for that often-cited passage, Jer. xxxi. 38 — 41. That the chapter in general refers to ' Gospel times, seems to be proved by the quotation of v. 15, in Matt. ii. 17, 18, and of v. 31—34, in Heb. viii. 8—13. " How then," Pre-Millennarians ask, " do you explain the closing verses of the chapter with their minutely literal marks?" I reply, that those verses, and with them verses 23 and 24, predict the nearer restoration from Babylon as a pledge of the more remote and infinitely greater Gospel blessings described in v. 1 — 14, and reserved for the mourners in Zion in Gospel days. A similar pledge is observable in chapter xxxiii. 10 — 14, only there it is placed before, not after, the prediction of matchless spiritual bounties contained in v. 15 — 26. If it be objected, tbat in Jer. xxxi. 40, the woi'ds " for ever" exclude the idea of that destruction of Jerusalem which, on this hypothesis, did actually supervene; the answer may well be, that the term " for ever" points to the duration of the Mosaic oeconomy, which did, as we know, last 500 years after the restoration, nor ever again while it lasted were the Jews removed. See note k on page 285, 286. Such may be the true exposition of the passage. Others, however, Gill among the number, spiritualize it throughout. L. VIII. ARE CONCURRENTLY FULFILLED : 437 consolation to Israel the Church ^ The warnings truly to the nation have been fulfilled, or are still fulfilling : and with equal certainty the promises y This fact will fully explain, without the necessity of a personal reign of Christ upon earth and an eternal possession of the land of Canaan by the Jewish nation, such alternations of promise and threatening as are observable in the chapters of Isaiah cited by Mr. Birks, (Outlines, p. 263 et seq.) namely ii — iv; viii — xii; xxiv — xxviii. " To an attentive reader," says Professor Lee, " it will appear, that two parties among the Jews are constantly addressed ; one, against which threatenings are denounced, and which we generally find executed : another, to which promises of blessings both spiritual and temporal are made ; and these we see as invariably realized. In inter- preting the prophets, therefore, we must never lose sight of these distinctions : a little care will always enable us to dis- cover to which of these parties their admonitions are directed ; and, when this is ascertained, we must interpret accordingly. Instances are to be found, I know, in which the transitions are rapid ; but when we are apprized of this, and have been sufficiently accustomed to their mode of writing, no difficulty whatever will arise from it. The order usually taken is, to commence with threats against the disobedient ; and, when these have been delivered, then to turn to the better part, and to afford them the consolations which have always been annexed to true religion. An example of this may be found in the first chapter of Isaiah. The whole book itself too is of this sort : the first thirty-nine chapters proceed generally with predictions of vengeance, with a few instances of pro- mises interspersed ; the last twenty-seven are more particu- larly chai'ged with blessings for the believers, occasionally also interspersed with thi'eatenings." Sermons and Disser- tations: Diss, ii, §. 2, p. 250, 251. Nor may it be affirmed that these Evangelical prospects were too remote to minister effectual solace ; for they filled the heart of Abraham with joy well nigh two thousand years before the incarnation of his Lord; John viii. 56: Heb. xi. 13. 438 THAT PROMISE BEING THE HERITAGE L. VIII. to the Church have been accomplished, or are still accomplishing ^ I might now adduce a Scriptural precedent which seems to me fully to justify this opinion. But before so doing, I would proceed one step further still. I would have you observe, that though it so happened, by appointment of God, that the first recipients of these sacred consolations of prophecy were children of the stock of Abraham, yet were they thus favoured in virtue not of their carnal but of their spiritual descent. Hence it follows, and this is the fourth point to which I would call your attention, that their only true representatives in these latter days are such, as are, like them, partakers of the faith of their father Abraham, which he had yet being uncircumcised, even though they be not circumcised themselves \ Nor can such do amiss when they take to them- selves, not as a temporary loan, but as a rightful heritage, and a perpetual possession, the many glorious things which are spoken of the prophetic Israel, Jerusalem, and Zion^. For the Holy ^ For more upon the prophecies addressed to Israel the nation, see Appendix, Note 0 : and for more upon those addressed to Israel the Church, see Appendix, Note KK. a Eom. iv. 11. *" " This doth and must determine the difference between the Jews and Christians, about the promises of the Old Testament. They are all made unto the church. No indi- vidual person hath any interest in them, but by virtue of his membership with the church. This church is, and always L. VIII. OF THE ENTIRE MYSTICAL CHURCH, 439 Ghost did, under these names, speak not of the Jewish remnant as opposed, on the one hand to the merely carnal posterity of Abraham, and on the other hand to the Gentile converts ; but of the entire mystical church, including, on terms of perfect equality, believing Jew and Gentile alike. So much so, that these terms, as applied by the ancient seers to Gospel times, exclude the vast majority of the Jewish people, while they include a countless multitude of sinners of the Gentiles. I know well that this view of prophecy, as speaking under these Hebrew names to the church of all lands and all generations, will provoke the indignant remonstrance of many an ardent Mil- y^ lennarian. He has been wont to regard the Jew with an almost religious veneration. He has looked upon him as being, in virtue of his carnal descent, the one distinguished object of Jehovah's was, one and the same. With whomsoever it remains, the promises are theirs : and that not hy appUcation or analogy, but directly and properly. They belong as immediately at this day, either to the Jews or Christians, as they did of old to any. The question is, ' with whom is this church founded on the promised seed in the covenant?' This is Zion, Jerusalem, Israel, Jacob, the temple of God. The Jews plead that it is with them, because they are the children of Abi'aham according to the flesh : Christians tell them, that their privilege on this account. was of another nature, and ended with the coming of the Messiah. That the church unto whom all the promises belong, are only those who are heirs of Abraham's faith ; believing as he did, and thereby interested in his covenant." Owen, Exercitation VI. §. 8. 440 THE ONE GRAND OBJECT L. VIII. favour. To him then we appear to be guilty of veriest sacrilege, when we claim on behalf of the believing Gentiles an equal, nay, in some respects, an exclusive, right in promises originally spoken in the ears of their Jewish brethren. '* I cannot," such an one would say, " forbid you to borrow, and to make use of, the resplen- dent prophecies of Isaiah. They are obviously capable of a spiritual application. Nor can it be wrong to make that application, while the Jew is yet a stranger to the true Messiah. But I must insist upon it, that it is merely by favour that you are permitted so to do. The promises belong indeed to a spiritual Israel. But that spiritual Israel is distinguished from the rest of the church by its carnal descent. The day is coming when it shall no longer be a remnant of the tribes of Jacob. The Messiah shall soon appear. Then shall ' all Israel be saved.' And then, and not till then, shall the prophecies you so unscrupulously usurp, receive, in the Millennial glories of ai,i Israel at once exclusively literal and strictly spi- ritual, their destined accomplishment." But let me ask the objector to pause, and to enquire of Holy Writ whether his cherished opinions with regard to the Jew are founded in fact. Has not the mystical church been from the beginning one and indivisible ? Let the eleventh chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews bear witness L. VIII. OF Jehovah's peculiar love, 441 to this truth. " These all died in faith," is the one significant record in which inspiration has em- balmed the memory of all its members from Abel dowiiw^ards. Nor, as I have in a previous dis- course had occasion to remark*", did the holy temple undergo any essential change, when, for a special purpose, it pleased God for a season to confer peculiar privileges upon the natural pos- terity of Abraham. Still were they only true members of the mystical church who partook of that faith which constituted him the father of all them that beheve. And so it is now*^. Now this church of the firstborn has been from the very beginning the one grand object of Jehovah's peculiar love. He chose its members, every one of them, in Christ, before time was. He purposes to glorify them all with Christ when time shall be no more. Nor have they ever been <= Lecture IV. p. 141. ^ " It is the positive side of the matter, that the Apostle seeks to bring out (in Romans iv.): his object is to manifest how far the spiritual element in the promise reaches : [it comprehended all the children of faith wherever they mio-ht be found, — as well the children of faith apart from the law, as the children of faith imder the law.] But at another stage, in chap. ix. 6 — 13, he exhibits with equal distinctness the negative side ; he shews how the same spiritual element excludes from the promised seed all, even within the cor- poreal descent, and the outward legal boundary, who at any j^eriod did not possess the faith and righteousness of Abraham." Fairbairn, Rev. P. The Typology of Scripture, Edinburgh, 1854, vol. i. p. 412. 442 AND THE CONSTANT SUBJECT L. VIII. absent from his mind since time began to run its course". Immediately that Adam fell, was the foundation of all their hopes laid in the primaeval promise of redemption. And each successive communication of the divine will only served to make those hopes more clear, more definite, more tangible. The very election of Israel after the flesh was subservient to the interests of the Church. For example, it pointed out both the source and the nature of the salvation of God. It pointed out its source ; for it declared how it was first in the seed of Abraham, and then in the house of David, that all the families of the earth should be blessed. It pointed out its nature. For what were the emancipation from Egypt, the passage through the Red Sea, the wilderness journey, the pillar of cloud and of fire, the high priest with his breastplate of precious stones, the tabernacle, the scape-goat, the jubile trumpet ; — what, I say, were all these events, and persons, and days, and rites, but types of good things to come in store for the church, even for the church extending to remotest ages'? And is it likely that if this were the burden of patriarchal revelation, if this were the sum of the Mosaic institutions themselves. Prophecy should confine itself to matters of inferior moment ? « See Appendix to this volume, Note T. ' See for more uj)on the typical character of Israel, Appendix, Note LL. L. Vin. OF DIVINE COMMUNICATION. 443 Then certainly were Prophecy the only discordant strain in all the Scripture melodies^. For Apostle and Evangelist alike took up the song, — nor did the beloved disciple himself refuse to join in the concert of their sacred harmonies, as he also abundantly chaunted the earthly fortunes and the heavenly triumphs of the Bride the Lamb's wife. But it is not so. Prophecy offends not thus; for with fulness and clearness increasing as the time of the promise drew nigh*", it sings how K For even the historical portions of the sacred volume treat still of one and the same subject. " What," says Mr. Bonar, "do we find in Scripture history? Its grand subject is, the corporate history of the church of Christ. We say corporate history, or history of the church as a body, because although we are presented with many individual charactei's, yet these are generally set before us, as repre- sentatives of the church at that period to which they belong ; and the whole bearing of the narrative is upon the history of the church as a body, its origin and progress, its different stages and dispensations, its straitenings and enlargings, and, above all, its connection with one mighty Personage, who is most mysteriously brought in at every turn, as the centre-point round which all seems to revolve." Prophetical Landmarks, p. 197. ^ " The subjects of Prophecy varied. Whilst it was all directed to one general design, in the evidence and support of religion, there was a diversity in the administration of the Spirit, in respect of that design. In Paradise, it gave the first hope of a Redeemer. After the Deluge, it established the peace of the natural world. In Abraham, it founded the double covenant of Canaan and the Gospel In the age of the Law, it spoke of the Second Prophet, and foreshadowed in types the Christian doctrine, but foretold most largely the future state of the selected people, who were placed under 444 THE FIFTY-FOURTH OF ISAIAH L. VIII. Christ loved the church, how Christ gave himself for it, how Christ nourisheth and cherisheth it here, how Christ will present it to himself a glorious church hereafter. But it is time that I should adduce Scriptural authority for my more recent statements. You will find a very striking proof of their general correctness in the fifty-fourth of Isaiah, as opened by St. Paul in the fourth of Galatians. There we read, at the twenty-fifth verse, " Jerusalem which now is, is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written. Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not ; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not : for the desolate hath that preparatory dispensation. In the time of David it re- vealed the Gospel kingdom, with the promise of the temporal. In the days of the later Prophets, it presignified the changes of the Mosaic covenant, embraced the history of the chief Pagan kingdoms, and completed the annunciation of the Messiah and his work of redemption. After the captivity, it gave a last and more urgent information of the approaching advent of the Gospel. Thus ancient Prophecy ended as it had begun. The first discovery of it in Paradise, and tlie conclusion of it in the hook of Malachi, are directed to one imint. In its course it had multiplied its disclosures, and furnished various succours to religion, and erected an authentic record of God's providence and moral govei-nment to be committed to the "world. But its earliest and its latest use was in. the preparatory revelation of Christianity. It remains as the general inference to be deduced from the whole, that the Holy Jesus, and his religion, are the one principal object of Prophecy, the beginning and the end of the elder revelation of God.'' Davison on Prophecy, Dis- course vi. Part iv. p. 348, 349. L. VIII. AS EXPOUNDED BY ST. PAUL 445 many more children than she which hath an husband." Notice here, in the first place, that the apostle recognizes the existence of a spiritual as distinct fi'om the carnal Jerusalem. Observe, in the second place, that he declares this fifty-fourth of Isaiah to be addressed to the former and not to the latter. Notice, in the third place, that he includes Gentile as well as Jewish believers within the pale of that heaven-born city. Was I not then certainly guided by Scriptural precedent, when, abandoning the rule of universal literalism in the interpretation of Old Testament Prophecy, 1 invited you to recognize in the words of comfort addressed to the spiritual Israel of former ages the rightful heritage of their only lawful representatives, the mystical church of Gospel times ? And truly a rich storehouse of instruction and comfort is thus opened for the use of the people of God'. The union that is betwixt Christ and • Professor Alexander gives the following summary of the contents of Isaiah liv. " Instead of suffering from the loss of her national prerogatives, the Church shall be more glorious and productive than before, v. 1. Instead of being limited to a single nation, she shall be so extended as to take in all the nations of the earth, vers. 2, 3. What seemed at first to be her forlorn and desolate condition, shall be followed by a glorious change, v. 4. He who seemed once to be the God of the Jews only, shall now be seen to be the God of the Gentiles also, v. 5. The abrogation of the old oeconomy was like the repudiation of a wife, but its effects will shew it to be rather a renewal of the conjugal relation, 446 FULLY JUSTIFIES THIS VIEW L. VIII. his Church," — *'thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name ;" — the unchangeableness of his love, — " this is as the waters of Noah unto me : for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth ; so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee ;" — the anointings of his Spirit, — " all thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children ;" — all these, and many more exceeding great and pre- cious promises crowd upon our minds as we read this wonderful chapter. How much more when we pass on to kindred and yet more resplendent prophecies ! For I might easily adduce other examples. I might shew, on the same divine authority, that as, in prophecy, Christ is spoken of as David^, — and V. 6. The momentary rejection shall he followed by an everlasting reconciliation, v. 7, 8. The old oeconomy like Noah's flood can never be repeated or renewed, v. 9. That was a temporary institution ; this shall outlast the earth itself, V. 10. The old Jerusalem shall be forgotten in the splendour of the new, v. 11, 12. But this shall be a spiritual splendour, springing from a constant divine influ- ence, V. 13. Hence it shall also be a holy and a safe state, V. 14. All the enemies of the Church shall either be de- stroyed, or received into her bosom, v. 15. The warrior and his weapons ai'e alike God's creatures, and at his disposal, v. 16. In every contest, both of hand and tongue, the Church shall be triumphant, not in her own right or her own strength, but in that of Him who justifies, pi'otects, and saves her, v. 17." J Jer. XXX.9. Ezek. xxxiv. 23, 24 : xxxvii. 24, 25. Hoseaiii. 5. L. VIII. OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY. 447 will any one deny that he is ? — so has many a correlative term'' of Old Testament history^ a corresponding prophetic significance. Perhaps however, I have said enough to convince you, that we do not altogether proceed without warrant of Holy Scripture, when we contend, that as the pro- mised Redeemer is a principal figure on the prophetic canvass, so also the company of his redeemed, without whom (with reverence be it spoken) Christ himself were incomplete, is a subject, and a main subject likewise, of Old Testa- ment Prophecy. ^ Thus, for "house of Israel and house of Judah" see Jer. xxxi. 31. as expounded in Heb. viii. 8. and x. 14 — -17 : — for " seed of Jacob and seed of Israel" see Ps. xxii. 22, 23. as expounded in Heb. ii. 11, 12 : — for " tabernacle of David " see Amos ix. 11, 12. as expounded in Acts xv. 14 — 17: — for " Zion " see Psalm ii. 6, 7. as expounded in Acts xiii. 33, 34. ^ I may be permitted to introduce here a few words on 2 Thess. ii. 4 : — " But, what is this temple of God ? The temple at Jerusalem, it will be said ; the only temple, so called, then subsisting in the world. Admit this to be the literal sense of the words. Yet ye remember so much of what hath been said concerning the prophetic style, as not to think it strange, that the literal sense should involve in it another, a mystical meaning. And this, without any uncertainty what- soever. For so, the term Jew, means a Christian ; the term David, means Christ: the incense of the temple service means the prayers of Christians ; plainly and confessedly so in numberless instances. Agreeably to this analogical use of Jewish terms, in the style of the prophets, the temple of God, nay, the temple of Jerusalem, (if that had been the expression,) must, in all reason, be interpreted of the Christian Church, and could not, in the prophetic language, be interpreted otherwise." Hurd on the Prophecies, vol. ii. p. 158, 159. 448 NOR DO ITS PREDICTIONS BELONG L. VIII. Nor, in the fifth place, will Scriptural precedent justify our referring all that was then predicted concerning the Church to times still future. That very fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah, which has just passed under review, speaks of present Gospel times. " Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written. Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not"." In hke manner the Lord Jesus himself, quoting the sixty-first of Isaiah, says, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears"." And St. Paul again, quoting the forty-ninth chapter of the same prophet, — a chapter, you will remember, in which, among many glowing predictions, these words occur, " kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers," — St. Paul, I say, quoting this chapter, emphatically says, " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation"." Nay more, in the fifteenth chapter of his epistle to the Romans, he so cites the eleventh chapter of Isaiah ?, as to leave the im- pression that it was being, even then, accomplished in the conversion of the Gentiles to God. And what is the eleventh of Isaiah ? The very chapter which tells of that rod out of the stem of Jesse, and that branch out of his roots, under whose auspicious sway the wolf should dwell with the lamb, and the leopard should he down with the » Gal. iv. 26, 27. " Luke iv. 21. ° 2 Cor. vi. 2. P Rom. XV. 12. L. VIII. TO A PERIOD STILL FUTURE. 449 kid, and the sucking child should play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child should put his hand on the cockatrice den. " But are not," it is asked, " these things ex- pressly said to belong to *the last days'? Thus, for example, is it not written in the second of Isaiah, 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow unto if^'V In answer to this, it will be enough to remind you, that the term " the last days" is in the Scriptures employed to denote the Gospel age. Thus Peter, on the day of Pentecost, expounds the third of Joel after this sort, " This is that 1 Isaiab ii. 2. " The phrase, D'^^*n n'^'ins, which in itself signifies, remote future time indefinitely, has, in the pi'ophets, a more determinate reference ; viz. to the last period of the divine dispensations, the time of the Christian oeconomy. Comp. Jer. xxiii. 20; xxx. 23; Dan. x. 14; Hos. iii. 5. Hence the current Jewish interpretation, ' the days of Messiah,' — the time when he should appear, and during which his kingdom should endure." Henderson. Similarly Mr. Birks; (Elements of Sacred Prophecy, p. 153.) "The evident conclusion from the whole is, that the phrase denotes simply future days, or times to come, but that some degree of remoteness or distance is also commonly implied. TJiere is no ivarrant lohatever in Scripture for restricting it to the time of the second Advent.''' And again, (p. 278.) " The expression ' latter times' has nothinrf to fix it to the very end of the dispensation, but rather the reverse." G g 450 OUR PRINCIPLE PRESERVES INVIOLATE L. VIII. which was spoken by the prophet : — And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy V In like manner Paul to the Hebrews thus writes, " God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the pro- phets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son V Let us now pause for a moment, and review the path which we have trodden. f We began by the assertion, too plain of itself to require lengthened proof, that in matters of detail an universal literalism cannot possibly be observed in the interpretation of Old Testament Prophecy. We then proceeded to affirm, that such a literalism cannot be maintained even with regard to those more distinguished names of Israel, Zion, and Jerusalem, which so frequently present themselves to the reader of the inspired record. In the third place we alleged, that there is ground for believing that the Israel to whom words of consolation are so abundantly addressed, is not the carnal posterity of Abraham, but his spiritual seed, weighed down as it was by grief at ■• Acts ii. 16, 17. s Heb. i. 1, 2. See also 1 Tim. iv. I : 2 Tim. iii. 1: 1 Peter i. 20 : 2 Peter iii. 3 : 1 John ii. 18 : as expounded by Mede, in his 'Apostasy of the Latter Times,' chapter xi. Works, p. 806. L. VIII. THE COMPLETENESS AND CONTINUITY 451 the judgments impending over the land of their nativity. We then proceeded to shew, that those words of consolation very probably pourtray the blessedness of the only true representatives of that remnant according to the election of grace, namely, the mystical church, not of one country, or of one generation, but of all lands, and of all ages. Lastly, we declared, that, this being the case, their fulfilment is to be sought for in the present and not in any future dispensation. We cannot, in fact, express the conclusions to which we have come more appropriately or more con- cisely than in the words of our text ; — " Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have like- wise foretold of these days." I might now adduce collateral arguments of weight which combine to fortify our position. Thus, for example, it is strongly in favour of the soundness of our opinion, that it preserves inviolate that completeness and continuity of the prophetic subject which the Pre-Millennial expo- sition so effectually destroys'. On the Pre-Millennial hypothesis, the ancient seers conduct us step by step up to the first coming of the Messias, and then abruptly ter- minate their disclosures, only to resume the thread of their information after the lapse of at least eighteen centuries. On the same hypothesis those *■ See opening of Lecture III, p. 82, 83. Gg2 452 OF THE PROPHETIC SUBJECT : L. VIII. inspired penmen pourtray, with an exact appre- ciation of the relative importance of every otlier part of the series, the person, the offices, and the work of Messiah himself, and then most strangely leave that next greatest, that comple- mentary phgenomenon, the rise and progress of the holy Church throughout the world, entirely unrepresented on their prophetic page. Not so on the hypothesis which I have sub- mitted to your notice to day. Here all is con- tinuous, all is complete. Prophecy maintains an unbroken course even to the end, and bestows upon the Church all the attention that her dignity as the spouse of Christ demands". " " It will not be thought incredible, that, if Jesus be indeed the end of the prophetic scheme, the revolutions of his government should be foretold, as well as the circumstances of his personal appearance : in other words, that the consum- mation of that design, ivhich Providence toas carrying on, woidd not he overlooked, when the steps and gradations of it icere so distinctly noted. For, in any reasonable design whatsoever, the end is first and principally in view, though the means engage, and may seem to engross, the attention of its author. It will then, I say, be no surprise to us to find, that Prophecy set out with announcing the kingdom of the Messiah ; that it never lost sight of that future ceconomy ; and only produced it into clearer view, as the season approached for the introduction of it" Kurd's Introduction, Sermon V. vol. i. p. 133, 134. "In conclusion I observe, that the actual state of Prophecy, on this head, has a singular agreement with the whole nature and design of Christianity. It is plain that nothing ever ivas so important to mankind as Christianity, if it be true; nothing so ivorthy to he foretold, nothing so fit to he made the subject of an L. Vlir. IS SANCTIONED BY THE APOSTLES : 453 But more than this : the principle for which I contend, has been stamped with the seal of directly inspired authority. It has been applied, and that by the first heralds of the Gospel themselves, to a very large and a very important class of Old Testament prophecies. For they inform us, that many of the passages which Pre-Millennarians adduce as evidence of a future personal reign, have received their accomplishment in that pre- sent spiritual kingdom of Jesus, of which the New Testament so largely treats. This however is a matter which was brought before you at length in a previous lecture "". Nor does our theory of prophetic inter- pretation fail us, when, encouraged by such autho- rities, we proceed to apply it to predictions which might be expected to speak of the subordinate details of Messiah's Gospel kingdom. For I might point out (and it is a branch of the enquiry which will afford you an highly inte- resting subject for private meditation,) how those early and continued course of prediction. Well ; it had the fore- most place in the prophetic revelations ; it was the oldest subject, and the latest and the most frequently revived. There is in this general congruity of Prophecy with the pre-eminent import- ance of the Gospel subject, a moral evidence in favour both of the Gospel and of the whole Prophetic revelation, which I leave to the reflection of every impartial mind to pursue to its just consequences." Davison, Discourse viii. p. 899. ^ Lecture III. 454 AND DOES NOT FAIL WHEN APPLIED L. VIII. predictions actually do most graphically tell the spiritual history of the mystical church ^ The finished work of Christ", the proclamation of the Gospel % the out-pouring of the Spirit^, the new-creation of the soul", personal conviction of sin*^, personal faith in Christy justification by the blood*^ and righteousness^ of God's incarnate y " What less have we in the smgle book of Isaiah, than the scheme of the Gospel and the establishment of it unfolded ? The mission of Christ into the world ; his original Divine Nature ; his supernatural birth in his in- carnation ; his work of mercy, and his kingdom of righteous- ness ; his humiliation, sufferings, and death ; the sacrifice of atonement for sin made by his death ; the effusion of the gifts and grace of the Holy Spirit ; the enlarged propagation of his religion; the persecutions of it; the moral characters of it ; the blindness and incredulity of the Jewish people in the rejection of it; the adoption of the Gentile world into the church and people of God ; the peace of the righteous in death, and the triumph and victory of God's mercy in behalf of man over death : these are things which are either so clearly revealed, or so significantly implied, in the various predictions of Isaiah, that I shall consider myself justified in expressing the structure of his Evangelical prophecy as that of a complete delineation of the Gospel subject, both in its doctrines and in its Idstonj." Davison, Discourse vi. part ii. p. 272, 273. ^ Isaiah xxv. 8 : liii. Daniel ix. 24, 26. Hosea xiii. 14. Zech, xiii. 1, 7. ^ Isaiah xxvii. 13: xl. i, 2: lii. 7: Iv: Ixvi. 19. Zech. ix. 13, 14. Ps. xcviii. 2. ^ Ps. Ixxii. 2 — 7. Isaiah xxxii. 15 — 19: xliv. 1 — 5. <: Isaiah xxix. 23 : Ix. 21 : Ixi. 3. ^ Isaiah Ivii. 15 : Ixvi. 2. Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27. e Isaiah xxvi. 3, 4 : xxxii. 17, 18 : 1. 10. Hab. ii. 4. ' Isaiah liii. 11. '^ Isaiah xiii. 21. L. VIII. TO THE DETAILS OF THIS (ECONOMY. 455 Son*', peace and joy in the Holy Ghost', freedom of access to the throne of grace "", fruitfuhiess in every good word and work^, the perpetual obli- gation of a Sabbath "", the love by which the believer is known to be Christ's disciple", the persecutions which attend his steps °, the fact that all things work together for good to him that loves God^, the pastors who watch for his soul "I, the certainty and perpetuity of the faith of God's elect ""^ and their eternal reward % all are there. And there also, as already intimated, are the ingathering of the Gentile*, the rejection of the Jew", the abolition of the ceremonial law% the destruction of Jerusalem^, and the sins which called for that most terrible vengeance of Almighty God^ ^ Isaiah xlv. 8. Jer. xxiii. 5, 6. * Jer. xxxi. 12 — 14. '' Isaiah xxx. 19 : Ixv. 24. Jer. iii. 19. 1 Isaiah Ix. 21 : Ixi. 3 : Ixv. 21—23. Mai. iii. 3, 4. ™ Isaiah Ivi. 1 — 6. n Isaiah ii. 4 : xi. 9, 13 : Ix. 18 : Ixv. 25. ° Isaiah Ixvi. 5. Zeph. iii. 12, 13. p Hosea ii. 21, 22. "J Isaiah xxx. 20, 21. Jer. iii. 15. ' Isaiah iv. 5, 6: xxxiii. 20—22: xlv. 17: liv. 9, 10: lix. 21 : Ixii. 12. Jer. xxxii. 39, 40. ' Isaiah Ii. 11 : Ivii. 2. Mai. iii. 17, 18. ' Isaiah xxv. 6, 7 : xl. 5 : xUi. 1—7 : xlv. 22—25 : Iv. 5 : Ivi. 1—8 : Ixi. 5, 6 : Ixv. 1 : Ixvi. 7, 20, 21, 23. 1 Isaiah Ixv. 11 — 15: Ixvi. 24. " Isaiah Ixv. 17, 18: Ixvi. 1 — 3. Jer. iii. 16. y Isaiah Ixiv. 10, 11 : Ixvi. 6, 15—19. ' Isaiah Ixv. 2—7, 11, 12: Ixvi. 17, 18. 456 THE MYSTERY WHICH IN OTHER AGES L. VIII. It is true that a divine key was required before we could open these sacred treasures % and bring them forth in all the varied accuracy of their beauty and their glory. But this is a further argument in our favour. For the apostle Paul expressly tells us, that the fact, that " the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of God's promise in Christ by the gospel," was " the mystery . . . which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit \" * The reader who desires to see these points brought out with learning, ability, piety, and perspicuity, will do well to procure Professor Alexander's Commentary on the Earlier and Later Prophecies of Isaiali ; which has been reprinted in one thick 8vo. volume by Professor Eadie of Glasgow. Eeference may also be made to Maclaurin's Essay on the Prophecies relating to the Messiah. '' Eph. iii. 3, 5, 6. " Non quod nemo ' Gentium voca- tionem' antea nosset, sed quod paucis manifestata fuit : quibus autem fuit manifestata, veluti Pi'ophetis, figuris taraen et obscurius significata fuit." Beza. Similarly Calvin and Whitby. It appears to me that some of my Pre-Millennarian brethren misunderstand this text. They seem to take it, that St. Paul speaks of the present ceconomy itself as being now a mystery, that is, to use the word in its popular sense, as being of a mysterious character. But what doth Scripture mean by a mystery ? It means a truth, — not necessarily obscure or difhcult of apprehension when revealed, but — requiring to be revealed before it could be even conceived of or appi*ehended. Now such a truth evidently was the admission of the Gentile to perfect equality with the Jew in the Church of God. It was a truth that required to be revealed directly from heaven. L. VIII. WAS NOT MADE KNOWN UNTO MEN. 457 Let US thank God, my brethren, that that '* better thing"" has been bestowed upon us: that the mystery has been revealed : that the day has broken, and that the shadows have fled quite away^; and that now, as he bends over the page of prophecy, each true behever may fearlessly appropriate the words, "Ye are not come unto" the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, .... but ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem*'." For indeed that Israel which is, next to the Messiah himself, the most prominent subject of those lively oracles, is not the nation of the Jews, but that one, holy, catholic, and apo- stolic church, known indeed unto God though indefinable by man, which includes believing Jew and Gentile alike within its sacred and happy precincts. But it is time that we turn. Secondly, from the subject matter to the tone of Old Testament Pro- phecy ; for from it also is drawn an extensively before even the apostles would admit it. To them then and all before them, under the ancient oeconomy, it was a mystery; and yet, even in those " ages," a mystery " made known," though in images and figures, and not in those plain and literal terms in which it was "now," at the beginning of the Gospel, made known by the Spirit to the apostles and prophets of the Evangelical Church. c Heb. xi. 40. ** Canticles ii. 6. e Heb. xii. 18, 22. 458 TONE OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY, L. VIII. influential argument on behalf of the personal reign. An appeal is made, — and a very plausible appeal it is, — from the facts around us, to the language of the very prophecies themselves which are under discussion. "What correspondence," it is asked, "is there between the church as it exists in the world, and the church as it is pictured on the pages of Isaiah ? We care not to impugn your assertion, that the company of the firstborn is abun- dantly present in the Scriptures of the prophets. We will, for argument's sake, concede that point. But this we cannot do ; we cannot recognize more than an embryo accomplishment of those Old Testament predictions, in that state of things which has existed from the beginning of the Gospel. For surely the whole tenour of prophecy does tell of a state of unmixed blessedness, such as the world has never yet beheld'. And these our convictions are only strengthened when, on a more careful examination, we discover expressions which tell of a visible glory of the Church, an universal outpouring of the Spirit among men, and a personal reign of Christ over all." Let us consider these objections severally. A due attention to Scriptural precedent will, I think, abun- dantly prove that they are by no means insuperable. And first, as to that which is drawn from the general tenour of Old Testament Prophecy. *' Greswell on the Parables, vol. i. p. 253, 253. L. VIII. THE HOLY GHOST IS WONT TO PICTURE 459 There are three facts which must, in my judg- ment, be kept in mind by all who would estimate aright the intensity of fulfilment which those sacred predictions require. The first relates to the description they give of the Church herself. It is this, that the Holy Ghost is wont to picture that Church not in her actual but in her normal condition^. s This statement of the case appears to me to be more accurately Scriptural than those of Professor Ijee and Mr. Bonar. Both these writers however, differing most widely from each other on the Millennarian question, have laid down principles well worthy of serious consideration ; prin- ciples nearly allied to that which I have enunciated above. " The last objection," says Dr. Lee, " that can be raised must be : Times like these predicted by the projihet have never been witnessed, either in the Jewish or the Christian church ; and, therefore, we must look for them at some future period, when they all shall be fully realized. I answer ... the same may be said of the predictions of Moses respecting the land of Canaan ; it was to flow with milk and honey, and so on. And yet the Jews as a nation never found any thing like this taking place. In like manner, Christianity promises to its professors 'a peace which passeth all understanding;' that they shall ' be filled with all the fulness of God;' that ' the Spirit beareth witness with them, that they are the children of God,' and so on : but, where shall we find a Christian state, church, or even family, so supremely blest ? Probably no where. Yet it is true, that Christianity has these blessings to bestow; and it is equally true, that the ways of Divine Wisdom were, even in the days of Solomon, ' ways of pleasantness and paths of peace:' and also, that the Canaan of Israel had provisions such as to bless every one of its inhabitants in a way exceeding all human expectation : but unhappily, in each case, there has been a want of faith, a defective obedience, a murmuring, unthankful, and rebellious 460 THE CHURCH NOT IN HER ACTUAL L. VIII. In her natural standing in Adam she is a com- pany of corrupt and guilty sinners, but in her supernatural standing in Christ she is even now a " partaker of the divine nature V '' accepted in spirit. The people, not the system, has been in every case to blame; although thousands of individual cases have occurred, in which the blessedness here x>romised has been experienced to a degree almost exceeding credibility. That peace, which 'passes common understandings, has been felt, confessed, and demonstrated, times innumerable ; and it is so still. Those ways of pleasantness and paths of peace have, both under the old and new dispensations, cheered tJie waning days of many a servant of the sjnritual David. They do so now, and shall do so even to the end of ti)ne. This, then, will satisfy the terms of the revelation in every case which describes the true church, — the state of true believers, and not the men generally." Sermons and Dissertations, Diss. ii. Sect. ii. p. 259, 260. " The last point upon this subject which I would notice," says Mr. Bonar, " is what may be called the filling up) of prophetical language, a point of vast importance, and the only key to the solution of many of those difficulties which have perplexed the students of Scripture. The structure of prophetic language is of such a kind, as that while describing some more particular and immediate scene, it is capable of expanding to such a compass as to embrace far more extensive scenes of a kindred nature. In the first event, the initial and fluxionary sign is given, by which all the rest may be calculated. The de- scription of the first makes known the genus; those parts of it which cannot be applied to the first, point out to us the species of the others. By means of this exquisite art and divine wisdom, the prophecy suits all ages ; every successive generation can say that it does apply in a certain degree to it; though all can see that its fulness of accomptlishment, — the sum- mation of the whole series, — is reserved for the last days." Prophetical Landmarks, p. 225, 226, 227. h 2 Peter i. 4. L. VIII. BUT IN HER NORMAL CONDITION, 461 the beloved V Of this the epistles afford frequent proof. " He hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified'':" "Ye are complete in him^ :" " He hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus™ ;" — are instances of a manner of speaking of the church which is very common there. Nor is the time far distant, when the personal shall entirely correspond to the federal standing of the people of God. Let the epistles be heard again. " You, that were sometime ahenated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight"." " Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy°." " Christ loved the church, and gave himself for it ; that he might .... present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy and without blemish p." Is it not therefore possible, nay rather probable, that many of the most glowing descriptions of the church of the living God which the prophetic writings contain, may represent her as she stands even now in the sight of Jehovah, isolated from ' Eph. i. 6. k Heb. x. 14. ' Col. ii. 10. " Eph. ii. 6. n Col. i. '21, 22. « Judo 24. p Eph. V. 25, 20, 27. 462 WHEN SPEAKING OF THE PRESENT L. VIII, the rest of mankind, perfect in her beauty through the comehness which Jesus hath put. upon her ? Is it not also possible, nay rather I will again say probable, that on other occasions prophecy, re- garding the church whether in time or eternity as one, may pass on from the mention of her present earthly pilgrimage to speak of her future heavenly glory, and that by a gradation so imperceptible as to render it difficult to point out where the one begins and the other ends''? Thus, with regard 1 And. thus do we learn the true meaning of those remark- able words in Isaiah ii. 4. " And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people : and they slaall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks : nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." " Propheta metaphorice loquutus est de regno Christi, ipsum pacificum esse ostendens, ut mutua benevolentia homines inter se conciliet. Metaphora enim frequens est Scripturis, qua res per signum desig- natur : quemadmodum in illo loco, ' Qui non habet gladium, emat.' (Luc. xxii. 36.) Christus certe nolebat sues ad arma excitare, sed belli tempus instare significabat. Ita rursum cessare dicuntur gladii, vel conflari in diversum usum, quum cessent odia, pugnfe, et inter se conciliantur qui inimici prius erant. Excipiet quispiam, in concordia et pace nullum quo- que fore gladii usum. Eespondeo, eatenus vigere inter nos paceni, quatenus floret Christi regnum : et esse his duobus mutuam inter se proportionem. ^tinam qujdem ^Ude in nobis regnaret Christus : tunc quoque pax vim suam in solidum obtineret. Sed quum longe adhuc ab- simus a perfectione pacifjci istius .regn|,.,de profectu semper cogitandum est. Ac nimis inepti sunt qui non cogitant regnum Christi hie tantummodo inchoari. Praeterea non coUigit Deus Ecclesiam, id est, csetum piorum, ut separatus sit ab aliis : sed boni malis semper admixti sunt. Quin L. VIII. AND ALSO OF THE FUTURE. 463 to their present standing in Christ, we find the people of God encouraged, in the sixty-first of Isaiah, to exult in words hke these, "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God ; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels'." Thus again, with regard to their perfect consummation and bliss in the eternal and glorious kingdom, we find the children of God to be cheered with words like these in the sixtieth chapter of the same prophet ; a chapter which begins with the terrestrial present and ends with the heavenly future^; "The sun shall be no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee : but the etiam boni nondum ad metam pertigerunt, longeque absunt ab ea perfectione quae in iis desideratur. Non est igitur in ten-is qncerendum complementum hujiis Prophetic. Satis est si initia gmtemus, et conciliati Deo per Christum, niutuam ami- )> citiam colamus, et abstineamus ab omni noxd." Calvin. See also Daniel vii. 27. as expounded Lecture II, page 74, note s. ' V. 10. s " Here, as elsewhere, the new dispensation is contrasted^, as a whole, with that before it. We are not therefore to) seek the fulfilment of the prophecy in any one period ofi history exclusively, nor to consider actual corruptions and/ afflictions as inconsistent with the splendid vision of the^ new Jerusalem presented to the prophet, not in its successive stages, but at one grand panoi'amic view." Alexander ,j preface to Isaiah Ix. 464 HE FOLLOWS a distributive plan L. VIII. Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy s^iin shall no more go down; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself: for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mom-ning shall be ended. Thy people also shall be all righteous : they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my plant- ing, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified*." But it is time that I remind you of a second important Scriptural fact. It bears upon the de- scription which prophecy gives of the terrestrial fortunes of the people of God. It is this, that the Holy Ghost follows a distributive plan'' in the t V. 19, 20, 91. "According to my own view of the pro- phet's, meaning, he here predicts the elevation of the Church to its normal or ideal state, a change of which we already see -the rudiments, however far we may be yet from its final con- Bummation." Alexander. " The following remarks of Mr. Bonar will illustrate my meaning : — " I have given the outline of the first vision [of Daniel], and this may be regarded as the general calendar comprehending all the a^est. The other visions of this pro- phet, with the exception of that of the four beasts, which is identical with that of the image, as well as those of the Apocalypse, are just parts of this great outline on a larger scale. In them certain events are introduced separately, yet so as to be exactly fitted into this great outline. There is, however, a remarkable difference between the first and second vision of Daniel, to which it may be well to advert, because in any chronological sketch these two visions must go to- gether,— the second being supplementary to the first. The first was delivered to a heathen monarch ; and in it v^'e find L. VIII. IN COMMUNICATING INSTRUCTION 465 communication of instruction through the written word. The several portions of Scripture were indeed penned at different times. But the Author of them all was one and the same divine Person, and had his whole design before him at once. He therefore not unfrequently treats a matter but partially in one place, and leaves the subject for completion in a later portion of the sacred canon. Hence his teaching has assumed, on more occasions than one, the order of a progressive developement. In the Old Testament, for example, the prophetic picture of the coming Messiah was drawn at first in merest outline. Centuries were spent in the gradual filling up of the details, as successive seers dwelt sometimes upon the sufferings of Christ, sometimes upon the glories that should follow^. Thus again in the New Testament did we find in our second lecture, that in the Gospels the earthly ^ in the Epistles the heavenly^ department of the kingdom of God was pourtrayed. Now may not this account for the phaenomena little reference to the Church of Christ, till the very close : while in the second, the Church of Christ is introduced, and the things concerning it spoken of at length. Its peculiar history as a little flock, oppressed and afflicted, is painted, and the influence of the Gentile empires upon its history." Prophetical Landmarks, p. 173, 174. * See an eloquent passage in Mr. Bonar's Prophetical Landmarks, p. 227, 228. ' p. 43—55. • p. 55—65. Hh 466 THROUGH THE WRITTEN WORD. L. VIII. before us ? Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and John ahke treat of the church of the firstborn which are written in heaven. The seeming difference between them originates in this, that the two former draw the bright fore ground, while John (completing the work which Daniel has already begun) fills in the dark back ground of the self- same picture ^ The son of Amoz tells the glories ^ The " hypothesis propounded at the beginning of this Introduction, and assumed as the basis of the following Exposition . . supposes the main subjects of these prophecies, or rather of this prophecy, to be the church or people of God, considered in its members and its Head, in its design, its origin, its progress, its vicissitudes, its consummation, in its various relations to God and to the world, both as a field of battle, and a field of labour, an enemy's country to be conquered, and an inheritance to be secured. "Within the limits of this general description it is easy to distinguish, as alternate objects of prophetic vision, the two great phases of the church on earth, its state of bondage, and its state of freedom, its ceremonial and its spiritual aspect; in a word, what we usually call the old and new economy or dispensation. Both are continually set before us, but with this observable distinction in the mode of presentation, that the first great period is described by individual specific strokes, the second by its outlines as a definite yet undivided whole. To the great turning point between the two dis- pensations the prophetic view appears to reach with clear discrimination of the intervening objects, but beyond that to take all in at a single glance. Within the boundaries first mentioned the eye passes with a varied miiformity from one salient point to another ; but beyond them it contemplates the end and the beginning not as distinct pictures, but as necessary elements of one. This difterence might naturally be expected in a prophecy belonging to the old dispensation. L. VIII. THE MOST GLOWING PREDICTIONS 467 of the mystical church as she is seen by the eye of faith, the object of Jehovah's special favour and unceasing delight; while the son of Zebedee makes known the trials which she, the bride, the Lamb's wife, must notwithstanding encounter as she travels homeward through the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved. But, thirdly, there is another Scriptural fact, which has, we think, been too often overlooked by those who argue from the general tenour of of Old Testament Prophecy. It is this, that there are in some even of the most glowing predictions no doubtful indications of this admixture of evil in the church's lot. Take that Psalm which, as the Holy Ghost himself hath taught us, tells of the universal empire of Jesus, our exalted King. Even when predicting his solemn enthronization, it prepares us to expect a continued resistance to his righteous sway. " Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, O ye kings : be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the while in one belonging to the new we should as naturally look for the same definiteness and minuteness as the older prophets used in their descriptions of the older times ; and this condition is completely answered by the book of Reve- lation." Alexander, Introduction to the later Prophecies of Isaiah, p. 580. Hh 2 468 GIVE NO DOUBTFUL INDICATIONS L. VIII. way, when his wrath is kindled but a httle. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him^" Surely then there may be truth in the remark, that the very prophecy which tells that the kingdom of Messiah " shall never be destroyed," instructs us that that kingdom shall certainly be opposed"! Take once more that Psalm which pourtrays the blessedness of those who submit themselves to, the dominion of the King of kings. " In his days shall the righteous flourish ; and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth." But doth this imply that no trial is to mark their lot ? Look on to the twelfth verse. "He shall deliver the needy when he crieth ; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence : and precious shall their blood be in his sights" And to this agree the words of that same full treasury of exceeding great and precious promises, to which we have already had occasion to refer, b Psalm ii. 9—12. •^ " It is not said of the universal kingdom in Daniel, that it should nevei' suffer persecution ; but that it never should be destroyed: because 'tis built on the Rock Christ, no power shall prevail against it. That it should never be destroyed, implies that it should be impugned. But how in these later times, John in the Apocalypse shews from Christ." Mr. Hayn's Second 'Letter to Mr. Mede; Mede's Works, p. 905. ^ Psalm Ixxii. 12 — 14. See also Psalm viii. 2: xlv. 5: Ixviii. 21 : ex. 1. L. VIII. OF A CONSTANT ADMIXTURE OF EVIL 469 the fifty-fourth of Isaiah. These are some of its words; "I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires. And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be esta- blished : thou shalt be far from oppression ; for thou shalt not fear : and from terror ; for it shall not come near thee^" But is there therefore no trial to be expected ? Were the prophecy to end here, we might perhaps think so. But listen to the very next words : " Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me : whosoever shall gather together against thee, shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work ; and I have created the waster to destroy. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper ; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord'." Thus is this chapter also, when viewed in its integrity, found to contain its shades as well as its lights. So little are we warranted in concluding from the language of Old Testament Prophecy, even when taken alone, that e V. 11—14. f V. 15—17. 470 IN THE LOT OF THE CHURCH. L. VIII. the church shall certainly some day enjoy un- mingled happiness while she tarries here below. It may be, even on their shewing, that her course is still to be one of joy and sorrow, conflict and triumph, even to the end : — such a course, in fact, as that which she is at this very moment pursuing. But it was objected, in the second place, that the impression originally produced by the general tenour of the prophetic Scriptures, is only con- firmed by a more careful observation of the pecu- liar phraseology of the prophetic language. For three points are thought to be incontrovertibly established by that phraseology ; namely these, — the personal presence of the Redeemer upon earth, — the universal submission of mankind to his sway, — the visible glory of his Church. Here again it is highly important to revert to Scriptural facts. For indeed these arguments lose all their power when one simple truth is recalled to mind. That truth is this, " The Lord seeth not as man seeth ^." Consequently that which we might be disposed to pronounce inadequate, as the fulfilment of some glowing prophecy, may perhaps be the very accomplishment intended. But let me illustrate my meaning. It is alleged, that the phraseology of Scripture requires the personal presence of the Redeemer upon earth. The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah 6 I Sam. xvi. 7. See also Isaiah Iv. 8, 9. L. VIII. THE FOURTEENTH OF ZECHARIAH 471 is adduced in proof\ Read part of the fourth and fifth verses. " And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of OHves, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west .... and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." Notice, it is said, the words, " Jehovah my God shall come', and all the saints with thee :" — surely this requires us to expect a personal advent. ^ Goodhart, Bloomsbury Lectures for 1843, Lecture iv. Molyneux, Israel's Future, Lecture v. Homes, Kesurrection Kevealed, p. 216 — 219. Brooks, Abdiel's Essays, p. 63. Pym, Eev. W. W. Eestitution of All Things, p. 142. Bonar, Prophetical Landmarks, p. 110 — 113. Birks, Outlines of Unfulfilled Prophecy, p. 299, 300, ' Holy Sci'ipture beyond all doubt recognizes, i. potential and spiritual as well as personal " comings" of the Lord. See for potential " comings," Matt. x. 23 : John xxi. 22, 23 : Eev. ii. 5, 15, 16, 22—25 ; iii. 3, 10. See also Matt. vi. 10. as ex- plained Lecture II. p. 77 — 79. and Matt. xvi. 28, as explained in the same Lecture at p. 45, 46. See for spiritual " comings," Ps. ci. 2; John xiv. 18, 21 — 24; Eev. iii. 20. In like manner Holy Scripture recognizes, ii. a potential and spiritual as distinct from a personal " presence " of Christ with his people. See Matt, xviii. 20 : Matt, xxviii. 20 : Mark xvi. 20 : 2 Tim. iv. 17. Now such potential and spiritual comings and presence will naturally, when translated, if I may so speak, into the language of imagery, assume the outward appearance of a personal and visible coming and presence. And this fact will abundantly account for the use of language (ex- pressive of potential and spiritual comings) like that in Ps. cii. 13—16. Isaiah xix. 1, 16, 19—21: xl. 10: lix. 20: Zech. ii. 10 — 12: — (expressive of potential and spiritual pre- 472 DOES NOT NECESSARILY REQUIRE L. VIII. But pause a moment, — I will not ask you to consider well whether this fourteenth of Zechariah still belongs to the future '', — but I will ask you to remember, that while profane history is apt to overlook the great first cause of all things, the manner of inspiration is the very reverse. Scrip- ture, in deahng with the past and the future alike, loses sight of man the instrument, in adoring contemplation of the God who wields him as his sword, his battle axe, and his bow. Turn to the eighteenth Psalm. On what occa- sion was it written ? It was penned by David " in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand sence,) like that in Ps. cxxxv. 21: Isaiah xii. 6: xxiv. 23 Ix. 13: Ez. xxxiv. 23, 24: xli. 22: xliii. 1—9: xliv. 1, 2 Joel ii. 27: iii. 17, 20, 21: Micah iv. 7: Zeph. iii. 14, 15 Zech. vi. 12, 13: viii. 3; — without expecting (with Mr. Begg, Connected View, p. 35 —37.) a personal reign of Christ upon earth as its only adequate counterpart. ^ Nor will I avail myself of the judgment of Mr. Davison, (Discourses on Prophecy, p. 315 note,) — a judgment in which he alleges that Mede has gone before him, (though not quite to the full extent, see his Works, p. 915, 1023.) — and by which he excludes from the book of Zechariah the 9th and following chapters, as belonging rather to an earlier age. Such measures are always perilous — nor can there be any excuse for them here. Zechariah truly encouraged the people in restoring the temple on their return from Babylon. But is it not most natural that he should also, saying so much as he does on the Gospel in his eai'lier chapters, prepare the people for that destruction of their city and temple which should supervene on its promulgation ? See Lee, Sermons and Dissertations, p. 246, 247^ 248. L. VIII. THE PERSONAL COMING AND PRESENCE 473 of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul'." Had there been any personal manifestation of Jehovah ? Far from it. Every visible agency had been human. And yet how very strongly personal is the language employed ! "■ In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried unto my God : he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Then the earth shook and trembled ; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth. There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured : coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens also, and came down : and darkness was under his feet""." But why continue the quotation ? Surely the words, " The Lord my God shall come," cannot, after this, be said peremptorily to decide in favour of a personal advent before the expected aera of bliss". 1 See Title of the Psalm : see also 2 Sam. xxii. 1. m V. 6—9. " " Ejusdem est cum superioribus generis, is quern ex his locis communibus postremum afferam, Dei in montem Sinam descensus. Ubi describitur adventus Dei ad exercendum judicium, ad liberandos pios, ad excidendos hostes, vel Po^ tentia Divina quocunque modo sese exhibens ; ex augusto illo hovribilique Sinae apparatu scena instniitur. His nihil frequentius, nihil grandius ; unum modo alterumque exem- plum vobis proponam .... (nerape) Micah i. -3, 4. et Ps. xviii. 8 — 15." Lowth, Praelectio ix. de Sacra Poesi Hebreeorum, torn. i. p. 110. Compare Deut. xxxiii. 26 — 29: Judges v. 4, 5 : Hab. iii. 474 OF THE INCARNATE WORD. L. VIII. But then, it is rejoined, mark the words, — " his feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives";" — these surely are decisive p. Again I say, pause for a moment. I do not ask you to consider whose feet shall stand there ? They are not necessarily the Lord's. They may be those of some such instrument of his wrath as was the Roman Titus. But leaving this, — and merely suggesting the thought, that the very feet of Jesus himself have already many times actually trodden the mount of Ohves, — I would have you turn to the first chapter of the prophet Micah, and read the third verse : " 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 waters that are poured down a steep place '^." Observe the words, " behold, the Lord . . . will come down ; and tread upon the high places of the earth." Is there a personahty here ? No ! it cannot be,— for all is past. And this the verses immediately fol- lowing do testify. " For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob ? ° Zech. xiv. 4. P Marsh, Five Letters, p. 73. Begg, Connected View, p. 38, 39. Birks, Outlines, p. 61. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 167. 1 Micah i. 3, i. L. VIII. \ NORJ)OES SCRIPTURE FORETELL 475 is it not Samaria ? and what are the high places of Judah ? are they not Jerusalem ^" So certainly is many a prophetic passage, which might at first sight appear to predict a personal interposition of the incarnate Word, found, on a comparison of Scripture with Scripture, to be but the figurative expression of this most certain truth, namely, that all visible agencies are but instruments in his hands, " who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will'." But this leads me on to a second class of textsT] — to those namely which are said to predict the' conversion of the whole human race to God. Reference is in popular discourse frequently made to the thirty-first of Jeremiah. We read there in the thirty-fourth verse ; " And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying. Know the Lord : for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the ' V. 5. 8 Eph. i. 11. Compare further with Zech. xiv. 4. "His feet," &c. Ps. xviii. 9: Ixxiv. 2: Isaiah Ix. 13: Lam. iii. 34: Ezekiel xliii. 7 : Nahum i. 3 : Hah. iii. 5. All which passages, when taken in connection with those alleged in the previous remarks and in the appended notes, seem to me to prove, that the "feet" of the Lord may be mentioned here just as, in other parts of the divine word, his ' arm,' his ' stretched- out arm,' his ' mighty arm,' his ' everlasting arms,' his ' hands,' his ' fingers,' his ' back,' his ' face,' his ' nostrils,' his ' ear,' ' his ears,' his ' eye,' his ' eyes' are mentioned. For more on Zech. xiv. see Lecture VI. p. 303 — 305. 47G THAT THE^ WHOLE HUMAN RACE. L. VIII. greatest of them, saith the LorcP." Now it is an [Acknowledged rule of interpretation, that universals 'cannot always be taken in the full extent of their apparent meaning. But here there is no reason to call that principle to our aid, — for the^tenns^of the original''. prophecy are these ; not "all'.' shall know me J but " they shall all" know me. And who are "they"? "the house of Israel and the house of JudahV' that is, as we have already seen, ' Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 238, 239. " I say "the original prophecy," for in Heb. viii. 11. the tei'ms are, " all shall know me." This fact however by no means annuls the argument, as a careful examination of the whole passage, and a comparison of it with ch. x. 14 — 17. will shew. =' This limitation of the promise to " the house of Israel and the house of Judah," seems to be now very generally recognized by Pre-Millennarians. See, for example, the Piev. F. Goode in Israel Kestored, Lecture v; Eev. W. W. Pyni, Kestitution of All Things, p. 91 ; Brooks, Elements, p. 286 ; Birks, Outlines, p. 285, 286. But they overlook the fact, that that " house of Israel and house of Judah," is not the carnal offspring of Abraham, but all those sanctified ones who were perfected for ever by the one offering of Christ, that is, the whole mystical Church of Christ. See Heb. x. 14 — 17. quoted below. "The persons," says Dr. GilL "with whom this covenant is promised to be made, are the houses of Israel and Judah ; which, — being literally taken, had its fulfilment in the first times of the Gospel, through the ministry of John the Baptist, Christ, and his apostles, by whom this covenant was made known to God's elect among the twelve tribes, — but being mystically understood, includes both Jews and Gentiles, the whole Israel of God : Israel not after the flesh, but after the Spirit : such as were Jews in- wardly : God's elect of every nation." L. VIII. siyjj,^ AT_ANXJIJ-iyREj]™ 477 the spiritual seed of Abraham, the holy church throughout the world ^. Of these it can be truly said, whether they be little children, young men, or fathers, "Ye have an unction frorri the holy one, and ye know all things'." And that to these the passage before us refers, we have the testi- mony of Paul in the tenth of the Hebrews ^ And thus, so far from predicting an universal outpouring of the Spirit among mankind in a future age, the text under review doth but predicate of the church of the firstborn in New ^ Testament times the same truth which Isaiah/ is taught to declare, when, concerning the same church, he says, in his fifty-fourth chapter, " And! all thy children shall be taught of the Lord ; and great shall be the peace of thy children ^." Need I remind you how this view of the matter is con- firmed by the Lord himself, when, in the sixth of John, he says, " It is written in the prophets. And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me*"'? And there are traces of this limitation even in that largest of all predictions, the eleventh chapter of Isaiah. " The y " Domum Israel et domum Judah nominal, quod poster! Abrahse in duo regna divisi erant. Ita promissio est de omnibus electis in unum corpus iterum colligendis utcunque prius segregati fuerunt." Calvin. Similarly Owen. ^ 1 John ii. 20. » v. 14—17. ^ v. 13. ■= V. 45. 478 BE CONVERTED TO GOD.^ L. VIII. earth," it is written there, "shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea^" But what are the words that go before? " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountaiii.'' Take the words, " the earth," in their fullest sense, if you will, and believe, as you well may, that this Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached as a witness to all nations % yet shall its saving effects be confined to the limits of the ^church, — "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain." And thus do we learn, once more, the import- ance of that one principle, " The Lord seeth not as man seeth." Even when he recognizes the presence of the divine agent, man is apt to forget that that agent " worketh all things after the , counsel of his own will'." And what is the counsel of that will ? To exhibit in the church as the sole, the sufficient, and the only theatre, the manifold wisdom of God. For let Paul be heard as he speaks in the epistle to the Ephesians : *-' God created all things by Jesus Christ : to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known by the Church ■Y] 7roXv7roiKiXo9 crocfjia rod Qeov^. d V. 9. e Matt. xxiv. 14. ' Eph. i. II. « Eph. iii. 9, 10. See Lecture IV. p. 181, 182. With regard to Isaiah xl. 5, " The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together," I quote the following remarks of Mr. G ipps : " That this does not foretell every human creature being L. VIII. THE SIXTIETH OF ISAIAH 479 But it is time that we turn to the third and last allegation. It is asserted, that the glory of the church must one day be openly manifested to the world. '' Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, be- hold, 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 kings to the brightness of thy rising^" That even brought to believe in Christ at some period yet future, but the calling in of the Gentiles at the first coming of him who is the brightness of his Fathers glory, (Heb. i. 3.) appears to me evident from the reference which the Holy Ghost makes to this passage in Luke iii. 4 — 6. Hence I collect, that the coming") of Christ, of which John was the immediate forerunner, was the time when ' the glory of the Lord was to be revealed, and all flesh was to see it together;' and consequently 'all flesh'-, jnust,! conceive, be understood jiot in reference to.indivizl duals, of ..every human being, but in reference to nations^ Qi the Gentiles as contrasted with the one nation the Jews.! This also appears to me to be the signification of the same> term in the prophecy of Joel ii. 28." First Eesurrection, p. 125. With regard to Isaiah xlvi. 23. " Unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall s\i^ar," I quote a few words from Professor Alexandg;: " This text is twice applied by Paul to Christ, (Rom. xiv. ] 1 ; Phil. ii. 10.) in proof of his regal and judicial sovereignty. It does not necessarily predict that all shall be converted to him, since the terms are such as to include both a^oluntary and fi compulsory sub-i mission, and in one of these ways all without exception shall yet recognize him as their rightful sovereign." ^ Isaiah Ix. 1, 2, 3. Akin to this passage is Isaiah ii. 2, 3; 480 DOES NOT IMPERATIVELY REQUIRE L. VIII. these words do not imperatively require an exhi- bition of the Church's glory cognizable by the eye of sense you can see by referring to two other prophecies, both of which have been unquestion- ably fulfilled. Turn to the second of Haggai, and read the sixth and seventh verses ; " Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land ; and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come : and I will fill this house with glory." This prophecy, as the facts of history, and the epistle of Paul to the Hebrews', concur in testifying, was fulfilled at the first coming of the Lord Jesus in great humility''. a word which, in the ahsence of all New Testament evidence to that effect, is cited hy many a Romanist as a Scriptural proof of the visihility of the Church. See note q on p. 462. < ch. xii. 26—28. '' See Owen and Gill, as quoted in note a on p. 62, 63. It is certainly somewhat startling to find not only Mr. Begg, (Connected View, p. 40.) but also Mr. Bonar, (Landmarks, p. 107 — 110.) boldly asserting, that the Holy Ghost speaks herein of a " yet future house," and that accordingly " this prophecy [including the giving of peace in v. 9.] has never yet been fulfilled " ! The latter of these writers goes so far as to say, " From this we see that all the temples, beginning with Solomon's, are considered as one, even though they have been levelled and rebuilt. There have been three temples, Solomon's, Zerubbabel's, Herod's, but all these are regarded as but one house " ! It is refreshing after this to fall back upon such solid remarks as those of Mr. Davison on the passage in question. " The shaking of the whole system of L. VIII. A MANIFESTATION OF GLORY 481 He was the desire of all nations, — he was the glory of that second temple, which has now for centuries been laid in the dust. But was his desirableness, was his majesty appreciated by those who trod with him the courts of his Father's house ? " He hath no form nor comeliness ; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire himV Where there is no beauty in our view, the place was filled with glory in Jehovah's eye. Turn, once more, to the ninth of Isaiah, and read the first and second verses : " The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, .... the people the world is the apt image of the introduction of a new oeconomy of God : ' the Desire of all nations' is the Redeemer of the world : the greater glory promised to the second temple was exhibited in the advent and personal ministry of Christ, who came to that temple : and by him God ' gave peace' there, when he sealed by his doctrine, and by his death, a covenant of peace, in the completion of the temple sacrifices and worship." " In the history of the divine dispensation, and in the his- tory of the Jewish people, there can be only two temples, the first, Solomon's, the second, the restored temple, of which Haggai prophesied, and to which Christ came... for the mere material fabric, though not wholly unimportant, can never pretend to enter into this relation. And it can the less enter into it, inasmuch as Herod's work, whether of enlargement, or of rebuilding, never broke the continuity of the moral subject, but was so conducted as not to interrupt the course of the temple worship. In the eye of history, therefore, and in the estimate of religion, there were two temples and no more." Discourses on Prophecy, p. 326—331. ^ Isaiah liii. 2. I i 482 VISIBLE TO THE EYES L. VIII. that walked in darkness have seen a great hght : they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined." What is re- quired for the accomphshment of these words ? [Let the Holy Ghost reply in the fourth of Mat- thew : '' Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee ; . . . that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying. The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles : the people which sat in darkness saw great light ; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up""." But was the beauty of that light generally appreciated ? No ! for, looking for a literal light, men reckoned all else to be darkness. " The light shineth in darkness ; and the darkness comprehended it not°." ™ V. 12 — 26. " Vin' scire unde, et quo authore ita beabitur Galilsea, in eaque via ilia maritima ubi trajectus est Jordanis? statim subjicit, Quia parvulus natus est nobis, filius datus est nobis, et erit principatus super humerum ejus, et vocabitur nomen ejus Admirabilis, Consiliarius, Deus fortis, Pater ceternitatis, Princeps pads." Mede, Comment. Apocalypt. Pars i. de Sigillis, ad cap. 7; Works, p. 566. ° John i. 5. St. John's Gospel is, in fact, full of glorious statements concerning the Son of God, coupled with the twofold assertion, (i.) concerning men in general, that they appreciated not his excellency; see ch. i. 5, 10, 11 : iii. 19: xii. 35 — 46 ; — (ii.) concerning the children of God, that they did discern his beauty and his comeliness; see ch. i. 12, 13, 14,18: ii. 11: xi. 40 : xii. 23, 28: xiii. 31,32: xvi. 14: xvii. 4. Surely these and similar passages prove, beyond all doubt, L. VIII. OF NATURAL MEN. 483 And so it is with the people of God. They are " the hght of the v/orld"." " God, who commanded the hght to shine out of darkness, hath shined in their hearts, to give the h'ght of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ p." " Fair as the moon, clear as the sun, terrible as an army with banners'"," they look forth upon the world in obedience to his command, who said, " Let your hght so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven'"." But they fare exactly as their Lord fared before them. " Therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not^" Nor shall their glory be ever visibly manifested to the universe until the coming of that long-expected day, when " all things that offend, and they which do iniquity, being gathered out of the king- dom of the Son of man," " the righteous shall shine forth," for ever, " as the sun in the kingdom of their Father '." that that certain presence of God's glory, of which prophecy speaks, is Scripturally compatible with a total want of ap- preciation of it on the part of mankind in general : see Isaiah vi. 1 — 10. Is it this fact that is declared in Isaiah Ix. 3 ? On John i. 5 1 , see Appendix, Note MM. " Matt. V. 14. P 2 Cor. iv. 6. "J Song vi. 10. ' Matt. V. 16. » 1 John iii. 1. ' Matt. xiii. 41, 43. It is indeed true, that even now wherever genuine Christianity exists there will always be discovered a tendency toward corporate visibility. For " it is of the essence of the church ... to manifest its existence by outward signs, and to be the human instrument both of ii2 484 the: gospel may yet achieve l. viii. I will not further multiply references. I give these as fairly selected specimens by which you may judge of the strength of those arguments for a future Millennial reign, which are drawn from the mere phraseology of Old Testament Prophecy. Itjs_c[uijte possible, nay rather Iwill say j)ro- bable, that the Gospel may yet achieve greater victories far, both among Jews and Gentiles, than it yet hath won". But there is, in my judgment, nothing in the books of the prophets to encourage edifying its own members, and of converting those that are without." See Church of Christ in its Idea, Attributes, and Ministry, by E. A. Litton, M.A. London, 1851, p. 66. Still will such visibility never exist in any thing but a fi'agmentary form until the Lord appear. " 'The Lord' — and the Lord alone — ' knoweth them that are his.' And thus it must continue, till the Lord ' shall accomplish the number of his elect and hasten his kingdom.' Then shall be presented to a wondering creation, the true church visible, or what the Apostle calls ' the manifestation of the sons of God.' The sons of God, though a real body, are not till then a manifest body Vain are all the attempts made to prove that the true church of God is a visible, that is, a distinguishable body from all others, during the present dispensation. Our Lord's parables reprove such attempts, inasmuch as in the various illustrations of the Gospel kingdom, they describe a continued mixture of good and bad until his coming again, and an awful sepa- ration at his coming. The mixture is so subtle, that no true and certain separation can now be effected. The separation shall be so complete, that no mixture, however subtle, can then be continued." The Church and the Churches, by H. M-^Neile, D.D. p. 328, 329. u See Lecture VII. p. 393. See also Hurd's Introduction, vol. i. p. 203, 204 : Davison, Discourses on Prophecy, Discourse viii, p. 401 — 404. L„ VIII. GREATER VICTORIES FAR : 485 US to expect, on the one hand, a state of unmingled happiness; and, on the other hand, a personal pre- sence of Christ upon earth, an universal conversion^ of mankind to God, or a visible manifestation of the Church's glory. There is, in short, nothingi t^prov€Ljtliat__th£_ilispensation of grace shalLev^ri lagcome, before-the-eiidjiLall things, a dispensation laf^sight. On the contrary, it is, I think, quite Scripturally possible, that they may be right who refer back the glowing predictions of Isaiah to those wondrous days, (for wondrous surely they were both to Jew'' " The following commentary of Professor .Alexander on Isaiah Ixvi. 18—20. is interesting: — "Such being their cha- racter, I will cast them off, and gather the nations to take their place ; for which end I will send forth the survivors of the nation, the elect for whose sake these days shall be shortened, when all besides them perish, to declare my glory in the regions where my name has never yet been heard. Thus understood, the passage is exactly descriptive of the preaching of the Gospel at the beginning of the new dispens- ation. All the first preachers were escaped Jews, plucked as brands from the burning, saved from that perverse generation, (Acts ii, 40.) The ' sigri will then denote the whole mira- culous display of divine power, in bringing the old dispens- ation to a close and introducing the new, including the destruction of the unbelieving Jews on the one hand, and on the other, all those signs and wonders, and divers miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost (Heb. ii. 4.), which Paul calls ' the signs of an apostle' (2 Cor. xii. 12.), and which Christ himself had pro- mised should 'follow them that believed,' (Mark xvi. 17.) AH these were signs placed among them, i. e. among the Jews, to the greater condemnation of the unbelievers, and to the salvation of such as should be saved. [See Matt. xxiv. 30. as 486 OR POSSIBLY ITS EARLY TRIUMPHS L. VIII. and Gentile ^,) when first the command went forth, " Go ye therefore, and teach all nations'." "The first institution of Christianity," it has been very I truly said, " was a far greater cliange than its V extension could be. The difficulties and impro- ( babilities infinitely exceeded, in the first instance,, the force of any now existing ^" And the Ian- expounded by Bishop Newton, Dissertation xx. vol. ii. p. 305.] That there ivill not be hereafter an analogous display of divine power in the further execution of this promise, cannot be proved, and need not be affirmed ; but if there never should be, it ivill still have had a glorious fulfilment in a series of events, compared with which, the restoration of the Jcwisli people to the land of Canaan is of little moment." y " Consider," says Bishop Hurd, " the state of the Gospel at our Lord's ascension. It was left in the hands of a few, mean, unlearned, dispirited persons; without any countenance from authority ; and with every difficulty, every terror, op- posed to them, and placed distinctly within their view ; Matt. xxiv. 9. Yet these men were commissioned to spread this Gospel through the world, and had an express promise, that they should succeed in their attempt. Against all appearance the success followed. In less than half a cen- tury, ' the sound of the Gospel went out into all lands ;' and within three centuries from the death of Christ, Christianity ascended the imperial throne, ' and had the utmost parts of the earth for its possession,' " Introduction to the Prophecies, Sermon vi. vol. i. p. 199. ^ Matt, xxviii. 19. ^ Da^3on o©., Propjiecy, Discourse viii. p. 409. " We are born,"^says the same powerful writejt."in the midst of this religion, and therefore it requires some effort of thought, though not a great one, to carry us to that point of view from whence we may contemplate the extent and magnitude of the work of change by which it first made its way, and still holds L. VIII. MAY HAVE FULFILLED THE PROPHECIES. 487 guage, it might well be added, in which the inspired story itself speaks of those early days is, at times, scarcely less exalted than the terms in which, on this hypothesis, those times were fore- told. Take only three passages, — they are samples of a large class. " The darkness is past, and the true~A light now shineth^." " The Gospel whiclx_y„e Jiave. Jieardj^andjwhicloms.^ to every creature, which is undeiiheas^n V* " Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish : to the one we are the savour of death unto death ; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things'^?" Surely this last is language, — and it is but one of several beautiful episodes, — equal in sublimity to any in the prophets. But I leave this matter for your consideration. It is it on. But all reflection will serve to heighten your ideas of the phfEnomenon. Had you seen the finger of an unknown power at first, eighteen hundred years ago, strike the rock, and bring forth water in the desert, you would more readily have owned the wonder, as every impartial and disengaged spectator must have owned it. But while you look at it only in its existing course, you may forget whence it came, or cease to be affected with its presence." p. 388. Similarly Greswell on the Parables, vol. ii. p. 202. b 1 John ii. 8. ' Col. i. 23. " 2 Cor. ii. 14, 15, 16. r 488 FOR WE CANNOT HERE ATTAIN L. VIII. a question which the event alone can positively decide. And now to conclude. We have, according to our purpose, spoken first of the subject-matter, secondly of the tone of the Old Testament pro- phecies. With regard to the former, we think we have shewn that there is Scriptural ground for believing, that that Israel which is, next to the Messiah himself, their most prominent subject, is not the nation of the Jews, but the whole mystical church of Gospel times, including both Jew and Gentile ahke within its pale. With regard to the latter, we think we have proved, that those sacred predictions do not neces- sarily compel us to look for a time before the end lof all things in which that church shall enter Vipon a condition essentially diifering from that in Which she is at present found. In other words, we trust that we have con- vinced you, that another than the Millennarian interpretation of ancient prophecy is Scripturally possible. Permit me, before taking my leave of you, to make two concluding remarks. And first with regard to the discourse you have heard to day. You will bear in mind, that if I have, in my earlier lectures, proved that the doctrine of a personal reign is Scripturally untenable, you are L. VIII. TO MATHEMATICAL CERTAINTY. 489 bound to submit to that negative conclusion, even though my attempts to present a more satisfactory solution of the prophecies under consideration may have failed to carry perfect conviction to your minds. Nor^ truly, is such mathematical certainty pos- sible. The sceptic indeed casts a reproach upon those portions of the written word because of their asnigmatical character. But, as believers,? you will recognize a signal proof of the Divine/ wisdom in the adoption of that figurative style, which at once permits the prescience of God to appear, and preserves inviolate the free agency of man. Nor will it be an offence to you, that, in \ the absence of an express revelation upon each several point, prophecy does, even after its fulfil- ment, still present many problems not easy of solution. For you will remember, that the effects of the natural and necessary obscurity of metaphor and symbol" may be much increased by the dimness of our own spiritual vision. You will not, however, on these accounts under- value the result of our present investigations. Even when taken alone, the principles of prophetic interpretation which have been advocated to day are seen to be, at the least, equally probable with those for which Pre-Millennarians contend. Who e See Huvd, Introduction to the Prophecies, Sermon iii. p. 81 — 89. Sherlock, on the Prophecies, Discourse ii. p. 31—39. 490 REASONS WHICH LED THE AUTHOR L. VIII. then can hesitate which to adopt, when it has been /demonstrated that the former preserve inviolate, "while the latter shake to its very foundations, the proportion of faith as established by the great Prophet himself? No one surely — so long as the two_great hermeneutical laws which have been our guides throughout remain unrepealed. Those laws you will remember were these; — |4rst,^that in the settling of controversy, such passages of GiQdTs word as are literal, dogmatic, and cleay, take jprecedence of those which are figurative, mysterious, and obscure ; — Secondly^ that .in all points upon which the New Testament give§, us instruction, it isj as containing the full, the. clear, and the final manifestation of the Divine Will, our rightful guide in the interpretation of the Old ^ And this leads me to speak, in the second place, of the whole subject which these lectures have brought under review. My principal endeavours have been directed to shewing, that the doctrine of a personal reign is unsupported by Scripture, when rightly under- stood. That doctrine perplexes the minds of many of our brethren, who cannot see their way clearly open either for its adoption or for its rejection. It also impairs the usefulness of others who have overcome this hesitation. It may not perhaps ^ Lecture I. p. 8. L. VIII. TO UNDERTAKE THIS SUBJECT : 491 in every case occupy a place in their private; studies and public ministrations, which belongs of right to more humbling, and withal more edifying, truths of God. But it does most certainly intro- ^ duce into the whole system of their Scriptural exposition a dislocating principle, which men, not imbued, as they are themselves, with the spirit of genuine godliness, may easily apply to the over- throw of the whole fabric of the Christian faith. Nor is the mischief confined to such extreme and exceptional cases. For certainly, under" th""^ semblance of providing for the future, they close against the spiritually minded some of their richest storehouses of present consolation, and open to the carnally minded a long vista of speculations^ in which they find a welcome refuge from present self-examination. It was a deep and a painful conviction, that these serious evils are inherent in popular Mil- ^■ lennarianism, that led me to undertake the task which I have so inadequately discharged. I could, not indeed venture to discourage the study_ ,Qf prophecy. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable^." We "do well" therefore, to take heed in our hearts to that I light which, before the day star arose, shone in the dark places of the elder covenant\ Nor may we forget, that of the Apocalypse it is written, g 2 Tim. iii. 16. "^2 Pet. i. 19. 492 PRACTICAL EXHORTATION L. VIII. r "Blessed is He, that reaxLeth, and tliey that hear the words of this prophecy V But there is a method and an order to be observed in these as much as in all other re- searches. And I shall be truly thankful if what has been brought before them shall persuade any of my younger brethren to defer their enquiries into the future, until they have first learnt from the plain, literal, and dogmatic statements of the New Testament Scriptures what are the real principles of the doctrine of Christ''. ' Eev. i. 3. k " Let me, therefore," says good Bishop Hall,' " pre- engage my reader not to mistake my discourse or my in- tentions. For my part, I am persuaded in my soul, that the coming of our Saviour is near at hand : and that, hefore that Great Day, God hath decreed and will yet effect a more happy and flourishing condition of his Church here on earth, than we yet see ; which I do humhly pray for, and hopefully expect; ambitiously suing to my God, that my poor en- deavours might be thought worthy to contribute any thing to so blessed a purpose. But, for the particulars of the time i and manner, I both have learned and do teach silence. And, if any man think he hath sufficient intimation of either or both of these, in the words of Holy Scripture : yet, since those clauses are involved in some obscurity, and may afford multiplicity of sense, my desire and whole drift is, to beseech him to suspend his judgment concerning these so deej) and intricate doctrines, till God shall be pleased to clear them by apparent events ; imd, in the mean time, to rest contented with those evident and unquestionable truths of the Gospel, ivhich the Church of Christ hath hitherto unanbiiously taught and main- tained: wherein he shall do that, ivhich may happily conduce both to the Church's peace and his own." Eevelation Unrevealed, Preface, p. 83. L. VIII. TO HIS YOUNGER BRETHREN : 493 I would say to them ; — Do not over-estimate the amomit of your spiritual attainments. Too many take it for granted, that they are born again of the Holy Ghost, when they are but Christians of education, or Christians of ceremony, or Chris-/ tians of feeling. And then how many forget that they may, even when renewed by the Spirit, be but children in miderstanding. Remember, my beloved, that it is not enough for a man to be very earnestly minded. A preacher may be very earnest, both in public and in private, and yet be, at the same moment, very ignorant or very unsound : and so may his hearers. And truly it is mar- vellous how very few, even among zealous Chris- tians, have clear and full views of the completeness and efficacy of the atonement, of the nature and effects of a justifying faith, and of the sanctifying operations of the Holy Ghost. The person, titles, and offices of Jesus Christ are understood by fewer still. And yet smgller l^r is the number of those] who have a Scriptural apprehension of that "ever- lasting covenant, ordered in all things and sureV by which these matchless spiritual blessings are all secured to the people of God. Yet all these things are integral parts of the faith, — that faith according to the proportion of which all ministers are in duty bound to prophesy™. Pause then, my younger brethren. Enter not upon your Prophetic studies without chart or 1 2 Sam. xxiii. 5. '" Rom. xii. 6. 494 CONCLUDING APPEAL L. VIII. compass. There are in that region too many winds of doctrine ready to carry you about, and to toss you to and fro. Study first that ancient, iVcA^. I that sovereign, that unquenchable love of Christ, which is the very heart and soul of the Gospel. The subject will not soon be exhausted. The Holy Ghost when he would set it before us invents a fourth measure of capacity, a measure of capa- city that exists not in nature ; for he ascribes to it breadth, and length, and depth, and height ; — and yet after all, he gives up the attempt to fathom it, and declares that it passeth know- ledge °. Meditate therefore on these things first Give yourselves wholly to them. Then shall your profiting appear in all things". Then shall you be much more likely, being well grounded in the faith, to come to a just conclusion upon such prophetic subjects as claim your attention. And then moreover, if ever you are permitted to become ministers of Christ, you will (having learnt rightly to divide the word of truth) prove your- selves workmen that need not to be ashamed^, wise as well as faithful stewards of the mysteries of God '^. And now— men, brethren, and fathers, — I thank you all for the great patience with which you have heard me. It is not to be expected that we shall all meet again, till we stand together at the bar of " Eph. iii. 14 — 19. ° 2 Tim. iv. 15. tv irda-ip. p 2 Tim. ii. 15. i 1 Cor. iv. 1. L. VIII. TO ALL HIS HEARERS. 495 eternal judgment. It has been my continued effort to make these discourses practical. Will you not second that effort with your prayers ? Will you not plead, that it may be proved in that day that I have not laboured altogether in vain ? For this you know, my brethren, that except Christ come unto us now in all his quickening, pardoning, purifying mighty his second coming must be to us a day of unutterable woe. "O blessed Saviour" — says one who loved the Lord and his appearing, and yet was no Millemiarian — " how busy are the tongues of men, — how are their brains taken up with the indeterminable construction of this senig- matical truth, when, in the mean time, the care of thy spiritual reign in their hearts is neglected! O my Saviour, while others w;eary themselves with the disquisition of thy personal reign here upon Qarth for a thousand years, let it be the whole bent and study of my soul to make sure of my gSjsonal.reign with thee in heaven to all eternity''.^) Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever^ Amen. f Bishop Hall, Breathings of the Devout Soul. » 1 TiinTT. 17. APPENDIX TO THE LECTURES. Note A, p. 7. *' We may not appeal for its decision to Tradition, whether Rabbinical or Patristic. We may not rely upon a progressive developement of truth, nor may we look forward to a new revelation. . . . Some of our Pre- Millennarian brethren do appear at times to place greater reliance on such external authorities, than is either con- sistent or wise." I. 1. I SHALL have other occasions of referring to "progressive developements of truth" and "new reve- lations." I therefore pass them by for the present. I cannot however, forbear making some allusion to Mr. Brooks' long and interesting though somewhat partial chapter on " the Voice of the Church," in his Elements of Prophetical Interpretation, (chapter iii. p. 84 — 108.) It exhibits on a large scale the inconsistencies into which even sound Protestants can be drawn by a favorite theory. Mr. Brooks begins by calling upon us to hearken to " the voice of the mystical members of Christ's body," — for that voice, he says, " is surely the voice of the Spirit and the Bride," and will not " pass unheeded by those who desire to understand the voice of God himself." (p. 34, 35.) He then proceeds to re-echo the voice of " the Jewish Church," (p. 35.) as it sounds, — directly, in Kk 498 IS THE TESTIMONY NOTE A. the Targums of Babylon and of Jerusalem, in the words of Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Gamaliel, and in the books of Wisdom and of Tobit, (p. 36 — 38.) — and indirectly, in traditions like that of the house of Elias (p. 38, 39.). He next adduces the testimony of the Christian Church as it witnesses in its " purest period," (p. 35.) by the mouths of Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, and Tertullian (p, 40 — 49.). Passing through the twilight and midnight of the following centuries, he comes to the Reformation. He thinks that the Fathers of that age give but "an uncertain sound," but that their failure is amply compensated by the ever increasing distinctness with which "the Church" down to the present day bears witness to the truth. 2. There are some writers in whom such a deference to Patristic Tradition is only consistent with their avowed doctrinal opinions. Such, for example, is Mr. Greswell, who (in his work on the Parables, vol. i. p. 279.) asserts, that "the belief in the futurity of the Millennium was the orthodox or catholic notion in the second and third centuries ;" and then (at p. 283.) proceeds further to argue, that " no opinion, either on facts or on doctrines, can be traced up to the oral, viva voce teaching of apostles, or apostolical men, especially so extraordinary an opinion as this, and yet turn out to be false." 3. But we may well wonder when men, at all other times so righteously jealous of any interference with the supremacy of Scripture, as are Mr. Brooks, Mr. Bonar, and Mr. Birks, venture to speak as they have done on the subject. To Mr. Brooks 1 have already referred. Mr. Bonar, (Prophetical Landmarks, p. xv.) calls upon us, though in the next sentences he seems to become conscious of the peril of his 'assertion, to receive Pre- Millennarianism as an " Article of the Apostolic Creed," on the concurrent testimony of all (?) the fathers of the three first centuries; — " its only opponents being the Gnostics." [As to the correctness of this assertion, see the remarks NOTE A. OF PATRISTIC TRADITION 499 below, and Mosheim's invaluable summary of the history of primitive Millennarianism, in the note to v^rhich refer- ence is there made.] On like authority, Mr. Birks, (Outlines, p. 149.) speaks of Pre-Millennarianism as " the primitive hope," and avers that the opposite " doctrine, which is such a novelty itself, and so alien from the teaching of primitive times, has no ground to obtrude itself as an essential part of the Catholic faith." II. Not indeed that the facts of the case are so cer- tainly in their favour, as these excellent men take them to be. 1." For, if Mr. Greswell (Parables, vol. i. p. 273—411.) has traced up primitive Pre-Millennarianism to Papias, bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, w^ho may have been a hearer of St. John, and a companion of Polycarp ; Dr. Wordsworth, (Hulsean Lectures, p. 9.) has carried it up further still, and has shewn that the orthodox Papias may have, in common with the heretic Cerinthus, bor- rowed it not from the college of the Apostles, but from the synagogue of the Jews. " Incunabula Chiliasmi in Talmude sunt queer enda.^^ 2. And here my readers will do well to note this very probable explanation of the early prevalence of Pre- Millennarian doctrine ; namely, that it was adopted as a compromise between the Jew and the Christian in rela- tion to the Messiah ; — the Jerusalem glories of a personal reign were no longer denied, they were only postponed to the world's seventh millennary. " Verisimillimum est," says Mosheim, (De R. C. ante Constantinum, Cent, iii. §. xxxviii, note,) " plures ex Judaeis, Christianos quo concordiam quodammodo Judaic! dogmatis de terrene Messiae regno cum Christianorum de Servatoris nostri caelesti regno sententia, speique Judaicae cum spe Christi- anorum constituerent, duplex Christi regnum, dupli- cemque discipulorum ejus spem mente concepisse atque tradidisse, doctoresque Christianorum multos inventum hoc sive probasse, sive, ut alia quaedam, tolerasse, ut K k 2 500 CONCLUSIVELY IN FAVOUR NOTE A. faciliorem Judceis ad civitatem Chrisfi transitum redde- rent." 3. Not that even when introduced into the church, (whether in this way or otherwise I will not venture to say,) Millennarianism did meet with universal acceptance. The very writers who assert its prevalence in their day, admit that there were notwithstanding " many on the other hand, even of those whose sentiments as Christians were sound and pious, that did not recognize it." (Justin, Dial, cum Tryphone, as cited by Mr. Greswell, Parables, vol. i. p. 284.) And finally it was "so repudiated by the great majority, that you can barely find a supporter of it, and will generally find it loaded with obloquy." (Goode, Divine Rule of Faith and Practice, chapter v. section 4. vol. i. p. 313 et seq.) 4. Nor must it be overlooked, that the doctrine of the Pre-Millennarian fathers was not, in every respect, the same as that of most of their modern representatives. And herein Mr. Greswell stands almost alone. " My ideas," he says, " of an orthodox Millennarian's creed are collected from the opinions of the Millennarians of ancient times, and not from those of the advocates of the doctrine in modern times. The former in many respects difier from the latter ; and having to choose between them, I do not hesitate to prefer the former, believing them to be not simply the more ancient, but withal the more scriptural of the two." (Parables, vol. i. p. 151.) 5. In what respect the two theories differ, Mr. Greswell does not turn aside to shew. But it would seem from his Essay to consist mainly in this, that ancient Chiliasm is more palpably terrestrial, and I might add carnal, in its character, than is modern Pre-Millennarianism. Such at least was the judgment of Whitby, as expressed in his True Millennium, (chapter i. §. 5. p. 7, 8.) He subscribes to Mr. Greswell's opinion, that, if Scripture is to be inter- preted according to the letter, the ancient Chiliasts are more sound than their modern brethren. And he taxes the NOTE A. OF MODERN PRE-MILLENNARIANISM ? 501 latter with suppressing those features of the "primitive" hope which would, if retained, have proved at once how utterly untenable Chiliasm really is. Such at any rate was their effect in the case of Augustine. Speaking of the Millennarians of his day, that eminent father says : — " Quae opinio esset utcunque tolerabilis, si aliqusB deliciae spirituales in illo sabbato adfuturas Sanctis per Domini praesentiam crederentur. Nam etiam nos hoc opinati fuimus aliquando. Sed quum eos qui tunc resurrexerint, dicant immoderatissimis carnalibus epulis vacaturos, in quibus cibus sit tantus ac potus, ut non solum nuUam modestiam teneant, sed modum quoque ipsius incredulitatis excedant : nullo modo ista possunt nisi a carnalibus credi." (De C. D. lib. xx. cap. 7.) III. But I will not pursue this subject further. For consider well what Patristic tradition is really worth. Irenseus (who was martyred A.D. 202 at the age of 74, and upon whose evidence great stress is laid in this matter) affirms, that our blessed Lord's ministry, which commenced in his thirtieth year, extended to the fiftieth year of his age; and adds, " that all his own predecessors, who had associated with St. John in Asia, bear witness that St. John himself delivered this tradition to them." Can we, after this, setting aside the thoroughly sensual character of the passage, accept as true his assertion, based on like authority, that the Saviour himself predicted days " when vines shall be produced, each with ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand shoots, and on every shoot ten thousand sprigs, and on every sprig ten thousand bunches, and in every bunch ten thousand grapes, and every grape being squozen shall yield five-and-twenty metretae of wine" ? Mr. Greswell indeed defends even this in its literal acceptation. (Parables, vol. i. p. 289, 290, and 292, note m.) But surely we may, (as Dr. Wordsworth very truly observes, Hulsean Lectures on the Apocalypse, Lecture I, Note 2, 502 HOMES : NOTE B. on p. 11.) be well satisfied by such examples "of the necessity of searching the Scriptures, and of the insuf- ficiency of oral tradition." Note B, p. 9. ** For it is a fact, more or less perceptible in all Pre- Millennarian works, that they lay the foundation of their argument, and erect their superstructure with materials, taken almost exclusively from the Apocalyptic and Pro- phetic domains of figure and imagery." This fact is, I say, "more or less perceptible ;" — for it is not in all cases equally manifest. I. Sometimes quotations from the Apocalypse and the Old Testament Scriptures are taken first in the order of proof; — so that the reader arrives at the literal statements of the New Testament volume with a mind preoccupied with the Pre-Millennial Advent and the Personal Reign. 1. Thus, for example. Dr. Homes opens his Scriptural "Evidence to a future glorious state of the Church on Earth," with the following quaint remarks on Revelation XX. " So considerable do I deem this twentieth chapter of the Revelation, that, before we take the choice places of the whole Scriptures in order, I shall pitch the foot of my compass, and draw a right and clear circle upon it ; it being the manner and method of the Holy Spirit to declare things gradually, as the church is ready to hear, or its state requires, and the time of fulfilment draws near ; and thus he speaks most and plainest at last. These advantages falling to the share of this chapter, which touches the design, result, and catastrophe of all that God hath spoken in the Old and New Testaments to the point in hand ; it becomes no less than a golden key to unlock the Bible, especially the Old Testament." (Re- surrection Revealed, published in 1654, and reprinted in London 1833.) He then proceeds to take up in order NOTE B. BONAR : BIRKS : 503 certain passages in Genesis, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the Psalms, Isaiah, and the other prophets. Having thus gone through the Old Testament evidence, he then comes to the Nev7. Here again the order of citation is remark- able: Matt. xxiv. 13, 14: Luke i. 31, 32: xxi. 24: xxii. 28—30 : Acts i. 6, 7 : Rom. xi. 25—27 : but I will not follow him farther. 2. Take, for a more recent example, the Prophetical Landmarks of Mr. Bonar. His six first chapters are introductory. Much is stated in them which is good and true : much I must add is assumed which requires proof before it can be admitted. But, coming to the seventh chapter, we are invited to consider the Scriptural " Proofs of a Pre-Millennial Advent." The author announces, that he now wishes " to take up the question directly, and by itself." He, accordingly, proceeds to bring before us, (I) Isaiah xxxiv. {2) Isaiah Ixv. 17 — 25. (3) Daniel vii. (4) Daniel xii. (5) Joel iii. (6) Haggai ii. (7) Zechariah xiv. Having thus prepared the way, he adduces, (8) Luke xxi. 24. (9) Acts iii. 20, 21. (10) Rom. viii. 19—23. Having handled with considerable power, though by no means so as to compel the reader to adopt his view, (II) 2 Thess. ii. 1 — 8: he proceeds to grapple, very unsuccessfully, with (12) 2 Peter iii. 1 — 13. and con- cludes his chapter though not his book with (13) 1 John ii. 18. (14) Rev. xviii. xix. 3. The third example I will adduce under this head is that of Mr. Birks, in his recent work on the Outlines of Unfulfilled Prophecy. Chapter i. is occupied in proving what all sound Christians agree with him in believing ; namely, that Christ will personally come again. Chapter ii. attempts to demonstrate that that coming will be before the expected Millennium. Great is the contrast between the lines of argument followed in the two cases. For the first position, the New Testament supplies abun- dant and satisfactory evidence. But with respect to the second, comments on Daniel ii. and vii. and on Zechariah 504 greswell: note b. xiii. and xiv. prepare us to receive a Pre-Millennarian rendering of Matt. xiii. 24—30: Luke xii. 32—40: xix. 11 — 27 : Matt. xxiv. and Acts iii. 19 — 26 : 1 Thess. iv. 13—18: 2 Thess. ii. 1—12. The next chapter discusses the Millennium as predicted in Rev. xx. Following chapters take up the objections usually urged against the Pre-Millennial view : then comes the bearing of the question upon the fortunes of the literal Israel. Chapter xv. is devoted to " the eternal (terrestrial) kingdom." Here again the same order of proof is observable as is to be noticed in an earlier work of the same author, The Four Prophetic Empires. There at chapter xvi. he marshals the Scriptural evidence in favour of his view in the following order : Revelation, Genesis, Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Joel, Amos, Micah. Having thus prepared the student's mind for the reception of his exposition of them, he brings for- ward next, Luke i. 82, 33 ; Matt. xix. 28 ; Acts iii. 19—26; Rom. viii. 17—22; Eph. i. 22; iii. 20, 21; James i. 18. Last of all he observes, that " it is time to consider the difficulties which may be urged against such a view." He then takes up and deals with " the con- flagration and the general resurrection." II. At other times the error of which I have spoken is to be detected rather in the order in which the subjects connected with the Second Advent are brought forward,, than in the order in which quotations from the Scriptures are marshalled. 1. Thus the Rev. Edward Greswell frames his Scrip- tural argument for a Pi-e-Millennial Advent, according to the precedence of the following " articles of an orthodox Millennarian's creed." " First, a personal reappearance of the prophet Elijah, before any second advent of Jesus Christ. Secondly, a second advent of Jesus Christ in person, before his coming to judgment at the end of the world. Thirdly, a conversion of the Jews to Christianity, collectively, and as a nation. Fourthly, a resurrection of NOTE B. BROOKS : 505 part of the dead, such as is called by way of distinction, the resurrection of the just. Fifthly, the restitution of the kingdom to Israel, including the appearance and manifestation of the Messiah of the Jews, in the character of a temporal monarch. Sixthly, a conformation of this kingdom to a state or condition of society, of which Christ will be the head, and faithful believers, both Jews and Gentiles, will be the members : — a distribution of rewards and dignities in it, proportioned to the respective merits or good deserts of the receivers : — a resulting state of things, which though transacted upon earth, and adapted to the nature and conditions of a human society as such, leaves nothing to be desired for its perfection and happiness." This learned and able writer professes indeed to refer to the Old Testament only " obiter" and " pro re nata," and to ground his argument mainly upon the New Testa- ment Scriptures. But no one can read his Essay without feeling, that the real strength of his position lies in the Old Testament and Apocalyptic authoi'ities which he quotes, sometimes more and sometimes less frequently. Thus, for example, to prove that Elijah shall personally reappear before any second advent of Christ, he nominally quotes Matt. xvii. 10, 11. but really rests upon his own view of Malachi iv. 5, 6. So again to prove that Jesus shall personally come the second time to earth, before he comes to judge the world, he quotes indeed Acts i. 10, 11. but really relies upon Zech. xiv. 4. For his third pro- position, his real proof is Zech. xii. 9, 10. The truth is more evident still, when he comes to his fifth assertion. The whole concludes with " some general observations" calculated " satisfactorily to explain all those seeming contradictions" which the epistles present. By means of these, many of the most conclusive Anti-Millennarian passages in the Apostolic letters are disposed of with a brevity little proportioned to the length of the previous reasonings. 506 ELLIOTT: BEGG : NOTE B. 2. The Rev. J. W. Brooks, in his " Elements of Pro- phetical Interpretation," affords another example of the inversion of the right order of subjects. After an intro- ductory chapter " on the use and importance of pro- phecy;" he proceeds, in his second chapter, to expound the Abrahamic covenant in such wise, as to preoccupy the reader's mind with the dogma of the Pre-Millennial Advent. Having, in his third chapter, appealed to " the voice of the Church ;" he comes, at length, in the fourth chapter to rules for " the Interpretation of Prophecy;" and then, in the fifth and subsequent chapters, treats of the Second Advent, the Kingdom of Christ, and Judg- ment to come. 3. Mr. Elliott (in the fourth volume of his Horae Apocalypticse, p. 150 — 182.) takes a very similar course in adducing his " General Scripture Pre-Millennial Evi- dence." He first establishes, on Old Testament autho- rity, " the promise of the world's renovation, Abrahamic inheritance, and establishment of Messiah's kingdom, all in supposed connexion with the promise to the national Israel." He then adduces, successively, (1) Luke ii. 32—34: xiv. 14: xxi. 24: Acts i. 3, 6, 7 : xxvi. 6, 7: xxiii. 6. (2) Matt. xix. 28 : Acts iii. 19 : Rom. viii. 18: John xvii. 23, 24. (3) 2 Thess. ii. 1—8. (4) Matt. xiii. 37_43. (5) Luke xxii. 28 : Matt. xi. 12:2 Cor. iv. 17. (6) Heb. iv. 9. He lastly (p. 184—187.) touches upon such " difficulties" as (1) the conflagration of 2 Peter iii". (2) the simultaneous resurrection of John v. 28. and (3) the completeness of the Church at the Lord's appearing. 4. A yet more transparent case is that of Mr. Begg, in his " Connected View of Scriptural Evidence." The Table of Contents prefixed to his unpretending volume is a very faithful exhibition of the progress of his reasonings. " Restoration of Israel," — " of Israel and Judah," — " Enlai'gement of the Holy Land," — " New Division" of the same, — " Israel the most honoured nation," — " Rebuilding and enlargement of Jerusalem," — NOTE B. MOLYNEUX : MEDE. 507 " The whole earth blessed in Israel's restoration," — " The General Felicity extended to the Inferior Creation ;" — and so on for five more chapters, until we come to chapters on the " literal fulfilment of Prophecy," — " the views of Primitive believers." Soon follows " the First Resurrection," — and then at last, " The submission due to revealed Truth, with remarks on objections to these doctrines." 5. The Rev. Capel Molyneux is the last example I shall cite. He has written two prophetical works. They are more remarkable for confidence of assertion and boldness of speculation, than for closeness of argument. Their author is a strong Futurist. On this account, and on account of the hazardous conjectures in which he indulges, many of his Pre-Millennarian brethren would strongly object to being identified with him. Of this I am well aware. But his books have had a very ex- tensive sale. And I therefore refer to them both here and elsewhere, as a striking exemplification of Pre-Mil- lennarian tendencies. For indeed Mr. Molyneux does, after all, but theorize fearlessly where his brethren hesitatingly suggest. Of this fact my notes have already given frequent proof. All that I need now observe is, that he also follows that inverted order of Scriptural en- quiry to which I am now referring. The first of his works is *' Israel's Future." In it the supposed destiny of Israel is set forth in discourses from Rom. xi : Ezekiel xxii : Rev. xi : Rev. xvi : Zech. xiv : Is. Ixv. The mind being thus preoccupied by the most pleasant phantasies, is ready for " The World to Come," in which all difficulties which might arise from a comparison of the apparently figurative language of Old Testament Prophecy with the unquestionably literal statements of the Apostolic Epistles, are skilfully evaded by the assertion, that the one speak of the Terrestrial, the other of the Celestial departments of the Future State ! III. I say nothing, for the present, of that great 508 FREQUENT INTERMIXTURE NOTE C. armoury from which the weapons of so many modern Millennarian writers are drawn, the works of Joseph Mede. His starting point is beyond all doubt the Twentieth of the Revelation ; and great is the ingenuity, and varied the Rabbinical and Patristic lore, with which he defends the position to which he thinks he has been led by his well known and most certain law of syn- chronisms. IV. My readers will, I trust, pardon me for reiterating the assertion, that I would not by any means speak dis- paragingly of either the Apocalypse, or the Old Testament Prophets. All that 1 contend for is this, — that in cases like the present, where a precedence must be accorded to one or the other, the literal portions of the New Testament have an incontestable right to take the lead over the Prophetic portions of the Divine Word. The letter of one portion must yield to the letter of the other. Whether is most fit that the letter of the Apostolic Epistles should yield to the letter of the Prophecies ? or that the letter of the Prophecies should yield to that of the Apostolic Epistles? Pre-Millennarians (practically) adopt the former alternative. We maintain that the latter should be embraced. Note C, p. 13. " Different passages in the same book, — different verses in the same chapter, — yes, and different words in the very same verse, require to be explained on different principles. Here we may be literal, there we cannot refuse to discern the language of imagery." I. Different passages in the same book. (1.) Figurative passages in books for the most part literal. Gen. xlix. 3 — 27: Deut. xxxii. xxxiii. Judges v: 1 Sam. ii. 1 — 10: 2 Sam. xxii. NOTE C. OF LETTER AND FIGURE. 509 (2.) Literal passages in books for the most part figurative. Isaiah xxxvi — xxxix : Jeremiah xxvi, xxvii, xxviii : xxxiv — xlv: lii. Daniel i, iii, v, vi : Joel i, ii. 1 — 27. II. Different verses in the same chapter. Gen. iii. 15, figurative: 17, literal. Ps. xxii. 12, 13. figurative: 18, literal. Ps. xl. 2, figurative : 8, literal. Ps. xlv. 6, literal : 8, figurative. Ps. Ixviii. 17, figurative: 18, literal. Ps. Ixix. 2, figurative : 21, literal. Ps. ex. 4<, literal : 7, figurative. Eccles. xii. 1, 7, literal: 5, 6, figurative. Is. xi. 1, figurative: 2, literal. Is. xxii. 15 — 19, literal : 20 — 25, figurative. Is. xxviii. 14, 15, literal: 16, 17, figurative. Is. 1. 6, literal : 8, figurative. Is. liv. 12, figurative : 13, literal. Is. Iv. 1, figurative: 3, literal. Is. Ixi. 1, literal: 10, figurative. III. Different words in the very same verse. Job i. 21. " Naked came I out of my mother's womb," literal : " naked shall I return thither," figurative. Psalm xxii. 16. " For dogs have compassed me," figu- rative : " they pierced my hands and my feet," literal. Is. ix. 6. " Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given," literal : " the government shall be upon his shoulder," figurative. Is. xxviii. 16. " Behold, I lay in Zion, for a found- ation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation," figurative : " he that believeth shall not make haste," literal. Is. xl. 3. " Voice, wilderness," literal : " desert, way, highway," figurative. Is. xL 8. *' The grass withereth, the flower fadeth," figurative : " but the word of our God shall stand for ever," literal. 510 CAUTION RESPECTING NOTE D. Mai. i. 1 1. " For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles," literal : " and in every place incense shall be offered to my name, and a pure offering," figurative. In John i. 10, the word "world" is used in two senses : so also in Rom. iii. 2\, the word " law." I need not say that these lists could, if needful, be largely increased. Note D, p. 3L " The principle for which I contend is one which is freely granted in the case of the Old Testament types." While speaking of types, I may be permitted to caution my younger readers against being swayed by the Pre- Millennarian arguments, which have sometimes been built upon what are imagined to be types. 1. 1. Joseph Mede, for example, introduces to our notice, though with much diffidence, " The mystery of St. Paul's conversion, or the type of the calling of the Jews." (Works, p. 1089.) 2. Mr. Bonar proceeds with less hesitation. In his Prophetical Landmarks, (chapter xii.) he affirms, very truly, that such exposition of Old Testament types as is given in the New Testament Scriptures is meant to encourage and to guide us in further researches. He then goes on to assert, what is in truth more than ques- tionable, that St. Paul, in handling the types in his epistle to the Hebrews, assumes throughout the truth of the Jewish literal (that is, in fact, the Pre-Millennarian) interpretation of prophecy. From this it is not difficult to pass on to the assertion, that most of the types were "begun to be fulfilled" long since, but that their com- plete accomplishment is reserved for the days of the NOTE D. IMAGINARY TYPES. 511 second advent and the personal reign. The following types are then presented to our notice : Adam and Eve in Paradise, as types of Christ and his church reigning over the renovated Millennial earth ; — Enoch translated that he should not see death, as " the type of the last generation of the church, who shall not sleep but be changed ;" — Noah and his family saved in the ark from perishing w^ith the world of the ungodly, as types " of that remnant, who, belonging to many nations, Jew and Gentile, shall be safely hidden from the swell- ings of the last flood of fire ; of which the first flood of water was but a figure;" — Melchizedec blessing Abraham after the slaughter of the kings, as a type of the Lord Jesus, who, "when the slaughter of opposing kings shall have been consummated by the descendants of Abraham .... shall come forth to bless the triumphant host out of the better Salem, — his own more glorious city." But I will not prolong my quotations. 3. Even Mr. Birks (in his Elements of Sacred Pro- phecy, chapter xiii. p. 355.) is drawn away by similar imaginings. " The whole account of Nebuchadnezzar's dream has clearly a typical character The two chapters of his history which follow, bear the clearest marks of a typical meaning." Thus again, (in the Blooinsbury Lectures for 1843, p. 223, 234<.) he assumes that the first sabbath was a type of the expected Millen- nial Sabbatism. He then proceeds ; " Let us now search the type more closely, and to what conclusion does it lead ? At the close of the sixth day, woman was formed from man, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, the crowning mystery of creative wisdom. And thus, on the dawn of the first sabbath, creation appeared complete under its appointed ruler ; and man, with his new formed bride, stood forth, upon a sinless world, in the visible exercise of supreme dominion. The first Adam was the figure of Him who is to come : the second Adam is the Lord from heaven. Therefore do we learn, from this 5\2 Paul's treatmrnt of the types. note d. divine type, that when the Millennial Sabbath shall dawn upon our world, the whole church of the firstborn will be manifested along with their Lord, and will share in his glorious dominion over a renovated universe." The same author (in the Bloomsbury Lectures for 1849,) handles the type of Melchizedec meeting Abraham, when he was returning from the slaughter of the kings, just as we have already found Mr. Bonar doing. 4. I might now adduce further instances of Pre-Mil- lennial types drawn from the history of Joseph by Mr. Kelly, and from that of David and Solomon by Dr. Sirr; — but I forbear. IL L No one can forbid these authors to illustrate by Scriptural narratives, positions which have been previously established by independent evidence. But to give those illustrations the sacred name of " types," seems to be more than can be lawfully permitted ; for this stamps upon them an impress of divine authority ; and counte- nances a practice which has, as is well known, been from the earliest days productive of most serious evil. Nor indeed does it seem altogether consistent in such disciples of the letter, as our Pre-Millennarian brethren delight to be. 2. With regard to Mr. Bonar's assertion, with the truth of which all his types must stand or fall, that St. Paul recognizes the Pre-Milleimial rule of inter- preting the Prophecies ; it is surely enough to refer to the first, second, eighth, tenth, and twelfth chapters of his epistle to the Hebrews. The reader will find, that in the first chapter. Psalms ii, xlv, Ixxxix, cii, are quoted as fulfilled in the present royalty of Jesus, (see p. 117, note b) : in the second chapter. Psalm viii. is declared to be accomplished in that selfsame present kingdom of Christ, (see p. 59, note t) : in the eighth and tenth chapters, Jer. xxxi. 31 — 34. is expounded as predictive of God's dealing with his church of the gospel dispens- ation, (see p. 476, note x) : finally in chapter twelve, the NOTE E. KINGDOM OF HEAVEN : KINGDOM OF GOD. 513 shaking of the heavens and the earth foretold by the prophet Haggai, is shewn to pourtray the passing away of the Mosaic oeconomy, and the establishment of the final and enduring kingdom of Christ in its stead. (See p. 62, note a.) Surely then it is not a correct statement to affirm, that St. Paul in the Hebrews countenances the Jewish literal principle of prophetic exposition. Note E, p. 44. " The words ' kingdom of heaven,' ' kingdom of God,' and ' kingdom of the Son of man,' are in the Gospels convertible terms." 1. " That the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are the same, is evident from a comparison of those passages in St. Matthew's Gospel which mention the former, with the parallel places in Mark and Luke Thus where Matthew has, ' Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven', (v. 3.) Luke has, 'Blessed be ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God'' (vi. 20.). And where Matthew has, ' Tt is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,'' (xiii. IL) Mark has, * Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, of God' (iv. IL). Indeed, Matthew uses the two terms indiscriminately in ch. xix. 23, 24. " In like manner, a comparison of Matthew xvi. 28. with Luke ix. 27. will prove that the ' kingdom of God' and the 'kingdom of the Son of man' are the same." 2. " In regard to the meaning of these different expres- sions, ' the kingdom of heaven' is always in Matthew, to whom it is peculiar, ») /3acr