THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the Library of the Diocese of Springfield Protestant Episcopal Church Presented 1917 252.6 hl6t The person charging this material is re- sponsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining of books are reasons for disciplinary action and may result in ^missal from the University. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN 0 JUL2 6 APR 2 4 ^990 THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY From the Library of the Diocese of Springfield Protestant Episcopal Church Presented 1917 252.6 BI6L THE LORD’S COMING, ISEAEL, AND THE CHUECH. INTED BY BALLANTYNE AND COMPANY EDINBURGH AND LONDON THE ORD’S COMIN ISRAEL, AND THE CHURCH, BV T. B. BAINES. LONDON : REEVES ANE TURNER, 196 STEAND, and 185 FLEET STEEET. 1875. Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/lordscomingisraeOObain CONTENTS, INTRODUCTION PA R T FIR S T. THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH, CHAPTER L DIRECT TEACHING CONCERNING THE LORD’s RETURN FOR LIVING BELIEVERS . . CHAPTER II. INDIRECT REFERENCES TO THE LORD’S COMING FOR LIVING BELIEVERS . . CHAPTER III. THE COMING OF THE LORD WITH HIS SAINTS .... CHAPTER IV. THE TEACHING OF OUR LORD’s PARABLES CONCERNING HIS COMING . . ; PAGE 1 9 25 40 53 60149(3 vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. PAGE THE RETURN OF JESUS FOR BELIEVERS WHO HAVE ^‘FALLEN ASLEEP ” 64 .CHAPTER VI. THE FIRST RESURRECTION 74 CHAPTER VII. A GENERAL RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT AT THE END OP THE WORLD, NOT TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE 84 I PART SECOND. THE HOPE OF ISRAEL AND CREATION. CHAPTER I. god’s promises CONCERNING THE EARTH 105 CHAPTER IP THE promises NOT FULFILLED BY Christ’s FIRST coming . . 121 CHAPTER III. god’s dealings with ISRAEL AND THE WORLD .... 136 CHAPTER IV. the messianic kingdom established on earth, old testa- ment teaching 144 CONTENTS. vii CHAPTER V. PAGE Israel’s restoration and blessing, old testament teach- ing 160 CHAPTER VI. Israel’s restoration and blessing, old testament teach- ing { continued ) ......... 187 CHAPTER VII. - Christ’s reign and Israel’s restoration, new testament TEACHING 200 CHAPTER VIII. “ THE TIMES AND THE SEASONS ” 222 CHAPTER IX. BRIEF SUMMARY OF GOD’s WAYS 244 PART THIRD. THE CHURCH OE GOD. CHAPTER I. THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 261 CHAPTER II. THE BODY AND THE BRIDE 282 CHAPTER IIJ. THE MYSTERY 306 CONTENTS. viii CHAPTER IV. PAGE A CHRISTIAN NOT OF THE WORLD 319 CHAPTER V. THE CHURCH ON EARTH— ITS UNITY 343 CHAPTER VI. LOCAL ASSEMBLIES— OFFICES — GIFTS— WORSHIP . . . 362 CHAPTER VII. THE CHURCH IN RUINS 385 CHAPTER VIII. SEPARATION FROM EVIL THE PATH OP OBEDIENCE . . . 410 CHAPTER IX. god’s PROVISION FOR THE FAITHFUL . 426 THE LORD’S COMING, ISRAEL, AND THE CHURCH. INTEODUCTION. Everybody is aware of the difference prevailing among the Lord’s people as to the interpretation of those passages of Scripture which foretell the future in reserve for the Church and the world. The ordinary interpretation is, that the promises contained in the Psalms and Old Testament prophecies refer to the Church, which, as the spiritual Israel, has taken the place, in Cod’s purposes, of the literal Israel, to whom these promises were given. So, the fulfilment of the promises is taken to be spiritual rather than literal, being brought about by the gradual spread of Christianity, and the blessings of peace and prosperity following the universal triumph of the gospel. This world-wide dominion of truth and happiness is presumed to be the period of a thousand years, during which Satan is bound, and the saints reign with Christ. It is supposed that at the close A 2 THE LORHS COMING. of this time, after another brief outbreak of Satan’s craft and human wickedness, the world is destroyed ; and that there is then a general resurrection of the dead, both bad and good, to be judged before the great white throne. This is interpreted as the event called ‘‘the coming of the Lord,” “the appearing of the Lord,” “the day of the Lord,” “the end of the age ” (mis-translated “ world ”), and “ the coming of the Son of man ” — names supposed all to refer to the same period, the closing up of the history, and indeed, of the existence, of the habitable globe. There is, however, another interpretation given to the Scriptures describing these events, which may be briefly stated as follows. The Old Testament pro- phecies, except where manifestly figurative, are to receive a literal fulfilment. The promises given to Israel are to be made good to Israel, not to the Church, The Old Testament prophecies being thus taken from the Church, the New Testament is found to contain no predictions of the universal spread of Christianity, but, on the contrary, sad forecasts of corruption, leading to judgment, in the body professing the name of Christ. In the midst of this gloom, however, the prospect of the Lord’s coming for His saints, shines as a bright hope for the hearts of the faithful. This coming, the date of which is purposely left undeter- mined, instead of being at the end of the world, is preliminary to the judgments awaiting the world, and to the reign of Christ with His saints. When it occurs, the living saints will be caught up to meet INTRODUCTION. 3 the Lord in the air, and at the same time will take place, in part at least, the first resurrection/’ when the dead in Christ will be raised. Then follow the woes which usher in ‘‘ the day of the Lord,” when Israel is restored. Old Testament prophecy fulhlled, Satan bound, and the dominion of Christ established on the earth. At its close Satan is loosed, the nations rebel, the world is consumed, and “the rest of the dead ” are judged. I propose to inquire which of these interpretations is correct. The question is not one of mere curiosity, still less an intrusion into regions we are forbidden to tread. The distinction which our Lord draws be- tween the servant and the friend is that “the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth,” while He told His disciples, as friends, all things that He had heard of His Father (John xv. 15). In the same discourse He promises to send “ the Spirit of truth,” the Comforter, to show them “things to come” (John xvi. 13). Indeed, the very thought that the constant references to the future scattered through the sacred writings are not meant to be understood, carries its own refutation. And, as. if foreseeing the spirit of unbelief and indifference which characterises the present time, the Holy Ghost has, in the introduc- tion to the Apocalypse, the most distinctively prophetic portion of the New Testament, pronounced a special blessing on those “that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein ” (Rev. i. 3). 4 THE LORHS COMING. While, moreover, it is admitted that the interpre- tation of prophecy may be attempted in a frivolously inquisitive spirit, are not those who turn a deaf ear to its promises and warnings themselves guilty of the same irreverence which they censure in others ? For the object of prophecy is to unfold God’s purposes with respect to the glory of His Son, whom man has refused, but whom God has exalted, and to whom every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess. In the contemplation of this theme, He invites His chosen ones to share. And who are those chosen ones ? Are they mere lookers on ? No, thanks be to God, we who believe in Jesus are His fellow-heirs — all things are ours. God invites us to look at the inheritance He has Himself prepared for us in joint possession with the Son of His love. And surely, as in the en- joyment of that inheritance, the first-born,’^ in whom we have our acceptance, will be the one object of our worship and delight, so in its contemplation now, our brightest thought should be that we are gazing on the portion prepared for Him who alone is worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.” To study prophecy with any more trivial object is to lose sight of this glorious end. It is like studying the movements of the solar system from the orbits of the moro distant planets, without taking account of the central globe round which the whole revolves. But, on the other hand, to neglect it as unprofitable, be- cause it does not contribute to our personal salvation. , INTRODUCTION, is a piece of selfishness derogatory to the claims of Christ, and unworthy of the condescending goodness of God in thus taking us into His own counsels. It is a deliberate preference of the position of a servant to that of a friend, a declaration that so long as our own interests are secured, we are indifferent as to what God has told us concerning the glories of Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Nor can we overlook the great practical importance of the inquiry. For surely there is a vast moral chasm between the two interpretations of coming events just indicated. If Gods Word teaches that Christianity, instead of overspreading the world, will only prove, like Judaism, the incurable enmity of man to God, the jubilant and self-congratulatory tone prevalent in Christendom, is nothing better than Laodicean self-complacency, saying, ‘‘ I am rich and Increased with goods, and have need of nothing,'’ while really it should be mourning that it is wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked ” (Rev. iii. 17). It is holding out a false and delusive hope, saying, ‘‘ peace and safety,” when “ sudden destruc- tion ” is approaching. And if the world is hurrying on to judgment, Christians who see it will duly estimate the seductive cry of modern progress, and beware of entangling themselves in affairs over which such a doom is hanging. While, therefore, the deep solemnity of the subject forbids all idle curiosity, its importance equally con- demns all selfish indifference. These things are 6 THE LORHS COMING. written for our instruction, and it cannot be a matter of little moment whether the instruction which God has given is received or slighted, understood or mis- apprehended. Eeverence for God’s Holy Word, re- gard for the honour and glory of Christ, as well as the immense practical questions involved in the different schemes of interpretation, all unite in rebuking both the curious spirit in which the subject is too often approached, and the careless spirit in which it is too often avoided. For the sake of clearness the best mode of looking at the subject will be to inquire — First, What is the immediate prospect placed before the believer ? in other words. What is the hope of the Church, according to the Word of God ? This will naturally lead us to look, Secondly, At the promises of blessing and righte- ousness upon earth contained in the Old Testament Scriptures, and the mode in which these promises are to receive their fulfilment. Having thus distinguished between the hope of the Church and the prospect of blessing before the world, we shall be in a better position to ascertain and understand. Thirdly, The teaching of the Holy Ghost concern- ing the position held by the Church in God’s dispensa- tional dealings, and the moral relationship in which . it stands towards the world, a matter involving the deepest and most practical lessons as to the walk suited to believers in the present age. PART FIRST. THE HOPE OF THE CHURCH. CHAPTER 1. DIRECT TEACHING CONCERNING THE LORD’s RETURN FOR LIVING BELIEVERS. The point of most immediate interest to the believer is the meaning to be attached to the phrase, ‘‘ The Coming of the Lord.^’ Does Scripture in these words speak of the Christian’s death, or of Christ’s coming to raise and judge the dead at the end of the world ? Or do the words hold out a hope of a totally different nature ? I propose, in this first part, to examine what the Word of God says about the coming of the Lord, first as it affects the living saint, and next as it affects the dead. The Old Testament Scriptures are full of the coming of the Messiah in glory and power. Indeed the Jews were so occupied with these prophecies that they over- looked those which foretold His coming in weakness and humiliation. His coming in power is often spoken of by Jesus Himself and by His disciples in their converse with one another. They ask, “ What shall be the sign of Thy coming ” (Matt. xxiv. 3) ; are told to watch, ‘‘ for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come” (ver. 42) ; and admonished by the question — “When the Son of man cometh, shall He 10 THE LORHS COMING. find faith on the earth ” (Luke xviii. 8) ? Christ’s second coming was, therefore, expected by the disciples, and held a considerable place in His own teaching. But in the epistles there appears another fact, a “ mystery ” hidden from the Old Testament prophets, and only hinted at by Jesus Himself. This is that the Lord’s coming is divided into two different acts. The prophets only foretell the coming of the Messiah Himself. But the New Testament shows that in this glorious advent He will be accompanied by His saints. In order for this, however, it is necessary that before Jesus comes to reign over the earth. His saints should have been taken up to heaven. Accordingly the epistles make known that the first act in the Lord’s coming will be to take believers to be with Himself, and the second His return with them to the world. When our Lord was on earth the time for revealing this mystery had not arrived, so that He usually speaks of His coming in general terms, without distinguishing its two different parts. Hence it is only from the epistles that we can fully understand His teaching on this subject, though when seen in their light, its Divine perfection becomes obvious. In the first three gospels especially, the two parts, though both alluded to, are so blended, that it will be desirable to postpone the examination of their teach- ing until we have discovered the key by which its liidden treasures are unlocked. In the fourth gospel. DIRECT TEACHING. II however, though the mystery is not distinctly revealed, the return of the Lord for His saints is held out as a hope before the 'hearts of the disciples. On the night of His betrayal, Jesus says, Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house 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 corae again and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also ” (John xiv. 1-3). These words were spoken to comfort His disciples on His departure. He tells them that while absent He will prepare a place for them ; and will presently return to take them to be with Himself. This passage is often applied to the death of believers. Such an interpretation, however, is un- warranted by other scriptures, and is open to serious objection. The disciples knew, not only of a resur- rection, but of the separate existence of the spirit, whether in happiness, like Lazarus, or in torment, like the rich man. If, therefore, Jesus was only tell- ing them that after death their spirits would be with Him in paradise. He merely told them what they knew. Concerning death, moreover, it is said that the believer goes to be with Jesus, never that Jesus comes for the believer. Nor would the hope given to the disciples, at such a crisis, be that of entering into any imperfect state, such as the existence of the spirit even in paradise. The passage implies com- pleteness, that perfect reunion which only takes place 12 THE LORHS COMING. “ when this corruptible shall have put on incorrup- tion, and this mortal shall have put on immortality.” Death is not the believer’s hope, but the redemption of the body. ‘‘ If our earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved,” still the hope is the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” Paul is willing, no doubt, ‘‘to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord,” but his desire is, “ not that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life ” (2 Cor. v. 1-9). This, the perfect state, is the true Christian hope, and surely in the parting words of comfort to His disciples, when promising to come again and take them to Himself, nothing short of the fulfil- ment of this hope can have been in the Lord’s mind. That these words disclose a new prospect, not the spirit’s presence with Jesus after death, is clear from the closing verses of this gospel. There our Lord first foretells Peter’s death; then, being asked what should become of John, replies — “ If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? ” (John xxi. 22). Now this could not mean that John might live till the end of the world. But neither could it mean that John might go to be with Jesus at his death. In this case, how would he have dificred from Peter or any of the other disciples ? Moreover, this interpretation would rob the words of all meaning, making them equivalent to this — “ If I will that he lives till he dies, what is that to thee ? ” The coming referred to, therefore, is DIRECT TEACHING. 13 neither the departure to be with Jesus at death, nor His appearing at the end of the world. Its true character is not far to seek. It is here spoken of, not as one of an indefinite number of similar events, like the deaths of individual believers, but as a single transaction, of which the disciples had already heard. Such a transaction Jesus had but lately named, when He promised to come again for His disciples. It is true He did not distinguish it from the other part of His coming, but He brought it out as a special feature, and it was to this feature that John’s heart would turn when he heard the words uttered. What can be simpler ? On a solemn occasion Jesus tells His disciples that He will come to take them to Himself. Shortly afterwards He bids them not to be surprised if one of them tarries till He comes. However little the disciples might yet be able to dis- tinguish between the two parts of His coming, there can surely be no doubt that these utterances were meant to bring before their minds the same blessed hope. These two passages, then, teach us : First, the return of Jesus for His saints, not at death or the end of the world, but at some definite though unrevealed period, when all shall be brought together to the place He has gone to prepare for them ; and secondly, that this coming again, though uncertain as to time, might occur before the death of one, at least, of the apostles. So the disciples understood it, for there “ went this saying abroad among the brethren, that that disciple 14 THE LORHS COMING. should not die’’ (John xxi. 23), and though the Holy Ghost corrects this error, we are never told that it consisted in believing that Jesus might come in John’s lifetime ; still less in believing that if He did come, John would not die. Christ’s own words expressly authorised the former belief; and other parts of Scripture make it clear that Christians living at the Lord’s coming will be translated without seeing death. The disciples’ error, therefore, did not consist in this understanding of the words of Jesus ; but in adding to those words, and converting a statement that John might tarry into a prediction that he would tarry. Nor is anything' said about unusual longevity on the part of John. The time of the Lord’s coming is studiously kept out of sight. The only event that must necessarily happen, according to these scrip- tures, before the promised return of Jesus for His dis- ciples, was the martyrdom of Peter, a thing which, in an age of persecution, might have occurred at almost any hour. When that had taken place, there was no reason to be deduced from^ these passages why the return of Jesus should not be momentarily expected. Let us look at the position of the early disciples, remembering that this was almost all the light they yet had on the subject. Of the two whose future career had been spoken of, one had been told that he must suffer death, the other that he might tarry till Jesus came. Would it not be a perfectly natural and lawful thing for John to be living in anticipation of the Lord’s coming ? Would it not, indeed, have DIRECT TEACHING. 15 shown sad unbelief if he had not looked for transla- tion, but had looked for death instead of translation ? Would it not also have been lawful for the other disciples, Peter excepted, to anticipate that the Lord might come in their lifetime, and to have constantly before their souls the refreshing hope that the One whom they loved, and who had departed from them, would soon return to take them to Himself ? It is important to ascertain the legitimate effect which these words of our Lord would have on the minds of the disciples, because they were the only clear light on this subject which they yet possessed. It is true there were other prophecies as to His com- ing uttered by Himself, but these were intentionally obscure as to the great point here brought out, namely, the coming of the Lord for His saints apart from and before His coming in power and glory. In no other place had the Lord Jesus held out the hope of His return for His disciples, without reference to other events affecting His coming to the world. The hope, therefore, was clearly expressed, in very few words, and little capable of erroneous interpretations. It is a serious thing to maintain that a hope so clearly and definitely stated is a mistake ; that the conclusion legitimately flowing from our Lord’s own words was a conclusion which He did not mean His disciples to draw ; that the hope reasonably founded on His own promise was a hope which He did not mean them to cherish. Eather, surely, should we infer that, though in His wisdom God has seen fit to conceal the time, i6 THE LORD'S COMING. and though in His mercy He has seen fit to delay that event, which, however blessed for believers, puts a period to the grace in which He is now acting towards the world, yet His purpose was to hold out this coming of His Son as a precious perennial hope for the souls of those who are His. But though our Lord’s own language seems sufii- ciently plain, it may be asked, whether it is in agree- ment with other portions of God’s Word ? Christ s teaching, as we have said, only slightly touched this special subject of His separate advent for His saints ; and He left its full significance to be brought to the hearts of His disciples by that Spirit of truth, who was to ‘Heach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever He had said unto them.” What, then, does this Holy Spirit teach us concerning the wondrous theme we are here con- sidering ? The question is not treated at length in the Acts, which, however, contains a passage clearly announc- ing the Lord’s return, in some form or other, before the end of the world. Immediately after His ascen- sion, while the disciples still ‘‘ looked steadfastly toward heaven, as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also said. Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven ” (Acts i. 10, 11). Now no time is here mentioned, and if the passage stood by itself, DIRECT TEACHING, IT it might be supposed to refer to the end of the world. But, comparing it with other passages, this interpreta- tion becomes impossible. For, in the first place. His comino^ ao:ain was to be in like manner ” with His ascension, and nothing can be conceived more unlike to this event than the appearance of the Judge upon the great white throne. Secondly, when the Judge then appears, He does not come to the world, for “the earth and the heaven flee away.” It is the dead who are summoned before the Judge, not the Judge who comes to them. (Rev. xx. 11-15.) But, thirdly, our Lord had Himself constantly spoken of His coming, and had only recently named its effect upon the disciples as a special ground of consolation and hope, as the one precious comfort to stay their hearts during His absence. What, then, is more natural than that now, when He had just departed from His last earthly communion with them, the promise of His coming should once more be presented to their hearts ? True, the two parts of the coming were not yet 'clearly made known, nor was the special hope of His return for His saints, as distinct from the other act, here revealed. Still the coming, of which this feature was now taught, is presented as a general hope, to cheer and calm the souls of the disciples. But it is in the epistles, where the Spirit has fully unfolded “ all that Jesus bef^an both to do and teach” while here on earth, that this “ mystery ” of the separate coming for the saints, hitherto hid in the counsels of God, is first distinctly revealed. The B i8 THE LORHS COMING, earliest of these epistles, as nearly all competent critics are agreed, is the first of those addressed to the Thessalonians. Paul had spent at the outside three or four weeks in Thessalonica (Acts xvii. 2), and the whole of the instruction possessed by the believers was derived from him during this brief visit, Avhich was followed shortly by his first epistle. It is interesting, therefore, to observe the truth they had received, and to note its practical effect. On both these points the Holy Ghost has given full informa- tion. The apostle rejoices in their “ work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” They “were ensamples to all that believe.” Not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place, people were relating how these Thes- salonian converts had “ turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, md to wait for His Son from heaven'’ (1 Thess. i. 9, 10). These, then, were the two characteristics of the Thessalonian Church. Can it be said that they are the distinguish- ing marks of Christians at the present day ? It may be answered that all believers expect Jesus to come from heaven, and this is, no doubt, true. But surely no j)erson, looking at modern Christians, would seize upon this as a leading feature of their faith. The expression appears to imply, what the rest of the epistle plainly shows, that there was among these Thessalonians something much more than a distant expectation of the Lord’s coming at the end of the world ; that it was a present hope, influencing all DIRECT TEACHING. ^9 their thoughts, their feelings, and their practical life, a hope so vivid and powerful as to attract the atten- tion of '' all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia.” If, then, this was a delusion arising from imperfect knowledge, how is it that the apostle, instead of putting them right, records this waiting attitude, side by side with their turning to God, as a portion of the bright testimony they were bearing ? In the next chapter he again incidentally alludes to the hope, and again without the smallest hint that the Thessalonians had fallen into error, or were cherishing unfounded expectations. In the fourth chapter, to which we shall presently have occasion more fully to refer, the apostle alludes to the Lord’s coming in these remarkable terms — “For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep;” and later, “then we, which are alive and remain, shall be caught up together with them in the clouds ” (1 Thess. iv. 15-17). Jesus had told His disciples, that one of them might tarry till His return. Here the Holy Ghost intimates that believers then living might also remain to that time. He contrasts the “ tue which are alive ” with "Hhem which are asleep.” What is the significance of the word “ we ” used in this manner ? A speaker might say to his audience — “ We who live to the end of this century.” It would not mean that any of them must live till then, merely that they might. But it would be senseless to say — “ We who live to the end of the 20 THE LORD'S COMING. next century.” So, here, the Holy Ghost is not revealing the time of Christ's return, but, while leaving this indefinite, is urging the hope which God would have believers cherish. If He did not mean them to be looking for the Lord’s coming during their own lifetime, the use of the first person would be not only .meaningless but erroneous. Compare this language with our Lord’s own words. Jesus says — “I will come again Paul says — '‘The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.” Jesus says — "I will receive you unto Myself;” Paul says that the believer still living " shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.” Jesus gives as His motive, " That where I am there ye may be also ; ” Paul declares — “ So shall we ever be with the Lord.” Jesus gives His promise that the hearts of the dis- ciples might not be troubled ; Paul exhorts sorrowing believers to " comfort one another with these words.” There can surely be no question that these passages, running so closely parallel, relate to the same event. And what is the event ? Not the end of the world, for it might happen in the lifetime of the generation then on the earth. Not death, for the living were to be caught up without seeing death. It can be nothing else, then, but the coming of the Lord for His own, according to the gracious promise He had, before His departure, given the disciples. Very similar, and in some respects even stronger, is the language used by the same apostle in address- ing the Corinthian Church. " Behold,” he says, " I DIRECT TEACHING. 21 show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we SHALL all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed ” (1 Cor. xv. 51, 52). Here, then, we are expressly told, what in the other passage we might confidently infer, that those living at the Lord’s coming for His saints shall not die, but shall be changed. But is not this coming at the end of the world ? Let us look closely at the text. There is no mention here made of the resurrec- tion of unbelievers. The two classes put in contrast are, therefore, believers who will be living at ‘this advent, and believers who are dead. Now, in which of these classes does the apostle range himself and those to whom he was writing? Not with the dead, but with the living. Had he meant that both he and they would be in their graves, he would have said — “ The trumpet shall sound, and we shall be raised incorruptible, and the living shall be changed.” So modern theology puts it. The Holy Ghost inverts it, classing the present generation as thase who might live to the Lord’s coming. If it be said; that the Spirit, who searcheth ‘‘ the deep things of God,” must have known that the Thessalonians would die before the Lord’s return, and cannot, therefore, have meant them to look out for it as a present hope, the answer is, that Christ himself did so place it before John; though, of course. He knew that it would not happen till after John’s death. “The foolishness of God is 22 THE LORHS COMING. wiser than men.” These words were chosen that the hope of the Lord’s coming might be ever present to the believer’s heart. But does not scripture expressly say that it is appointed unto men once to die ? ” Let us examine the passage in which these words occur. Speaking of Christ’s one offering, it says — Now once, in the end of the world, hath He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself : and as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many ; and unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time, apart from sin, unto salvation ” (Heb. ix. 26--28). This doubtless shows that, since sin entered, it is the order of nature that man should die. But why is this stated here ? Simply to bring out the fact that Jesus has taken man’s place, and endured the death and judgment which were his due. The argument is that AS these were appointed to man in conse- quence of sin, so, in like manner — Christ suffered the same lot ; and now, having on His first appearing borne death and judgment as the believer’s substitute, He can appear to him a second time, having nothing more to do with sin, for his salvation. This is in harmony with the whole argument of the chapter, which contrasts the partial and temporary result of the Levitical sacrifices with the perfect work of Christ, who “ now once, in the end of the world, hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” DIKE CT TEA CHING. 23 Instead of proving, therefore, that death and judgment must necessarily come upon man, the text shows that neither death nor judgment, as the penalty for sin, remain to the believer. And this is obvious from another consideration. The text declares that “it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.’' If it proves, then, that the believer must die, it proves that he must be judged ; and if it does not prove that he must be judged, it does not prove that he must die. But our Lord Himself says — “ He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath ever- lasting life, and shall not come into judgment” (John V. 24). The word in the original is the same as in the Hebrews, though our translation renders it “con- demnation.” The believer, then, has passed out of the condition described in this text, and having escaped the judgment, which is one penalty of sin, he cannot be liable to the death, which is the other. But, if so, why do believers die ? Not as the penalty for sin, for if the believer has to bear any part of the penalty of sin, the atonement of Christ is not a perfect work. But though the penalty for sin has gone, the consequences of sin have not yet been thoroughly effaced, nor will be until “the redemption of the body.” As connected with the old creation, the body is “ of the earth, earthy,” and as such liable to natural decay. It is no \ois.gQV judicially subject to death, and therefore, should the Lord come before its powers are exhausted, it will be changed at once, without tasting 24 THE LORHS COMING. death, from “ the image of the earthly into the image of the heavenly.” But it is naturally subject to decay, and should the Lord tarry till its strength fails, it falls asleep and awaits its own redemption and the Lord s coming in the grave, instead of upon the earth. Hence the death of the believer is spoken of in figures pointing to its transitory nature and blessed termination — ‘^falling asleep in Jesus,” pul- ling down a tabernacle, or ‘‘sowing in weakness” what is “raised in power.” CHAPTER 11. INDIRECT REFERENCES TO THE LORD’s COMING FOR LIVING BELIEVERS. We have looked at the direct teaching of scripture concerning the Lord’s return for His living saints. The language is clear, setting it forth as a present hope, and, though avoiding dates, speaking of it as an event for which the believer should be constantly waiting. God does not repeat Himself, and we have not elsewhere the same full statement of the doctrine, but the epistles abound in allusions to it from which we may gather much valuable truth. Such incidental references prove the familiarity of the hope to the early Christians, the large place it occupied in their thoughts and hearts, and the various practical aspects in which it was regarded. It is in this last light that it may be most convenient for us now to examine them. I. The expectation of the Lord’s speedy return is constantly used as an incentive to sobriety, moderation, and godliness of walk. Thus the apostle, after various practical exhortations, writes — “And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep, for noio is our salvation 26 THE LORD’S COMING. nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand; let us, therefore, cast off* the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Kom. xiii. 11, 12). Now “salvation” is here held out as a near prospect, and the question is, what the salvation referred to means ? It is not conversion or forgiveness of sins, for these are not a hope, but a present portion; the believer being “in Christ,” and subject neither to condemnation nor separation. It is not death, at least death is never elsewhere thus described. It is not the end of the world, for that, as the Romans knew, was a distant event, to the near approach of which any appeal would have been both fruitless and false. What, then, is the “salvation” here spoken of ? We have seen that in the Hebrews “salvation” is connected with the Lord’s coming “ the second time.” Having put away sin at His first coming, He will “ appear the second time,” — not to the world, but — “ unto them that look for Him,” “apart from sin unto salvation.” All believers look for Jesus, and I doubt not that all are here included. Their salvation, then, takes place at His second advent. If, therefore, “ salvation ” is used in the same sense in the Romans as in the Hebrews, the “ salvation ” which is said to be drawing near is that which is wrought by the coming of Jesus for His saints. But as the character and object of the epistles are diflPer- ent, it may be well to inquire whether any light as to the meaning of the word can be gathered from the INDIRECT INFERENCES. 27 Komans itself. Let us take this passage — “We our- selves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adop- tion, to wit, the redemption of our body. For vre are saved by hope ” (Eom. viii. 23, 24). The salva- tion here spoken of, then, is not security, or freedom from condemnation, which the believer already enjoys ; but a hope for which, though having “ the first fruits of the Spirit,” he waits and even groans. Nor is it the death of the body or the spirit going to be with Jesus. Just the opposite ; it is “ the adoption, to wdt, the redemption of our body.” Believers are “predesti- nated to be conformed to the image of God s Son ” (Eom. viii. 29). They have already received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” But the body is not yet conformed to Christ s image, and the work of adoption is not completed until this also is redeemed. It is, then, for this we wait. This is the salvation for which we hope. But this “re- demption of the body ” is what Christ effects at His coming for His saints, when living believers “shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye ; ” or, as stated in Thessalonians, “ we which are alive and remain, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.’’ Salvation, then, in the Eomans, as in the Hebrews, is the change wrought in believers when Jesus returns to take them to the place He has gone to prepare for them. And how is this salvation spoken of ? As a distant hope, to be realised at some remote period ? No, but as a living hope, which might be realised at any 28 THE LORHS COMING. moment, and in the near prospect of which vigilance and sobriety are urged as befitting the Christian. It is regarded, indeed, as already at hand, for in God’s thoughts one day is as a thousand years, and a thou- sand years as one day. Times and seasons are in His power, and the believer’s place is not to be calculating dates, but to be looking for the Lord’s return. God in wisdom and grace may postpone the day ; but to the Church the hope should be ever present. The Lord’s coming is applied in the same practical way in the Epistle to the Philippians. They are warned not to ‘‘ mind earthly things,” and exhorted to follow the apostle : “For our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our body of humiliation, that it may be fashioned like unto His body of glory” (Phil. iii. 20, 21). Here, again, the apostle is waiting, not for death, but for the com- ing of Jesus, whom he expects as a Saviour, that is, One who brings salvation ; and the salvation He brings is that same “ redemption of the body ” named in Komans as the Christian’s hope ; that same trans- formation described in Corinthians as the expectation of the living believer ; that same rapture referred to in Thessalonians as awaiting us “ who are alive and remain ; ” that same salvation spoken of in Hebrews as the object of Christ’s second appearing to His own redeemed ones. And here, again, it is a present hope ; the apostle says — “ We are looking for the Saviour,” that is, are now in the attitude of expectation. Nor INDIRECT INFERENCES, 29 is it merely the present tense which shows this. The immediate character of the hope is urged as a reason against their being engrossed with earthly things, just as, in the next chapter, they are exhorted — “Let your moderation (or yieldingness) be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” The anticipation of the Lord’s speedy return was to check self-assertion and self-seekincc. It is no general exhortation to yieldingness, but an exhortation founded on the truth that the Lord is at hand. So real and practical was this hope to the Philippian believers I It is used with a similar object in the Epistle to Titus. I'he grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ” (Tit. ii. 11-13). Here are two things looked for, “the appearing of the glory,” and that blessed hope.” What is meant by these last words ? Not conversion, for that is a fact ; nor death, for that is never spoken of as a hope. In Komans the hope is “ the redemp- tion of the body,” in Philippians the changing of the body into Christ’s likeness, which would take place at His coming, and might be in the believer’s lifetime. This hope, then, was familiar to Titus, and surely it can be to none other that the apostle alludes in these terms. This will be still more evident when we see how closely the other part of Christ’s coming, here 30 THE LORHS COMING, called appearing of the glory,” is associated with the first act of His return for His saints. But apart from this inference, the nature of the hope held out in the other epistles, makes it morally certain that the “ blessed hope thus mentioned, is the same to which such frequent reference is elsewhere made. As a prospect exercising a sanctifying power over the soul, it is further used by Paul in writing to the Thessalonians. He desires that their “ whole spirit, and soul, and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. v. 23). Now if the Lord’s advent might be expected in their lifetime, this language is quite natural. But. how could it be used, if the Holy Ghost meant believers to regard this coming as long after their own deaths ? Where death is looked for, the words are — I am ready to be offered up,” or, “ Be thou faithful unto death.” Such language is used by most Christians as of universal application. Why, then, does the Spirit here speak so differently ? Why does He bid them look for the Lord’s coming instead of death ? Surely because the Lord’s coming, and not death, is that for which He would have the believers waiting. This attitude of longing expectation is what Jesus and the Holy Ghost alike enjoin. And so, in writing at a later period to the same Church, the apostle prays that the Lord would direct their hearts ^Gnto the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ ” (2 Thess. iii. 5), or rather, ‘‘ the patience of Christ,” He waiting in heaven, and we, in fellowship with Him, here on earth. INDIRECT INFERENCES. Nor is this truth confined to Paul. Its doctrinal exposition is not, indeed, found elsewhere, but it is often alluded to as a familiar truth, forming the basis of practical exhortations. Thus Peter says, ‘^The end of all things is at hand ; be ye, therefore, sober and watch unto prayer ” (1 Peter iv. 7). ‘‘ The end of all things ” is not death ; and it cannot mean the end of the world, for the end of the world was not at hand. It was an event of the utmost magnitude, as the words import, and at the same time one which might be speedily anticipated. Only one such event is else- where spoken of. The Lord’s coming is held out as a present expectation, as an incentive to sobriety and watchfulness, and as a transaction of tremendous im- portance, closing Grod’s present dealings, and bringing in an entirely new order of things. The coming, indeed, is here viewed in its widest sense, including both its parts, but that it is the coming there can be no doubt. And this event is said to be “ at hand,” and is used as a ground of exhortation to sobriety and prayerfulness. II. In the above quotations we have seen how this “ blessed hope ” is constantly employed to enforce holiness and godliness in individual walk. In the same spirit it is further used to enjoin faithfulness in the midst of ecclesiastical corruption. It is the fence God has provided against the evils within the Church, as well as a 2 :ainst the evils of the surrounding world. Fearful corruption and wickedness had shown them- selves at Thyatira, and judgment was threatened. 32 . THE LORD^S COMING. But in the midst of the failure were some faithful ones, whom the Lord thus addressed — “But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have, hold fast till I come ” (Eev. ii. 24, 25). The Church at Philadelphia was weak, but was maintaining the truth amidst opposition. To it the Lord writes — “Behold, I come quickly ; hold fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown ” (Rev. iii. 11). All around were weakness and wickedness, and the faithful are enjoined to “ hold fast ” what they have. But till what time ? In one case it is said, — “till I come ; ” in the other — it is implied, and the hope is given — “Behold, I come quickly.” Now why name the Lord’s coming, if the believers were to look for death, and not the Lord’s coming ? Where death is meant, it is mentioned. In these very epistles, the Lord writes — “ Be thou faithful unto death ; ” just as when on earth He had told His disciples— “ Whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.” Heath, then, was not wdiat the faithful brethren in Thyatira and Philadelphia were to look for, but another event. And this other event might happen in their lifetime, for how else could they be exhorted to hold fast what they had until it occurred ? Or why should they be told that the Lord would come quickly, if it were not meant to cheer their hearts as a present anticipation ? INDIRECT REFERENCES. 33 So, too, in the Epistle to the Hebrews. Some of those addressed were in danger of being shaken in the faith. Persecution was at hand, and they had “not yet resisted unto blood.” The apostle trembled for the reality of the work in some 'of their hearts, and warns them most solemnly against apostasy after receiving so much truth and being made partakers of such outward privileges. He earnestly beseeches them — “ Cast not away, therefore, your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward ; for ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise ; for yet a little while and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry ” (Heb. x. 35-37). A modern preacher would say — “ Yet a little while and this scene will close ; death will put an end to your troubles, and you will depart to be with Jesus, which is far better.” But this is not the language of the Holy Ghost. Why ? Because the Holy Ghost, knowing the mind of God, always puts the Lord’s coming, and not death, as the expectation of the Christian. This blessed hope was before the Hebrews, and in its cheering light, let them have patience, do the will of God, and look for the certain promise. We are told, too, to “ consider one another, to provoke unto love and to good works ; not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is ; but exhorting one another, and so much the more as ye see the day approaching ” (Heb. X. 24, 25). Here “the day” is not exactly held out as a hope, but rather as an incentive to c 34 THE LORHS COMING. faithfulness. It is the Lords coming viewed in its whole scope, more than the special prospect of His advent to take the believer to the Father’s house. Still, this, as -the first part of the coming, was, of course, included, and we again find that this event is spoken of as approaching, as near enough to give point to exhortations urging a line of behaviour suited to the believer under such circumstances. III. In these last cases the idea of trial and perse- cution was before the apostle’s mind, and the Lord’s coming is named in order to strengthen the tried ones against the evil around. But the same hope is also presented to stay the heart against suffering arising from quite different causes. In such a practical epistle as James, no matter of mere curious specula- tion would enter. Yet here the hope of the Lord’s return is brought in to comfort the poor brethren, who were groaning under oppression. Be patient, there- fore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord ” (Jas. v. 7). If James had meant “unto death,” he would have said so. It is manifest that he could not mean the end of the world. He intended, therefore, to point to the Lord’s coming as an event that might happen before death, and in the prospect of which they were to find their comfort. This is obvious, also, from the way in which he continues — “Behold the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient ; INDIRECT REFERENCES. 35 stablish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (ver. 7, 8). Mark how accurate and tender the words of comfort here spoken. The blessed hope is presented, not once, but twice, for the healing of their wounded spirits, and yet they are warned against impatience. Long waiting may be needed, but they are not to lose the hope because of its delay; for, though in man’s estimate it might tarry, according to God’s Word, ^Gt draweth nigh.” lY. But this hope of Christ’s return, however it may be used for warning, for exhortation, or for com- fort, derives its chief power from the fact that it is the expression of the true heart’s affectionate longing for an absent Lord. The One, whom, having not seen, we love,” is the One for whose return and pre- sence our hearts should long. And it is, therefore, in this aspect that we have the Lord’s coming once more placed before us. In the closing chapter of the Apo- calypse, “the Spirit and the Bride,” that is, the Church — say, “ Come ; ” and our Lord’s last words in this book are, “ Surely I come quickly,” to which the response arises — “Amen, even so, come, I^ord Jesus ” (Bev. xxii. 17-20). To what coming, then, is it that the Lord here alludes ? Surely to that which He left behind Him as a legacy of hope to His disciples, when He told them that He went to prepare a place for them, and would come again and take them to Himself ; to that with which He linked the writer of this book in those memorable words — “ If I will that he tarry 36 THE LORHS COMING. till I come, what is that to thee?” And here I would point out that the language is not that of individual believers, but that of the Church, the Bride, and also of the Spirit. Jn an individual Christian, it might be urged that it meant a longing for death and to be with Jesus. But such an interpretation is manifestly inad- missible if used by the Spirit and the Bride. Still more forced and unmeaning would such language be in the mouth of the Church, if the coming which it invites were the coming at the end of the world. In this very book the most tremendous catastrophes are foretold, which had certainly not taken place when the book was closed. Yet even then Jesus says, “Be- hold, I come quickly,” and even then the response goes up — “ Amen, even so, come. Lord Jesus.” What can we infer but that the coming of the Lord might legitimately be anticipated before these events oc- curred ? No one, knowing the predictions of Scrip- ture, could have said, “ Come, Lord Jesus,” if this coming were not to be till after these predictions were fulfilled. The words imply that the event prayed for was one which might happen at any moment, not one which could only take place at the close of a long series of unaccomplished prophecy. V. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” and if the heart be really full of this pros- pect, its expectation will make itself known in various unforeseen and casual ways. This is another form in which the hope appears. Thus it is used as a general INDIRECT REFERENCES, 37 basis for appeal. Now, we beseech you, brethren,^^ says Paul to the Thessalonians, “by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind ” (2 Thess. ii. 1, 2). Again, in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, which might seem simply a retrospective act, the same thought of the Lord’s coming is presented : “For, as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till He come^^ (1 Cor. xi. 26). These passages do not, indeed, like others, define the character of the coming, or its speedy occurrence. But they show how constantly it was before the mind of the apostles and the early believers, how it entered into and coloured all their thoughts, words, and actions. No dim general expectation of His advent at the end of the world would account for its introduction in the way in which it is brought in here. VI. But this coming of the Lord has yet another aspect, which we solemnly urge on those believers who are disposed to treat it as a curious and even frivolous speculation. It is by the contempt and ridicule of this doctrine that the decline of the last days will be especially marked. “ There shall come in the last days scofiers, walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the promise of His com- ing ? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things con- tinue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, 3S THE LORD'S COMING, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water, and in the water ; whereby the world that then was, being over- flowed with water, perished ; but the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His pro- mise, as some men count slackness ; but is long- sufifering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” (2 Pet. iii. 3-10). If the Lord’s coming is to believers a blessed hope, to professing Christendom it is the end of hope. It shuts the door of grace, reserving those left behind for the terrible ushering in of the day of the Lord, when He comes to take vengeance on them that know not God,” and for the still darker hour when that day shall close in the con- flagration of the world and the judgment of the great white throne. The apostle, speaking of professing Christendom, there foretells that in the last days the Lord’s coming will be a subject of derision. Men will point to the world around, declare everything to be prosperous, and discern no sign of change. Alas I they are willingly ignorant ” that so it was before the flood. Did the mockery excited by the INDIRECT REFERENCES, 39 long warning prevent the deluge, coming and sweep- ing the scoffers away ? Nor will it stay the execution of judgment on the world in whose stability men are trusting. The delay may seem long, for God’s measure of time is not like man’s ; but the Lord has not forgotten His promise. If He has delayed its fulfilment, it is that the despisers of His grace might be gathered in, not being willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. When the time is arrived, the promise will be ful- filled, and then the terrible day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night for the destruction of those who are left behind. Is not this scoffing what we see around us ? But there is something still sadder in beholding many of the Lord’s true children swelling this cry of mocking incredulity, and both in their religious systems, in their political calculations, and in their whole scheme of worldly conduct, asking with like unbelief, or putting aside with like indifference, the solemn ques- tion — Where is the promise of His coming ? CHAPTEE III. THE COMING OF THE LORD WITH HIS SAINTS. The passages cited in the preceding chapters either treat the Lord’s return in a general sense, without distinguishing between its two acts, or, in the greater number of instances, describe only the first act, the coming of Jesus for His saints. The second act, the return of Jesus with His saints, is more frequently spoken of as the ‘‘appearing,” the “revelation,” or the “ manifestation ” of the Lord, and is not, like the other, a doctrine specially confined to the New Testa- ment. On the contrary, as we shall see more fully at a later stage, this return of Jesus to the earth in glory and power is a theme which occupies a most prominent place in Old Testament teaching, and the only point added in the New Testament, is that, when He thus returns, He will be accompanied by those who have previously been caught up to meet Him in the air. Until the special New Testament hope, the return of Jesus for His saints, had been revealed, their return with Him in glory was a feature which could not be made known. My object in this chapter is not to enter into the character or circumstances of this mani- festation of Jesus in glory to the earth, but simply to THE LORHS COMING. 41 show that whenever and however it occurs, the saints are manifested with Him, thus proving that they must have been taken up to heaven at a still earlier period. In the second psalm the return'of Jesus is described. The Gentiles are raging, the people imagining a vain thing, the kings and rulers of the earth conspiring against Jehovah and against His Christ. Then it is that the Lord vexes them in His sore displeasure, and declares that in spite of their rage. He has set His king upon Zion, the hill of His holiness. Christ then publishes the decree — ‘‘Jehovah hath said unto Me, Thou art My Soi;i, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the Gentiles for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron ; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps. ii. 7-9). No passage could on its face bear stronger evidence of God’s purpose to establish Christ’s dominion on earth by power and judgments. Language less descriptive of the spread of Christian truth, or language more descriptive of the forcible and violent establishment of dominion, could hardly be devised. But we are not left to conjecture as to how the prediction of this psalm receives its accomplishment. On the contrary, its fulfilment is thus graphically narrated. “ 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 42 THE LORHS COMING, 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 : and He shall rule them with a rod of iron : and He treadeth the wine- press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God ” (Eev. xix. 11-15). The passage then goes on to describe the gathering of the armies of the beast and the false prophet, the capture and fearful doom of the two leaders and the destruction of their followers, the binding and imprisonment of Satan, and the reign of Christ together with His saints for a thousand years. That the One here described is Christ cannot be ques- tioned, and that the work He accomplishes is the same work as that foretold in the second psalm the identity of the language clearly proves. The forcible establishment of Christ’s dominion, therefore, and the destructive judgment of His enemies, takes place at least a thousand years before the end of the world. He then comes to the earth in manifested glory and resistless strength to execute the judgments of God and to reign in righteousness over the world. But there is a feature in this description of His return which does not appear in the corresponding passage in the Psalms. In the Eevelation, we find JV/TH ms SAINTS. 43 that He is followed by the armies of heaven, and the question arises — “ What are these armies of heaven, and of whom do they consist ? ” By looking a little further back in the same chapter, we discover some- thing which casts light on this subject. We there find mighty rejoicings going on in heaven — “the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice^ of mighty thunderings, say- ing, Alleluia ; for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ” (Rev. xix. 6). But the song of joy and thanksgiving does not stop here. This magnificent chorus goes on to praise God, that “the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for the fine linen is the righteousnesses of saints” (ver. 7, 8). Now the Lamb’s wife is, we need hardly say, the Church, which, there- fore, is beheld in heaven previous to the sudden and terrible appearance of Christ to execute judgment on the earth. But not only is the Church in heaven ; it is also clothed in fine linen, which is the same dress in which the armies of heaven, who follow Jesus, make their appearance shortly afterwards. Nor is this mere coincidence. The fine linen has a peculiar meaning ; it is the righteousnesses of saints. Those, therefore, who issue from heaven with Jesus are attired in raiment which has just before been said to be emblematic of the saints’ righteousnesses, and surely none could be clothed in such vestures except the saints themselves. The armies of heaven, then, 44 l^HE LORD^S COMING. which follow Jesus, are none others than the saints, who must, therefore, have been previously caught up to be with Him in heaven. There is another link, however, by which this chain of evidence is' rendered still more complete. What we see the saints actually doing in the chapter we have just been considering, is the very thing which is promised to them in an earlier part of the same prophetic book. In addressing the Church at Thyatira, Christ had thus spoken — ‘‘ He that over- cometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations ; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron ; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father ” (Eev. ii. 26, 27). Thus those who over- come, that is, real believers, as distinguished from false professors, are here joined with Christ Himself in that judgment of the nations foretold in the second psalm. The armies of heaven, then, clothed in a dress emblematic of the righteousnesses of saints, are no other than these overcomers, that is, the true saints, who were before seen to be in heaven. So that believers are taken to heaven before Christ comes to reign, and when He does come, they come with Him, and in His glory. If it is urged that the book of Eevelation is a difficult one, and that its language is highly figura- tive, I reply that a special blessing is attached to its study, so that the Spirit meant it to be understood. Besides, while admitting that the book contains diffi- WITH iris SAINTS. 45 cult passages, there are some portions as easy as any other parts of Scripture, and the texts above cited are plain enough for the simplest reader to comprehend. But, to remove all doubt, it may be well to show how fully its teaching harmonises with other portions of God s Word. The Epistle of Jude contains a very ancient prophecy uttered by the patriarch Enoch, the seventh from Adam, in which he foretold, ‘‘ saying. Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousand of His saints, to execute judgment upon all” (Jude 14, 15). Now there are but two scenes named in Scripture to which this can refer. In one of these, the judgment of the great white throne at the end of the world, there is nothing said about the saints being present. In the other, the coming of Christ to take His earthly dominion, we have already seen that the saints, as the armies of heaven, issue forth with Him, clothed in His likeness, and His companions in executing judgment on His foes. There can, therefore, be no doubt that it is to this event that Enoch’s prophecy relates. In writing to the Thessalonians, Paul says — “ 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, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among 46 THE LORD'S COMING. you was believed) in that day” (2 Thess. i. 7-10). Here, again, the scene is not at the end of the world, for then Jesus is seated as a judge, instead of coming forth as a minister of vengeance. And though His mighty angels ” are here named as His companions in execut- ing judgment, the saints are also revealed with Him ; for He is glorified in His saints, and admired in those who believe — the Thessalonians being thus recom- pensed for their sufferings and persecutions. In the former letter Paul had spoken of Christ coming ‘‘with all His saints” (1 Thess. iii. 13). He now adds that when He comes to take vengeance on the wicked, His saints will be manifested with Him. The manifesta- tion is referred to as a known event, and could only be what he had named in his first letter. The testi- mony of Thessalonians, therefore, exactly agrees with that of Jude and Kevelation. Romans viii. 18-23, shows that while the believer is “ waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body,” he has another hope ; “ for I reckon,” says the apostle, “ that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.” And when is this glory re- vealed ? We are told in the next verse, “For the earnest expectation of the creature (or creation) waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God,” by which it will “ be delivered from the bondage of cor- ruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” Now this is just the very thing we see in the Apocalypse. There we behold creation groaning under IVITB HIS SAINTS. 47 fearful woes, till Jesus and all the other sons of God are manifested in their glory, coming from heaven for its deliverance, destroying “ them which destroy the earth,” and reigning in peace and happiness for a thousand years. In the Eomans, as in the Eevela- tion, the manifestation of the sons of God is in glory, that is, it is not while the believer is groaning in him- self, but after the redemption of the body. The first thing to be anticipated, therefore, is the coming of Jesus for His saints, when the redemption of the body will be accomplished ; and the next His appearing with His saints to destroy His enemies, to deliver creation from its 'bondage, and to establish His do- minion over the uttermost parts of the earth. Again, in another epistle, Paul says, “ Ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory” (Col. iii. 3, 4). And John writes in the same strain, It doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him” (1 John iii. 2). This is not in heaven, for how could Christ’s appearing in heaven be spoken of as a future thing ? Is it, then, at the end of the world ? There is no scripture to show that the believer will appear with Christ at that time. But there is scripture for saying that Christ will be manifested for the deliverance of creation at least a thousand years before the end of the world. And there is scripture for saying that when He is thus manifested believers will be manifested in the same 48 THE LORD'S COMING. glory. Why not, then, bow to the authority of God's Word, and accept the interpretation which lets Scripture speak for itself, and in consistency with itself, instead, of forcing it to suit our own precon- ceived notions ? Nothing is simpler to follow than the truth of God, if allowed to flow in its own natural bed ; nothing more difficult, if diverted into the arti- ficial channels of human theology and tradition. We now see, then, that Jesus will come to reign before the end of the world, and that when He does come. His saints, including the Church, will come with Him. Thus, while the believer s immediate hope — for which he should be constantly waiting — is the coming of Jesus for His saints, another hope is also often men- tioned, namely, the coming of Jesus with His saints. The first event is generally called the Lord’s com- ing ; " the second His revelation,” “ manifestation,” or appearing.” But these names are not invariable. Thus Christ “appears” to those who look for Him when He “comes” to take them to Himself; while He “ comes” at the time when He “ appears ” to the world. In most cases, indeed, the nature and object of His coming or appearing are seen by a glance at the context, and do not depend for their proper interpre- tation on the use of any particular word. My object, however, is not to look into the nature of this latter act in the Lord’s coming, but merely to show that as it long precedes the end of the world, the rapture of the saints, which is still earlier, must also be before the end of the world ; thus establishing W/TJI ms SAINTS. 49 bj independent evidence, what we have already ijathered from other sources, that there is no formid- able barrier of unfulfilled prophecy lying between the believer and the consummation of the hope he is so often bidden to cherish. Instead, therefore, of having the expectation of the Lord’s return as a distant pro- spect, with a long series of events intervening, we have it as a present hope, for the realisation of which we may be instantly waiting. Both of these aspects, or rather parts, of the Lord’s coming, are held out as hopes, but there is a difference in the way in which the hope is put forward. The earlier act is generally so named as to show its im- mediate character ; the later, though never regarded as distant, and though expected to produce a present effect, is not spoken of as an event to be momentarily looked for. Again, the coming of the Lord for His saints is a hope addressed to the affections, and the appeals founded upon it are rather to the heart than to the interests, as a wife would wish so to order things during her husband’s absence, that his return might be a source of unalloyed delight. The coming of the Lord with His saints, on the other hand, is the time when faithfulness of walk and service will be manifested in its result, and the appeals founded upon it partake largely of this character, the reward being presented to the mind, as well as the delight of the Lord’s own presence. As the period when the fruits of faithful service will be gathered, it is often spoken of by the apostle D 50 THE LORHS COMING, Paul. Thus, looking forward to the results of his labours among the Corinthians, he gives thanks that they are waiting for the revelation (see margin) of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (1 Cor. i. 7, 8) ; and he is glad that they have acknowdedged him in part, “ that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours in the day of the Lord Jesus’^ (2 Cor. i. 14). Writing to the Philippians, he is confident ‘‘ that He which hath begun a good work in you, will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ (Phil. i. 6) ; he prays that they ‘'maybe sincere and without offence till the day of Christ (ver. 10) ; and trusts ‘‘ that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain ” (ii. 16). So Timothy is charged to keep the commandments laid on him by the apostle, without spot, unrebukable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ ” (1 Tim. vi. 14) ; and in the second epistle, the writer, looking forward to his own approaching martyrdom, says — ‘'‘Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing” (2 Tim. iv. 8). It is not urged, however, only as the reward of faithfulness in service, but as an incentive to holiness and purity of walk. In this use, the object is so closely analogous to the practical exhortations founded on the expectation of the Lord’s coming for His JVITH BIS SAINTS. 51 saints, that the two are sometimes united together. The Colossians being dead with Christ, and having a life hid with Christ in God,^’ are exhorted to lieavenly affections by the assurance that when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory’’ (Col. hi. 4)*; and the apostle prays that the Thessalonians may have their hearts stablished, unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints ” (1 Thess. hi. 13). In these cases only the coming of Jesus with His saints is named, but in others, where the same object is in view, the two parts of the coming are used together. Thus, in the letter to Titus (ii. 13), besides the “ blessed hope,” the believer has set before him “ the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ,” as an incentive to the denial of ungodliness and wmrldly lusts, and to a sober, righteous, and godly life. So, too, in the writings of another apostle, the exhortation to abide in Him, that when He shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before Him at His coming ” (l John ii. 28), is closely associated with the assurance that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is,” followed by the practical moral effect which this truth has on the Avalk, “ every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure” (1 John iii. 2, 3). Another use to which this second act in the Lord’s coming is applied, is to encourage the believer in the 52 THE LORHS COMING. midst of suffering and persecution, by the contrast of the glory in which he will then be manifested. Thus in writing to the Eomans, Paul tells them that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us ’’ (viii. 18), and in another epistle he says — ‘‘ If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him '' (2 Tim. ii. 12). Peter also encourages those to whom he writes by showing them “ how the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise, and honour, and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ ; ” and urges them to ‘‘gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ ” (1 Pet. i. 7, 13). In all these cases, the hope, though different from that of the Lord’s immediate return for His saints, is closely connected with it, and absolutely dependent upon it, for the believer cannot be manifested with Christ when He comes to reign on earth, unless he has first been caught up to be with Him in glory. It is only as establishing this truth that we now refer to it, reserving its character and results as regards the world and God’s purposes concerning it, for considera- tion at a later stage. CHAPTER IV. THE TEACHING OF OUE, LORd’s PARABLES CONCERNING HIS COMING. During our Lord’s ministry, tlie time for disclosing the mystery of His sej)arate advent for His saints was not arrived, and in His parables the two parts of the coming are spoken of without distinction. His words were to be interpreted by the Holy Ghost, sent after His departure, and it is in the light of the truth thus given that His parables must be understood. In Matthew, we read of a “ servant whom his Lord made ruler over his household to give them meat in due season.” It is said, Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing. Verily I say unto you. That he shall make him ruler over all his goods. But if that evil servant shall say in his heart. My Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken ; the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him off and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites : there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt. xxiv. 45-51). 54 THE LORHS COMING. This is followed by the parable of the wise and foolish virgins, the wise virgins who ‘‘took oil in their vessels with their lamps” going in with the bridegroom to the marriage, while the foolish virgins, who “ took no oil with them,” when they come, after the door is shut, and entreat, “ Lord, Lord, open to us,” are told in answer, “Verily I say unto you, I know you not ” (Matt. XXV. 1-12). This leads to the practical exhor- tation — “ Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.” The rest of the verse given in our Bible is unauthorised. In Luke, the following exhortation is given — “ Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning, and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord when he will return from the wedding, that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching ; verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants” (Luke xii. 35-38). This is fol- lowed by the parable of the steward, the same in all essential particulars as in the Gospel of Matthew. In Mark, the exhortations to watch are most solemnly given, but the teaching on this subject does not add to that of the two other synoptical gospels. All the parables just named represent persons await- ing the arrival of another. The One expected is Christ. TEACHING OF THE FAE ABIES, 55 But what is the time of the coming looked forward to ? It cannot be the end of the world, for all modes of prophetic interpretation insert a period of a thousand years following our Lord’s ministry before that time, and no exhortation could be given to watch for an event known to be a thousand years off. A more usual and probable explanation is that our Lord speaks of the hour of death. But death is not elsewhere described in any such terms. The good man goes to ,be with Jesus, or is seen in Abraham’s bosom. The bad man’s soul is required of him, or he is found in Hades. Each goes to his own place ; or if either is taken, he is ''carried by angels,” not by Christ coming for him. But besides this, in these parables, the Lord always comes " in a day when he looketh not for Him, and at an hour when he is not aware.” Now this is not usually the case with death, which, more frequently than not, advances with full warning of its approach. Moreover, the whole tone of the parables implies a great public event, such as the coming of the Lord named in the epistles, not a mere matter of private moment like the death of individuals. It is, then, the Lord’s coming that is here spoken of, but its two parts are not distinguished. They form portions of a whole, and are so represented, the different times at which different events occur not being noted. Some receive reward, others punish- ment, and whether these begin when the Lord comes for His saints, or when He comes ivith them, is im- material to the object of the parable. 56 THE LORHS COMING, The moral purpose of the parables is the same as the references to the Lord’s coming in the epistles. While the steward watches he is vigilant and sober ; when he says in his heart, ‘‘ My Lord delay eth his coming,” he begins to beat his fellow-servants, and to eat and drink and be drunken. How like Paul’s teaching, — ‘^The night is far spent, the day is at hand ; let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Kom. xiii. 12-14). In both cases, watch- ing for the Lord is the incentive to faithfulness, while un watchfulness leads to carelessness of walk, indulgence of lust, and worldliness of heart. In the parable of the virgins, we have the same point, but the condition of welcoming the bridegroom is also shown. Watchino^ virgins should be awake and should have oil in their lamps. All fail in the first ; as the Church did for ages lose sight of the hope of the liOrd’s coming. But there is a difference in the other matter, the possession of oil ; some hav- ing the Spirit, that is, being real believers, others only false professors. Before the cry is raised, these classes mingle together ; but when it is heard, they divide. This shows that the expectation of the Lord’s return is not only the spring of individual purity of walk, but the source of holy separateness, and care for the honour of Christ, in the assembly. In all ages there have been Christians with oil in their TEACHING OF THE PARABLES. 57 vessels, but till the cry of the bridegroom s coming was raised, they slept carelessly in company with mere empty professors, and it is the expectation of the bridegroom’s arrival which causes them to part fellowship. In the parable of the servants waiting for their Lord’s return from the wedding, the same general lesson of watchfulness is inculcated, but another ele ment of great importance is added, in the caution ♦ given as to the uncertainty and possible distance of the time ; “ and if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants.” What is this but an intimation that, while the watch ought to be constant, it might be protracted ? As the intimation to John, and the language addressed to the Thessalonians, required watchfulness from the first, this parable warns us against relaxing our watchfulness, or growiug careless because the expected advent has not yet taken place. In the Epistle of James, though the sufferers are exhorted to look for the Lord’s coming, they are told that the watch may require '' long patience.” So here ; but the blessing of faithfulness is all the greater. Carelessness in watching is as earnestly deprecated, and the reward of diligence as emphatically stated, in the third watch as in the first, in the nineteenth cen- tury as in the apostolic days. The object of the parables, then, is just the same as that of the teaching concerning the Lord’s coming contained in the epistles. We shall see the same 58 THE LORD'S COMING. thing if we look at the rewards. In the case of the steward who acts faithfully, he is made ruler over all that his lord hath. Here the joint-heirship is shadowed forth, if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him.” In the parable of the virgins, the blessing is different, the wise virgins entering in with the bridegroom to the marriage feast ; while in the case of the servants found watching for their master after he returns from the wedding, they sit down to meat, and the Lord comes forth and serves them. The figure in the two parables differs, and the reward differs to suit it. But the principle is the same, and agrees with the blessed hope ” of the epistles, to be for ever with the Lord, in His presence, and partakers of His joys, the objects of His watchful love and unfailing delight. How beautiful the fitness of our Lords teaching down to the minutest detail ! Where it is the heart watching for the Lord’s return, the reward is the joy of the Lord’s communion, the blessed society of the Fathers house. Where it is the service of patient waiting, the Lord Himself owns it in service to the faithful ones. Where it is careful watching over the Lord’s interests, the suited response is, to be made rulers in the kingdom. Looking at the punishment, the same is seen. The unfaithful steward is cut off. At the time of the Lord’s coming for His saints he is left behind, no longer as a steward, but as one under judgment, which is executed when Christ comes with His saints and the angels of His power, taking vengeance on them TEACHING OF THE PARABLES. 59 that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ/' In the case of the viroins, all that is said is that they are shut out, that is, they are not taken up to be with Christ when He comes for His own. In both the rewards and the punish- ments, no note is made of the difference of time between the two acts of the Lord’s coming, merely the results being stated, in exact accordance with what the epistles teach, but without reference to the period of their realisation. There is one common feature to be noted in all these parables. The same servants who are bidden to watch are those who welcome their Lord : the same steward who receives his master’s charge is found in possession and rewarded or punished. There is nothing about a succession of servants, a succession of stewards, or a succession of virgins. Surely there is a reason for this. Our Lord would have our affections so occupied with Himself that the brightest hope of our hearts is His return, and there- fore, here, as in the epistles. He holds it out as a hope which may be delayed, but which should always be present. Let us search our own heart, and ask whether the reason why this hope is. so dim and unreal to us, is not the coldness of our love towards our absent Lord, leaving room in the heart for worldly objects and worldly affections. And now, in this and preceding chapters, we have heard the testimony of the Holy Ghost as contained 6o THE LORD'S COMING. in almost every book of tbe New Testament. The few exceptions, in which no reference to this subject is made, are the two smaller Epistles of John and the Epistle to Philemon — all short personal letters on matters of immediate interest, and not in any way entering into the discussion or statement of doctrinal questions ; and the larger and more important Epistles of Paul to the Galatians and Ephesians. It may be well to inquire the reason for the omission in these last letters. In writing to the Galatians the apostle is occupied exclusively with vindicating the sufficiency of the work of Christ against those who were seeking to bring in Jewish ordinances. It is an argumentative epistle addressed solely to this point, and no reference to higher truths was suitable to the low condition into which the Galatian Churches had fallen. In the Epistle to the Ephesians the reason is different. The believer is there reo-arded according to God’s purposes, as having a common standing with Christ, quickened with Him, raised with Him, accepted in Him, and seated in heavenly places in Him. In other words, he is seen as having already attained the goal to which the coming of the Lord will eventually bring him. It is not, therefore, presented as a doctrinal truth ; and when we come to the practical part of the epistle, we find that here, as elsewhere, it flows out of the doctrinal, that is, the conduct is to be conformed to the relationship in wliich the believer is set. This relationship is that of union with Christ, membership of His body, part SUMMARY OF SCRIPTURE TEACHING. 6i of the fulness of Him who filleth all in all.” And it would manifestly mar the beautiful image thus presented, if the coming of the Lord were brought in to complete that which according to God s purpose, as here unfolded, is complete already. What, then, does the testimony of the Holy Ghost, thus largely scattered over the New Testament Scrip- tures, teach us ? It teaches us that our Lord promised to return for His disciples, and held this out as so ^real and present a hope, that when asked about what should become of one of them. His only direction was that he should look for His coming. It teaches us that death, as the penalty for sin, no longer exists for believers, and that the apostle in two places, where speaking of living saints being changed and taken to Jesus, uses the first person, implying the possibility that those then upon the earth might be among the number. It teaches us that the Lord’s return is constantly described as “drawing nigh,” as “at hand,” as “ coming quickly,” or by other expressions which import its speedy occurrence, possibly within the life- time of those addressed ; and that believers, instead of being told to wait for death, are constantly exhorted to wait for the Lord’s coming, in a way which would be wholly misleading were this event not intended to be held before them as one always imminent. It teaches us that delay is not to cause the disciple to relax his vigilance, and that the attitude of constant expectation leads to faithfulness in service and carefulness in walk. It teaches us that another 62 THE LORD'S COMING. event, also occupying a large place in Scripture, and described as the appearing or revelation of Christ, an event long preceding the destruction of the globe — will not take place till after the saints have been caught up to be with Jesus in heaven, and that when this event occurs the translated saints will be mani- fested with Him, the sharers of His glory, and the companions of His rule. Finally, it teaches us that this hope, instead of being regarded as a fanciful theory, was constantly before the minds of the primi- tive disciples, and that in nearly all their writings the inspired authors of the New Testament alluded to it as familiar to their readers, and as exercising such an influence over them that it could be used as the basis for appeals, for comfort, for exhortation, for purity of walk, for separation from the world, and for heavenly affections. We would ask believers whether their own hopes and expectations are based on this foundation, and if not, we would solemnly and earnestly inquire, on what do they rest ? Does this “ blessed hope,” held out before the earliest believers, and still given as the bright beacon for the Christian’s gaze, agree with the expectation constantly cherished, of the gradual im- provement and ultimate conversion of the world by the preaching of Christ ? How could believers be told to be waiting in present expectation of an event which could not happen until the world was converted ? If they were to expect the taking up of all living believers at any moment, they could not expect the SUMMAR Y OF SCRIPTURE TEA CUING. 63 previous conversion of the world. And if they were to anticipate the previous conversion of the world, they could not be in the waiting attitude befitting servants who looked for the comings of their Lord. O We shall presently see how utterly destitute of Scrip- ture foundation is the commonly received tradition of the world’s conversion to Christianity by the preach- ing of the gospel. At present I only point out its inconsistency with the immediate hope of the Lord’s ^return, which we have shown to be the teaching of the Word of God, and the expectation of the early believers. Again I would ask, with all earnestness and affec- tion, whence are your hopes derived ? If drawn from God’s Word, they may be postponed, but can never be confounded. If from any other source — from reason, from desire, from experience, from tradition — from anything, in fact, but the sure Word of the living God — they are but delusions and snares, from which you can receive nothing but miserable disappointment. God’s ways are not as our ways, and if we seek to discover them by the light of our own wisdom, instead of from the unfailing record of His Word, we shall only be “ blind leaders of the blind,” deceiving ourselves with flattering hopes, and unconsciously misleading others, perhaps to their destruction. CHAPTEE V. THE RETURN OF JESUS FOR BELIEVERS WHO HAVE ‘‘ FALLEN ASLEEP.” We have now examined the testimony of Scripture with respect to the Lord’s return, and have seen that it is held out as a present hope before the living believer, who will, when it occurs, “ be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” and be caught up ‘‘to meet the Lord in the air.” But it may be objected that already nearly sixty generations of Christians are in their graves, and that a hope which could only disappoint so vast a majority of believers, could never really have been held out by the Holy Ghost. To this objection, there are, however, two simple answers. First, The delay, long as it is, has not mocked the hopes of believers. The first generation of Christians doubtless cherished it, but were never authorised by the language of the Holy Ghost to build upon its happening in their time. They were to be waiting for it as a thing that might take place, not counting on it as a thing that must take place. They were to be so living in hope of it, tliat they would not be surprised if it occurred ; not to be so confidently dating it that FOR THE BELIEVING DEAD. 65 they would be disappointed if it did not occur. This was the attitude in which believers stood in apostolic days. After apostolic days, the decline in all truth was fearfully rapid, and among other things, the present expectation of the Lord’s return was altogether lost. The Church became like the unfaithful steward, and then the grace of God was shown in putting off this day, which, from declining affection to the person of Christ, was no longer the object of its hopes. When the hope was once lost, the deferring of its fulfilment was not a disappointment. It would be treading on too sacred ground to speculate how far the unfaithful- ness of the Church contributed to the delay which has taken place. But we can at all events see that, when such unfaithfulness has been shown, the Church is not entitled to plead the delay as a reason for discrediting the promise, but is rather bound to take the place of confession that she has so long neglected it, and of thanksgiving that the Lord did not come while she was slumbering in forgetfulness or unbelief. Secondly, The objection above stated proceeds on the assumption that believers who have fallen asleep have no part in this hope. But this is not the case. For though the immediate character of the hope is most strikingly illustrated by the fact that it is con- stantly presented to the living, yet the Lord has not left us in ignorance of the blessed lot reserved for the believing dead. We shail find that they have just as much interest and participation in this glorious event as believers ‘‘ who are alive and remain ; ” and surely E 66 THE LORD'S COMING. this is another proof of the Lord’s goodness, in having so long delayed His return. Being now absent from the body and present with the Lord, the believing dead are doubtless sharers of His hopes, and in the waiting condition which, from the loss of this precious truth, they failed to assume here on earth. Thus, the wisdom of God has brought it about that, though the vast majo- rity of believers have been unfaithful in this matter, yet the Lord’s return, instead of coming as an unwel- come surprise, will be in fulfilment of the cherished hopes, and in answer to the expectant attitude of most, if not all, of those who have an interest in it. The most careless observer must be aware how widely this “ blessed hope ” has revived among the Lord’s people of late years. And so, whenever the shout is raised, the myriads of believers whose spirits are already with the Lord, and many, perhaps all, of those still on earth, will be longingly expecting His advent. The love of Jesus beautifully shows itself in His desire to make His chosen ones participators in His own hopes and delights. He loves to have our hearts. He would have us behold the glories which we cannot share, for He counts upon and values our fellowship. “Father, I will that they also whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory Avhich Thou hast given Me ” (John xvii. 24). So at the Lord’s Supper, He desires believers, not to recall the blessings derived from Him — but to “do this in remembrance of Me.” In like manner as to His coming, He has given it as a hope for their hearts. FOR THE BELIEVING DEAD. 67 which He would have them cherish in fellowship with Himself, and in grace and love He has delayed this event, until not only the generations which lost it on earth, have regained it in heaven, but also the hope has been revived in living power among the members of His body still dwelling in the world. We shall proceed, then, to examine the teaching of Scripture as to the effect of the Lord’s coming on believers who have fallen asleep. '' I would not have ^ you ignorant, brethren,” says the apostle Paul, con- cerning 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 the coming of the Lord shall not prevent (anticipate) them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God : and the dead in Christ shall rise first ; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thess. iv. 13-18). There is a pecu- liar significance in the expression, This we say unto you by the word of the Lord.” The apostle Paul had received special revelations given to no other man. Thus he says, in writing to the Corinthian Church about the Lord’s Supper, not that he had 68 THE LORHS COMING. learnt the mode of its observance from those present at its institution, but “ I have received of the Lord, that which also I delivered unto you ” (1 Cor. xi. 23). Again, he writes to the Ephesians, speaking of the mystery which God had entrusted to him, — By revelation He made known unto me the mystery which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men ” (Eph. iii. 3-5). It is only on subjects of great importance, subjects worthy of a special revelation of God s mind, that such language is adopted. A passage, therefore, thus prefaced, like the one we are now con- sidering, is, so to speak, emphasised by the Holy Ghost, as demanding more than usual considera- tion. What, then, is the truth thus peculiarly commended to our notice ? Our Lord’s own words had already taught the disciples that He might return at any moment, and that when He did so, living believers would be taken to be with Him. But they were as yet ignorant of what would happen to those who had ‘‘ fallen asleep in Christ.” They looked for a resurrec- tion, and doubted not that believers dying in the Lord would be saved. Like Martha, they thought that the believing dead would rise again in the resurrection at the last day,” and, like her, failed to apprehend the deep meaning hid in those words — “ I am the resurrec- tion and the life.” The key to these words was now to be furnished by the apostle Paul, speaking in a special manner “ by the word of the Lord.” He found the Thessalonians sorrowing over the dead as those FOR THE BELIEVING DEAD. 69 ‘‘not having hope.” This does not mean that they had any doubt as to the ultimate salvation of their deceased friends. But having no revelation as to what would become of dead believers at the Lord’s return, they feared that by death they had lost the special hope of being taken up by the Lord to be with Him- self, and to share the glories of His appearing. This apprehension it was that filled the survivors with grief. The yet unrevealed truth of what should happen to the ’’dead saints at Christ’s coming was, therefore, the important communication given “ by the word of the Lord ” to the apostle Paul to make known to these mourners. It is the completion of the hope held out by the Lord Himself while here on earth. Its tenor was simple. The Thessalonians had sup- posed that while they would be taken to be with Jesus at His coming, their deceased relatives would be left in the grave till “ the resurrection at the last day.” The apostle declares to them “ by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent ” (the old w^ord for anticipate) “ them which are asleep.” On the contrary, these dead should be raised first. “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” (1 Thess. iv. 16, 1 7). The whole scene is momentary, but its order is, first the 70 THE LORD’S COMING. raising of tlie sleeping believers, and next the catching up of the living and the raised saints together to meet the Lord. There is a .very close correspondence betAveen the truth here announced and the mystery made known to the Corinthians. Behold I show you a mystery ; we shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed ” (1 Cor. XV. 51, 52). This is manifestly ‘‘the re- demption of the body,” and the transformation “ into the likeness of Christ’s glorious body ” of Avhich Ave have already spoken as the hope of living believers. It is also the same event as that described in the Epistle to the Thessalonians. In both the trumpet sounds ; in both the dead saints are raised ; in both, at the same moment, God’s power is manifested towards the living saints — in the Corinthians fashioning them into the likeness of Christ, in the Thessalonians catching them up to be Avith Christ. But these tAvo actions are simultaneous — as John says, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is ” (1 John iii. 2). These passages are usually understood as referring to a general resurrection at the end of the world. Against this AdeAv there are, however, several conclu- sive objections. First, The resurrection here spoken of is at the FOR THE BELIEVING DEAD. 71 same time as the coming of the Lord for believers. The text in Thessalonians proves that the living saints are to be caught up together with those who are raised ; and the passage in Corinthians shows that the changing of the living saints and the raising of the dead will all be in a moment, in the twink- ling of an eye.” But the Scriptures set forth the return, of the Lord for His living saints as a present .hope, for which they are bidden to be continually waiting. And here we see that the hope is exactly the same for the dead. In order, then, that its present character might not be lost sight of, even with respect to the dead, the Holy Ghost, with the accuracy always marking Scripture language, has taken care that in both passages where the resurrec- tion of the dead and the rapture of the living saints are named together, the living saints should be spoken of in the first person, so as to show that the event was one which might be looked for in their own day. Secondly, The account given of this resurrection is quite different from the resurrection at the end' of the world, which is thus depicted by the apostle John — “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away ; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God ; and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out of those things which were 72 THE LORD^S COMING. written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it ; and death and Hades delivered up the dead which were in them : and they were judged, every man according to his works. And death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire ; this is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Kev. xx. 11-15). This solemn scene is at the end of the Avorld, but it is entirely different in every point from the resurrection previously spoken of. In the one, the living are caught up ; in the other, only the dead are mentioned, and no living person could be there, for the earth has fled away. Paul names no judgment whatever ; John says that '‘they were judged, every man according to their works.” The dead described in the epistles go to be “for ever with the Lord ; ” the only doom spoken of with respect to the dead named in the Apocalypse is that they were “ cast into the lake of fire.” The two accounts, then, are evidently not two different descriptions of the same scene, but descriptions of two different scenes, bearing no resemblance either in character or detail. Thirdly, The Word of God neA^er speaks of one ofeneral resurrection at the end of the world, but ex- pressly declares that there are two distinct resurrections, one at the end of the world, and one a thousand years before it. The difference already noted between the resurrection of believers mentioned by Paul, and the FOR THE BELIEVING DEAD. 73 resurrection at the final judgment described in the Kevelation, will have prepared the way for this state- ment. But as it is in opposition to traditional creeds, and forms an important branch of the subject we are examining, it will be well to inquire into the matter somewhat more fully in another chapter. CHAPTER VI. THE FIKST RESURRECTION. We have seen that the saints will return with Jesus when He comes forth to destroy His enemies. After judgment has been executed, and Satan cast into the bottomless pit, the reign of Christ, and of certain others begins. “ And I saw thrones,” says the apostle, ‘‘ 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 [of those] 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 fiiiished. This is the first RESURRECTION. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection ; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years ” (Rev. XX. 4-6). It seems incredible that the zeal for traditional belief, should have led men so far to pervert Scripture THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 75 as to maintain, that this “ first resurrection ” is not a resurrection of persons at all, but of principles — prin- ciples “ beheaded for the witness of Jesus I” — principles which refuse to worship the beast I — principles, with foreheads and hands bn which they decline to receive a mark ! — principles, on which ‘‘ the second death hath no power,” but which ‘‘ shall be priests of God and of Christ ! ” According to the same system, “ the rest of the dead ” must be principles too ; so that we have no resurrection of persons at all ! What, then, does this passage, intelligently looked at, teach us ? First, it shows a resurrection which takes place before the thousand years of Christ’s reign ; and next, it enables us to learn who are the persons then raised. Three classes are named; the first are called “ they ” — (I saw thrones and they sat on them). With the others we are not at present concerned. Who, then, are those in this first class ? They are ‘‘blessed and holy,” so they must be saints. But what saints ? The persons last named are the armies of heaven, who came forth with Jesus to make war. They are the partners of His triumph, and as victors we should expect to see them sharing His dominion. They are the only persons mentioned in the context, moreover, to whom the description could refer. But these armies of heaven are, as we saw, the saints who have before been taken to be with Jesus. The Scrip- tures, before examined, have shown us, that the saints living when the Lord comes, will be changed into His likeness and caught up into His presence, after which 76 THE LORD'S COMING, they will issue forth with Him to judge the world. This scripture shows us that the dead saints also, who are raised when the living are translated, will come in Christ's train and rule in His company. The passages quoted in our former chapters fully bear out this conclusion. None of these make the glory of the believer to depend on his living till the Lord’s return. The apostles were to sit on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel ; yet Peter, whose question drew forth this announcement, was warned that he himself should suffer death. Believers are made joint-heirs with Christ; saints are told that they shall judge the world ; sufferers with Christ are promised that they shall reign with Him, irrespec- tive of their being alive or in the tomb at His return. The promise to the saints at Thyatira — ‘^He that overcometh, and keepeth My words unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations ” — could not be fulfilled to them, unless the dead shared this hope with the living. Indeed the passage so often referred to, seems written to prove the absolute identity be- tween the lot of believers, whether quick or dead, when Christ comes for His saints. Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him ” (1 Thess. iv. 14). Bring where, and for what? Bring forth as the sharers of His glory ; for which purpose He will first raise them from their sleep, and take them, with the living believers, to be with Him in heaven. Our Lord names two kinds of resurrection, though THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 77 He says nothing of their being separate in time. 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 resurrec- tion of judgment” (John v. 28, 29). Does not the resurrection of life correspond exactly with the resurrection in which they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years ? And is not the resurrec- tion of judgment the same as that in which the dead are “judged out of those things which were written in the books ? ” If so — and surely it would be impos- sible to call it in question — they are not only distinct in character, but in time ; the one being the resur- rection of the “ dead in Christ ” when He comes for His saints, the other the resurrection of “the rest of the dead ” which takes place at the end of the world. Though it seems unnecessary to accumulate evidence upon a point so clear, we would call in aid an expres- sion of Scripture often heedlessly uttered. That a “resurrection from the dead” differs from, a “resur- rection of the dead” is, owing to our constant con- fusion of the phrases, little understood. Everybody would see the difference between speaking of “ the departure of a company ” and the “ departure from a company.” The first implies the departure of the whole assembly ; the second of one or more persons out of the assembly. This is just the difference be- tween a “ resurrection of the dead,” and a “ resurrec- 78 THE LORHS COMING. tion from the dead.” ‘‘The dead ” is the whole company of dead persons. A “resurrection of the dead ” simply means that dead persons are raised. But a “resurrection from the dead” means that one or more persons are raised from amongst this com- pany of “the dead.” So the phrase is invariably used in Scripture. Most frequently it is applied to the resurrection of Jesus. It is used also, however, of the resurrection of Lazarus (John xii. 1, 9) ; the suspected resurrection of John the Baptist (Mark vi. 16) ; the resurrection of the poor beggar, which the rich man entreated for (Luke xvi. 31) ; and the resurrection of Isaac, which Abraham believed that God was able to accomplish (Heb xi. 19), — all resur- rections of a single person from among the mass of the dead. The phrase can grammatically mean nothing but an exclusive resurrection. In nearly all cases where it is used, an exclusive resurrection is evidently intended. Surely, then, we may infer that in the one or two passages where this exclusiveness is not obvious from the connection, the expression still has the same force. One of these passages is Christ’s answer to the Sadducees when they sought to perplex Him about the resurrection. He replies (the answer in Mark is similar), “ They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that age (not 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 FIRST RESURRECTION. 79 the children of the resurrection” (Luke xx. 35, 36). Here the expression used is resurrection from the dead, and does the passage imply a general or an exclusive resurrection ? It cannot be a general re- surrection, for all those who have part in it are like the angels, are the children of God, are counted worthy to obtain it, and die no more. It must be an exclusive resurrection, then, and observe how it cor- responds morally with the first resurrection,” about which it is said that those who have part in it are “blessed and holy,” beyond the power of “the second death,” and priests of God and of Christ. What, then, is the “ age ” which these “ children of the resurrec- tion ” are counted worthy to obtain ? Here, again, we see the accuracy of Scripture, for surely this age can only be the period of a thousand years during which they live and reign with Christ. Again, we read that the Sadducees were grieved that the apostles “ preached through Jesus, the resur- rection from the dead ” (Acts iv. 2). The expression is “in Jesus,” and no doubt the resurrection of Jesus Himself was the great subject of the apostles' testi- mony. But the expression implies something more than the resurrection of Jesus Himself. The apostles preached “ through (or in) Jesus the resurrection from among the dead.” A few weeks before, the Sadducees had asked Jesus a question meant to turn the resur- rection into ridicule, and had been silenced by the answer we looked at in our last paragraph, an answer revealing not only the fact of a resurrection, but also an 8o THE LORHS COMING. exclusive resurrection of those who should be counted worthy to obtain it. This is the doctrine which the apostles were now proclaiming, with the further truth that this resurrection was through, or in, that same Jesus whom these Sadducees had rejected. They might have been grieved at their preaching ‘‘the resurrection of the dead,” but could hardly have laid hands on them, inasmuch as the Pharisees, a far more numerous sect than themselves, held the same faith. It was the exclusive resurrection, announced by Jesus, and now proclaimed through Him, that aroused their fury and persecution. In like manner Paul speaks of Jesus as “the first-born from the dead ” (Col. i. 18), that is, as the first of those who were taken from amongst the dead. If the resurrection of all the other dead was to be simultaneous, he would not be the first, but the only one, “ born from among the dead,” the rest having no part in a resurrection “/rom the dead,” but merely in a resurrection ''of the dead.” There is, however, another expression used by the apostle Paul still more remarkable. He desires to be made conformable to Christ’s death, “ If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection from among the dead” (Phil. iii. 11). Our translators have merely given “ of the dead,” because, not knowing anything of the first resurrection, they could not understand the word invented by the aj^ostle to express his meaning. This word, however, is not the word ordi- narily used for resurrection, but a word coined for this THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 8i passage, never elsewhere found, and literally meaning ‘^resurrection from the midst of.” If it merely implied a general resurrection, why should the apostle be at any pains to attain to that to which good and bad alike must come ? Or why should he coin a special word to imply exclusiveness when no exclusiveness was meant ? But if he meant an exclusive resurrec- tion of persons counted worthy to obtain it, both the force of the expression and the object of the apostle become obvious. It may be said — if this is the meaning of the phrase “ resurrection from the dead,” why is it not used with reference to the dead spoken about in the long argument on the resurrection contained in 1 Cor. XV ? The reason is very plain. A “ resurrection from among the dead” is also a “ resurrection of the dead,” so that the latter expression may be employed with as much propriety of the first resurrection as of the second. How, then, should we expect to have the two phrases used ? Why, surely we should expect that when the object in view was to bring out the exclusive character of the resurrection, the first ex- pression — “ resurrection from among the dead ” — would be employed. But when the object was to bring out, not the exclusive character of the resur- rection, but merely the fact, the latter expression — “ resurrection of the dead ” — would be more natural. Now the whole argument in the chajDter referred to is to show that believers will rise a^ain. This O some of the Corinthians were denying. The apostle 82 THE LORHS COMING. replies by stating God’s plan, partly executed already, about the first resurrection. His teaching has no reference whatever to the resurrection of unbelievers, and the question of exclusive or general resurrection, with respect to believers is not, therefore, touched upon. Nothing save the order and character of God’s designs concerning the first resurrection is treated of ; while these are very fully set forth. Christ is the first- fruits ; then, “ they that are Christ’s, at His coming ” (ver. 23), and at the same time even those believers who have not slept will be changed, and death will be swallowed up in victory (ver. 51-54). Looked at in this light, the accuracy of the language is very striking. The only dead named or contemplated in the chapter are Jesus Himself and believers in Him. The raising of Jesus, then, being before the others, is described as a “ resurrec- tion from, among the dead ” (ver. 12, 20). The rais- ing of the believers, who comprise the whole of the remainiug dead under consideration, is not described as a resurrection from among the dead,” but simply as a “ resurrection of the dead ” (ver. 21, 42). For in this last case the use of the expression ‘‘resur- rection of the dead ” was quite sufficient to bring out the truth which the Holy Ghost is teaching ; while the other expression, “ resurrection from among the dead,” would not only have added nothing to the doctrine unfolded, but would have confused it by the intro- duction of a foreign and incongruous element. On the other hand, if bad and good are raised THE FIRST RESURRECTION. 83 together for judgment, how is it that not a word is said about either the wicked dead or the judg- ment ? The omission is surely most powerfully sug- gestive. CHAPTER VIL A GENERAL RESURRECTION AND JUDGMENT AT THE END OF THE WORLD, NOT TAUGHT IN SCRIPTURE. Conclusive as the passages quoted in our last chapter may appear as to the doctrine of a separate resurrec- tion of believers before the end of the world, it would be a source of confusion to many, so long as there are various other portions of the Word of God which they have always understood as teaching the doctrine which these scriptures seem to overthrow. There are certain passages which have been commonly received as proving the fact of a general resurrection and judgment at the close of the world, and should the ordinary interpretation of these passages be correct, it manifestly clashes with the doctrine we have deduced in our last chapters with reference to an exclusive resurrection of the dead in Christ.” I propose, then, to examine these portions in detail. For there can be no real contradiction in Scripture, and if guided by the Spirit, we shall see either that the passages already quoted have been misunderstood, or that the texts taken to establish the opposite doc- trine are in perfect harmony with them. OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 1. One of these cited as proving a general resurrection is in the prophecies of Daniel. ‘‘ At that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people ; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time : and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlast- ing life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever'’ (Dan. xii. 1-3). We need not here discuss the meaning of this passage. It is sufficient to point out that, if it refers to a resurrection of the dead at all, it cannot be a general resurrection. The verses quoted are the conclusion of a communication made to Daniel, ex- plaining the events which must happen before the restoration and glory of Daniel’s people, that is, the the Jews (Dan. x. 19 — xii. 4). It relates simply to the* Jews, and the time named is not the end of the world, but the deliverance of the nation. The resur- rection spoken of, therefore, whether literal or figura- tive, is not at the end of the world, but long before it ; is not general, but confined to Daniel's people ; and is not applied even to the whole of Daniel’s people, but only to many of them. Anything more unlike a general resurrection at the end of the world. 86 THE LORHS COMING. it would be impossible to conceive. Indeed, if ac- cepted as meaning a literal resurrection of the dead at all, it would be one of the most conclusive proofs that the resurrection was partial and previous to the end of the world, instead of universal and at the end of the world. II. Another passage thought to teach a general re- surrection and judgment is the parable of the wheat and the tares. The text supposed to contain this doctrine is as follows : — “Let both (wheat and tares) 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 barn ” (Matt, xiii. 30). The explanation follows. “ He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man ; the field is the world ; the good seed are the children of the kingdom ; but the tares are the children of the wicked one ; the enemy that sowed them is the devil ; the harvest is the end of the age (not world), and tlie reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this age. 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 gnashing of teeth. Then shall the ri^rhteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father’’ (ver. 37-43). OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 87 That this passage has been supposed to describe a general judgment at the end of the world, is partly the cause and partly the consequence of the unfortu- nate mistranslation of the word signifying age,'’ as if it meant “ world.” The completion of the age is, however, a totally different event from the end of the world, and nothing but error can arise from confound- ing things so entirely opposed in character. It was a phrase well understood by the Jews, as describing the termination of their own subjection to the Gen- tiles and disowning of God — the time concerning which Daniels inquiries had been made and his pro- phecies uttered. It is always so used by the disciples, as when they inquire, ‘‘ What shall be the sign of Thy comincr and of the end of the a^e ? ” Nor is there a single instance where it can be properly understood as referring to the end of the world. On the contrary, it is the beginning of another epoch, by far the most blessed and glorious in the world's history. But it is not merely the phrase used which forbids us to interpret the event here described as happening at the end of the world. If this is the general resurrection, why is nothing whatever said about anybody rising ? Surely the omission of this most striking portion of the picture is proof enough that the scene here pre- sented is not the final resurrection and judgment, but some altogether different event. What, then, is this event ? If we look at what we have seen to be the effect of the Lord’s coming, we shall have no difficulty in recognising the exact corre- 88 THE LORHS COMING. spondence between this parable and the things which will happen at that time. The moment had not jet arrived for making known the secret of His com- ing for His saints before His manifestation to the world. Moreover, the question here is one of outward display to the world, not of dwelling with Christ in the Father’s house. Looked at in this light what have we learned about the Lord’s coming ? That as O far as the wicked are concerned, Christ will come in flaming fire, taking vengeance, and accompanied by the angels of His power ; that, as far as believers are concerned, they will be publicly manifested with Him in glory, that He may be glorified in His saints” and “ admired in all them that believe.” In the parable, the angels are the ministers of judgment, the righteous shine forth as the sun, and the wicked are cast into a furnace of fire. Can any one fail to per- ceive the resemblance between the parable and the doctrinal statement ? III. Another passage supposed to contain a descrip- tion of a general resurrection and judgment at the end of the world, is the last two sections of our Lord’s discourse with His disciples in Matthew xxiv. and xxv. The former (xxv. 14-30), shows Jesus as the master who returns after being absent, and demands an account from his servants of certain talents entrusted to them. The second (ver. 31-46) represents Him seated on the throne of His glory, and judging the nations. The question is whether either or both of OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 89 these scenes are figures of a general judgment on those raised from their graves at the end of the world. The first remark that occurs is, that the two scenes are so different in their character that it is not easy to regard them as representations of the same event. In the first parable, the persons spoken of are dealt with individually; in the second, in two great masses. In the first, the question tried is faitlifulness to a cer- tain trust ; in the second, it is the conduct pursued towards a set of persons called “ these my brethren.’’ But another remark speedily suggests itself. Why should these events be supposed to happen at a general resurrection and at the end of the world, when not so much as a passing allusion is made either to the dead, or to a resurrection, or to the world hav- ing come to its closing hour ? The only answer that can be given to this question is, that the ordinary interpretation of Scripture left the interpreters no choice. Assuming that Christ only comes at the end of the world, and that all will then be raised and judged, these scenes must happen at that period, for there is no other time at which they could happen. But those who have already learnt that Christ will come before the end of the world, will hesitate to add so enormous a fact as a general resurrection to a narrative in which Scripture has remained wholly silent about it, and will seek some other explanation demanding no such outrage on the Word of God. The parable of the talents follows those of the steward and of the virgins. The parable of the steward shows 90 THE LORUS COMING. the results of carefulness or carelessness in watching for the Lord’s return ; that of the virgins the necessity of having oil in the lamp, that is, true spiritual life. The parable of the talents shows the responsibility of those called by the name of Christ to be diligent in His service. As the unwatchful steward is cut off, and the careless virgins are shut out, so here the unpro- fitable servant is cast into outer darkness, while the diligent ones enter into the joy of their lord. All three parables are fulfilled at the coming of Christ, looked at in both its aspects. The watchful steward, the virgins with oil, and the diligent servants, all receive their reward, while false professors are detected and left behind, or consigned to the dreadful judg- ments that overtake the world when Christ appears in His glory. While, then, this parable entirely fails as a description of a general resurrection, it perfectly agrees with the rest of Scripture as a picture of what takes place at Christ’s second coming. There is another point of agreement that deserves notice. In Luke the same parable is related, but a difference is shown in the rewards. The servant who has made ten talents becomes ruler over ten cities ; he who has made five, over five (Luke xix. 12 - 26 ). Do we ever hear of saints beiii" made rulers over cities O in heaven ? No, but we do hear of saints reigning with Christ over the earth, and to such a state of things the reward in the parable is exactly suited. The picture, then, agrees with other portions of the Word in describing what will happen at the Lord’s second OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 91 coining, believers being first caught up, and afterwards manifested with Christ in power, each rewarded accord- ing to the measure of his faithfulness, and unbelievers being cast out and brought to judgment. It may be asked whether, if this is the case, such a dialogue could occur as that related in the parable ? But a parable is not a history — only a fictitious nar- rative meant to illustrate a principle. The dialogue is part of the figure, bringing out man’s natural rea- soning on one side and God's thoughts on the other. Who would understand literally the entreaty of the foolish virgins, or the reply of the bridegroom ? Who supposes it to be a real conversation between the Judge and those on His right hand or those on His left, in the parable immediately following ? Who ever ima- gined that the words put into the mouth of the rich man in torment or of Abraham, were actually spoken? Ill the parable before us, as in those to which we have just alluded, the thoughts and desires of the heart are clothed in words, and the scene is not a description of anything that really takes place, but a story illustrating the principles on which God and man are respectively acting. The last section of the twenty-fifth chapter relates the judgment which Christ will execute on the nations of the earth, when He comes in His kingdom glory, to break them with a rod of iron, and dash them in pieces, like a potter’s vessel.” It represents Jesus coming as the minister of judgment. But this judg- ment is divided into various acts. In the Revelation, 92 THE LORD'S COMING. we have nothing described but the judgment executed on the beast and false prophet and the armies that followed them. Other acts of judgment are, however, related elsewhere. We read in the prophecies of Joel that the Lord will “ bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,” and that He will then ‘‘gather all nations, and will bring them down unto the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for My people and for My heritage, Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations ” (Joel iii. 1, 2). With- out discussing how far this is to be literally or figu- ratively understood, let us compare it with the scene described in Matthew. “ 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 the nations (Matt. XXV. 31, 32). The article here is important, because it helps materially to determine the real character of the scene enacted. The translators, believing the event to be a general and final judgment, dropped it in order to give a more universal character to the gatheriug. It is, however, in the original, and the question is who are meant by “ all the nations ? ” The word “ nations ” means “ Gentiles,” and is ordinarily used to describe them as distinguished from the Jews. Now in this scene there are not two classes as generally supposed, but three, — the sheep, the goats, and “these my brethren.” These persons called Christ’s brethren are neither sheep nor goats, nor are they themselves brought into the judgment. It is OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 93 for their conduct to these “ brethren/’ who have been hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and in prison — a persecuted, despised, forsaken people, that the Gentiles are judged. How exactly this agrees, then, with the prediction of Joel, and indeed, with the general current of Old Testament prophecy ! All Scripture concurs in representing the Jews as forsaken of God for an indefinite period. When this period has elapsed, the Lord “ will bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem,” and will judge the nations for the cruel oppression with which they have, especially towards the close of this epoch, treated His people. It is true that in this scene described in Matthew, the saints are not mentioned as accompanying Jesus, but, as I have already shown, our Lord purposely left this subject obscure throughout His whole teaching. On the other hand, the angels are named, thus bring- ing the account into close accordance with the descrip- tion of Christ’s return in judgment given in 2 Thess. i. 7, 8. This judgment of the nations, then, foretold in Old Testament Scriptures, is the very judgment, represented figuratively, no doubt, but with striking vividness, in the passage before us. “ These my brethren ” are the saved remnant of Israel, who, having received at the Lord’s hands double for all their sins, are now delivered from their enemies, and owned by Christ as His people. All the nations ” are the Gentiles, who are now dealt with according to the favour or hostility they have shown to God’s chosen race. 94 THE LORD^S COMING. The passage shows the simplicity of Scripture when its light is directly received, instead of being re- fracted through the distorting medium of man's theo- logical systems. As a judgment of the nations on Christ’s return for Israel’s restoration, the narrative is free from difficulty, but describes a striking fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy. As a picture of the tradi- tional resurrection and judgment, it is full of contra- dictions and absurdities, being an account of a uni- versal judgment in which some are not judged, and of a universal resurrection in which nobody is raised ! IV. But there is another passage which will occur to the minds of some readers. “We must all appear ” (or be manifested), says Paul, “ 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” (2 Cor. v. 10). And again, “We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ ” (Rom. xiv. 10). These are deeply solemn words, which our hearts would do well to ponder. The same Saviour who makes Himself known as the loving friend gone to prepare a place for us, and wait- ing to come again and receive us unto Himself, also reveals Himself as the Judge walking among the candlesticks, with “ His eyes as a flame of Are, and His feet like unto fine brass.” “ Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. xiv. 12) — the lost, when He comes to judge the dead out of the things written in the books — and the saved also, OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 95 when He reckons with His servants, and dispenses rewards. But there is not a word about the two classes standing together, or for the same purpose. In the parable of the talents, recorded in Luke, besides the difference between the diligent and slothful servants, there is also a difference between the diligent servants proportioned to their merit. This shows that the saved are variously rewarded according to the measure of their faithfulness. The same principle, of the mani- festation of the saved according to their works, is taught by Paul. ‘‘ Now if any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man’s work shall be made manifest ; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire ; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward; if any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss ; but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire ” (1 Cor. iii. 12-15). This is the manifestation of believers according to their works, a solemn thing most assuredly, and a deep reality, as true as the judgment of the lost, but at the same time altogether distinct from it, both as to the time and the circum- stances of its occurrence. The word translated ‘‘judgment seat” means only a step or raised platform, such as a person exercising any authority, or pronouncing a speech, might occupy. It will include “ the great white throne,” before which 96 THE LORHS COMING. the dead are summoned for their final sentence, but it is a word of much wider import, and by no means necessarily, or indeed primarily, signifies the seat occupied by a judge on a criminal trial. It is used of the dais on which Herod sat, when he received the embassy from Tyre and Sidon (Acts xii. 21), and is there rendered by our translators, throne.” The word would be just as applicable to the seat occupied by a judge in a civil suit, or by an assessor awarding compensation, as to the seat of a judge trying a case of life and death. And these are really the two different actions described. The lost will appear before the tribunal to be tried on the question of life and death, out of those things which were written in the books ” (Eev. xx. 12). How is this possible with the believer ? Can the penitent thief be taken out of paradise to be put on his trial as to whether he shall be saved or lost ? Can Paul, after being with Jesus more than eighteen centuries, be summoned before His bar to be tried for his life ? Impossible ! No, the appearance before the judgment seat in the case of believers is of a different kind, for a different purpose, and at a different season. It is before the reign of Christ, instead of at the end of the world ; and it is for the purpose of determining, not whether they shall be saved or lost — a question which can never be raised again for those whom God has justi- fied, but to what reward they are entitled by the measure of their faithfulness here below, whether they have built the “gold, silver, and precious stones,” OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 97 which can endure the searching fire of the Divine scrutiny, or the wood, hay, and stubble,” which shall perish before the judicial test, and leave them to be saved so as by fire,” — or again, whether in the appor- tionment of dominion among the fellow-heirs,” they should be made ruler over ten cities or over five. And here we would note, in confirmation of what has been already said, the perfect and Divine accuracy of the language used by the Spirit of God. It is said that all shalD‘ appear ” before the judgment seat [or throne] of Christ, the real meaning being that all shall be manifested. In this all are included, saved and lost. The word used, therefore, is merely that they shall stand ” or ‘‘ be manifested ” — not that they shall be “judged.” On the other hand, where it speaks only of the unbelieving dead, raised before the great white throne, the expression employed is that they shall be “judged.” This is no fanciful or refined distinction. Our Lord Himself, while here on earth, says — He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment ” (John v. 24). Almost imme- diately afterwards He speaks of two resurrections, a “ resurrection of life ” and a “ resurrection of judg- ment” (ver. 29). Surely two passages standing in such close juxtaposition show that judgment, so far as the question of salvation is concerned, is a thing from which the believer has already escaped. Being justified, it is impossible that he shall be judged. Hence the very fact that all those raised in the last 98 THE LORHS COMING. scene, after the end of the world, are judged, is con- clusive evidence, that the believers in J esus Christ are not there. When their deeds are inquired into, it is not for the purpose of judging them, but that they may be manifested, and rewarded according to the measure of their faithfulness on earth. V. It is possible that some persons may be disposed to found an argument in favour of a general resurrec- tion at the end of the world upon the expression, ‘‘ I will raise him up at the last day'’ (1 John vi. 40, 44, 54), and from the phrase, ‘‘at the last trump” (1 Cor. xVi 52). But “the last” need not mean the very last thing in the world s history, merely the last event in the process under consideration. In John vi. Jesus is speaking of His care of those given Him by the Father, and says that He will lose nothing, but will raise it up at the last day. The work of guarding the charge committed to Him will then be at an end, the task entrusted to Him by the Father will be fully performed, the last day of this class of responsibility will have arrived, and the believer whom He has tended will be perfected. So “the last trump" is the last event of the kind in the scene described. This chapter, as already pointed out, has nothing to do with the resurrection of the lost. It simply relates what will become of the saved. For a time some of them are in the grave, but this ends, and “ the last trump ” calls them forth to life and glory. The expressions used, as ) OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 99 above understood, are familiar in daily talk. A barrister speaks of the last day, meaning the last day of term or assizes — a soldier of the last bugle, meaninof the last call in the exercise he is ffoirm through. Nobody imagines they mean the last day that will ever dawn or the last bugle, that will ever sound. We have now examined the passages commonly cited to prove a general resurrection and judgment at the end of the world, and have found that none of them sustain this theological dogma. Most of them have nothing to do with a resurrection at all. None of them describe events happening to believers at the end of the world. On the other hand. Scrip- ture speaks of two resurrections. One of these is when Christ comes for His saints, and is an event for which believers, whether in the first or third watch, are bidden diligently to wait. The other is at the end of the world. In the first resurrection ” all ‘'those w^ho are Christ’s,” whether living or dead, will be changed into His likeness, and caught up to be “ for ever with the Lord.” They will come forth with Him when He appears to break the nations with a rod of iron, and as His fellow-heirs will “ reign with Him a thousand years.” But now a very important question arises — a ques- tion already often alluded to — How is it that a hope, for which believers have from the first been instructed to wait, should have been so long delayed ? Is not a promise which has been withheld for so many genera- 100 THE LORD'S COMING. tions either altogether delusive, or at least so unlikely to receive its fulfilment in our time, that it would be idle still to cherish it as a present hope ? We have already said much on this subject which need not now be repeated. But in addition to what has been previously urged, we would reply, — First, that since the Word of God has set the Lord’s return before us as a present hope, it is not for us to question His truth because we cannot understand the principle of His acting ; secondly, that the hope is given to the heart, not to the head, and where the heart is really true to Jesus and longs for His return, it will not cease from its waiting attitude because of the delay which comes between it and the object of its desire ; thirdly, that Jesus expressly warns His disciples, a warning which extends to all ages, against saying in their hearts, My lord delayeth his coming,” and while intimating tha,t several watches might pass before the hour arrived, still declares that “ blessed are those servants, whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find ” so waiting ; fourthly, that the Holy Ghost solemnly predicts and warns us against the spirit which asks, Where is the promise of His coming, for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation?” and reminds us that the word which man disregarded when it foretold the deluge, has spoken of the more fearful judgments yet to come (2 Pet. iii. 4-7) ; and fifthly, that “ one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day,” OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. lOI SO that, notwithstanding the apparently long tarry- ing, the Lord is not slack concerning His pro- mise as some men count slackness, but is long-suf- fering to us ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance^’ (ver. 8, 9). Is it not a deeply solemn thought that men are found, now as ever, to contemn the riches of God's goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering, and to make the very grace in which He is acting, the ground for mocking at His promises and despising His commandments ? Yet how many even of the Lord’s own children can look into their hearts, and say — I am guiltless in this matter ? PART SECOND. THE HOPE OF ISRAEL AND CREATION. CHAPTEE 1. god’s promises concerning the earth. In our first part, we have seen two classes of hope held out in Scripture — the hope of the believer, the redemp- tion of the body ; and the hope of creation, deliver- ance ‘‘ from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.” This latter is the great subject of the Old Testament pro- phets. It is effected by the return of Jesus with His saints to execute judgment on the wicked and set up His throne in righteousness. But why these different modes of acting? Why this long concealment of the heavenly hope, and then, after its fulfilment, a return to the earthly hope, so long announced and so long deferred ? The question is one of deepest interest, and like all other subjects, which bring out the counsels and purposes of God, cannot fail, if rightly apprehended, to display in brighter lustre the riches of His glory and the depths of His wisdom. All Scripture is the history of two men, who are thus described — “ The first man is of the earth, earthy; io6 THE LORD'S COMING, the Second Man is the Lord from heaven ” (1 Cor. xv. 47). The New Testament unfolds the heavenly character and the heavenly work of the “ Second Man.” The Old Testament treats of the relations of these tw’o men with the earth. It records the history of the first man, created in innocence, falling under the power of sin, and ever manifesting in darker colours his ruin and his alienation from Cod. It foretells the triumphs of the Second Man, who retrieved the ruin brought in by the first, and glorified God in the scene in which sin had .dishonoured Him. It was the en- trance of sin and the ruin of the first creation, that gave God the opportunity (if we may so speak) of bringing forth this Second Man, in whom all the glories of His person are displayed and all the treasures of His love unfolded. We shall see the character and extent of the ruin, and the failure of the first man in every position in which God placed him ; and we shall see how the Second Man takes up the broken thread, and carries to perfection the Divine purposes. This will appear very plainly if we look at the various promises of blessing made to man on the earth. I shall show that none of the promises have yet received their complete (some of them not even a partial) fulfilment, and that all await their perfect accomplishment in the “revelation” of the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, according to the New Testament prophecies at which we have already glanced. The promises might be classified in various PROMISES FOR THE EARTH 107 ways, but for our present purpose it will be sufficient to enumerate the following leading features : — First — That the woman’s seed should bruise the serpent’s head ; Second — That in Abraham’s seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed ; Third— That Abraham’s seed should possess the land of Canaan and should be head of the nations ; Fourth — That David’s seed should reign over the earth, and that of his kingdom there should be no end. 1. Man was created innocent. His state in inno- cence was one of dependence upon God, subjection to Him, and communion with Him ; of entire freedom from disease and death ; and of headship over a creation which God had blessed and pronounced very good. But Satan, working on man’s self-will and unbelief, brought in sin, and all was ruined. Man lost the sense of dependence upon God, and gained an evil heart of unbelief. He exchanged subjection to God for subjection to Satan; communion with God for alienation and a desire to hide from His presence. He became the prey of disease and death. The physical world, the very ground, was cursed for his sake, so that from that hour ‘‘the io8 THE LORHS COMING. whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain to- gether until now.” But while the first man is thus ruined, God speaks of One named the “woman’s seed,” to whom the earliest promise is given. Adam had been overcome by Satan ; but the woman’s seed was to vanquish the victor, and though Himself wounded in the conflict, was to crush the head of the destroyer. Two things are here noticeable. First, in the curse pronounced on Adam, not a word is said about anything beyond death. God’s blessing on man had only set him in the earth as its head and ruler; and the curse goes no further than to revoke the earthly blessing. This is important as defining the sphere of Old Testament truth. From the New Testament we know that after death comes the judgment, also that the patriarchs desired “ a better country, that is, an heavenly,” but on these matters the Old Testa- ment is silent. Hence it is clear that the scope of the Old Testament is only God’s purposes about the earth. Its silence as to anything after death does not imply that nothing was known ; merely that this class of truth is outside its proper sphere, and should not be looked for in this portion of God’s Word. The second thing to be observed is, that there is no promise of the removal or mitigation of the curse, no hint of moral or spiritual improvement, given to the first Adam. A promise is given, but it centres in another, the woman’s seed. The first man is driven from the garden, excluded from the tree of life, left helpless in the grasp of his conqueror. Disease and death, a PROMISES FOR THE EARTH. 109 groaning creation and moral alienation from God still subsist, the badges of his servitude and the witnesses of his fall. But complete triumph is promised to the Second Man. By Him alone can the enemy of God and the destroyer of man be stripped of his dominion and trampled in the dust. From these two fountain-heads — the fallen Adam and the woman’s seed, flow two streams, the one dark as death, the other rich with the promise of blessing, and ever broadening and deepening into fuller glory. The history of ruined man, the first stream, rolls on in gathering gloom, till it issues in the rejection of the Christ and the reception of the Anti-Christ. The un- folding of God’s purposes in His Son, the second stream, also moves on without interruption, each acces- sion of human guilt only adding to its volume, and bringing out the glory of God and His chosen one with more striking beauty. Man left to himself goes on from bad to worse. Science and art flourish, cities are built, wealth accumulates ; but the earth was corrupt and filled with violence, and God said, “ I will destroy man whom I have created.” The flood came, “ the world that then was ” perished, and Noah issued forth into an earth cleansed from pollu- tion. This earth God blesses, because of the sweet savour, the type of Christ, which He smelled ; but man’s character remains unchanged. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour ; and the Lord said in His heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake ; for the imagination of man’s heart is 1 10 THE LORHS COMING. evil from liis youth ; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. While the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, shall not cease ” (Gen. viii. 21, 22). But besides the removal of the curse from the soil, God entrusts the sword of government to man, or- daining that “ Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed ” (Gen. ix. 6). Thus man is placed on a renewed earth, and with civil institutions directly sanctioned by God. All, however, is of no avail. Noah, so far from showing himself able to govern the earth, cannot even govern himself. Man uses government for the purpose of godless self-exalta- tion, and it is confounded at Babel. Before Abraham s time the worship of God Himself had been given up for the worship of devils. ‘‘Your fathers,” says Joshua, “ dwelt on the other side of the flood (the river Euphrates) in old time : even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor, and they served other gods ” (Josh. xxiv. 2). That these other gods were devils we learn elsewhere. “ They sacrifice unto devils, not to God,” says Moses in his song (Deut. xxxii. 17). And again, “They sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils” (Ps. cvi. 37). So, too, the Apostle Paul writes. “ The things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils ” (1 Cor. x. 20). 11. But the increasing wickedness of man only PROMISES FOR THE EARTH. Ill serves to show forth more conspicuously the bound- less resources of God. He calls Abraham from the midst of this idolatry, leads him forth into a distant land, and there makes to him and to his seed two closely connected but distinct promises. One of these, often repeated, and variously expressed, is thus first announced — ‘‘ In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed ” (Gen. xii. 3). This is repeated in almost the same words in Gen. xviii. 18, but somewhat later, after the obedience shown in giving up Isaac, it takes a different form — “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed” (Gen. xxii. 18). In this last shape it is renewed to Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 4). Again Jacob is told — “In thee and m thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed ” (Gen. xxviii. 14). Now here, though the blessing is said to be in Abraham, it is clear that the seed, and not Abraham, was the object of God’s thoughts. Abraham was the root of blessing only as he was the father of this promised seed. This is obvious from the refer- ence made to this promise in the New Testament. “ Now to Abraham, and his seed,” writes Paul, “ were the promises made. He saith not, and to seeds, as of many ; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ ” (Gal. iii. 16). And this is spoken with refer- ence to the whole of the promises, even those in which no mention of the seed was made (ver. 8). So that the seed spoken of in these passages is not the nation of Israel, but Christ. Here again, ' therefore, the promise is not in the first man, but in the Second, 1 12 THE LORHS COMING. that same seed of the woman who, according to the earliest promise, was to crush the head of the serpent. III. There is, however, another promise given to Abraham. I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee ” (Gen. xii. 2, 3). This promise was accompanied by another, Unto thy seed will I give this land (ver. 7). Still later, Jehovah said to him, “ Lift up now thine eyes and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward ; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, aud to thy seed for cfcr” (Gen. xiii. 14, 15). The boun- daries of the gift are afterward stated — Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. xv. 18) ; and the perpetuity of the possession is further guaranteed — “ 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 ” (Gen. xvii. 8). Moreover their supremacy over other nations is promised — “ In blessing I will bless thee, and in multij)lying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore ; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies (Gen. xxii. 17). The promise is renewed, without material variation, to Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 3, 4). But in PROMISES FOR THE EARTH. 113 the prophetic blessing bestowed on Jacobby his father, we have the addition, “ Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee ; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother’s sons bow down to thee ; cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee ” (Gen. xxvii. 29). The same promise is further given to Jacob at Bethel (xxviii. 13, 14), and once more after his return to the land (xxxv. 11,12). In the vision of Balaam, we have this strain again renewed. How goodly are thy tents, 0 Jacob, and thy taber- nacles, 0 Israel I As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign-aloes which Jehovah hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brought him forth out of Egypt ; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn : he shall eat up the nations, his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. He couched, he lay down as a lion and as a great lion : who shall stir him up ? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee ” (Num. xxiv. 5-9). Now it is clear from the language spoken to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, that the seed referred to in these promises is not Christ, but a multitude, like the sand of the sea- shore ; and the words put by the Spirit of God into the mouth of Baalam show that this multi- tude was the nation of Israel. This may seem at first THE LORHS COMING. 114 sight to be at variance with what I have before said — that all the promises refer to Christ, and that all blessings come to the earth through Him. I shall show, however, that the contradiction is only apparent, that these promises have not yet had their fulfilment, but failed through the sin and corruption of the first man, and will only receive their accomplishment when the Second Man is brought forth, and by means of the work He performs. A short examination of the promises compared with the history of Israel will make it clear that in this history they receive only a very partial and imperfect fulfilment. In the first place, the promises were given to the patriarchs absolutely without condition. But the Israelites have never had an unconditional possession of the land of Canaan. The terms on which they entered were these — “ If ye will walk in My statutes, and keep My commandments and do them, then I will give you rain,” and other promised bless- ings. “ For I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful and multiply you, and establish My cove- nant with you ” (Lev. xxvi. 3-9). “ But if ye will not hearken unto Me, and will not do all these commandments ” . . . . I will bring the land into desolation, and your enemies which dwell therein shall be astonished at it ; and I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and will draw out a sword after you ; and your land shall be desolate and your cities waste'' (ver. 14-33). The same thing is repeated in still stronger language in Deut. xxviii. The Israelites PROMISES FOR THE EARTH. ”5 never had, therefore, anything more than a conditional tenure of the land, and it is needless to say that a con- ditional gift is no fulfilment of an unconditional promise. This is not left to our own judgment, however, for we are plainly told in the ' language of Paul, “That the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which Avas four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance be of the laAV, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to Abraham by promise ” (Gal. iii. 17, 18). Again, except for a short time in the latter part of David’s reign and the beginning of Solomon’s, Israel did not possess the gates of her. enemies, nor were other nations blessed or cursed according as they blessed or cursed her. On the contrary, her history is one of failure, of servitude, of defeat, ending in complete overthrow and captivity. Moreover, the boundaries of the land taken posses- sion of by Israel, instead of extending “from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates,” comprised a mere fraction of this territory. And even within the limited portion which they professedly occupied, no mean part was really in the hands of their enemies. Lastly, the land was given to the seed of Abraham “ for ever,” or as it is elsewhere expressed, “ for an everlasting possession.” That this was not the case with Israel’s possession of Canaan is certain. But has THE LORHS COMING. 1 16 the Lord forgotten His promise ? Or are we to assume that the promise was not meant for Israel ? So far from it, we find that in the same prophecy in which the Lord speaks of the conditional tenure, and foretells the casting out of Israel in case of disobedience. He points forward to the time when the promise made to Abraham will receive its true fulfilment. When they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them to destroy them utterly, and to break My covenant with them (Lev. xxvi. 44). He says also — ‘‘Then will I. remember My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember ; and I will remember the land ” (ver. 42). The conditional and temporary possession enjoyed by Israel is not, therefore, the fulfilment of the covenant with the fathers. We see, then, that Israel never received the promise. A partial fulfilment doubtless took place, and this we shall find to be God’s general mode of acting. When a promise is given, the first man is tried to see whether he can inherit it. This is the partial fulfilment, and the result invariably is to prove the inability of man after the fiesh to receive any blessing from God’s hands. This, however, does not cause God to change His purpose, or the promise to remain unfulfilled. He has in reserve, as the focus in which all the pro- mises centre, the Second Man, the man of His own rio-ht hand, whom He will bring forth in His own time to receive all that the first man has failed to obtain. PROMISES FOR THE EARTH 117 and to do all that the first man has failed to accom- plish. The Scripture evidence that Israel’s national blessing and glory are fulfilled in the reign of Christ, as well as the character of that reign, will occupy us hereafter ; though when we look, immediately, at the fourth promise, we shall find enough to satisfy us on this point in the present stage of our inquiry. ly. The third promise awaits, as we have seen, its complete fulfilment. It had, however, a partial and tentative fulfilment in the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan — and their subsequent chequered history in the land. At length God called to their head a man after His own heart, and to him He gave the last of the four leading promises above enumerated. The passage containiug this promise is remarkable. “I took thee,” says the Lord, “from the sheep-cote, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people, over Israel : and I was with thee whithersoever thou wentest, and have cut ofi* all thine enemies out of thy sight, and have made thee a great name, like unto the name of the great men that are in the earth. More- over I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more, as before- time. And as since the time that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and [I] have caused thee to rest from all thine enemies. Also Jehovah telleth THE LORDE COMING. 1 18 thee that He will make thee an house ; and when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for My name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be My son. If he com- mit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. But My mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee : thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. vii. 8-16). Now this promise evidently has a double applica- tion. It refers in part to David’s immediate successors, who did commit iniquity and were chastened with the rod of men. But it is manifest that the terms of the prophecy correspond only in very small measure with the history of the Jewish sovereigns, and that nothing has yet taken place at all resembling the permanent dominion here described. There can be no doubt, then, that the prophecy has yet to receive its fulfil- ment, and that this fulfilment is to be found in “ the Second Man.” Indeed, the language of Hebrews makes this plain, for there a portion of this prophecy, “ I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son,” is expressly quoted as referring to Christ. But the prophecy brings out another thing, connected with the promise to Abraham we were last considering. PROMISES FOR THE EARTH IJ9 Though this prophecy was uttered at the moment of Israel’s greatest glory, God speaks of their establish- ment in peace and security as still future — “ I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; and He further connects this stable possession with the reign of the Son of David of whom He said — 1 will stablish the throne of His kingdom for ever.” This dominion of the seed of David is also associated in a prophecy closely resem- bling the above, with the blessing of the whole earth, promised through the seed of Abraham. Among the glories of the kingdom established by David’s Son, we read, His name shall endure for ever ; His name shall be continued as long as the sun ; and men shall be blessed in Him ; all nations shall call Him blessed ” (Ps. Ixxii. 17). Thus we find the two promises to Abraham and the promise to David linked together, all awaiting their fulfilment in that Second Man who will take up God’s purposes of blessing concerning the earth, and carry them into execution for His glory. Committed to the first man, they have utterly failed. Entrusted to the Second Man, they will be triumphantly accom- plished. He it is who will crush the head of the de- ceiver of the world ; He it is in whom all the nations of the earth shall be blessed ; He it is that shall deliver Israel out of the hand of her enemies to serve Him without fear ; He it is who shall have dominion 120 THE LORDE COMING. from sea to sea, and of whose kingdom there shall be no end. He alone, as the myriads of angels declare, is ‘‘ worthy to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.’’ CHAPTER IL THE PROMISES NOT FULFILLED BY CHRIST’S FIRST COMING. The question now arises, When and how do these promises receive their fulfilment ? It is agreed that so far as they are yet unaccomplished, they will receive it in the person and work of Christ. But here the agreement ends. Most interpreters hold that the promise as to the land has already been fulfilled, and that the other promises either have been, or will be, fulfilled as the immediate or ultimate result of the first coming of Christ. I have already shown that the former of these views is a mistake. I shall now inquire whether there is any better foundation for the latter. The interpretation which makes all the promises flow out of Christ’s first coming, rests on two assump- tions — I. That the Church is the same seed of Abraham to which the promises are given ; and II. That the universal reign of Davids seed, the blessing of the nations and the bruising of the serpent’s head, will all be fulfilled by the conversion of the world to Christianity. 122 THE LORHS COMING. Before examining these propositions, I will ask one question. Could any thoughtful and spiritual Jew, before the time of Christ, reading his own prophets and trusting God, have believed that God’s promises did not refer to national blessing and restoration, but to blessing of a different kind and given to a different people, blessing which must begin with the dispersion, and end with the absorption, of his own nation ? If not, the prophecies, as above interpreted, could only deceive him. But let us examine these rules separately. I. The first rule of interpretation is, that the Church is the seed of Abraham to which the promises are given. Now that believers are the children of Abraham is not disputed. The question is, whether they absorb into themselves, and divert from Israel, the promises given under this head. In one of the Abrahamic promises, the seed named is Christ Him- self; in the other it is a countless multitude. To this innumerable seed was promised the perpetual pos- session of a certain geographical area, together with national supremacy in the earth. Now how can this be interpreted as the portion of the Church ? But since it has not yet been given to Israel, and since it is not the portion of the Church, the promise still has to receive its fulfilment outside the Church. In other words, the Church does not set aside Israel, or usurp the promise of national blessing and glory. This is enough for our purpose, for if the Church PROMISES NOT YET FULEILLED. 123 does not embrace all the unfulfilled promises, the common interpretation fails. It maj be well, however, for the sake of clearing up what to some is a real difficulty, to look at the passages on which this interpretation rests. Eomans iv. 11-17 says that Abraham received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being uncircumcised ; that he might be the father of all them that believe though they be not circumcised ; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also ; and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteous- ness of faith. (For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect ; because the law worketh wrath, for where no law is, there is no transgression.) Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace, to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed ; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, as it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations.^’ But the promise here is not the promise of the land. It is a summary of God’s promises announcing His purpose to make Abraham the root of blessing. Thus believers are morally Abraham’s children, as the 124 THE LORD'S COMING. father of the faithful. This is all that the passage states as to relationship. They will inherit the world as joint-heirs with Christ, and the promises to Abraham are varied and extended in God’s grace to include them. This is all that the passage says about the promises. The specific promise to the descendants of Abraham is not transferred to the Church, and is altogether inapplicable to it. And so far are the literal seed from being set aside by the spiritual seed, that the promise is expressly stated to belong to the seed ''which is of the lawi’ as well as to that ‘'which is of the faith of Abraham.” In Galatians iii. 7, we are told “ that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” In ver. 27-29, we read, “ As many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise.” Here the promise is the blessing of all nations in the seed, that is in Christ. Of this promise be- lievers are heirs as made one with Christ. The chapter does not name the promise given to the multitudinous seed, much less show the Church as taking this promise away from Israel. But again, it is written — “He is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the fiesh ; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart” PROMISES NOT YET FULFILLED. 125 (Eom. ii. 28,29). Also, “We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit ” (Phil. iii. 3). So too, — “ As many as walk according to this rule, peace he on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God ” (Gal. vi. 16). Do not these passages, it maybe asked, show that Christians have now become the true Israel and the true circumcision ? The first passage, how- ever, is not written about Christians at all, but about Gentiles who fulfilled the law as compared with Jews who broke it. The second simply warns believers against going back to symbols, on the ground that they have that which these symbols only typified. In the third, the expression, “ Israel of God,” is figu- ratively applied to those, who for the time had taken Israel's place as the special object of God’s favour. The collective testimony of these passages, then, is that believers are spiritually the children of Abraham ; that in Christ they are heirs of the promises ; that they have the thing which circumcision outwardly signified ; and that they possess the place of priority in God’s present dealings which Israel once enjoyed. But that the specific promises made to Israel are handed over to the Church is a notion which none of the passages even suggests, and which one of them ex- pressly refutes, by reserving the promise to the seed, “which is of the law.” In like manner the Apostle Paul, while fully disclosing the counsels of God in setting aside Israel for a while, declares that still to the Israelites “ pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the THE LORD'S COMING. 1 26 service of God, and the promises ” (Rom. ix. 4). Of the positive side of this question, however, I shall speak more fully hereafter. I merely quote this verse in passing aS a direct refutation of the inference that is often drawn from a hasty interpretation of the portions above cited. II. The second rule of interpretation is, that the universal reign of David’s seed, the universal blessing of the nations, and the bruising of the serpent’s head, are all brought about by the conversion of the world to Christianity. Now assuredly nobody denies the untold wealth of blessing flowing out to the nations of the earth from Christianity. So magnificent is the believer’s portion that, were we left to our own thoughts, we might well suppose these blessings to fulfil all Cod’s pur- poses of grace. But Scripture teaches otherwise. Speaking of Israel and their present rejection, it says, — “ Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gen- tiles, how much more their fulness ” (Rom. xi. 12). The world’s complete measure of blessing, then, is only brought in by the fulness ” of Israel. But it may be asked, Does not this mean the conversion of the Jews to Christianity ? The Word of God does not say so, and all the reasoning of the chapter points to the contrary conclusion. For, first, it is said that “ as concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sakes ; but as touching the election they are beloved PJ^OM/S£S NOT YET FULFILLED. 127 for the fathers’ sakes ” (ver. 28). Now, if they come into the same blessing and in the same way as the Gentiles, where is the contrast ? Secondly, the Gentile is warned that he may be cut off, and this warning becomes a dark certainty, when we find that his tenure of privilege depends on a faithfulness in which he has entirely failed (ver. 22). But thirdly, Israel’s exclusion, ‘‘ Until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ” (ver. 25), shows that the period of Gen- tile blessing will end, and that Jewish blessing can- not go on at the same time as Gentile ; in other words, that the blessings are of a character incom- patible with each other. Fourthly, the whole reasoning of the chapter points to the cessation of Gentile, and the renewal of Jewish privilege, as a great dispensa- tion al change marked by the Deliverer ” coming out of Zion, and turning “ away ungodliness from Jacob ” (ver. 26), a description wholly without meaning as applied to the conversion of Israel to Christianity. Thus the reign of David’s seed and the blessing of the Gentiles, instead of being brought about, as this rule of interpretation requires, by the Christianising of the world, only begins in its largest sense after Chris- tianity has ceased, and Israel as a nation has been restored. But again, if this system of interpretation is correct, if all the promises and prophecies of the Old Testa- ment receive their fulfilment in Christianity, how is it that the New Testament is so silent about them ? Why do the writers, inspired by the Holy Ghost to THE LORHS COMING. 1 28 unfold the truth of Christianity, make hardly any allusion to them ? The prophecies of Isaiah abound with glorious predictions of the exaltation of the Lord’s mountain above the hills, of the beating of swords into ploughshares, of the knowledge of Jehovah covering the earth as the waters do the sea. Preachers con- stantly quote these prophecies as having their fulfil- ment in the triumphs of the gospel. Did Jesus in His teaching ever do so ? Did Paul ever do so ? Why not? Was Paul less keenly alive to the prophetic glories than these preachers ? Why, then, is his language so different from theirs ? His silence on this inviting theme would be inexplicable, unless he had been taught by the Spirit that the Old Testament prophecies were not to be fulfilled in Christianity, but in quite a different way. But it is not merely the silence of Scripture, how- ever suggestive, that clashes with this rule of inter- pretation. The New Testament furnishes the strongest evidence that Christianity, instead of overspreading the earth, and bringing in the final period of bless- ing foretold in ancient prophecy, will have a sadly different history. We have already looked at a passage in which the Gentile is told that God’s goodness is extended to him, “If thou continue in His goodness; otherwise thou also shalt be cut off” (Kom. xi. 22). Thus the Gentiles are placed as a whole in the same position of responsibility and trial as the Jews were of old. Will anybody say that the Gentiles have been more faithful to the trust put in their hands than the PROMISES NOT YET FULFILLED, 29 Jews were? Will anybody say that they have, as a body, continued in God’s goodness ? If not, they must be cut off. And if God had intended to plant them securely as He has promised to plant Israel, would He ever have spoken of their being cut off? This passage, then, instead of predicting the universal spread of Christianity, declares by implication that it will cease, and that God’s purposes of blessing for the earth will be accomplished by other means. We have, however, other indications of the future of Christianity as a professing system in the world. Paul warns the Ephesian elders — “ After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them ” (Acts xx. 29, 30). Here we have the seeds ; let us look at the plant. “Now the Spirit speaks expressly that in the latter time some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils” (1 Tim. iv. 1). Such are the “ latter days ” of Christendom as foretold by the apostle. Now hear the “latter days” spoken of by the Hebrew prophet. “Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their king; and shall fear Jehovah and His goodness in the latter days^"" (Hosea iii. 5). Are the apostle and the prophet writing of the same thing ? Impossible ! But if not, the Old Testament prophecies have not their fulfilment in the Church and Chris- tianity. 1 130 THE LORHS COMING. These, however, are only the “latter days.” Does the Spirit, then, give us any brighter picture of the “ last days ? ” Listen to the words of Paul. “ This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false-accusers, incontinent, fierce, de- spisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high- minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Tim. iii. 1-5). So, too, Peter speaks of false teachers, “ who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them,” and through covetousness should, “ with feigned words make merchandise of you ” (2 Peter ii. 1-3). Is this followed by improvement ? On the contrary, — “Know- ing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, and saying. Where is the promise of His coming ? ” (2 Peter iii. 3, 4). Jude warns believers, “ Eemember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit” (Jude 17-19). John also writes — “Little children, it is the last time ; and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists ; whereby we know that it is the last time''' (1 John ii. 18). PROMISES NOT YET FULFILLED. 13 ^ This shows that one mark of the “ last time is the appearance of antichrists, which in principle — so early did corruption set in — had already begun. Contrast all this with the last days ” spoken of by the prophet. “And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow into it ; and many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob : and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusaleni; and He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they shall 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” (Isa. ii. 2-4). Is it possible to conceive a greater contrast ? And yet, according to the interpretation we are examin- ing, Isaiah is speaking of the same thing, and describ- ing the same epoch in its history, as Paul and John. But did not Jesus Himself, in the parables of the mustard seed and the leaven, predict the conversion of the world ? Everybody knows that the parables are constantly so interpreted. But is such an inter- pretation correct? They form part of a group of three in which Jesus unfolds to His disciples, to whom it was given “ to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” the mysterious form in which it was about 32 THE LORD^S COMING. to be established. The first parable discloses that in this form of the kingdom, the wheat and the tares would grow side by side till the end of the age.” It is not, therefore, of true believers, but of Christendom, that Jesus speaks, and in Christendom, instead of the universal triumph of the gospel, the wheat and the tares grow side by side until the end. Now it is impossible that the two parables im- mediately following this can contradict it. What, then, is their true meaning ? The first likens the kingdom of heaven — this mixture of wheat and tares — 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 ” (Matt. xiii. 32). What is there here about the conversion of the world ? All that the parable shows is that the kingdom of heaven, or Christendom, grows from a very small thing to a tree, the symbol for a great earthly power, in which the birds of the air — clean and unclean things — have their habitation. The other parable compares the kingdom to “ leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened ” (Matt. xiii. 33). According to the received interpretation, the meal is the world, the leaven the gospel, and the leavening of the mass the universal spread of Christianity. But what is the authority for this interpretation ? Accord- ing to all Scripture symbols, the meal signifies what is PROMISES NOT YET FULFILLED. 133 good, whereas this interpretation makes it signify what is had ; according to all Scripture symbols, the leaven signifies what is bad, whereas this interpreta- tion makes it signify what is good ; according to all Scripture symbols, the leavening of the meal signifies the corruption of what is pure, whereas this inter- pretation makes it signify the purifying of what is corrupt. The connection declares that the kingdom of heaven will be spoiled by Satan’s work, and that the damage will endure to the end ; the traditional interpretation would make Satan’s work to be eradi- cated, and the damage not to endure to the end. Finally, the parable, as ordinarily understood, derives no confirmation from fact ; whereas the parable, understood according to the usage of Scripture and the immediate context, is in painful accordance with the history of Christianity in all ages. There is only one other point on which it is neces- sary to touch. We have shown that the hope of the believer, held out in Scripture, is the coming of Christ to take the Church to Himself. The inconsistency of such a present hope, with the supposed conversion of the world to Christianity, I need not again insist upon. I only now allude to it as showing how j^erfectly harmonious the Word of God is with itself, and how invariably opposed to the theological dogmas and traditional interpretations which a corrupt Christendom has placed upon it. Being ignorant of the mystery of God’s working, Christendom has become wise in its own conceits ; instead of fearing, it has been high- 134 THE LORD'S COMING. minded ; it has boasted itself against the branches, and laughed to scorn the solemn warning, “ If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.” And what is the result ? Instead of enjoying its own heavenly blessings, it has appro- priated the Jewish earthly blessings. It has run the streams of prophecy into Church channels, through which they were never meant to flow, and, on the strength of predictions which do not belong to it, has forgotten that if it does not continue in God’s good- ness, it also shall be cut off. Judaism, confident in the promises, blind to the signs of the times, and moving on presumptuously to unforeseen destruction, was a spectacle that moved the soul of J esus to tears. What are His thoughts as He gazes down upon Christendom, equally confident and equally blind, boasting itself in its fancied security, and ignorant of the terrible judgment towards which it is recklessly hastening ? And now let us look back for a moment at what we have found to be the testimony of Scripture concern- ing the question whether the Old Testament promises are fulfilled in Christianity. We have seen that though believers, through God’s grace, are brought into the circle of Abraham’s seed, and so made par- takers of the promises, there is another class, the natural seed, to whom the promises are still said to belong ; that it is not till this class, Israelites accord- ing to the flesh, receive their portion, that the full blessing to the Gentiles will be secured ; that there is PROMISES NOT YET FULFILLED. 135 no foundation for the belief that the world will be converted through the preaching of the gospel, but the strongest evidence to the contrary ; and that the hope of the Lord’s coming is inconsistent with this tra- ditional expectation. We must still seek, therefore, what information Scripture gives as to the mode in which those mighty promises of earthly blessing are to receive their fulfilment. CHAPTER nr. god’s dealings with ISRAEL AND THE WORLD. I The Old Testament promises are, as we have seen, earthly in their character. Their accomplishment is in the Second Man, but not in Christianity, which has a heavenly and not an earthly portion. The earth, however, was man’s original sphere, the scene for which he was created, and God has not abandoned it to the dominion of sin and Satan, but will carry out to the full all the purposes He has formed concerning it. Let us endeavour, then, to see, from the Scriptures, what is God’s scheme with respect to this earth and the man whom He has set upon it. In the world before the flood man was left simply to his own guidance. The murderer was punished by God, but no punishment by his fellow-man, as God’s instrument of righteous government, was permitted. After the flood the sword of government was entrusted to man, and Noah was commanded to execute the judgment of death on the murderer. In this way civil government, as a direct trust from God, had its origin. At Babel the compact organisation of mankind, leading to presumption and self-will, was broken up. GOD^S EARTHLY GOVERNMENT, 137 and thus nations were formed to be the instruments, in God's hands, of checking the arrogance and self- assertion which would otherwise have burst through all restraints (Gen. xi. 6). But God had in His thoughts a special nation, concerning which His pur- pose was long afterwards thus revealed. When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the -people according to the number of the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, for Jehovah’s portion is His people, Jacob is the lot of His inheritance ” (Heut. xxxii. 8, 9). Thus long before Abraham was born, God had this people in His thoughts. In process of time a country was assigned to them, from the river Euphrates to the river of Egypt, which they were to hold “for an everlasting possession;” there planted, they were to “possess the gates of their enemies,” those who blessed them were to be blessed and those Avho cursed them to be cursed. God’s scheme of earthlv government, then, as far as it was yet unfolded, was to exalt one nation as the administrator of His righteous judgments. This plan, which will be perfectly carried out under the Second Man, was originally entrusted to the first, not fully indeed, but sufficiently to prove his inability to accomplish God’s purposes. Israel entered on the land, charged to execute God’s righteous judgment on the Canaanites, to keep His law, and to hold the first place among the nations. The people were in these matters God's instrument for the righteous government THE LORHS COMING. 138 of the earth. If they were to destroy the Canaanites, it was as the ministers of God’s just judgments. If in their law they were to exact life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe ” (Ex. xxi. 23-25), it was as the executors of God’s govern- mental righteousness. If their enemies were to flee before them, and they were to be the head and not the tail, it was because they were the instruments of God to maintain His authority on the earth. No intelligent Christian can look at this trust committed to Israel, without seeing how completely contrasted it is with the position in which the believer is now placed. Is this, as has been argued, because the world has been educated to a higher point ? Let us ask one question — Has God been educated ? Has He discovered that things once thought to be right, are really wrong, and therefore abandoned them ? The very suggestion is shocking. Whence, then, the difference ? To an open eye it is plain at once. The Israelite was the minister of God’s righteous government on earth ; the Christian is the exponent of God’s grace on earth. God’s people are called to be the living manifestation of the principle on which God is acting. He is now acting in forbearance and long-suffering, and His people must exhibit forbearance and long-suffering also. In His dealings with the nations through Israel, He was acting in righteousness and judgment, and His people were bound to carry out righteousness and judgment as His instruments. GOD^S EARTHLY GOVERNMENT ^39 In this, however, they failed, and their failure brought out another portion of God’s plan. As Israel was to be God’s instrument for maintaining righteousness among the nations, there must be one able to maintain righteousness in Israel. Kingly authority, therefore, was established, and perpetual dominion was promised to the seed of David. But here again, the promise, put into the hands of the first man, only proved his inability to receive the blessing or to execute the purposes of God, and it is not until the Second Man, the true Seed of David, appears that this promise will have its fulfilment. God’s purposes of earthly government, then, are that the nations of the earth shall be ruled by a righteous earthly people under a righteous earthly sovereign. All this, entrusted to the first man, failed of accomplishment, the seed of David after the flesh, the seed of Abraham after the flesh, man after the flesh in every form, having proved his unfitness to enter into or carry out the thoughts of God. The Israelites did not destroy the nations concerning whom Jehovah commanded them ; but were mingled among the heathen and learnt their works ; and they served their idols, which were a snare unto them ” (Ps. cvi. 34 - 36 ). The descendants of David did not carry on God’s righteous government in Israel. The kingdom was divided, and became the prey, instead of the head, of the surrounding nations. Instead of maintaining God s glory in the earth, through them His name was blasphemed among the Gentiles. 140 THE LORD^S COMING. Everything went to ruin and confusion, and after a history marvellously illustrating the enmity of man towards God, and the long-suffering of God towards man, they were at length cast out. Israel was carried into captivity by the Assyrians, and Judah by the Babylonians. The sceptre of earthly government, abused and abased by the kings of Judah, was trans- ferred to Nebuchadnezzar, and has ever since remained in the hands of the Gentile powers. And here the history of Israel closes, until the times of the Gentiles are ended, and the sceptre is once more brought back to God’s chosen people, in the hands of the Second Man, the true Seed of Abraham and of David, who alone is worthy or able to carry out the earthly purposes of God. Not so, however, the history of Judah. They were brought back, after seventy years’ captivity, to their own country, few in numbers and feeble in strength, the servants of the Gentiles from whose dominion they were never afterwards delivered. What, then, was God’s purpose in restoring this weak remnant to their own country ? He was going to try man, and espe- cially tlic Jews, by another test. The first man had been entrusted with God’s desiixns and had failed. God was now bringing in the Second Man, and He was to be presented in grace to His chosen people, as well as to the world, for their acceptance or rejection. The result is well known. He in whom all God's promises centred. He by whom all God’s purposes are to be carried out, the Maker of the world, the right- GOD^S EARTHLY GOVERNMENT 141 ful Lord of the Gentiles, and the predicted Messiah of the Jews, appeared on earth attested by God as His Beloved Son, and the world crucified Him between two thieves. “ He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own, and His own received Him not” (John i. 10, 11). The world’s ignorance was culpable and deplorable enough, but the guilt of the Jews was enormously greater. Already deprived for six centuries of their proper position as a nation on account of their rebellion against God, they had now added to their guilt the fearful crime of murdering God’s Son, and the fearful folly of rejecting Him in whom all their own promises and blessings were to be fulfilled. Mercy, indeed, still lingered, and the testi- mony of the Holy Ghost was once more presented, but the nation remained deaf to His voice, as it had done to the voice of the Messiah, and overwhelming judg- ment was the inevitable result. God’s plan of earthly administration, then, though revealed, has not been carried out. The people which was to be its instrument has been divided, part of it has been lost among the nations on account of its idolatry, and part of it dispersed, though not lost, on account of its rejection of the Messiah. The righteous ruler has been brought forth, but refused and crucified. But has God's purpose failed ? It was not carried out by the Jews before their dispersion and captivity. It cannot be carried out by the Gentiles, for this, in- stead of being a fulfilment, would be a denial, of the 142 THE LORHS COMING. promises to Abraham and David. It is not in consis- tency with the design of the Church, whose sphere of action is altogether different, whose portion is heavenly and not earthly, and in which, as we have seen, the promises cannot have their complete fulfilment. What, then, follows ? Either God’s purposes concerning the earth and man upon the earth must prove boastful failures, or they must be carried out by the restoration of Judah and Israel as the centre of government, and .the establish- ment of Christ’s dominion as the ruler of the kings of the earth. Can any believer doubt which alternative is true ? I shall prove in the following chapters that all this failure was foreseen of God, and that, in spite of it all. His own purpose has never changed, but that He has foretold the accomplishment of these schemes by His own Son, when man’s wickedness and folly had reached their crowning height and the misery of His chosen people its lowest depth. To question that God will do what He has said is the o-rossest unbelief. What are difficulties to Him ? Man talks of impossibilities, and rightly enough if he measures circumstances by his own power. But the things which are impossible with men are possible with God, for with God all things are possible. There may l)e some, however, disposed to ask, why this long delay i n the carrying out of God’s purposes ? Simply because until the Second Man was brought in, God was putting * the first man to the test, and seeking to find some good in him. But when the Second Man was brought GOD^S EARTHLY GOVERNMENT 143 iu, why was not the scheme perfected at once ? To those who put this question I would ask — where would you have been, if this had taken place ? If Christ had not been rejected, how would you have stood now before God ? Or if the Holy Ghost’s testimony had been accepted after the resurrection of Jesus, and He had been sent from heaven to restore Jewish dominion, where would have been the room for the Church ? What would have become of that wondrous interval in which we now live, when God is gathering a people to a rejected Christ, and making known to the princi- palities and powers in heavenly places, by the Church, His own manifold wisdom ? No, these delays are ordered in wondrous grace, as well as in wondrous wisdom, and surely we, the most favoured objects of His love, can only stand aside in adoring wonder as we gaze upon the unfolding of that mystery in which the very heavens behold the wisdom of God. CHAPTER IV. THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM ESTABLISHED ON EARTH. OLD TESTAMENT TEACHING. I HAVE shown that God has certain purposes concerniug the earth, for the fulfilment of which the appearance of the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, is necessary. But the Second Man has been rejected. His earthly people scattered, and a new thing introduced, which entirely fails to carry out the earthly purposes and promises of God. What remains, then, but that God should recall the nation, and bring back the ruler in whom these promises centre ? We have seen, also, that Christianity, instead of converting the world or lasting to its close, will be both partial and temporary, leaving ample space, after the translation of the Church, for the working out of God’s unaccomplished earthly purposes. I now propose to look at the positive teaching of the Scriptures as to the mode in which these purposes will be carried into effect. In so doing, I shall show, First, From the Old Testament writings, that the Lord will return, as God’s anointed ruler, to set up His kingdom on the earth, and to execute judgment THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM, 145 on His enemies, having Israel as His chosen people, and J erusalem as His centre of government ; Second, From the same authority, that at this time, repentant Israel will be delivered and blessed, and that peace and prosperity will flow out in rich streams to the whole earth ; and Third, That the New Testament fully confirms the literal interpretation of the Old Testament prophecies. I confine myself in this chapter to the first point, showing from Scripture that Christ’s kingdom is an earthly dominion, and is brought in, not by grace, but by judgment, executed by the Lord returning to the world in manifested glory. In the promise to David already quoted, God said, “ I will appoint a place for My people Israel, and will plant them, that they may dwell in a place of their own, and move no more ; neither shall the children of wickedness afflict them any more as beforetime.” Again — “ Thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee ; thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. vii. 10, 16). This promise has never been fulfiled to Israel ; and the question is whether it is to have a literal fulfilment in their history, or a spiritual fulfilment in the Church. There is nothing in the prophecy that seems to point to the Church, nor anything in the Church that seems to point to the prophecy. Naturally interpreted, the K 46 THE LORDE COMING. promise is that Christ shall inherit the earthly power which David, as a mere imperfect type, wielded; that His throne shall be permanent ; and that under His sway the security and blessing of Israel, only enjoyed in fading shadow before, shall truly commence. Certainly this hope pervades David’s own writings. In Psalm ii. he describes Jehovah as declaring that He has set His King on Zion, the hill of His holiness ; He calls Him His Son, and promises Him the Gentiles for His inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for His possession, adding, Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” That is, the psalm shows Christ receiving from God a kingdom whose centre is Zion, the seat of earthly authority ; whose sphere is the whole of the nations of the earth ; and whose commencement is a terrible judgment executed upon the kings, rulers, and people, who, as the early verses of the psalm show, have been in rebellion against Him. In what way does this apply to the preaching of the gospel ? How does it suit the character of the Church ? Whereas it exactly coin- cides with the revealed purposes of God concerning Christ’s earthly rule. Psalm xviii. makes known God’s goodness “ to His anointed, to David and to his seed for ever more.'' Though written as a hymn of praise foi^ the deliver- ances granted to the Psalmist himself, the triumphs and glories recorded are evidently those of Christ ; and the 49th verse — ‘‘ Therefore will I give thanks unto THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM, 147 Thee,0 Jcliovali, among the Gentiles, and sing praises unto Thy name,” — is quoted by Paul as expressly referring to Christ. (Kom. xv. 9.) How, then, does it describe the inauguration of His glorious reign ? Thou hast given Me the necks of Mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate Me.” — Is it the necks, or the hearts, of His enemies that Christ is now seeking ? Is it to save them, or to destroy them, that is His present object ? — “ They cried, but there was none to save them ; even unto Jehovah, but He answered them not.” — The word now is, “ Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” — The psalm goes on — “ Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind ; I did cast them out as the dirt of the streets. Thou hast delivered Me from the strivings of the people ; and Thou hast made Me the Head of the Gentiles. A people whom I have not known shall serve Me. As soon as they hear of Me they shall obey Me, the strangers shall submit them- selves unto Me. The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places” (ver. 40-45). How perfectly this agrees with what is elsewhere told of the sudden establishment of Christ’s universal sway by the judgment and destruction of His enemies ! But how contrary to the grace in which He is now acting, and to the spirit enjoined on His people, who are to pray for their persecutors and to love their enemies ! The King is again named in Ps. xxi. It is evidently Christ, for He has “length of days for ever and ever,” 148 THE LORD'S COMING. and is ‘‘ most blessed for ever.” How, then, is His reign described ? “The King trusteth in Jehovah, and through the mercy of the Most High He shall not be moved. Thine hand shall find out all Thine enemies ; Thy right hand shall find out those that hate Thee. Thou shaft make them as a fiery oven in the time of Thine auger : Jehovah shall swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire shall devour them” (ver. 7-9). Surely this can only be Christ, as the true Seed of David, and God’s righteous governor, taking the rule which the first man could not keep, and beginning His reign by judgments upon His enemies. Again — “My heart is inditing a good matter. I speak of the things which I have made touching the King ; my tongue is the pen of a ready writer. Thou art fairer than the children of men ; grace is poured into Thy lips ; therefore God hath blessed Thee for ever” (Ps. xlv. 1, 2). Here Christs grace and beauty are set forth. But is it by grace that He obtains His earthly authority ? “ Gird Thy sword upon Thy thigh, 0 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 Thee. Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever : the sceptre of Thy kingdom is a right [or righteous] sceptre ” (ver. 3-G). Is this the gradual triumph of the king- dom of God’s grace ? Or is it what all Scripture fore- THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM. 149 tells of the foundation of the kingdom of God’s righteousness ? Such is man that He who comes be- cause of truth, and meekness, and righteousness must first establish His sAvay by terrible things, and by making the people fall under Him. Psalm xlviii. celebrates the glory of Mount Zion, which is ‘‘beautiful for situation, the joy of the whole earth,” also “the city of the great King,” in whose palaces God is known for a refuge. But how does this afiectthe kings of the earth? They “were assembled, they passed by together; they saw it and so they marvelled; they were troubled and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them there, and pain as of a woman in travail ” (ver. 4-6). Here, not only is the dominion as different as possible from the spiritual power of Christ over the heart, but its establishment, instead of being, like the spread of gospel truth, the gentlest of operations, is brought about by dreadful and violent judgments. There is a remarkable prophecy of David’s Son, which is only very partially fulfilled in Solomon, and is still to be accomplished in the true Seed, the Second Man. “He shall judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with judgment. The mountains shall bring peace to the people, and the little hills, by righteousness. He shall judge the poor of the people. He shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor. They shall fear Thee as long as the sun and moon endure, throughout all generations. He shall come down like rain upon THE LORD'S COMING. 150 the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. In His days shall the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth. He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow down before Him, and His enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents ; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him” (Ps. Ixxii. 2-11). In no sense can the greater part of this language be applied to the Church. But as a literal fulfilment of the promises given to Abraham and David concern- ing the earth, as a description of a kingdom intro- duced by judgment and bringing in universal bless- ing, the delineation is divinely perfect. In Psalm ci. we have another description of this reign of righteousness — “ Whose privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut ofi* ; him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me ; he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve Me. He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within My house ; he that telleth lies shall not tarry in My sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of Jehovah ” (ver. 5-8). This is not God speaking, for it is a song addressed to God. Yet who can say that David or Solomon thus carried put God’s righteous principles of earthly rule ? There THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM. 151 may be things in their government which typified this reign of righteousness, but assuredly, as a whole, they did not carry it out. On the other hand, what could be more opposed to Christ’s present patience and long-sufiering % It is the picture of His righteous government on earth. Once more — “Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool. Jehovah shall send forth the rod of Thy strength out of Zion, rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power. . . . The Lord at Thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of His wrath. He shall judge among the Gentiles ; He shall fill the places with the dead bodies ; He shall wound the heads over many countries” (Ps. cx. 1-6). Is this the work of the Church ? Or is it, in perfect consistency with all the other prophecies contained in the Psalms, the setting up of Christ’s earthly kingdom in power and glory, and by means of devastating judgments ? The prophets continue the same strain. “ Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulders ; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David and upon His kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth even for ever” (Isa. ix. 6, 7). It is only by spiritualising 152 THE LORD’S COMING. the whole passage that this can be understood of the Church, and when it is so understood, it contradicts all that is elsewhere said about it. Understood of the literal kingdom, it fully harmonises with the whole teaching of God’s Word. In Isaiah xi. 1-9, a further description is given of this Blessed One and His earthly reign. ‘‘There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of His roots : and the Spirit of Jehovah shall rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of J ehovah, and shall make Him of quick understanding in the fear of Jehovah, and He shall not judge after the sight of His eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of His ears : but with righteousness shall He judge the poor, and re- prove with equity for the meek of the earth : and He shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked. And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins, and faithfulness the girdle of His reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, . . . they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain ; for the earth [or land] shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, as the waters cover the sea.” In these passages Christ has an earthly title, is seated on an earthly throne, is in connection with an earthly people, administering earthly sovereignty, executing earthly judgments, and bringing about earthly blessings. No passage can be THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM. 153 conceived, in every particular, more foreign to the character and object of the Church, none more ad- mirably descriptive of the sovereignty foretold as that which is to accomplish God’s purposes of blessing towards the earth. Isaiah xxxi. describes ‘'Jehovah of Hosts” coming “ down to fight for Mount Zion and for the hill there- of,” and the destruction of the Assyrian. That this had an accomplishment in the fate of Sennacherib’s army is not disputed, but the salvation wrought is far larger, and followed by far more blessed consequences, than this partial and temporary deliverance. The sequence of Jehovah’s intervention is thus stated in the beginning of the following chapter. “ Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a Man shall be as an hiding- place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest ; as rivers of water in a dry place ; as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Has this time come ? Has Israel ever known such a King ? His reign here follows upon the Lord of Host’s interposition on behalf of Israel. Has such an interposition yet taken place ? Let us see how the Spirit speaks of this same interven- tion of God elsewhere. “ Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? This that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength ?” He replies — “I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Again He is asked — “ Wherefore art Thou red in Thine apparel, and Thy garments like him that 154 THE LORD'S COMING. treadeth in the wine-fat ? ’’ To which He answers — “ I have trodden the wine-press alone ; and of the people there was none with Me ; for I will tread them in Mine anger, and trample them in My fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon My garments, and I will stain all My raiment. For the day of vengeance is in Mine heart, and the year of My redeemed is come ” (Isa. Ixiii. 1-4). Is it thus that Christ redeems His people now ? Does this describe Him who was led as a Lamb to the slaughter ? Or is it the redemp- tion of His earthly people by earthly judgments, and the foundation of His earthly throne ? Jeremiah writes — “ The days come, saith Jehovah, that I will raise up unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely ; and this is His name whereby He shall be called, the lord our RIGHTEOUSNESS ” (Jer. xxiiL 5, 6). And again — “It shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from oif thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him ; but they shall serve Jehovah their God and David their King, whom I will raise up unto them ” (Jer. xxx. 8,9). It is surely unnecessary to say that David their king, here raised up, is none other than David’s greater Son, the Lord from heaven. Thus also Ezekiel writes — “ So shall they be My people, and I will be their God, and David My servant shall be King over them ; and they all shall have One THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM, 155 Shepherd ; they shall also walk in My judgments, and observe My statutes, and do them. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob My servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt ; and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children’s children for ever ; and My servant David shall he their jprince for ever ” (Ezek. xxxvii. 23-25). Daniel relates the course and fate of the Gentile monarchies, when, through Judah’s sin, the dominion was handed over from her to Nebuchadnezzar. Four empires, the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Eoman, held sway in the earth. The last becomes divided, iron mingling with clay, that is, several kingdoms of diverse origin and character, standing side by side, as in modern Europe. “ And in the days of these kings, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed ; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces, and con- sume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever ” (Dan. ii. 44). This corresponds with the promise of perpetual dominion to David’s seed, as also with the threat of judgment on the kings and nations of the earth. If we were to seek for a figure which did not describe the spread of Christianity, but the very reverse, we could hardly find one better suited to our purpose than the crushing power of the stone thus interpreted. The seventh chapter of the same prophet gives still further particulars. The Gentile monarchies are there presented under the image of four beasts. Out of the THE LORDE COMING. ^ 5 ^ last of these four beasts grows up a great power, which exalts itself not only against men, but against the Most High, and wears out the saints of the Most High. In the midst of his wicked career, the Ancient of days appears, and executes judgment, especially on the great transgressor just named. After this, there is seen “ one like the Son of man,’’' “ and there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him : His domin- ion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed'' (Dan. vii. 13, 14). In perfect agreement with this is the prophet Hosea. ‘‘For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim. Afterwards shall the children of Israel return, and seek Jehovah their God, and David their King ; and shall fear Jehovah and His goodness in the latter days ” (Hos. iii. 4, 5). Does anybody suppose that in these various passages David, their king, means any other than David’s seed, the Lord Jesus Christ ? How utterly unmeaning to apply this title of Christ in speaking of the Church. How perfectly and beautifully suggestive in predicting the establishment of that kingdom which is the central thought in God s scheme of earthly administration. Amos, too, foretells how the Lord will “ raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen ” (chap. ix. 11), and Zechariah speaks of the day when “ the house of David THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM:. 157 shall be as God, as the angel of Jehovah before them ” (chap. xii. 8), prophesying, at the same time, that the Jews shall look on Him whom they pierced, and shall mourn for Him ? In another place, he says — “ Behold, I will bring forth My servant, the branch,” and then promises that He “ will remove the iniquity of that land in one day,” adding — “ In that day, saith Jehovah of Hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig-tree” (chap. iii. 8-10). So, too, addressing Jerusalem, he says, “Behold thy king cometh unto thee ; He is just, and having salvation ; lowly and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass ” (chap. ix. 9). The King, however, is rejected, till at length the people, as we have seen, repent, and mourn over Him whom they pierced. Then, in the worst strait. He comes forth, as Jehovah for their deliverance, and His feet stand upon the Mount of Olives. Afterwards the dominion is estab- lished, and the nations of the earth come up to Jeru- salem “ to worship the King, Jehovah of Hosts ” (chap, xvi. 4-16). Here we find the same King, admitted to be Jesus when He comes riding on an ass, afterwards spoken of as Jehovah of Hosts, appearing for the deliverance of His people at the hour of their direst need, and then becoming, in Jerusalem, the object of homage to the whole earth. How perfectly this harmonises with all the glories elsewhere unfolded of this great King, at once Jehovah of Hosts, and the dependent man, with honour and majesty laid upon Him because of His perfect trust in God 1 THE LORD'S COMING. 158 The last of the prophets, Malachi, writes as follows — ‘‘ Behold I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me : and the Lord, whom, ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold He shall come, saith Jehovah of .Hosts. But who may abide the day of His coming ? And who shall stand when He appeareth ? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap ; and He shall sit as a refiner and purify the silver” (chap. iii. 1-3). Is this the character of Christ’s first coming ? Is such language applicable to the attitude He is now as- suming in grace ? Is it not precisely what we have found all through Scripture to be the teaching of the Spirit with respect to His coming to establish His earthly throne in righteousness and judgment ? Here, then, are a number of Old Testament pro- phecies all of which are admitted to refer to Christ. Both the nature of the dominion and the mode of its establishment, described in these passages, are as dif- ferent as possible from anything seen or predicted under Cliristianity, while they are perfectly consis- tent with the promises of earthly blessing made to the seed of Abraham and David, and with the revealed purposes of God concerning the righteous government of the world. Is it wiser and more reverent to bow to Scripture, to accept its statements in the form in which God gives them, or to seek to twist them from their natural shape into a forced harmony with that which is not only different, but in many respects THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM. 159 entirely opposed in its character and object ? To do this can only result in destroying Israel’s hope and obscuring the Church’s. To accept them in simple faith leaves God’s earthly purposes still to be accom- plished, brings out in undimmed lustre the portion of the Chui;ch, and displays in fuller brightness the manifold character of the pre-eminence of Christ. CHAPTER Y. Israel’s restoration and blessing — old testament TEACHING. The passages quoted in the last chapter prove that Christ returns to reign in righteousness, executing judgment on His enemies, and setting up His throne in Zion. But the very first text at which we glanced showed that in connection with this enduring and glorious reign of the Seed of David, the people of Israel are to be securely planted, “ in a place of their own,” where the children of wickedness shall afflict them no more. Let us look, then, at the teaching of Scripture on this point. We shall see how fully it confirms the literal interpretation of the passages de- scribinc: the Messianic remn. O O God’s covenant with Abraham was — Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates ” (Gen. xv. 18). Again, God said to Abraham, “I will establish My covenant Ijetween Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto tliee, and to thy seed after thee. And 1 will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein ISRAEVS RESTORATION. 161 thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession ” (Gen. xvii. 7, 8). When the Israelites entered into the land, it was not in virtue of this covenant, but by another covenant, according to which their possession, instead of depending on God’s unconditional promise, was made to hinge on their own obedience. This was not a fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham, and we shall see that God, instead of regarding it as such, carefully reserves His covenant with the fathers, even while distinctly foretelling the failure and dispersion of the nation under the subsequent covenant made at Mount Sinai. Leviticus xxvi. shows the results of Israel’s disobe- dience, bringing out all their melancholy history until they ‘‘ perish among the heathen ” (ver. 38). But it adds that if, in their dispersion, they shall confess their sins, “ If then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity, then will I remember ” — what ? My covenant at Mount Sinai ? — No, but ‘‘ My covenant with Jacob, and also My covenant with Isaac, and also My covenant with Abraham will I remember, and I will remember the land” (ver. 41, 42). Eestoratiqn, then, will be on the ground of the yet unfulfilled cove- nant with the fathers. But it may be objected that even here the restoration is only conditional on national repentance. This is true, but in the promise to David, long afterwards, God declares that the nation shall be planted. This implies an undertaking on God’s part that the condition shall be fulfilled' L i 62 THE LORHS COMING. We shall see presently that God Himself promises to bring them to the state of soul necessary for their national restoration and blessing. In Deuteronomy xxx. the repentance of Israel is stated, not only as a condition of restoration, Imt as a fact. “ It shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them tc mind among all the nations, whither Jehovah thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto Jehovah thy God, and shalt obey His voice according to all that I command thee this day .... that then Jehovah thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations. . . . And Jehovah thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of dhy seed, to love Jehovah thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live. And Jehovah thy God will put all these curses upon thine enemies, and on them that hate thee, which persecuted thee. And thou shalt return and obey the voice of Jehovah, and do all His commandments which I command thee this day. And Jehovah thy God will make thee plenteous in every work of thine hand, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy land, for good; for Jehovah will again rejoice over thee for good, as He rejoiced over thy fathers” (ver. 1--9.) These words were spoken to Israel as a nation, and can only be fulfilled to Israel as a nation. It is the same people who are cast out that are to be brought ISRAEL’S RESTORATION. 63 back, to have their hearts circumcised, and to be again rejoiced over by the Lord for good (ver. 6-9). Such is God’s distinct undertaking, not yet fulfilled, con- cerning Israel. Does He ever recede from it? Or does He, on the contrary, again and again, in various places and at various times, reiterate and intensify these glorious promises ? In the second Psalm, Zion is named as the place where Christ’s throne will be established. In Psalms ix. and x. we behold Israel groaning under grievous oppressions, and praise offered to the Lord for deliver- ance. Jehovah is king for ever and ever; the Gentiles are perished out of His land. Jehovah, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble ; Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear” (x. 16, 17). What other country is ever spoken of as Jehovah’s land but Palestine, Israel’s portion ? This passage then shows the Lord’s perpetual kingdom, ac- companied by the deliverance of the land of Israel from Gentile rule, the humbling of the people before God and His preparation of their heart. Psalm xiv. anticipates the time of Israel’s final libera- tion — “ Oh, that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion 1 When J ehovah bringeth back the captivity of His people, Jacob shall rejoice and Israel shall be glad.” Such language is extravagant if applied to the feeble remnant who returned from Babylon, and is wholly irrelevant if used about the Church. It alludes to the time concerning which all the prophets speak, of Messiah’s reign and Israel’s glory. 164 THE LORD'S COMING, Psalm xlvi. describes the hour of Israel’s trouble, the waters roaring, the mountains shaking, the heathen raging, and the kingdoms in commotion. Still they can exclaim— “ Jehovah of hosts is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah. Come, behold the works of Jehovah, what desolations He hath made in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of the earth; He breaketh the bow and cutteth the spear in sunder ; He burneth the chariot in the fire.” Here the God of Jacob, a national name, is with ‘‘ us ” — Israel — bringing the wars and commo- tions of the heathen to an end by desolating judg- ments and establishing peace on the earth. ‘‘Be still,” He adds, “ and know that I am God ; I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.” And once again exultant Israel replies — “Jehovah of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” But the song of triumph swells again, and in the beginning of Bsalm xlvii., the result of God’s inter- vention is celebrated. “ Oh clap your hands, all ye people, shout unto God with the voice of triumph. For Jehovah most high is terrible ; He is a great King over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under us, and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance for us, the excellency of Jacob whom He loved.” And again, in the following Psalm — “ Let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be glad because of Thy judgments. Walk about Zion, and go round about her : tell the towers ISRAELIS RESTORATION. 165 thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, consider her palaces, that ye may tell it to the generation follow- ing.” Here, then, we have Israel’s latter history. First, she is seen in terrible affliction and oppression, but lookino^ to God as her refuo:e. He comes in and stays the turmoil of the peoples by judgment, subduing them under her, establishing His own do- minion, and exalting Zion and Jerusalem. Psalm Ixviii. recounts the Lord’s doings with Israel after their dispersion and national destruction. “I will bring again from Bashan : I will bring My people again from the depths of the sea : that thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thine enemies, and the tongue of thy dogs in the same.’’ Is this the Church ? Did any such restoration ever take place in Israel’s past history ? Benjamin and Judah, Zabulon and Naphtali, are all included in this national re-establishment. “Because of Thy temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unto Thee Princes shall come out of Egypt ; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God Ascribe ye strength unto God : His excel- lency is over Israel, and His strength is in the clouds. 0 God, Thou art terrible out of Thy holy places : the God of Israel is He that giveth strength and power unto His people. Blessed be God” (ver. 22-35). At the close of the following Psalm, it is said — “For God will save Zion, and will build the cities of Judah ; that they may dwell there and have it in possession. The seed also of His servants shall inherit it, and they that love His name shall dwell therein ” i66 THE LORD'S COMING. (Ps. Ixix. 35, 36). Is this Israel’s past history ? Or what has it to do with the Church ? That it is Israel’s future history God’s Word and faithfulness require us to believe. So, too, — ‘‘ Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion : for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come. For Thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the Gentiles shall fear the name of Jehovah, and all the kings of the earth Thy glory. When Jehovah shall build up Zion, Pie shall appear in His glory ” (Ps. cii. 13-16). What events in the history of Israel or of the Church are described here ? The spiritualising alchemy of Eomish theology, borrowed by modern evangelicalism, can transmute anything into anything else. But if we are to believe what God says, instead of converting it into what we think He ought to say, this passage means that Zion will be restored, that God’s glory will then be manifested, and that so the nations and kings of the earth will fear Jehovah. The joy of Israel when this happens is told in Psalm cxxvi. “When Jehovah turned again the cap- tivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing ; then said they among tlie Gentiles, Jehovah hath done great things for them. Jehovah hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad ” (ver. 1-3). Then the people, favoured by Jehovah, are multiplied (Ps. cxxvii.) ; those that fear Him are blessed “out of Zion,” “see the good of Jerusalem ISRAEVS RESTORATION’. 167 all the days of their life,” behold their “ children’s children and peace upon Israel ” (Ps. cxxviii). Has this time come ? or has it yet to be brought in by the power and faithfulness of God ? What language, again, can be clearer than this ? ‘‘Jehovah hath chosen Zion: He hath desired it for His habitation. This is My rest for ever ; here will I dwell ; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision, I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There will I make the horn of David to bud : I have ordained a lamp for Mine Anointed : His enemies will I clothe with shame ; but upon Himself shall His crown flourish ” (Ps. cxxxii. 13-18). What could any godly Jew of David’s time have understood by this prophecy ? If it did not pre- dict national blessing and glory under David’s seed, what promise of God is worth possessing, or what word of God is capable of being understood ? Once more — “ Let Israel rejoice in Him that made him ; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. Let them praise His name in the dance ; let them sing praises unto Him with the timbrel and harp. For Jehovah taketh pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation. Let the saints be joyful in glory ; let them sing aloud upon their beds. Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a two-edged sword in their hand, to execute vengeance upon the Gentiles, and punishments upon the people ; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with THE LORHS COMING. 1 68 fetters of iron ; to execute upon them the judgment written. This honour have all His saints. Praise ye the Lord” (Ps. cxlix. 2--9). These saints are evidently a people on earth. Are they the Church ? Are believers now “to execute vengeance upon the . Gentiles ? ” On the contraiy, the word now is — “ Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath, for it is written. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord.” Instead of in- flicting “punishments upon the people,” the servants are forbidden to pull up the tares, and commanded to let them grow till the harvest. The binding of kings . and nobles is appropriate for a nation called to execute God’s righteous judgments ; utterly foreign to the ways of those who are to follow in the footsteps of Christ — the meek and lowly One who “when He was reviled, reviled not again.” This may suflice for extracts from the Psalms. But no extracts can show the place which the purposes of God concerning Israel occupy in these poems. It is the object of their prayers, the spring of their hopes, the fountain of their praise. The whole book is the voice of the godly remnant of Israel heard in confession, in entreaty, in denunciation, in rejoicing, often in language most discordant with that in which the Spirit would lead the prayers and praises of the Church, but exquisitely chiming in with the sketches elsewhere furnished of God’s gracious purposes towards His forsaken, but not forgotten — His blinded, but still chosen— people. ISRAEL'S RESTORATION. 169 Let us now, however, turn to the words of the prophets. Isaiah’s vision was ‘'concerning Judah and Jerusalem.’' He is told to “make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes” (Isa. vi. 10). He inquires “Lord, how long? And He answered. Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, and Jehovah have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten ; as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves : so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof ” (ver. 11--13). Here, then, is a prophecy which only re- ceives its full accomplishment after Christ s rejection by the Jews. It foretells the total desolation of the land, the scattering and destruction of the people. But still a remnant is left, who shall return, and be the “ holy seed,” the real pith and substance of the nation. About this remnant and its restoration the prophet gives us farther particulars, coupling the time of its blessing with the reign of Christ. “ And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people : to it shall the Gentiles seek, and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that Jehovah will set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and THE LORHS COMING. 170 from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth. The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off : Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex Ephraim ; but they shall ffy upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together : they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them” (Isa. xi. 10-14). Nobody will con- tend that this prophecy has been fulfilled in Israel’s history ; and to apply it to the Church is to subject it to an amount of violence which would render all prophecy deceptive. But apply it to the future of Israel, and we find the exact counterpart of the promises and prophecies we have already seen. ‘‘ The root of Jesse,” the Jewish title of Christ, comes in ; and in connection with His appearance the remnant, which we saw was to be preserved after the desola- tion of the land, is gathered back to Jerusalem and Palestine ; the divisions of the people, brought in by idolatry, are healed ; and the neighbouring nations, who have oppressed and despised them, are over- thrown. We have all along seen that while the first man would fail, the full blessings promised to Israel would be accomplished by the coming in of the Second Man, the true Seed of David ; and now we observe how His appearance at once accom- ISI^AEVS RESTORATION. 171 plishes the ancient promises of God concerning this people. But we have also seen that Israel’s restoration is to be accompanied with a mighty moral change. Here, then, is what the Lord tells us about the condition of the people once more gathered back. “ Therefore, saith the Lord, Jehovah of hosts, the mighty One of Israel, Ah, I will ease me of Mine adversaries, and avenge Me of mine enemies : and I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin ; and I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counsellors as at the beginning : after- ward thou shalt be called The city of righteousness, the faithful city ” (Isa. i. 24-26). Here we see that the judgments of God are to visit the people, that the dross of the nation is to be removed, that the rest are to learn righteousness, and that then Jerusalem is to become what God designed that it should be, as the centre of righteous government in the earth. If this portion is to be understood in its natural sense, it is plain that the spiritualising interpretation usually applied to the prophecies of Isaiah cannot stand. Is it, then, so to be understood ? In the first place, the prophecy in which it occurs is expressly declared to be ‘‘concerning Judah and Jerusalem.” In the next place, everybody admits that the woes and judg- ments denounced in this same chapter refer to the real Judah and Jerusalem. How, then, can we say that the promises immediately following and closely connected refer to an allegorical Judah and Jerusalem ? 172 THE LORD^S COMING. Again, the titles of God used here are the titles by which He specially makes Himself known to Israel, not the titles He assumes towards the Church. Lastly, what have righteous judges and counsellors to do with the Church ? Whereas the unrighteousness of these officers was one great crime laid to the charge of Jerusalem, while their purity is an essential condition to the carrying out of God’s purposes of earthly government, of which Zion is the chosen centre. There is another thing to notice here. The purifi- cation of Jerusalem is brought about, not by grace but by power. Where is there a New Testament pro- phecy intimating that after the corruption of the pro- fessing Church, God would come in and restore purity by the unsparing judgments referred to in these verses ? Christianity is the period of God’s forbear- ance and long-suffering, the period when Christ is waiting at God s right hand for His foes to be made His footstool. Judgment is what characterises God’s dealings with the earth. Nothing is more suitable than such language as we have quoted when bring- ing back His earthly people, and re-establishing His scheme of earthly government ; nothing more incon- sistent with the whole spirit in which He is now acting. This distinction is clearly shown in the Psalms. There we have Christ’s present attitude thus described : Jehovah said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool” (Ps. cx. 1). Then follows Gods principle of action when this season of expectation is closed. “ Jehovah shall rSRAEVS RESTORATION. 173 send the rod of Thy strength out of Zion ; rule Thou in the midst of Thine enemies. Thy 'people shall he 'willing in the day of Thy power ” (ver. 2, 3). How exactly this agrees with what we have seen. During the day of God’s grace, “ Thy people,” the Jews, are enemies. But when the day of Christ’s power comes, when the rod of His strength goes out of Zion, His people are willing, and a remnant is gathered in righteousness. But this period of Jerusalem’s prosperity and righteousness under the sceptre of the Boot of Jesse, is accompanied with blessing to the nations. Hear “the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerninsr Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of Jehovah’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills ; and all nations shall flow into it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of Jehovah, to the house of the God of Jacob ; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths ; for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of Jehovah from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people ; and they shall 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 ” (Isa. ii. 2-4). This passage is expressly written concerning Judah and Jerusalem ; it presents Christ, not pleading with the nations to be reconciled to Him, but judging 174 THE LORHS COMING. and rebuking them ; it foretells the blessings that will follow an earthly reign of peace and righteousness — blessings which are never in the New Testament pre- dicted as about to flow from the spread of the gospel or Christianity ; and it speaks, as I have before pointed out, of last days ’’ as different from the “last days” predicted for the professing Church as light from darkness. It refers, therefore, to the literal nation of Israel, and the literal city of Jerusalem, and declares that when the sceptre of Christ’s strength has gone out of Zion, not merely shall the nation be exalted above all others, but general blessing, and peace, and acknowledgment of God, shall prevail in the earth. The rest of the chapter goes on to show how this period of blessing will be brought in. Is it by grace proclaimed ? No, but by fearful judgments executed. “ The day of Jehovah ” comes, destroying the pride of man, causing: him to throw his idols to the moles and the bats, and to “ go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of Jehovah, and for the glory of His majesty.” The consequence of this terrible shaking of the earth, and bringing down the pride of man, is, that “ Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day ” (Isa. ii. 12-22). Isa. xiv. 1, 2, foretells that “ Jehovah will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land ; and the strangers shall be joined with them .... and they shall take them ISRAELIS RESTORATION. 175 captives, whose captives they were ; and they shall rule over their oppressors.” Again — “ Comfort ye, comfort ye. My people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned : for she hath received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of Him that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of Jehovah, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low ; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain ; and the glory of Jehovak shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together ; for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it” (Isa. xl. 1-5). It is true that the cry here mentioned was raised by John the Baptist, who preceded Christ’s first appearance. But John’s testimony was to the kingdom, not to the Church, to the One who was to lay the axe to the root of the tree, the One who was to burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. He called upon the people to fulfil that condition of national repentance which, as shown in Leviticus, was to precede national restora- tion. This appeal was refused, the forerunner be- headed, the Messiah crucified. The kingdom glory and the restoration of Israel were therefore postponed, and the land left desolate. But this only delays the accomplishment of the purpose. The time will come when the voice raised in the wilderness will be listened to, when God will again comfort His people, when He 176 THE LORD'S COMING. will be satisfied with the punishment He has laid upon them for their sins, and at that time His glory “ shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together/' In like manner — “ Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel : I will help thee, saith Jehovah, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument, having teeth : thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff” (Isa. xli. 14, 15). And so too — “Thus saith Jehovah that created thee, 0 Jacob, and He that formed thee, 0 Israel — Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name ; thou art Mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee ; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee : when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am Jehovah thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour ; I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in My sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee : therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north. Give up, and to the south. Keep not back ; bring My sons from far, and My daughters from the ends of the earth (Isa. xliii. 1-6). And once more— “ Remember these, 0 Jacob and Israel ; for thou art My servant : , I have formed thee ; thou art My servant : 0 Israel, thou shalt not ISRAEL'S RESTORATION. 177 be forgotten of Me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins : return unto Me, for I have redeemed 'thee ” (Isa. xliv. 21 , 22 ). In the last foregoing passages, God, speaking by the national name of Jehovah, has said thrice over concerning Israel as a nation that He has redeemed it. Yet the accredited interpretation is, that He has deceived Israel with false hopes, and that when He spoke of Israel, He really meant something entirely different ! Is it credible that Christians should dare to impute such deception to the One “ who cannot lie ” ? If God could so cruelly deceive Israel, what reason have we to believe He is not equally deceiving us ? The bare suggestion is shocking, and yet it is the inevitable inference arising out of the Komish and evangelical interpretation. But again, in one of these passages God speaks of making Israel a sharp threshing instrument, in another of gathering her sons and daughters from the ends of the earth, and in the third of her return to Him with her transgressions forgiven. All this exactly befits Israeks state. But is the Church a sharp threshing instrument ? Has the Church ever been scattered to the ends of the earth ? Or is the Church ever spoken of as having been estranged from God and coming back forgiven ? Such are the contradictions involved in the ordinary interpre- tation. Quotations might be multiplied without end, but I select a few only. The redeemed of Jehovah shall M 178 THE LORHS COMING. return and come with singing unto Zion, and ever- lasting joy shall be upon their head : they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away (Isa. li. 1 1). When will the Church come to Zion ? Or if Zion be spiritualised into heaven, how^ can the Church “ return ” where it has never been ? ‘‘Awake, awake, stand up, 0 Jerusalem, which hast drunk of the hand of Jehovah, the cup of His fury” (ver. 17). Israel has drunk the cup of Jehovah’s fury, but when has the Church done so ? “ Thus saith thy Lord, Jehovah, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of His people. Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of My fury ; thou shalt no more drink it again. But I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thee (ver. 22, 23). Applied to Israel, this is beautiful, consistent with other scripture, and adapted to her circumstances. Applied to the Church, the passage is absolutely with- out meaning. How exquisite, also, when addressed to Israel, but how false and preposterous, if referred to the Church, is the following promise : “ Thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt not remember the reproach of thy widowhood any more. For thy Maker is thine husband, Jehovah of hosts is His name, and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. . . . For a small moment have I forsaken thee ” [for what “ small moment ” has Christ forsaken the Church ?] ; “ but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little Avrath I hid My face from thee for a moment ; but ISRAELIS EES TOE A no JV. 179 with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee ” (Isa. liv. 4-8). How sweet, too, the words of comfort directed to Israel in this passage. Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of Jehovah is risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people : but Jehovah 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. . . . Thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side The sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee. . . . Thy gates shall be open continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish. . . . The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee, and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet ; and they shall call thee. The city of Jehovah, The Zion of the HoJy One of Israel. Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, so that no man went through thee, I will make thee an eternal excel- lency, a joy of many generations” (Isa. lx. 1-15). The last portion of this prophet is so full of the theme that selection is almost impossible, but the above extracts, voluminous in themselves, though scanty in proportion to the matter out of which they are taken, will sufflce to show the teaching of God’s i8o THE LORHS COMING. Word as delivered by this inspired teacher. Let us look, then, very briefly, at the words of the other pro- phets. I begin with those who wrote before the fall of Jerusalem.« Hosea, after foretelling Israel’s rejection under the parable of Lo-ammi, not My people, adds — “ Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor numbered ” — the very promise given to Abraham ; “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” (Hos. i. 9, 10). And in the closing chapter of his prophecy, he thus writes — “ I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely ; for Mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel : he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return : they shall revive as the corn and grow as the vine ; the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon” (Hos. xiv. 4-7). Joel describes the time when the Lord will sit to judge all the heathen round about. Then “Jehovah also shall roar out of Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but Jehovah will be the hope of His people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am Jehovah your God dwelling in Zion, My holy mountain. Then shall Jerusalem be holy, and ISRAELIS RESTORATION. i8i there shall no stranger pass through her any more ” (Joel iii. 16, 17). Amos foretells that Jehovah “ will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.” The sinners shall die, but God will raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I- will build it as in the days of old : that they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the nations.” More- over, “ I will bring again the captivity of My people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof ; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith Jehovah thy God ” (Amos ix. 9-15). Obadiah foretells the judgment awaiting Edom : “ But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness ; and the house of Jacob shall possess their possessions; ” and the captivity of Israel “shall possess the cities of the south. And saviours shall come up on Mount Zion to judge the Mount of Esau ; and the kingdom shall be Jehovah’s’’ (Obad. 17-21). Micah repeats the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the “ last days,” adding — “ In that day, saith Jehovah, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted ; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that wns i 82 THE LORHS COMING. cast far off a strong nation ; and Jehovah shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, 0 tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion ; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem ” (Mic. iv. 6-8). Zephaniah bids Israel wait till the Lord rises up to vengeance on her enemies, “ for then will I turn to the people a pure language.” Then they shall be gathered from Ethiopia, and ‘Hhe remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity.’’ “ Sing, 0 daughter of Zion,” he adds ; shout, 0 Israel ; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, 0 daughter of ‘Jerusalem. Jehovah hath taken away thy judgments. He hath cast out thine enemy : the King of Israel, even Jehovah, is in the midst of thee ; thou shalt not see evil any more ” (Zeph. iii. 8-15). The prophets of the captivity write in the same strain. ‘‘ Turn, 0 backsliding children, saith Jehovah ; for I am married unto you ; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion ; and I will give you pastors according to Mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of Jehovah, and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of Jehovah, to Jerusalem ; neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together out ISRAErS RESTORATION. 183 of the land of the north to the land that I have given for an inheritance unto your fathers” (Jer. iii. 14- 18). Ezekiel writes — I will take you from among the Gentiles, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you” (Ezek. xxxvi. 24, 25). The next chapter describes the vision of the dry bones, concerning which the prophet is told that these bones are the whole house of Israel.” But the Lord says — ‘‘Behold, 0 My people, I will open your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am Jehovah” (ver. 11-13). Then follows the vision signifying the union of Judah and Israel, which is thus explained — “1 will take the children of Israel from among the Gentiles, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land ; and I will make them one nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel ; and one King shall be king to them all ; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms any more at all” (ver. 21, 22). Daniel foretells the course of Gentile monarchy, ending with the complete destruction of their power, and the setting up of the kingdom of the Son of Man ; when “ the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High ” 184 T'HE LORD'S COMING. (Dan. vii. 27). These are persons on earth, for they are described two verses before as persecuted by the power symbolised in the “little horn.” From this persecution they are saved by the judgment of this blasphemer, and the establishment of Messiah’s kingdom. This fearful trial and deliverance are described further on. “ There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time thy jpeople shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book ” (Dan. xii. 1). There are three still later prophets, whose writings date from after the partial restoration of the Jews under Zerubbabel. Of these, Haggai’s short prophecy is more occupied with the present than the future. But he foretells a mighty event. “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Yet once, 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 ” (Hag. ii. 6, 7). There was no such shaking at Christ's first coming, and on His coming at the end of the world, the temple at Jerusalem will not be filled with His glory. , At His second coming we have seen that there will be a mighty shaking, fearful judgments, and a display in and from Jerusalem of His kingdom glory. Zechariah is more occupied with the future. He writes — “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein : for ISRAEVS RESTORATION. i8s I, saith Jehovah, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her Sing and rejoice, 0 daughter of Zion ; for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith Jehovah ; and many nations shall be joined to Jehovah in that day .... and Jehovah shall inherit Judah His portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again (Zech. ii. 4-12). So also — •“ I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them ; and they shall be as though I had not cast them off ; for I am Jehovah their God, and will hear them” (Zech. x. 6). Malachi predicts, as we have seen, the Lord's appearing, “ like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap,” so terrible that he asks — ‘‘ Who may abide the day of His coming ? ” The effect of His return is that He purifies the house of Levi, so that they “ offer unto Jehovah an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in former years. And I will come near to you to judgment For I am Jehovah, I change not ; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed ” (Mai. iii. 3-6). Such is the unvarying testimony of the Hebrew prophets. Did God mean those to whom it was given to understand it in its natural sense, or not to understand it at all ? Would it have been possible for any Jew to have understood it in any other sense than as a magnificent series of prophecies concerning i86 THE LORHS COMING, liis own nation ? And is it credible that any believer in the Lord Jesus can maintain, that when God used language which could only arouse such hopes, He was mocking them with hollow and delusive expec- tations ? CHAPTER VI. Israel’s restoration and blessing — old testament TEACHING — ( continued ), I PROPOSE now to notice a few special features con- nected with the Messiah’s reign and Israel’s glory — again leaving Scripture to speak for itself. 1. This restoration is under a new covenant. ' “Be- hold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt ; which My covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith Jehovah. But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel : After those days, saith Jehovah, I will put My law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they shall teach no more every man his neigh- bour, and every man his brother, saying. Know Jehovah ; for all shall know Me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith J ehovah ; for I i88 THE LORHS COMING. will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. xxxi. 31-34). Thus there are three covenants ; the first, an unconditional one, with Abraham, not yet fulfilled ; the second, a conditional one, with Israel, which pre- vented the accomplishment of the first, by making it contingent on the people’s obedience; the third, an unconditional one, also with Israel, which sets aside the second, and so renders possible the fulfilment of the first. But though the condition of the Sinai covenant is to be removed, national restoration and the fulfilment of the uncoi^ditional covenant with Abraham is not to take place until the time of national repentance. Though the promise is absolute, yet the nation must be in a fit state before it is fulfilled. God, then, engages to bring it into a fit state. Instead of leaving Israel to keep the law in their own strength. He covenants to give them power to keep it. He makes a covenant with Judah and Israel to bring them to the state of heart in which His promise, made to Abraham, can be righteously carried out. He must have a righteous nation ; He, therefore, comes in Himself to make it righteous. This covenant is also named by Isaiah. “ The Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith Jehovah. As for Me, this is My covenant with them, saith Jehovah; My Spirit that is upon thee, and My words which I liave put in tliy mouth, shall not depart out of thy moutli, nor out of the mouth of thy seed,, nor out of ISRAELIS GLORY. 189 the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith Jehovah, from henceforth and for ever’’ (Isa. lix. 20, 21). Ezekiel also says, speaking of the nation as a whole, and of Judah and Israel as her two children, “ I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger ; and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will establish My covenant with thee ; and thou shalt know that I am Jehovah ” (Ezek. xvi. 60-62). Israel’s covenant, made at Sinai, could effect no restoration, but God promises to make a covenant, to endure for ever, in virtue of which, national restoration and acknowledgment of Himself should be brought about. II. And if God engages to write His law in the heart of the people. He promises them at the same time the outpouring of His Spirit. Isaiah foretells national desolation “ until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for a wilderness ” (Isa. xxxii. 15). This is not the baptism of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost, for it is to put an end to the deso- lation of Jerusalem, and to be followed by millennial blessings. But the most striking prophecy of this marvellous national event is to be found in the writings of Joel. He speaks of the restoration of the nation, and adds — It shall come to pass afterwards, that I will pour THE LORD'S COMING. 190 out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions ; and also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit. And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and Are, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turnod into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of Jehovah come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered ; for in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be delivera-nce ” (Joel ii. 28-32). Now this prophecy did not receive its fulfilment at Pentecost. Peter’s object in quoting it on that occasion was not to show that it was then fulfilled, but to point out to the scoffing Jews that the miraculous power suddenly bestowed was nothing more than their own prophets had foretold as the effect of the Spirit’s outpouring. There were no wonders in heaven, no blood, or fire, or vapour of smoke ; so the apostle could not possibly mean that the prophecy was then really fulfilled. Moreover, both the context and the language of the prophecy itself show that its proper accomplishment was to be at the time of Israel’s restoration ; that it did not refer — though some parts of it might be applicable — to the baptism of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost. That the giving of the Spirit is accompanied with national blessings and return to the land is also shown by tlie words of Ezekiel. “I will put My Spirit ISRAEVS GLORY. 191 within yoUj and cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers ; and ye shall be My people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses ; and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you’' (Ezek. xxxvi. 27-29.) III. And this brings us to the great physical effects of this reign of righteousness. The world into which man was created was one in complete subjection to himself, one in which disease and death were un- known, one in which the earth brought forth all its fruits abundantly. Sin reversed this. The headship of man was shaken, disease, death, and sterility intro- duced. From that moment all creation has groaned and travailed in pain together. But the effect of the cross is to lay a righteous foundation for the recon- ciliation of all things (Col. i. 20), and at the manifes- tation of the sons of God, ‘‘the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God ” (Kom. viii. 19-21). Now this deliverance, this reversal of the condition of things brought in by sin, is clearly predicted in the old prophets. Thus the curse of sterility, though partially re- moved at the time of the flood, still continued in large measure ; for the abundant harvests promised to Israel were merely conditional on their obedience, and like all other blessings held by such a tenure, were 192 THE LORE’S COMING. lost through the nation’s unfaithfulness. Thorns and briers were to be brought forth — the fruits of sin. But when the reign of righteousness begins, “ 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 Jehovah for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut ofi*’^ (Isa. Iv. 13). Again — “I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shittah tree, and the myrtle, and the oil tree ; I will set in the desert the fir tree, and the pine, and the box tree together ; that they may see, and know, and consider, and understand together, that the hand of Jehovah hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it” (Isa. xli. 18-20). So too, “The desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose ” (Isa. xxxv. 1). Ezekiel also foretells the time when they shall say, “ This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden ” (Ezek. xxxvi. 35) ; and Amos speaks of the days when “ the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed ; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt” (Amos ix. 13). So too, Joel, “In that day the mountains shall drop down new wine, and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth of the house of Jehovah, and shall water the valley of Shittim ” (Joel iii. 18). Again, the ferocity of the wild beasts is restrained, and man’s supremacy established. To the Son of ISRAELIS GLORY. 193 man — the Second Man — all nature is made subject, all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field ; the fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea ” (Ps. viii. 7, 8). Hence, the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid ; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling toge- ther : and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed ; their young ones shall lie down together ; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’s den ” (Isa. xi. 6-8). But still further, longevity will be restored ; if, indeed, death, save as the judgment of sin, will not be abolished, and the age of man prolonged to the full period of Christ’s reign. “For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth ; and the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which I create ; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I wdll rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in My people; and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days ; for the child shall die an hundred years old, but the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be accursed ” (Isa. Ixv. 17-20). Now this is not heaven, nor the new creation spoken of in the New Testament, for in neither of those has sin or death any 194 THE LORD'S COMING. place. Indeed before God makes all things new as foretold in the Eevelation, the last enemy, death, has been destroyed. (Rev. xx. 14.) The Old Testament never gets beyond the world, for that is its sphere, and the reign of Christ is the type, the partial accom- plishment, of that perfect reconciliation, the full fruits of which will be seen only in the new heaven and the new earth spoken of in the Revelation and the Epistle of Peter. In those new heavens and new earth righte- ousness dwells ; in the new heavens and new earth of Isaiah righteousness only reigns, judging sin and re- pressing it, but not bringing it entirely to an end. But though the results are only partial as compared with the full accomplishment of God’s purposes revealed in the New Testament, they are yet most blessed and most appropriate. It is true that they are ordinarily understood as merely poetical figures of spiritual bless- ing, and it is even thought by some unworthy of God, or impossible as a physical fact, to bring in such results as those named. Are the evils introduced, however, tlie punishment which God inflicted on account of sin ? Are they the sj)ecial scourges by which He visited His chosen earthly people for their disobedience and re- bellion ? If they are, the One who had power to bring them in has power to take them away. If it was worthy of Him to bring them in, it is worthy of Him to take them away. If the one was His righteous answer to sin, the other is His righteous answer to the cross. When God is dealing with the earth, earthly calamities have always marked His displeasure, and ISRAEUS GLORY. 195 earthly blessings His approval. We forget that what philosophers call the order of nature is really its dis- order ; that this groaning creation came from the hand of God “ very good ; ” and that its present con- dition is the anarchy of sin, not the design of the Creator. Now that the Lamb of God has borne the sin of the world, God can remove the curse, and recon- cile the disordered creation to Himself. This He will do perfectly in the new creation ; but partially in the kingdom glory and blessedness of His anointed Son. IV. But besides the general descriptions of the prosperity and glory of Israel under the reign of the Messiah, w^e have somewhat minute details of many features of their national polity. The concluding chapters of Ezekiel’s prophecy give the plan of the temple, down to the most minute details, describe the sacrifices offered, the order of priests instituted, the return of the glory of Jehovah to dwell in the temple, the dimensions and divisions of the reconstructed city, the fresh arrangement of the land among the tribes, and a number of similar points, all perfectly intelligible if we let Scripture interpret itself, but all mysterious and difficult to the last degree if treated as an allegory descriptive of the blessings to be enjoyed under Chris- tianity. It is easy enough to understand a general descrip- tion of the Church under the figure of a temple, a city, or the people Israel. Indeed all these figures are applied to it in the New Testament. But in Ezekiel 196 THE LORD’S COMING. it is not such a general description of a temple. All the details are arranged with an architectural precision wholly unsuited to allegory, but most necessary in describing the plan of a real building. The glory of Jehovah, as beheld in the first chapter of Ezekiel’s prophecy, which was seen to quit the temple and Jeru- salem in the tenth chapter, is again, after long absence, seen to fill this reconstructed temple (chap. xliv. 4). His voice ordains that certain of the Levites, whose \ fathers had fallen into idolatry, should not come near to minister ; while “the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me, to minister unto Me, and they shall stand before Me to offer unto Mn the fat and the blood” (chap. xliv. 10-15). The Lord also defines the garments which these priests shall wear, the class of persons they shall marry, the judicial functions they shall perform, and the portion of the offerings they shall receive. Here, to accept God’s Word as meaning what it says, makes everything simple, to attempt to allegorise it is to throw it into hopeless confusion. To some minds it may present a difficulty that animal sacrifices should be again spoken of. But an animal sacrifice was nev^r in itself of any value as an offering. It was but a type of the true sacrifice, and such a type may be just as suitable in remembrance of the saciifice as in anticipation. We observe the Lord’s supper, showing His body given and His blood shed. In an earthly religion the types are of a more ISRAEL'S GLORY. 197 earthly character, and the actual shedding of blood, not in renewal, but in remembrance, of the sacrifice of Himself made by Jesus to God, will be the divinely- appointed way of celebrating this event. Certain of the feasts also are reinstituted. “ In the first month, in the fourteenth day of the month, ye shall have the passover, a feast of seven days ; un- leavened bread shall be eaten ’’ (Ezek. xlv. 21): And, in the seventh month, in the fifteenth day of the month, shall he do the like in the feast of seven days” (ver. 25). This is the feast of tabernacles. Thus two out of the three feasts instituted by the law are to be renewed, but neither here nor elsewhere is any men- tion made of the feast of Pentecost. Surely if this were symbolical of the Church, the omitted feast would be most prominent. It was the feast of first-fruits, and as such the Holy Ghost was given on that day to form the Church, the first-fruits of the work of Christ. This, then, is the very reason of its omission. The full significance of this beautiful type is exhausted in the Church, and it no longer appears, therefore, after the Church's removal, among the institutions of the earthly people. Zechariah tells us a still further detail. The passover will apparently be observed by the Jews alone ; but “ 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, Jehovah of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles” (Zech. xiv. IG). Should this homage be omitted, the penalty is “ no rain ; ” except in the case of Egypt, where, as ther eis THE LORD'S COMING. 198 no rain, a plague is sent instead (ver. 17-19). How utterly inapplicable all these minute and interesting details are to the Church of God ; how beautifully appropriate to the literal reign of the Messiah over restored Israel. Ezekiel goes on to describe the dimensions of the city and its various divisions. Now in Revelation xxi. we have the Church, called also “the bride, the Lam Vs wife,” described under the figure of a city. The slightest examination of that account will show that it is not the description of a place, but a mere sym- bolical setting forth of the heavenly glories and blessedness of the Church. Its dimensions, its cubical form, its position, its materials, its foundations, its gates — its very definition, not as the dwelling place of the Church, but as the Church itself— plainly show that this dazzling vision was not a sight of heaven, but a magnificent figure of the moral glories of the body of Christ, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all. Compare this with the city described in Ezekiel. The latter is large, but suited to the dimen- sions of the land : splendid, but with nothing exceed- ing earthly splendour ; it has a temple, while the other has none. In every particular it presents a contrast rather than suggests a comparison. How is this ? Simply because they describe totally different things. The one is the plan of a splendid earthly city ; the other the figure of a portion of the redeemed in heavenly glory. Again Ezekiel gives the limits of the land occupied. ISRAEL’S GLORY. 199 and its division among the various tribes. The land, instead of being the restricted portion taken possession of by the Israelites of old, corresponds far more nearly with the large promise given to Abraham. The distri- bution of the tribes over this extended area is entirely different from that made by Joshua and his fellow assessors. What meaning has all this when applied to the Church ? Understand it literally, as every spiritual Israelite must have understood it, and it presents no difficulty whatever, but simply furnishes interesting details of that blessed period when Israel, delivered from her enemies, and restored to Jehovah’s favour, shall enjoy under the Messiah’s rule the yet unfulfilled promises made to Abraham and David. CHAPTER VIL Christ’s reign and Israel’s restoration. NEW TESTAMENT TEACHING. The question now naturally arises, whether the New Testament confirms the Old Testament prophecies as to Israel’s blessing and the Messianic kingdom, or whether it diverts the blessings to the Church, and makes the kingdom a spiritual reign ? The birth of Jesus was thus announced : — Behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest : and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David, and He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of His kingdom there shall be no end ” (Luke i. 31-33). In the same strain Mary prophesies — “ He hath holpen His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy ; as He spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to His seed for ever” (ver. 54, 55). Shortly afterwards Zacharias says — “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for He hath visited and redeemed His peoj^le, and hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David ; JVA'IV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 201 as He spake by the mouth of His holy prophets which have been since the world began : that we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us ; to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant ; the oath which He sware to our father Abraham, that He would grant unto us that we, being delivered out of the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life^’ (ver. 68-75). Again the angels, speaking to the shepherds, say, Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people (that is, Israel, not ‘'all people,” as in our translation) ; for unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke ii. 10, 11). Here we have Israel, an earthly people : the throne of David, an earthly throne ; perpetual dominion, the promise to David’s seed ; in fact, throughout these prophecies, the titles given, the offices described, and the blessings foretold, are altogether of a national character. Concerning Christ’s birth, Matthew says (i. 22, 23) — “ All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a Son, and they shall call His name Emmanuel ; which being interpreted is, God with us.” In the passage here quoted (Isa. vii. 14), the birth of Emmanuel is the sign given to the king of Judah of national deliverance, and the destruction of national enemies. 202 THE LORHS COMING. In tlie next chapter the enemy comes up against Judah — He shall reach even to the neck, and the stretching out of His wings shall fill the breadth of Thy land, 0 Emmanuel. Associate yourselves, 0 ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces ” (Isa. viii. 8, 9). Here again, then, in the only other passage where the name occurs, it is suggestive of kingly dominion, Israel’s deliverance, and Gentile judgments. The names of Christ in Scripture are always significant, and the name here set as the frontispiece of Matthew’s Gospel, spoke, to every Jewish ear, not of the Lamb led to the slaughter, but of the Victor ruling in the midst of His enemies. So, too, the mission of the wise men of the East is not to the meek and lowly One, but to Him “that is born King of the Jews” — a foretaste of the homage of the nations when “ the kinoes of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents, the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts” (Ps. Ixxii. 10). In the same spirit, the chief priests and scribes, when asked about His birth-place, reply by quoting a prophecy of Micali, where He is spoken of as “the governor” and the ruler of “ My people Israel.” Thus prominently are kingly lineage and dignity brought out in the accounts of His birth and childhood. The Gospel of Matthew records God’s dispensational ways, showing how the great national sin of Christ’s rejection led to the postponement of Jewish hopes, and an alteration in the form of the kingdom. Chapter xii. describes the nation conspiring against Jesus, JVEIV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 203 who pronounces their doom, declaring the last state of the wicked generation to be worse than the first. Hence, in the next chapter. He will only speak to the multitudes in parables, quoting against them the prophecy in which Isaiah foretells that their eyes should be blinded and their hearts made gross. So far, however, is this prophecy from predicting their permanent blindness and rejection, that it expressly declares the term of their punishment and the restora- tion of a remnant. But while thus turning from the multitude, and foretelling their temporary rejection, He unfolds to His disciples, to whom it was given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, the new and mysterious form in which this kingdom was about to be set up. Does this mystery, then, endure, like the prophetic kingdom, to the end of the world ? Is it, like that kingdom, brought in by judgment, admini- stered in righteousness, and resplendent in glory ? On the contrary, its duration is only to the end of the age ” — the period when the prophetic kingdom will begin ; it is introduced, not by judgment, but by the quiet sowing of seed ; it is administered, not in righteousness, but in forbearance, the tares growing with the wheat ; and instead of manifesting God’s glory on earth, the whole mass becomes leavened with corruption. It is difierent in form from the kingdom promised, and is limited in time till that kingdom is introduced. Instead of superseding the prophetic kingdom, it merely fills up the interval till the Jews are ready to receive it. 204 THE LORHS COMING, In chapter xvi. Jesus formally abandons, as to public testimony, His Jewish character of Messiah (ver. 20), and takes up, instead, the new title of Son of the living God ” (ver. 16), on which He says that He will build His Church. He foretells the kingdom of heaven in a new form, not in glory but in weak- ness ; not connected with the crown of earthly power, but with the cross of earthly rejection. But is the outward kingdom, therefore, abandoned ? At the close of His discourse, Jesus adds — “ There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom” (ver. 28). Another evangelist says — ‘‘ till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power” (Mark ix. 1) ; and another, “ till they see the kingdom of God ” (Luke ix. 27). Now in each case, these remarkable words are immediately followed by the story of the transfiguration. Surely this suggests, that the trans- figuration was a prophetic display of the kingdom in power made to chosen witnesses, at the moment when it was for a time to be set aside by the mysterious form in which the kingdom now appears. But what the gospels suggest, Peter expressly states. We have not,” he says, “followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and corning of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eye- witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent glory, This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And this JVEJV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 205 voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with Him in the holy mount’’ (2 Pet. i. 16-18). The transfiguration, therefore, was Gods witness to the “ power and coming ” of Christ, the proof fur- nished that, notwithstanding the postpouement of the Jewish hope, the prophetic kingdom was still as sure in His purposes as ever, and that Jesus, now rejected in His grace, would return in power and glory to revive the kingdom in all its outward display. In Matthew xix. 28,- Jesus tells His disciples — “ 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.” The Son of man sitting in the throne of His glory, is the very thing shown to Daniel as about to happen after the destruction of the Gentile powers (Dan. vii. 14). It is the very thing which, as we have seen, all the promises and prophecies, all the revealed counsels of God as to earthly government or blessing, led the disciples to anticipate. It is the very thing of which Gabriel spoke to Mary, and of which Zechariah pro- phesied. It was to happen at the regeneration,” the very “times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began ” (Acts iii. 21). It was to be connected with Israel, the invariable centre of God’s purposes when He asserts His governmental authority upon the earth. Could words more clearly indicate the establishment of the Messianic kingdom in visible power and glory ? 2o6 THE LORHS COMING. Indeed the name “Son of man is, when applied to Christ in the Old Testament, always used in connec- tion with dominion and dignity. It is the Son of man who has all things put under His feet (Ps. viii. 6) ; who, as the Man of God’s right hand, delivers downcast Israel (Ps. Ixxx. 17) ; and who receives the kingdom from the Ancient of days (Dan. vii. 13, 14). In the New Testament it is only used by Jesus in speaking of Himself. Taken in connection with the passages named, it could convey to His hearers no other thought than of Him whom God had appointed to exercise authority on earth ; who, though with no place to lay His head, though rejected, betrayed, and crucified, was yet clothed with power to forgive sins, was Lord of the Sabbath, would appear in the clouds of heaven with great glory, for the destruction of His enemies and the deliverance of His people. In other words, it was a title suggestive of the Jewish hopes ; and “ the coming of the Son of man ” is always spoken of in connection with His appearance to set up the Messianic kingdom. In chapter xxi. Jesus enters Jerusalem meek and lowly, riding on an ass. A portion of the people respond, hailing Him as King, as Son of David, and applying to Him the language of Psalm cxviii. — “ Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.” This, as the psalm shows, is the language in which the Jews acknowledge their rejected Messiah, when the stone which the builders rejected becomes the he^d-stone of the corner (ver. 22-26). At this time. JVjEJV testament teaching. 207 however, it is used only by babes and sucklings, the weak things of the world, while the nation as a whole once more refuses Him. But this refusal is not final, as our Lord’s words plainly show ; for while declaring that, in consequence of their guilt, their house would be left unto them desolate. He adds, — “ I say unto you, ye shall not see Me henceforth.” For how long ? Till the end of the world ? No, but, “ till ye shall say, Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ” (Matt, xxiii. 38, 39). This language they had re- fused when uttered by babes and sucklings, but when they adopt it, they will see Jesus again, and their house will no longer be left desolate. In the same chapter xxi. the Lord asks the Jews — Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner ; this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes ? Therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken away from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits there- of. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken ; but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder ” (ver. 42-44). Here are three prophe- cies concerning the stone, those who fall on it, and those on whom it falls. The first, from Psalm cxviii. 22, 23, shows that the stone, though at first refused by Israel, afterwards becomes the head of the corner. The second, from Isaiah viii. 14, declares Christ to be 'Hor a stone of stumbling and for a rock of ofience to both the houses of Israel.” But mark what follows. 2o8 THE LORHS COMING. The testimony is bound up, the law sealed among His disciples, and the prophet waits on the Lord who hides His face from Israel. Then come deep anguish and darkness, from which the people emerge and joy before the Lord, “as men rejoice when they divide the spoil ; ” “ for unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder” (Isa. ix. 3, 6). Thus Isaiah’s words coin- cide with our Lord’s — the nation which stumbles on the stone is broken, not destroyed. The third pro- phecy is from Daniel ii., and foretells a very different fate for those on whom the stone falls; for while Israel, stumbling on the stone, is broken, but after- wards healed, the Gentile powers, which for a time have taken the dominion out of Israel’s hands, are struck by the stone, “ are broken to pieces together, and become like the chaff of the summer threshing- floors ” (Dan. ii. 35). In Matthew xxiii. Jesus says that the Jews shall not see Him again till they shall say — “ Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ; ” in other words that they will see Him, when their predicted repentance shall take place. The disciples then (xxiv. 3) ask — “What shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the age ? ” This can only refer to the coming just before named, when the Jews should be prepared to receive Him. Of His coming for His saints they as yet knew nothing. And they manifestly are asking not about the end of the world (though our transla- tion thus renders it), but about “ the end of the age,” JVBIV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 209 when Jewish rejection would terminate and Messiah’s reiofn begin. Nor does the Lord’s reply point to the end of the world. It is a prediction of woes, partially accom- plished in the siege of J erusalem by Titus, but await- ing a far more fearful fulfilment when the abomina- ti(jn of desolation,” spoken of by Daniel, is set up, and during the great tribulation foretold by the same prophet. But in their darkest hour, there shall sud- denly ‘‘ appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven : and then shall all the tribes of the earth [or land] mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with j)ower and great glory ” (Matt. xxiv. 30). Now, that this is not the coming at the end of the world, is obvious from the two Old Testament pro- phecies quoted. The great tribulation spoken of by Daniel precedes Israel’s deliverance. There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time ; and at that time thy jpeople shall he delivered^ every one that shall be found written in the book” (Dan. xii. 1). The time of national mourning for Him whom they had pierced, described by Zechariah, is also, not at the end of the world, but when the Lord shall defend the inhabi- tants of Jerusalem,” and shall “seek to destroy all the nations that come against” her (Zech. xii. 8-12). So that this prophecy of our Lord’s docs not describe the end of the world, but Israel’s deliverance, or the end of the age. And the following parables, of the 210 THE LORHS COMING, steward, the virgins, the talents, and the judgment of the nations, all describe events happening at the com- ing of Christ either for His saints or to receive His earthly kingdom. The other Gospels are not so distinctly dispensational in their teaching as Matthew’s. In the Gospel of Luke, however, we get two remarkable expressions which help to throw light upon this subject. There Jesus is asked when the predicted destruction of Jerusalem and the temple will take place. In reply He details events which are generally admitted to be those preceding and accompanying the sack of Jerusalem by the Roman armies under Titus. The result is thus related — ''They shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations ; and Jeru- salem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles he fulfilled^’ (Luke xxi. 7-24). He then foretells signs in heaven, distresses on earth, and the appearance of the Son of Man " with power and great glory ; ” adding — " When these things begin to come to pass, then look up and lift ujd your heads ; for your redemption draiveth nigh ” (ver. 25-28). Now throughout this discourse, which is related by all the three synoptic evangelists, though with very important variations, the disciples are treated as Jews interested in and asking about the future history of their people. Bearing this in mind, let us inquire what the portions we have quoted mean. Tliey say that Jerusalem is to be under Gentile rule " until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled ; ” that then fearful JV£IV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 21 I troubles arise, Christ appears ‘'in power and great glory,” and “your redemption” — that is, Jewish deli- verance — takes place. Compare this with the two prophecies of Daniel. In both he traces “the times of the Gentiles,” in both he describes Christ’s appearance in power and glory, in both this appearance ends in the destruction of Gentile power, and the establish- ment of Messiah’s kingdom ; while in one of the visions, the saints who have been persecuted share the kingdom. In other words the redemption of the faith- ful remnant of Israel takes place at the same time as the setting up of Messiah’s rule. Can there be a doubt that our Lord’s discourse here describes the same period and the same event foretold by the Hebrew prophet ? Such, then, is the testimony of the Gospels. Instead of diverting the Old Testament prophecies to the Church, it distinctly reserves them for Israel, thus demonstrating the oneness of God’s purposes, vindicat- ing the truth of His promises, and overthrowing the false system of interpretation by which these ]3romises are obscured or nullified. In the Acts we read that just before our Lord’s ascension His disciples ask Him a question — “ Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel ? ” Now surely if the disciples were still cherishing a vain delusion — if the kingdom never was to be restored to Israel, but Israel’s portion was to be spiritualised away into the Church’s blessing — Jesus would at least have abstained from giving an answer 212 THE LORDE COMING. to this question which would tend to foster their fal- lacious hopes. Instead of hinting, however, that these expectations were unfounded, He replies in a manner distinctly calculated to confirm them. He says — “ It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power” (Acts i. 6, 7). Both the New and the Old Testaments foreshadow a period of indefinite duration, during which the Jews are deprived of their national blessings, and this text tells us that it is not yet in God’s purposes to reveal the time of their restoration ; but so far from saying that this restoration should not take place, the lan- guage used clearly implies that it will. The re-establishment and deliverance of Israel have, however, been shown to be connected with the return of the Messiah, and the chapter we are now looking at bears a distinct testimony on this point likewise. No sooner is Jesus caught up than two men stand by the disciples “ in white apparel, which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven ? This same Jesus, which is taken from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven ” (ver. 10, 11). The personal return of Jesus for the restoration of Jewish privileges, and at the time of national repent- ance, is still more strikingly shown a little further on in the same apostolic history. We there find Peter, taught by the Holy Ghost, urging the nation to re- pentance by this very promise. “ Eepent ye, therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out. JV^JV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 213 in 07 'der that [I give tlie version admitted to be cor- rect by all scliolars] the times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you ; whom the heaven must receive until the times of re- stitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began ” (Acts hi. 19-21). What are “the times of restitution of all things ? ” They cannot be the end of the world, for that is the time of destruction of all things. Besides, which of the prophets had spoken of this event ? Are not the prophets full of “ the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow? ” When Peter addressed the Jews, the sufferings were past, but the glory was to come. This glory, then, of which all the prophets have spoken, is the “ restitution of all things men- tioned by Peter — of the temple, of the kingdom, of the throne of David — all which the Jews hoped for, all which, at the time of their repentance, they will have fulfilled. And at that time God will send Jesus Christ once more from heaven. He is not gone there till the end of the world, but till these times come, and when they are come. He will return to the earth, be seen by His people, and “ restore again the kingdom to Israel.” In the epistles comparatively little is said on this subject. We find, however, that “the promises” are still spoken of as the portion of Paul’s “ kinsmen according to the flesh,” and this in the very chapters which explain God’s reason for their temporary exci- 214 THE LORHS COMING. sion. These words were penned after Israel had been cut off, and could have no meaning at all except in prospect of her national restoration. No refining can make the Israelites here to mean the Church, for already the Church was in existence, and the Israelites, Paul’s kinsmen according to the flesh, are spoken of in contrast with the Church. Yet while thus speak- ing of them, and while mourning over their unbelief, he says that to them ‘‘ the promises ” still pertain (Eom. ix. 4). But in a subsequent chapter he goes further than this. He declares that the riches of the Gentiles, which are partially realised by the diminishing of Israel, will be completely obtained by their fulness (Kom. xL 12) ; that all Israel shall be saved, as it is Avritten, There shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob ” (ver. 26) ; and that though, as concerning the gospel, they are enemies,” yet, “ as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers’ sakes, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (ver. 28, 29). It has been already shoAAui that these passages cannot refer to the conversion of the Jews to Chris- tianity. I may now point out that the restoration spoken of is national and local, is in fulfilment of God’s gifts to the fathers and in connection with national repentance, is accompanied by the return of the Messiah, and results in blessings to all the nations of the earth. In a word, it corresponds Avith all that the proj)hets foretell, and the Gospels and Acts con- JVEIV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 215 firm. The Epistle to the Hebrews says, — “Unto the angels hath He not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying. What is man that Thou art mindful of him ? or the Son of man, that Thou visitest him ? 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” (Heb. ii. 5-8). The Psalm quoted adds, “ all sheep and oxen,’^ and “whatsoever passeth through the paths of the seas’" (Ps. viii. 7, 8), thus showing that this “ world to come ” does not mean heaven, nor yet the “ new earth ” in which there is “ no more sea ” (Kev. xxi. 1 ). The word used for “ world ” is one, more- over, which always means the inhabited earth. This world, then, is to be brought into complete and abso- lute subjection to Christ, “for in that He put all in subjection under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him.” May not this, however, be by the conversion of the world ? The language forbids it, for where is the Church spoken of as put under Christ’s feet ? This implies the ascendancy, not of love, but of power — enemies conquered, not enemies reconciled. Besides, what meaning would attach, on such an interpreta- tion, to the dominion given over “ sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field ? ” But the character of the dominion is also shown by other passages. “ To which of the angels,” asks the apostle, “said He 2i6 THE LORHS COMING. at any time, Sit on My right hand until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool?” (Heb. i. 13). And again — “ 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 footstool” (Heb. x. 12, 13). These are quotations from Psalm cx. Taking the passages together, they show Jesus undergoing death, seated at God’s right hand, and waiting for the time when all things shall be put under His feet and His enemies be made His footstool. Even if the former of these expressions could mean gradual reconciliation, it is surely im- possible so to understand the latter. No stronger language could be used to express forcible subjuga- tion ; and the whole Psalm, which speaks of striking through kings, filling places with dead bodies, and wounding the heads over many countries, shows that such is the proper interpretation. The thing described in the Hebrews is, therefore, real earthly dominion, brought in by power and judgment ; that is, the very same thing constantly foretold by the Old Testament prophets. Numerous other passages in the New Testament allude to Christ’s appearing to take His dominion, adding, however, two features, about which the old prophets are silent. These passages, already quoted, declare that '' when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye ” — believers — “ also appear with Him in glory ” (Col. iii. 4) ; that it is this “ manifes- tation of the sons of God” — Christ and His fellow- JV£IV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 217 heirs — for which “ the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth/’ and by which it is to be '' delivered from the bondage of corruption” (Rom. viii. 19-22); that when this manifestation takes place, “ the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming Are, taking vengeance on them that know not God ” (2 Thess. i. 7 , 8) ; that in this ap- pearance He will be followed by the armies of heaven, believers previously caught up to be with Him ; and that with them, He will execute judgment on the beast and false prophet, after which Satan will be bound, and the reign of Christ and His saints estab- lished for a thousand years (Rev. xix. xx). All these, and other passages before referred to, show that Christ returns to liberate creation from its bondage, to deliver Israel from her ruin, and to reign over the earth in righteousness ; adding, however, to the Old Testament teaching, the two weighty facts, that in this reign the heavenly saints will be His fellow-heirs, and that at its commencement, the earliest promise will receive at least a partial fulfilment in the bind- ing and imprisonment of Satan. And here I may notice a phrase, frequently found in the Old, and occasionally in the New, Testament — “the day of the Lord.” In the Old Testament the coming of the day of Jehovah or the Lord, though once or twice used of some special national judgment, is generally employed to describe that fearful time when “the loftiness of man shall be bowed down” (Isa. ii. 12-22); when “the sun shall be turned into 2i8 THE LORHS COMING. darkness and the moon into blood” (Joel ii. 31); when Jehovah will gather all nations against Jeru- salem to battle,” and will “go forth and fight against those nations ” (Zech. xiv, 1-3). Now these and other passages in the Old Testament sufficiently identify the coming of the day of the Lord with the period described in the gospel, when “ there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ; and upon earth distress of nations, with perplexity ; ” when they shall “ see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” and when Israel is bidden to lift up her head, for her “ redemption draweth nigh” (Luke xxi. 25-28). The coming of the day of the Lord is, therefore, identical in point of time with the coming of the Son of man. The latter is always described as taking the world by surprise. “As in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came and took them all away ; so shall also the com- ing of the Son of man be ” (Matt. xxiv. 38, 39). In like manner the day of the Lord is declared both by Paul and Peter to come “ as a thief in the night ” (1 Thess. V. 2 ; 2 Pet. iii. 10). This coming of the day of the Lord, therefore, ushers in the fearful judg- ments and the national deliverance wrought by Christ when He comes in power and great glory to reign on the earth. But though this is the character of the coming of JV£IV TESTAMENT TEACHING. 219 the day of the Lord, the day itself goes much beyond this. In Isaiah ii., we see the fearful judgments with which the day commences, but we read also that “ the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.’^ Now this indefinite phrase, “ that day,” here manifestly meaning the day of the Lord, or Jehovah, is constantly repeated, without anything in the context to explain it, through- out the prophetic writings. “ In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah : We have a strong- city ; salvation will God appoint for walls and bul- warks” (Isa. xxvi. 1.) “ /n that cZa?/ shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness. The meek also shall increase their joy in Jehovah, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel” (Isa. xxix. 18, 19). In that day I will cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth, and I will give thee the opening of the mouth in the midst of them ; and they shall know that I am Jehovah” (Ezek. xxix. 21). In that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground * and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely” (Hos. ii. 18). ‘‘That day,” then, is obviously a well understood phrase, which, when used without special connection, implies the period of Messiah’s reign and Israel’s blessing. It is the day that commences with the coming of the day of the Lord, in other words it is the day of the 220 THE LORHS COMING. Lord, looked at, not in the light of the judgments by which it is inaugurated, but of the blessings which it introduces. This expression, then, ''the day of the Lord,” instead of signifying a single event, like the Lords coming, is the period extending from the appearance of Christ to execute judgment on the earth all through His glorious reign. It is contrasted with the day of man. Hitherto man has acted in defiance of Cod without any direct check. In the day of the Lord, this will not be. Sin will be repressed, and the con- sequences of sin in a great measure restrained ; man’s lawlessness will be curbed, his haughtiness "bowed down, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.” With this understanding of the phrase, the New Testament perfectly agrees, for while Peter says that " the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,” he adds " in [or during] 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 ” (2 Pet. iii. 10). This day commences, then, with the Lord’s standing up for the deliverance of Jerusalem, and lasts at least till the end of the world. It probably includes also the final judgment of the unsaved dead and the casting of death, " the last enemy,” and Hades into the lake of fire. Thus this phrase, read in the light of Scripture, fully bears out what we have found to be the unvary- ing testimony of the Old and the New Testament. It JV£IV TESTAMENT 7E ACHING. 221 describes the time when Jehovah’s rights are fully vindicated, when Jehovah’s Anointed reigns in bless- ing on the earth — the time when the power of God in dealing with evil is manifested, and His grace and faithfulness in the fulfilment of all His promises con- cerning the world are displayed — the time when the woman’s Seed crushes the serpent’s head, when Israel is exalted above the nations, when the true Seed of Abraham dispenses blessing to all the families of the earth, and the true Seed of David is seated in righte- ousness on His throne in Zion. . CHAPTER VIII. ''the times and the seasons.” " It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power” (Acts i. 7). Such was the Lord’s reply when asked whether He would then restore the kingdom to Israel. No measure is given, therefore, for calculating the time from Christ’s death to Israel’s restoration. Yet Daniel is prophetically told — " Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city (the Jews and Jerusalem), to finish the ^trans- gression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy ” (Dan. ix. 24). That is, after seventy weeks, or periods of seven years, Jerusalem, having "received of Jehovah’s hand double for all her sins,” was to be restored, and to become henceforth " the city of righteousness.” Here, therefore, Scripture does fix the period of Israel’s restoration. The prophecy just quoted will explain this apparent TIMES AND SEASONS, 223 contradiction. After seventy cycles of seven years Israel’s restoration was to take place. It is clear, therefore, that the seventieth week has not yet closed. The prophecy, however, continues — ‘‘From the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah the Prince, shall be seven weeks and threescore and two weeks ; and after the threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, and shall have nothing” (Dan. ix. 25, 26, see margin). Sixty-nine weeks had elapsed, therefore, before Christ’s death. But if sixty-nine weeks had closed then, and the seventieth week has not closed yet, what conclusion can we draw ? Simply this, that as these weeks relate only to the Jews, the time during which God’s dealings with the Jews are sus- pended, is not counted. Now owing to their rejection of Christ, the Jews are at present set entirely aside, and God is engaged in bringing in “the fulness of the Gentiles,” The clock of prophetic time has, there- fore, stopped with the cutting off of Messiah, and will not beat out its last week until, the fulness of the Gentiles having come in, God resumes His dealings with Israel. The Church period, our time, lies outside prophetic history. Dates may be fixed before and after ; but now “the times and the seasons ” are in God’s hands, the Church being bidden to look, not for the epoch of earthly blessing, but for the return of the Lord to take up His saints. It would be beside my purpose to enter into details respecting this week. The great principle is that no 224 THE LORD'S COMING j^art of it runs during the existence of the Church on earth. This period is a prophetic blank, the “ many days ” during which the children of Israel abide “without a' king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without a teraphim ” (Hos. iii. 4). But while entering into no details, it may be well to glance at God’s dealings with the Jews from their rejection to their restoration. After foretelling the cutting off of Messiah, Daniel adds — “And the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary ; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm a covenant with the many for one week ; and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it deso- late, even until the consummation, and that deter- mined shall be poured upon the desolator ” (Dan. ix. 26, 27). Thus Messiah is cut off, and does not receive the kingdom. Then the Koman people destroy the city, and desolation reigns until the end of this great national controversy. This is the only reference made to the interval between the destruction of Jerusalem and the last week. Our Lord makes a like omission. “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the times of tlie Gentiles l)e fulfilled. And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars ” (Luke xxi. 24, 25). The whole space between the siege of TIMES AND SEASONS. 225 Jerusalem and the troubles preceding the coming of the Son of man is passed over in silence. But to return to Daniel. For the last seven years before Israel's restoration, there is a person who confirms a covenant with ‘‘ the many,” or mass, of the Jewish people, for a week. This person must be “ the prince that shall come " named in the pre- vious verse. But that prince is the prince of the people that destroyed Jerusalem ; he is, therefore, the head of the Koman empire, which thus appears once more upon the scene in these closing days of the times of the Gentiles. A covenant for seven years is con- cluded between him and the mass of the Jews, who have then returned to Jerusalem and revived their old sacrifices. In the middle of that time he makes the sacrifice to cease, and an abomination or idol is set up, causing desolation to the end of the epoch, when some predetermined fate overtakes the deso- lator. This last half week, when wickedness and misery culminate, is three and a half years, or ‘‘a time, times, and half a time," or forty and two months, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days. But besides this monarch in league with the bulk of the Jews, other scriptures tell us of a deadly foe ranged against them during the same period of wretchedness. “Behold the day of Jehovah cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished ; and half of the city p 226 THE LORHS COMING. shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall Jehovah go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fought in the day of battle. And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east (Zecli. xiv. 1-4). There are, then, two powers, or great con- federacies, the one besieging the city, with partial success, the other, headed by “the prince,” in league with the mass of its inhabitants, but both helping to intensify its misery, and to aggravate its judgment. This is the “ time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time,” at which the Jews “shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book” (Dan. xii. 1). It is the period, too, spoken of by Jeremiah, when “ all faces are turned into paleness. Alas ! for that day is great, so that none is like it : it is even the time of J acob’s trouble ; but he shall be saved out of it. For it shall come to pass in that day, saith Jehovah of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve them- selves of him; but they shall serve Jehovah their God, and David their king, whom I will raise up unto them ” (Jer. xxx. 6-9). It is the time of “ distress of nations with perplexity, men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” when the faithful are told to “ lift up your heads, for your redemption draweth nigh ” (Luke xxi. 26-28). TIMES AND SEASONS. 227 Daniel (ch. vii.) traces the course of Gentile mon- archy, symbolising the four great powers under the figure of four beasts. The first, or Babylonian, was like a lion, and had eagles’ wings.” The second, the Persian, was ‘‘ like to a bear.” The third, the Mace- donian, was like a leopard,” and had four wings and four heads. The last was “ dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly,” “and it had ten horns.” But it undergoes a great transformation, a little horn rising up, with “ eyes like the eyes of a man and a mouth speaking great things.” This little horn exercises the power of the beast, and provokes its judgment. The beast is the Eoman empire, whose latter history is thus sketched. “ The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise ; and another shall rise after them, and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws ; and they shall be given into his hand until a time, and times, and the dividing of a time ” (ver. 24, 25). But he is cut off, and his kingdom “ given to the people of the saints of the Most High.” Let us now look at two other prophecies. “From the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days’’ (Dan. xii. 11, 12). These days are often taken for years, but without ground. As sixty-nine weeks 228 THE LOR ns COMING, passed before Messiah was cut off, only one week has yet to run, and in the midst of that week, the daily sacrifice ceases, so that from that time only three and a half years, or one thousand two hundred and sixty days, remain until that determined shall be poured upon the desolator.” But after this there are other judgments to be executed and foes to be overthrown. The periods named in this prophecy exceed the three and a half years by thirty and seventy-five days respectively, seeming to show that between the judgment of the “prince” and the full establishment of Israel’s blessing, an interval of seventy-five days will elapse, some signal event, perhaps the destruction of the besieging host, happening after thirty days. The other prophecy is in Matthew xxiv. 15-31. When ye, therefore, shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea, flee into the moun- tains. . . . Then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And, except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved, but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. Then, if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders ; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. . . . Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and TIMES AND SEASONS, 229 the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the land mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Now all these prophecies refer to the same set of events. In three, either the abomination of desola- tion, or the cessation of the daily sacrifice, with the ensuing tribulation, is expressly mentioned. In the other, the vision of the little horn, the identification is not difficult. He is the sovereign reigning over the last phase of the Roman empire, and the prince that shall come is the ruler of the Roman people. Each endures till Messiah s kingdom, and is then cut off. The little horn “thinks to change times and laws the prince makes the daily sacrifice to cease, and sets u]) the abomination of desplation. The prince by this act causes all the faithful to flee from Jerusalem; the little horn “wears out the saints of the Most High.” The prince’s great power for evil lasts half a week ; the little horn carries out his blasphemous purposes for a “time, and times, and the dividing of a time.” In nation, character, object, fate, duration of power, and epoch in history, the prince that shall come and the little horn are identical. 230 THE LORD'S COMING. We can now form some faint picture of this dark era. At the beginning of the last ‘‘ week,” the prince who governs the final phase of the revived Koman empire, makes a treaty with the mass of the Jews, who have then returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt their temple, and re-instituted their sacrifices. A minority, however, the saints or the elect, refuse to join in this treaty, and are subjected, therefore, to severe persecu- tions. After three and a half years the prince stops the sacrifice, speaks blasphemies against God, and changes times and laws. False Christs also arise, working great wonders, and deceiving all but the elect. The crowning act of the prince’s wickedness is the setting up of some abomination, or idol, which brings down desolating judgment. Then the saints flee, without a moment’s delay, from the city. The hour of untold tribulation follows, a time which, if prolonged, must end in the total destruction of the race. But for the elect’s sake it is shortened. After a fearful shaking of the nations, the Son of man aj^pears, and the pre-appointed judgment overtakes the prince, the desolator.” Then follow the other judgments on the Gentiles and the apostate Jews, the gathering of the elect Israelites yet scattered over the earth, and the final establishment of the Messianic kingdom, together with those elect, or saints of the Most High, whom the prince had recently persecuted. A passage in Paul’s epistles helps to throw still further light on this subject. We saw that the day of the Lord was occasionally used in the Old Testa- TIMES AND SEASONS. 23 ment of periods of great distress and judgment, which Avere sorts of shadows of the tribulation and vengeance attending the real day. The Thessalonians, passing through a period of severe trial, had been per- suaded by a forged letter “ that the day of the Lord was come (2 Thess. ii. 2). I give what is admitted to be the true rendering of the passage, though widely differing from the authorised version. The apostle assures them that “ that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped ; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Kemember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things? And noAV ye know what with- holdeth that he mif^lit be revealed in his time. For O the mystery of iniquity doth already work ; only He Avho now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that AVicked be revealed, A\diom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy Avith the brightness of His coming ; even him Avhose coming is after the working of Satan, Avith all poAA^er, and signs, and lying Avonders, andwvith all deceivableness of unrighteous- ness in them that perish : because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie ; that they all might be damned AA^ho believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness ” {ver. 3-12). 232 THE LORD'S COMING. The person here described bears a great resemblance to the little horn. He is like him in wickedness and blasphemy, he lives at the same epoch, before the coming of the day of the Lord, and is cut off at the same time. He sits in the temple of God, which, as already seen, is at this period rebuilt in Jerusalem, and if not “ the prince,” must, therefore, be in con- federacy with him. But he has powers never attributed to “the prince,” especially the power of working miracles. He seems, therefore, rather to be one, the chief, of those false Christs named by Matthew, whose miracles should deceive all but the very elect. This deceiver is accepted by the mass of the Jews, and is joined in that league with the prince, of which we have already traced the history. During Paul’s time, though the seeds of this wickedness and blasphemy were already sown, their growth was checked by some j)erson, who would continue to exercise the same restraining power until “ taken out of the way.” This person can only be the Holy Ghost, acting here on earth for Christ. When the Church is taken to heaven, this restraining action of the Spirit will cease. He will “ be taken out of the way, and then shall that wicked [one] be revealed ” in the full energy of his Satanic power and craft to draw away not only the mass of the Jews, but apostate Christen- dom likewise, who, having refused the true Christ, are now given over to “strong delusion that they should believe a lie.” It is in the Kevelation, however, that the events TIMES AND SEASONS. 233 of these gloomy days are most fully detailed, especially with reference to the outbreak of blasphemous rebel- lion against God on the part of the prince and the Man of Sin. This book, to the study of which a special blessing is attached, is divided into three parts. “ Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be afte?' these'' (Eev. i. 19). The things which John had seen, were those recorded in the vision of the first chapter ; ‘‘the things which are” refer to the Church, and are found in the seven epistles composing the second and third chapters ; “ the things which shall be after these ” (that is, after the end of “ the things which are '’), are the visions and prophecies of the rest of the book. It may be that these have had a partial fulfilment, but the question is, whether their true and perfect accomplishment is past or future. The epistles in the second and third chapters, though describing seven Asiatic Churches, are meant for warning and instruction in all ages, and the last four to point to phases of the Church just* preceding the Lord’s coming. To dead Sardis, the Lord says — “ I will come on thee as a thief ” (Rev. iii. 3) ; to faithful Philadelphia — “ Behold, I come quickly ” (ver. 11.) ; to lukewarm Laodicea — “ I will spue thee out of My mouth” (ver. 16) ; to the false professors in Thyatira, He threatens “great tribula- tion ;” to the true, who remain steadfast “till 1 come,” He promises that they shall' rule with Him (ii. 22, 25-27). These frequent allusions to the effect 234 THE LORHS COMING. of the Lord’s coming on the professing Church, show that the Spirit here contemplates, not only the assemblies in Asia, but the state of Christendom to the very end, in fact that ‘Hhe things which are” embrace the whole range of ecclesiastical history. If so, “ the things which shall be after these ” must be the events which happen after the Church is removed. But there is further evidence. We shall find that from this time the Church is in heaven, that during the troubles afterwards recorded it is never seen on earth, and that these troubles closely correspond with the woes of the last week before Israel’s restoration and the Messiah’s reign. Chapters iv. and v. open heaven, and show there four and twenty elders seated on thrones, ‘‘ clothed in white raiment,” and on their heads crowns of gold ” (iv. 4). Now these are not characteristic of angels, but of saints. To the apostles it was said that they should sit on thrones (Matt. xix. 28). The faithful in Sardis are told that “ they shall walk with Me in white,” and that they “shall be clothed in white raiment” (Eev. hi. 4, 5). Crowns, too, are promised to saints, and a golden crown specially befits those who are to rule with Christ. These elders, moreover, are distinguished from angels by the song which they alone sing, in which redemp- tion is the loudest note. They represent, then, the redeemed in heavenly glory. Nor are they merely souls in paradise with Jesus. The souls of saints afterwards slain for the Word of God are presently seen, but their state is wholly different from these TIMES AND SEASONS. 235 crowned and enthroned elders. The Church, therefore, would seem to be in heaven before the earthly judg- ments detailed in the following chapters. These judgments are successively executed as a certain scroll is unsealed. The scroll is taken from God by Christ. But it is noticeable that while Christ appears in the presence of the elders as the Lamb that has been slain, when He takes the scroll it is as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David (Kev. V. 5). To the redeemed He appears as the Eedeemer ; when administering earthly judgments, He is seen solely in His Jewish character. The pre- sent is the time of Christ’s patience ; the time here referred to is the day of His vengeance, when He has risen from the Father’s throne, and when “ the great day of His wrath is come.” The first six seals reveal six woes strikingly resembling the picture drawn by the Lord in Matthew’s Gospel of “ the beginning of sorrows,” which shall precede His coming and the end of the age. “ Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places ” (Matt. xxiv. 7, 8). And now comes a pause, till the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads. Who are these servants of God ? Surely, if the Church is on earth, it will be named now. But not a word about it ; on the con- trary, these servants are exclusively of the twelve tribes of Israel. Then, together with them, appear a multitude of all nations ; but still Israel is the central 236 THE LORHS COMING. figure, as in the millennial glory. Those who reach this glory are described as having come ‘‘ out of the great tribulation” (vii. 14). Now ''the great tribula- tion ” is that terrible time of trouble described by Daniel, and named by Christ as immediately preced- ing Israel’s deliverance — that time which is shortened ‘‘ for the elect’s sake,” lest all flesh should be destroyed. They are brought out into a state of wondrous bless- ing, when Cod ‘‘ shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” But when the ‘‘ Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces, the rebuke of His people shall He take away from off all the earth ” (Isa. xxv. 8). The event described, therefore, is the bringing of Israel through her hour of unparalleled affliction into the glory and blessing of the Messianic kingdom. The Spirit, having thus given us a bright glimpse of the blessing awaiting those who pass through this time of trial, returns to the yet unfulfilled judgments awaiting the earth. Into’ these we need not enter, but in chapter xi. another scene opens out. There Jerusalem is beheld with its temple restored, and owned once more by God as “the holy city.” But though thus named, it remains for a time in the hands of the Gentiles. And what is this time ? “ Forty and two months.” “ Two witnesses ” also arise, and “ prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth ” (ver. 1-3). Surely this is not a merely accidental coincidence with Daniel’s half- week, when “ the prince that shall come ” is in league with the apostate Jews, and changes TIMES AND SEASONS. 237 times and laws. The duration and character of the epochs are identical, both are after Jerusalem and its temple are rebuilt, and both are in that last week when God resumes His dealings with Israel before her restoration. The character of the two witnesses, also, resembles that of Moses and Elijah, but is totally opposed to that of Christian preachers. In chapter xii. is seen a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. She brings forth a man child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron.'' A great red dragon " seeks to devour this child, who is, however, caught up to heaven. After this, the dragon, Satan, who had access to heaven as the accuser, is cast out, and comes to the earth full of rage because his time is short. His special object of hatred is the woman who flees from him, and is hidden under God's care, “ a thousand two hundred and threescore days,” or in the later and more de- tailed account, a time and times, and half a time.” Now it is clear that the man child who shall rule all nations with a rod of iron is Christ. The woman is obviously not His natural mother, but the nation out of which after the flesh He came. But “ they are not all Israel who are of Israel,” and this woman typi- fies, not the apostate nation as a whole, but the inner circle, the real elect Israel of God. At first, Satan sought to destroy her seed, the special object of his malignity. But though at the cross the serpent bruised His heel, though He went into death, it was 238 THE LORD'S COMING. not possible that He should be holden of it, and He was taken up to heaven and declared both Lord and Christ. And now the whole Church interval is passed over. Israel is, as it were, out of God’s thoughts during that period. Her next appearance is in the thousand two hundred and threescore days, when Satan, knowing his time to be short, uses all his power to destroy her, while God specially intervenes to protect her. It will be remembered that when the abomination of desolation is set up in the middle of the week, the faithful flee at once from the city. How exactly this corresponds in time and circumstances with the flight of the woman in this Giapter. But the agreement does not end here. Chapter xiii. shows the earthly instruments used by Satan in this persecution. The first of these is ‘'a beast,” which rises up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion ; and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed ; and all the world wondered after the beast. . . . And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies ; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blas- pheme His name, and His tabernacle, and them that TIMES AND SEASONS. 239 dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them ” (ver. 1-7). This ‘‘beast,” therefore, combines the characteristics of all the beasts of Daniel, but especially resembles the last, transformed, however, into a striking likeness of the great red dragon : that is, it embodies the principal features of Gentile power, but on the whole is of the Eoman type, only so changed as to exhibit the most prominent lineaments of Satanic authority. It differs from the fourth beast of Daniel in detail, certain features appearing in Daniel which are want- ing in the Eevelation, and certain features appearing in the Eevelation which are wanting in Daniel. But that it is the same power, though changed to display its Satanic character, is beyond question. It is presented again in chapter xvii. as a “ scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns,” and carrying a woman who is drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” This woman is explained to be “ that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth” (ver. 18). The seven heads have a double signification — meaning, first, seven mountains on which the woman sitteth,” and, secondly, seven kings, or forms of government, five of which were past, while the beast, as a whole, combines the character of the seven and forms the eighth (ver. 9-11). The city, then, is Eome, the seven-hilled city reigniog over the kings of the earth. 240 THE LORE’S COMING. The beast is the Eoman power revived, a power which was, and is not, and shall be present,^' for this is the true reading of verse 8. Turning to the description in chapter xiii., we see how exactly it resembles in moral character the last form of Eoman power described in Daniel. In both cases there are ten horns, which are explained to be ten kings, though in Eevelation their combination under the headship of the beast is more fully noted. Both blaspheme God ; both persecute the saints of the Most High. The one endures for a ‘^time, and times, and the dividing of a time,’^ the other for “ forty and two months,” that is, each of them lasts for three and a half years, or the offc-named half week of Jewish tribulation and Gentile lawlessness. We now see by what instrument it is that Satan, who gives his jDOwer to the beast, persecutes the woman, driving her into the wilderness for a ‘^time, and times, and half a time.’' But Satan has another instrument, another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed ; and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth, by the means of those miracles which he had j)ower to do” (xiii. 11-14). Can any one fail to TIMES AND SEASONS. 241 recosfnise here the chief of the ‘‘ false Christs,” who should appear in the last fearful tribulation, and by their miracles and wonders deceive all but the very elect ? Or can any one fail to see the close resem- blance between this false prophet, as he is afterwards called, and the man of sin,” Avhose coming “is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders ?” We are not told in the Kevelation that this false Christ is at Jerusalem, but it is where the false Christ might be expected, and the man of sin does seat himself in the temple of God. Moreover that the Eoman beast at this time exercises authority in Jerusalem appears from the history of the two witnesses whom he puts to death in the city Avhere “our Lord was crucified” (xi. 7, 8). The false prophet makes an image of the first beast, which all are compelled to worship on pain of death. Where this image is set up does not appear, but as the man of sin sits in the temple of God, as he is a false Messiah, and therefore in connection with the Jews, as the presence of Christ in His temple at Jerusalem was what the Jews expected, and as the beginning of the beast’s blasphemous and diabolical power is con- temporaneous with the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the holy place, it seems more than probable that this miraculously speaking image is the abomination, or idol, foretold by the prophet, at the erection of which all the saints were to make their escape from the city. The judgment of Babylon, the corrupt ecclesiastical Q 242 THE LOEHS COMING, system still left after all true believers have been taken to heaven, is outside our present subject. In chapter xvi. we see the confederate kings gathered to the great battle against Christ. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against Jehovah, and against His Anointed, saying. Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” Then it is that the Lord arises and gives the nations to Christ for His inherit- ance, to break them with a rod of iron. Christ with the armies of heaven, the Church, issues forth on a white horse, the symbol of victorious power. “ The beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that Avrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Eev. xix. 19, 20.) Such is the fearful doom of this “son of perdition,” this wicked one “ whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming ” (2 Thess. ii. 8). Such, too, is the fate “determined” which is “ poured upon the desolator.” The Eevelation does not enter into the judgment inflicted upon other enemies. These are shown variously in Zechariah, Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, and the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew. The object of this TIMES AND SEASONS. 243 book is to add to what the prophets had already told concerning this last, and truly diabolical, phase of human lawlessness, and to bring to its issue the long rebellion of Satan against God. The destruction of the beast and the false prophet completes one part, the binding of Satan another. The Eevelation also differs from the other prophecies in giving the heavenly side of Christ’s rule. The Old Testament represents the Messiah as ruling with His saints ; but these are the earthly saints. The Eevelation adds the rule of the heavenly saints. Besides the saints raised or caught up at Christ's coming for believers, those who ‘‘were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God,” and those “ which had not wor- shipped the beast, neither his image,” are raised in this last act of the first resurrection, and live and reign with Christ a thousand years. CHAPTER IX. BRIEF SUMMARY OF GOD’s WAYS. We have now seen that the Old Testament prophecies, though sometimes receiving a striking application, have not their proper or perfect fulfilment, in the Church, but after the Church is taken ; that the Church interval, is, as it has been aptly styled, a parenthesis in God’s dealings with the earth ; and that when it is ended, and believers, whether living or dead, have been caught up to meet the Lord in the air, the Divine purposes respecting the earth will be resumed, the Jews, who are now ‘‘ enemies ” as con- cerning the gospel, will be taken up again, according to election, as beloved for the fathers’ sakes,” and the gifts and calling of God will be proved to be without repentance. Then God’s promises of blessing to the world wifi have their accomplishment, not in the first, but in the Second, man ; the woman’s Seed will crush the serpent’s head; the ''one” Seed of Abraham will come to bless all the families of the earth ; the multitudinous seed, like the sand of the seashore innumerable, will inherit their promised land " for an everlasting possession,” and will occupy their appointed BRIEF SUMMARY. 245 place as the foremost of the nations ; and the Seed of David will be established on the throne of His king- dom for ever. The investigation of this subject has led us over a wide space, and though I have, as far as possible, avoided detail, it has been necessary, for the under- standing of God’s ways, to enter into some questions with considerable fulness. It may be helpful, there- fore, to pause for a moment, and cast our eye back, gathering up the various truths which the Scriptures have unfolded to our gaze, and endeavouring to con- dense them into a brief but comprehensive summary. Man after the flesh failed in every position in which God placed him. He fell under the power of Satan, and no seed of the woman arose to crush the one who had brought in the ruin. He filled the earth with corruption and violence, so that God repented He had made him, and destroyed ‘'the world that then was ” with a flood. He failed in government, till at last God confounded his plans of self-aggrandisement at Babel. Called out as a separate nation and entrusted with God’s law, he failed again as signally as before, break- ing the commandments ere ever, in their written form, they had entered the camp. Tried as a nation which should execute God’s judgments, and tried again under sovereigns who should be the dispensers of God’s righteousness, the same dreary story of failure, rebellion, and ruin was once more repeated. The nation proved as bad as the heathen by whom they were surrounded, and the descendants of David were 246 THE LORHS COMING. the corrupters, instead of the righteouC governors of the people. The first man, therefore, had now been proved to the utmost, as to his power to carry out God’s govern- mental purposes. Even in the promised line, the seed of Abraham and David had failed as disastrously as all others. It had been demonstrated that man in the fiesh, whether in the line of promise or out of it, could not fulfil God’s designs or bring in God’s pro- mises of blessing to the earth. He was, therefore, set aside, and the scheme of God’s earthly government postponed until the Second Man, the One who gathers in His own person all the promises, and who alone is worthy and able to administer God’s righteous govern- ment on the earth, is brought forth. First the chosen nation was divided ; then the larger portion, ten out of the twelve tribes, were carried into captivity, from which they have never returned ; and lastly, the two remaining tribes, with the royal line of David, were taken prisoners to Babylon. As far as earthly government is concerned, the Jews were now given up until the Second Man is brought in. With this long abandonment of the Jews com- menced “the times of the Gentiles,” that is, the period during which the sceptre of earthly dominion is entrusted to the Gentiles, instead of Israel. These “times of the Gentiles” began with the kingdom of Babylon, the head of gold, in Nebuchadnezzar’s pro- phetic dream. Then came the kingdom of the Medes and Persians symbolised by the breast and arms of BRIEF SUMMAR K 247 silver ; the Greek monarchy set forth in the belly and thighs of brass ; and afterwards the stronger and more enduring dominion of Eome, represented by the legs of iron. After this, “the times of the Gentiles” changed their nature ; iron and clay mingled to- gether, or, the rule was divided among kingdoms of various origin and character, though all connected with the dismembered Koman empire. Another vision shows us that in this last stage, the Eoman dominion will revive in a federal form under the pre- sidency of one specially energised by Satanic power. It is when it has reached this phase that judgment will descend, a stone cut out without hands falling on the Gentile powers and crushing them to pieces, after which it grows into a mountain that fills the whole earth ; or, as interpreted by Daniel, “ in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up. a kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Dan. ii. 44). Such is the history, prophetically traced, of the yet uncompleted “ times of the Gentiles.” While these are running their course, the Jews — that is, the two tribes forming the kingdom of Judah — fulfilled the seventy years of captivity foretold by the prophet Jeremiah. At the close of that period, the Babylonian kingdom having been destroyed, and the Persian established on its ruins, Cyrus issued a decree permitting the Jews of the captivity to return to 248 THE LORD'S COMING. Jerusalem, in virtue of which a small band, without political power or position, found their way back to the ruined city, and there rebuilt the temple. Nearly a century afterwards, the same Gentile power gave a commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.” From this commandment ” dates Daniel’s prophecy of the seventy weeks. It is divided into three parts, of seven weeks, of sixty-two weeks, and of one week. During the first part, of seven weeks, the city was re- built. The second part, of sixty-two weeks, compre- hends the time from the completion of the city to the cutting off 'Of the Messiah. The third part, of one week, which yet awaits its accomplishment, carries the times of the Gentiles ” to a close, finishes the transgression ” of the Jews, and brings in “ everlasting righteousness,’’ the desolator being destroyed, and the Messiah’s kingdom established. The Jews, as we have seeu, had been politically discarded till >the Messiah should come. In process of time He did come, heralded by John the Baptist, and the kingdom was offered to the nation on condition of repentance. But man in the flesh proved no less in- competent to repent, to receive the Messiah, or to obtain blessing through Him presented as a sovereign, than he had before shown himself to carry out God’s jmrposes in his own strength. God manifest in the flesh only drew out the enmity of his heart in more fearful display. The Jews, instead of receiving Him as their anointed King, crucified Him between two thieves. The effect of this rejection was twofold. BRIEF SUMMARY. 249 The blood they shed was designed, accordiog to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, to be the means by which He could righteously reconcile all things to Himself, by which He could blot out sin, and thus lay the foundation of all true blessing to both Jew and Gentile. But the immediate effect of the crime, so far as the Jews were concerned, was that their house was left to them desolate until they should say — “ Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord ; ” and that the kingdom, instead of taking the manifested, prophetic shape in which the Jews should be the head of the nations, assumed, until the time of Israel’s repentance, a mysterious hidden form connected with Christ in heaven, and in which the Gentiles were the special objects of God’s favour. The first summons, then, after Christ’s resurrection, was addressed to the Jews, calling on them to repent, and thus to receive the kingdom in manifested glory. On their refusal, the kingdom definitely assumed the mysterious form, the natural branches being broken out of the olive tree, and the wild olive tree,” or Gentiles, being grafted in. Blindness in part happened to Israel,” which will continue “ until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.” There was, indeed, “a remnant according to the election of grace ” even out of partially blinded Israel, but the nation as a whole was cut off while the Gentiles took for a time the place of pre-eminence in God’s thoughts. The political displacement of the Jews brought in “ the times of the G entiles . The moral or religious 250 THE LORHS COMING. displacement of the Jews makes way for the coming in of the Gentiles^ It was only when this took place that Israel really became ‘‘ Lo-ammi,” not My people, though they had long ceased to be the centre of God’s government on earth. During the coming in of the Gentiles, God’s purposes of earthly blessings are sus- pended. The stream of prophetic time ceases to run. It stagnated, so to speak, after the sixty-ninth week, when Messiah was cut off, and will not again begin to flow till after the fulness of the Gentiles has come in, and God once more takes up the thread of His purposes concerning the earth. Meanwhile the Gentiles brought into the vacant place of privilege and responsibility to God, under Christianity, have failed as signally as the Jews did under the law. The greater part have never accepted Christ even in name ; Christendom, the portion of the world which has nominally owned Jesus as Lord, has become a leavened mass, corrupt to its very core. The small handful of true believers in its midst have them- selves ceased to present any corporate testimony, are rent into a hundred conflicting sects, have given up the ‘‘blessed hope” of the Lord’s return for His saints, and as a consequence are often hardly distinguishable from the world around them in their objects, their pursuits, and the character of their walk. But though the Lord “is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish,” He. is not slack concerning His j)romise,” and in a little while the trumpet shall souud, and the dead (believers) shall be raised incorruptible, and BRIEF SUMMARY. 251 we (the living believers) shall all be changed.” This is the nn-dated, ever-present hope for the Church. When this “ coming of the Lord '' for His saints has happened, Christendom, the remaining branches graflfed into the olive tree, having failed to continue in the goodness of God, will be cut off. The fulness ’ of the Gentiles having come in, the corrupt mass of false professors left behind will be dealt with by God in righteous judgment. Judicial blindness will overtake them, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved ; and for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighte- ousness’’ (2 Thess. ii. 10-12). When the Church has been taken, and the Gentiles, the olive branches graffed in contrary to nature, have been cut off, the natural branches will be graffed in, for God is able to graff them in again.” The Church interval being over, time once more begins to run, and the unfulfilled week of Daniel’s prophecy is told out to its completion. In this week commence the judgments which precede the day of the Lord,” or the esta- blishment of Messiah’s kingdom. These judgments may be broadly divided into four different classes. Fiest, The Jews and the rest of the Israelites will be restored, but only after fearful troubles, from which but a portion will escape. The Jews, who rejected the Christ, will receive the Anti- 252 THE LORHS COMING. Christ, will enter into league with the prince that shall come,'' the last phase of Gentile power, and will worship his image, ‘‘ the abomination of desola- tion" set up in the holy place. The remnant of faithful ones who refuse to have part in these last scenes of wickedness and lawlessness, will be perse- cuted with fearful persistency and malignity, many of them killed, the rest driven into exile. The time will be one of untold tribulation, so that, but for its shortness, no flesh could be saved. Then the Lord Himself will appear in power and great glory, destroying with the sword out of His mouth the followers of the Antichrist, easing Him of His adversaries and avenging Him of His enemies. The effect on the nation will be “ like a refiner’s fire, and like fullers’ soap.’’ Those who ‘‘ abide the day of His coming,’’ the purged remnant who come out of the great tribulation,” having “ washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," shall be a holy people, their dross purged away, their judges restored as at the first, and their counsellors as at the beginning, and Jerusalem shall be ‘‘ called the city of righteousness, the faithful city." Thus shall Zion “be redeemed with judgments and her converts with righteousness,” while “the destruction of the trans- gressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake Jehovah shall be consumed.” The elect remnant of Israel also will be brought back, and made to inhabit the land. BRIEF SUMMARY. 253 Second, But besides the purging judgments referred to, there will be other acts of righteous government and retribution reserved for that dread- ful period. Babylon, especially, the corrupt carcass of Christendom, will come into remembrance. The blood shed and the crimes committed in the name of Christ will then be righteously avenged. The beast and his confederates, themselves following a still more fearful delusion, will hate the whore and make her desolate ; the very power which has supported her will turn against her ; and the cup which she hath filled shall be filled to her double. Third, The fall of Babylon shows the doom of that soulless profession of Christ, and that lifeless ecclesi- astical organisation which will survive when all true believers have been removed to the Father s house. But by whom is this apostate, corrupt system destroyed ? By the beast and his coadjutors, that is, by that wicked head of the Gentile powers whose pride and blasphemy will at length draw down the lightnings of God's avenging wrath — the impious chief of those kings of the earth who shall ‘‘ take counsel together against Jehovah, and against His Anointed." This associated Gentile dominion is the third class dealt with in the judgments of the last week. The confederacy, headed by the prince and energised by Satan, will form a league with the mass of the Jews and their false Christ, and will gather together their forces to battle ; when Christ will 254 THE LORD’S COMING. appear in His glory, followed by the armies of heaven, take the beast and the false prophet and cast them alive into the lake of fire, and afterwards destroy their followers with the sword that proceedeth out of His mouth. So end ‘"the times of the Gentiles,” that period during which the sceptre of government was entrusted to their hands because of the failure of Israel. Fourth, But there is another class of judgments. The Gentiles who successively held the right of government as a trust from God do not include the whole body of the peoples of the earth. This sceptre passed from the Babylonian to the Persian, from the Persian to the Greek, from the Greek to the Koman, and at length to the wicked king whose doom we have just seen. But the confederacy between the Jews and the Eoman dominion will be directed against a power which at that time threatens Jerusalem with destruction. This power, which God uses, like the Assyrian of old, as a scourge to the unfaithful Jews, will, when the hour for judgment comes, itself also be visited. When half the city has been carried off, Christ will appear for its deliverance, the besieging host will be cut off, and the remnant of the people saved. This will close the preliminary judgments. The nation having been purged, Babylon consumed, the last Satanic form of Gentile dominion overthrown, BRIEF SUMMAR Y. 255 and the enemies who sought to destroy Jerusalem scattered, Christ’s kingdom will be established on earth. The saints, who have come purged out of the great tribulation, will receive dominion under Him. The rest of the Gentiles will be divided into two classes, and rewarded or punished according to their treatment of “these My brethren,” the feeble remnant of saints harassed and wasted by the persecution of the beast and false prophet. But the great feature will be the fulfilment of all God’s earthly counsels in the person of the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, who alone is worthy to receive the dominion, and who alone can exercise it for God’s glory, or for man’s blessing. Satan will be cast into the bottomless pit, while the Bride, the Lamb’s wife, seen in figure as the New Jerusalem, will reign with Christ a thou- sand years. It is a solemn thing to trace the incurable hatred of the human heart to God. A thousand years’ expe- rience of Christ’s righteous and blessed rule will not suffice to change the nature of man. No sooner is Satan loosed from his imprisonment than the nations rebel, but only to be at once destroyed with devouring fire from heaven. This last outbreak of human wickedness brings the world’s history to a close. The earth is burnt up, the elements melt with fervent heat, and no place is found for them. Then the dead, who had no part in the first resurrection, are raised, are judged according to their works, and are cast into the lake of fire. Satan, death, and Hades are all similarly destroyed. And now, the last enemy having 256 THE LORD'S COMING. been vanquished, the work of reconciliation, founded on the blood of the cross, is completed ; a new heaven and a new earth are created, in which righteousness not only reigns, as during the thousand years, but permanently dwells ; Christ, having ruled “ till He hath put all enemies under His feet,” delivers up the kingdom to God, even the Father ; and God, being now all in all, and no longer estranged by human guilt, makes His tabernacle with man. Such, as traced out in the Word of the living God, is the prospect before the world. Are these the things which Christians are looking for ? Amidst all the talk of modern progress, all the straining after improve- ment and education, all the boast of the bright future in store for the world, have they grasped the truth that God’s judgment is looming over the whole scene ? In the intoxication of this world-banquet do they heed the fingers of the hand tracing on the wall the fateful words, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHAESIN ” — or are they blind to the warning which God has given ? Nay, are they not even fostering the false hopes of the world against which they should be protesting, and eagerly floating along the stream of modern progress, ignorant that it is sweeping them down its fatal rapids to the crash and roar of impending judgment ? Soon — we know not how soon — the trumpet will sound, the shout will be heard, and all true believers will be for ever with the Lord.” What will then become of modern progress ? Wliat will then be the fruit of all the organisations and associations for making some- BRIEF SUMMARY. 257 thing out of that nature which Scripture declares to be enmity' against God, something out of that world which has rejected and crucified its rightful Lord ? The boasted ecclesiastical organisation, bereft of believers, will be nothing save a putrid corpse, hateful to the nations, which will burn it to ashes. The noisy 23arty of progress, turning from this ghastly mimicry of Christianity to the latest novelty of the day, will be given up to “ strong delusion that they should believe a lie.’' Have we God’s thoughts about what is pass- ing ? Are we minding earthly things,” as those “ whose end is destruction,” despising the warnings of Scripture, and seeking to improve what God pro- nounces beyond remedy ? Or have we given up the first man, and sided with Him whom the world has rejected, waiting with Him for the hour when the world’s real improvement shall be brought about by Himself as the Second Man, the Lord from heaven, the only One who can carry out God’s purposes of blessing, or establish God’s rule of righteousness, on the earth ? u I , r i!. * .’ li- • '“iv- r' ( I,:- ’ > I I ; PART THIRD. THE CHURCH OF GOD. f r.‘. * CHAPTER 1. THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH. We liave now briefly traced God’s dispensational ways. Up to the cross He was unfolding His plan of earthly government, trying man, first alone, then with Christ in his midst, to see whether he could carry out the Divine purposes of blessing to the world. The result was disastrous failure. Man could neither execute God’s schemes himself, nor receive — or even recognise — the Anointed One by whom they are to be accomplished. The first man ruined all he touched ; the Second Man was despised, rejected, and crucified. This brought God’s plans to a close until the people who refused their Messiah shall repent, and He shall again appear for their deliverance and blessing. Meanwhile, even the count of prophetic time stops, the space between Christ’s death and the resumption of God’s earthly designs being treated as a blank. How, then, is God filling up this interval ? What purposes is He now carrying out ? Till the cross the first man was under trial. But there all was changed. Man proved that, in his nature, he was hopelessly alie- nated from God, and could not even receive blessing 262 THE CHURCH, from Him in whom all God’s gracious promises and purposes await their fulfilment. It was not enough, then, for the Second Man to appear. The first man must be created anew ere he could take the blessings which the Second Man came to dispense. And how could God effect this transformation ? How could man be drawn out of this pit of ruin ? By the very thing which showed how hopeless his ruin was ! The deed which proved maffs ripeness for per- dition brought out God’s power unto salvation. The cross which demoustrated the irreconcilable hatred of man s heart to God, revealed the unquenchable love of God’s heart to man. That which sealed the doom of the old creation opened the door for the new. The blood shed upon the cross laid the righteous basis for the reconciliation of all things. In Christ’s death the old creation was judicially set aside, while His resur- rection brought in the Second Man as the “last Adam,” the first-born of a new creation, in each member of Avhich God could find the same deliMit as in its risen o Head. Instead of the single grain of wheat. He had fallen into the ground and died, so that now He could produce much fruit, as it is written — “ Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” All blessing, then, for the Church or the world, is based on the death and resurrection of the Second Man. But the cross is regarded in Scripture from the side of man s guilt as well as from that of God’s grace. All admit the punishment of the Jews for tlieir rejection of Christ. But were the Gentiles with- THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH. 263 out guilt ? The Holy Ghost teaches that Christ came as the Light ; that He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.'^ Jesus declares the world’s condemnation to be “ that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” The world, therefore, that is, man as a whole, is guilty of refusing the One sent from God to effect its blessing, and this crime still forms the subject of God’s judgment, both on Jew and Gentile. By this judgment, the Jews have been cast out, and the earthly blessings of the kingdom, whether to Jew or Gentile, postponed. Creation is still left groaning for deliverance, until the sceptre is given to Christ. And, in the meanwhile, God is carry- ing out other purposes, quite apart from His designs of righteous government and blessing for the earth. These purposes may be looked at, first as regards the kingdom, and next as regards the Church. The kingdom in its Jewish form is postponed. In outward display, it cannot be set up till Israel shall say — “ Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord.’' But Jesus speaks of “the mysteries of the kingdom,” and it is in this mysterious or unrevealed form, that the kingdom now exists. During this epoch, Christ, not having received His own throne, is seated on the Father’s throne, waiting till God shall give Him the nations for His inheritance. It is the day of His “patience,” not of His “power.” He is not taking vengeance on His enemies, but beseeching them to be 264 THE CHURCH reconciled. Satan is allowed to sow in the field with- out provoking immediate judgment ; the leaven to work in the meal till all is corrupted. God still tarries in 'grace, not willing that any should perish, and seeking to gather out a people from the ruin and judgment which are impending. Such is the kingdom in its mysterious form. On God's side it is the dis- play of perfect grace and matchless forbearance ; on man’s, it is but a sadder -disclosure of his proneness to depart from God, and to corrupt the best gifts entrusted to his hands. But while the kingdom drifts to hopeless shipwreck under man’s pilotage, God has another thought in His heart, a mystery which, as Paul says, 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.” This mystery was disclosed ‘‘to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known, hy the church, the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus, our Lord” (Eph. hi. 5, 10, 11). Here, then, is God’s present work. His schemes of earthly blessing are suspended ; the kingdom, in its mysterious form, is filled with corruption and hurrying to judgment ; but He is carrying out purposes for Christ’s glory which He formed before the world was — purposes which prophets had not heard, and angels desire to look into — purposes in which, whatever our dulness, the prin- cipalities and powers in heavenly places discern the THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 265 manifold wisdom of God. And these purposes are fulfilled bj the Church,” which thus stands forth not only as the object of God’s most cherished delight, but as the brightest display of His Divine wisdom. The void, then, between the suspension and resump- tion of God s earthly purposes is filled up by the kingdom in its present form, and by the Church. According to God’s institution, these were >co -extensive, consisting of the same persons, though viewed in a different way. Notwithstanding the divergence, there- fore, which man’s failure has introduced, the kingdom is still occasionally spoken of in Scripture under its narrower, as well as under its wider aspect — accord- ing to its institution by God as well as according to its administration by man. Both views appear in the discourse in which our Lord specially treats of the kingdom in its present form. (Matt, xiii.) When speaking to the multitude, He shows the kingdom as man makes it, tares growing among the wheat, leaven corrupting the pure meal. But afterwards He retires with His disciples into the house, and unfolds the mys- teries which it was given to them only to know. In explaining the parable of the tares. He says — “ The good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one.” Here, then, the kingdom is looked at in its narrower aspect, as con- sisting only of the good seed. The two parables which follow regard it in the same light. The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field, the which, when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof,, 266 THE CHURCH. goetH and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant-man seeking goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it ” (Matt. xiii. 44-46). We need not notice the usual interpretation, accord- ing to which these parables are regarded as describing man’s search after salvation. Such an explanation, which clashes with the argument of the chapter no less than with the general teaching of Scripture, could only have originated in complete blindness to the unity of design which threads together the various parables. The purpose of the discourse is to show, first, the means by which the kingdom, in its present form, is spread — by the sowing of the word : next its history, viewed as an outward profession — worldly ad- mixture and corruption ; lastly, the kernel of reality which God sees through the gigantic shell of preten- sion in which it is hidden from the sight of man. Outside, Jesus had told the people what the kingdom would become in man’s hands. Inside, He unfolds to His disciples what would remain, if viewed according to God’s thoughts. Man would make it a leavened mass. But in its midst was a treasure on which the heart of Christ was set, and for which He would “ sell all that He had,” lay down His very life. The land was bought, not for its own worth, but for the trea- sure it concealed. This is the kingdom according to God’s institution, seen by His eye alone, amidst the field of barren profession in which it is hidden. THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 267 And as the kingdom is spoken of in its wider and narrower aspect, so is the Church. The Church, as drawn according to Cod’s thoughts in the Epistle to the Ephesians, and the Church as seen in the second and third chapters of the Eevelation, are sadly con- trasted pictures. In the first case, the real Church, consisting only of true believers, and viewed in living connection with Christ, is the subject which the Spirit of God presents for our contemplation. In the second case, the Church which bears the name of Christ, and is responsible to God as connected with that name, is the theme on which the solemn verdict is pronounced. In the first there can be no failure, for it is all of God. In the second there is the same grievous departure from the thoughts of God as in everything else entrusted to man s responsibility. Our inquiry at present is confined to the Church according to God’s thoughts. Only two references to it are made in our Lord’s own teaching. But though the Church is one of those subjects which were but partially revealed during Christ’s lifetime, these references will help us to understand much that God afterwards made known “ unto His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” The first occasion on which the ‘‘assembly” or “Church” is expressly named, is that recorded in the sixteenth chapter of Matthew’s Gospel. In the thirteenth, the kingdom had been spoken of in its mysterious form, first as to its historical development in the hands of man, and 268 THE CHURCH next as to that hidden circle which made it dear to Christ. The sixteenth takes up the kingdom again in its administrative form, and names in connection with it, the new “assembly"’ which Christ was about to build. Jesus asks His disciples, “Whom say ye that I am ? And Simon Peter answered and said. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him. Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona ; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. And I say unto thee. That thou art Peter {petros, a stone) ; and upon this rock {petra^ a rock) I will build My Church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the king- dom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged He His disciples that they should tell no man that He Avas Jesus the Christ. From that time forth began Jesus to show unto His disciples how that He must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer riaany things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day. Then Peter took Him, and began to rebuke Him, saying, Be it far from Thee, Lord ; this shall not be untp Thee. But He turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan ; thou art an offence unto Me, for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men. Then said Jesus unto His THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 269 disciples, If any naan will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take np his cross, and follow Me ” (Matt. xvi. 15-24). This passage shows a great dispensational change, the presentation of Jesus in a new character, and His abandonment, as to present testimony, of that which He had hitherto borne. After John was cast into prison, Jesus had begun ‘‘to preach and to say, Eepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand ” (Matt. iv. 17). This public proclamation of the king- dom to the Jews was now to cease. Henceforth j instead of offering Himself to the nation as their Messiah or Christ, He charged ^‘His disciples that they should tell no man that He was Jesus the Christ.'^ Instead of pointing to national acceptance and an earthly crown. He speaks of national rejection and an earthly cross. Instead of the old hope of the prophetic kingdom. He mentions a new thing which He was about to establish, the assembly or Church. And instead of the abandoned name of Messiah, which connected Him with the throne of David, He assumes, in reference to the Church, the newly proclaimed, and infinitely higher, title of the “Son of the living God.’' The kingdom, then, in its prophetic and national shape, was no longer the object of testimony to the people, or the immediate purpose in the thoughts of God. Though not, of course, abandoned, it was post- poned, and in the meanwhile, it was to be set up in quite a different form. In this form it was placed under man’s administration, the keys being given to 270 THE CHURCH Peter, wlio also received authority to bind and loose. These were not the keys of the Church, much less of heaven, but “the keys of the kingdom of heaven.” A key is that which gives admission. On Peter, then, was laid the trust of admitting, not into the Church, but into the kingdom. How he used it we see in the Acts. He it was who authoritatively pro- claimed Jesus as “both Lord and Christ,” calling on the Jews to own His rights and to be baptized in His name. Thus the Jewish door was opened, and through it, in one day, three thousand souls entered the kingdom. But the Church was never entrusted to man’s hands, and the account adds that “ the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved” (Acts ii. 47). Afterwards another door to the kingdom was opened. Cornelius’s prayers were heard. One might have supposed that the apostle of the Gentiles would be used to bring him in. But no ; Christ had given the keys to Peter, and the locked door of the Gentiles could only be lawfully opened by him. Taught of God that in the new form of ^ the kingdom, the earthly distinctions of clean and unclean were abolished, he went at the first summons, and seeing “ that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost, he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord” (Acts x. 44-48.) The power of adding to the Church, then, belougs to “the Lord” alone. The power of tlie keys, of admitting to the kingdom, was given to Peter. And witli this Peter’s history almost ceases. He had THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 271 opened to the Gentiles ; another brought them in. After Cornelius had entered, Peter no longer occupies the front rank, and Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles, becomes the leading figure in the history of God's future workings. The power of binding and loosing, though in the above quotation given to Peter, was afterwards extended to a much larger company. But let us look at what is here taught about the Church. Jesus says — “ Upon this rock I will build My Church." This shows that the Church had not yet been founded. There had been, of course, as there were then, saved persons, but since the Church did not yet exist, it is clear that these saints formed no part of it. So in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the Church of the first-born" and the “just men made perfect " are named as two quite difi'erent companies (Heb. xii. 23). Evidently, then, the Church which Jesus was about to build was not the whole of the redeemed, but a particular class, distinguished by certain definite characteristics from the rest — from the Old Testament saints, whose spirits are now in heaven, and also, as we shall see, from the saints who will enjoy the blessings of Christ's earthly rule. This will plainly appear from the fact that the Church’s foundation was a new one, and, therefore, could not be that on which the Old Testament saints had been set. Simeon, who represents this class, had waited for “ the Lord’s Christ,” and having seen Him could say, “ Mine eyes have seen Thy salvation ” (Luke ii. 30). And so when the kingdom is esta- 272 THE CHURCH blished in its outward glory, the title of the Christ ’’ will again be the foundation of blessing — the Anointed of God will be the salvation of His people and the light of the Gentiles. ' But this title is now dropped, Jesus appears clothed in a new dignity, and another foundation is laid for the buildine^ of the Church. What is this foundation ? The Church of Eome has interpreted the text to mean Peter himself, and so far as the construction of the passage is concerned, the choice is between Peter, and Jesus in the newly revealed character of Son of the living God.” Now Jesus does not say that the Church will be built on Peter a stone), but on t\\i^ petra (or rock) — ‘‘thou art Petros, and upon this petra I will build my Church.” The change in the word — both unnecessary and incorrect if Petros, or Peter, had been the foundation — shows that not he, but the thing he had mentioned, was the real petra, or rock on which the Church was to be built. This play on the name Petros — a name which had been given long before — is a common thing in Scripture, where names are often applied with reference to some important event. Thus, when the ark was taken, the dying Israelite mother named her child “ I-chabod ” (where is the glory ?). So Jacob, blessing his sons, says, “ Judah (praise) thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” Esau, too, in his bitterness, exclaims con- cerning his brother — “ Is not he rightly named Jacob (supplanter) ? For he hath supplanted me these two times.” So here, Peter having laid bare the rock on THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 273 which the Lord was going to build, Jesus says to him, ill substance — “Thou art well named LstoneJ for thou hast showed the living stone, or rock, on which the Church will be founded.” The foundation, then, is not Peter, but Jesus. This the passage itself proves, and Peter elsewhere expressly states, for, speaking of Jesus, he says — “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed, indeed, of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood” (1 Pet. ii. 4, 5). The founda- tion, however, is not simply Jesus, but Jesus in the new character here brought to light. He drops the title of Messiah, the foundation of Jewish hopes, and of God’s plans of earthly government. But He takes up the title of “ Son of the living God,” and on this declares that He will build His Church. Throughout Scripture the name by which God reveals Himself describes the character of His present dealings. He is Elohim in creation ; God Almighty to the patriarchs ; Jehovah to Israel ; Father, to those who now believe on His Son. So Christ is Lord (Adofi) to David ; Son of man, as the executor of God’s righteous purposes ; Messiah to Israel ; and “ Son of the living God ” to the Church. There is deep significance in the word “living.” When Jesus speaks of Himself as “the living bread which came down from heaven,” He adds, “If any man shall eat of this bread, he shall live for ever ” (John vi. 51). Again He says — “ The living Father s 274 THE CHURCH hath sent Me, and I live by the Father ’’ (ver. 57). In these cases the word conveys the idea of imparting, as well as possessing, life. It is the description of One who,- having life in His own right and power, is beyond the dominion of death, and can communicate life to others. Thus Jesus says that He has life in Himself ; that He has ‘‘ power to lay it down,” and ‘‘power to take it again;” also that He is “the resurrection and the life,’' and that those who believe in Him shall not die. The title “living God ” is, then, mtost important here. Jesus was just going to tell the disciples of His death, and that they must take up their cross, and lay down their lives for His sake. What a stay, then, to have to do with “the living God,” to be built into a structure which the gates of Hades cannot touch, to be endowed with a life on which the second death hath no power ! And this leads us to another revelation. As soon as Jesus drops the Messianic character, and takes up, as the foundation of the Church, the title of “ Son of the living God,” He begins to speak of His death and resurrection. It is quite true that this is the ground of blessing to the Jews as well as to the Church. But there is a broad difference. Israel owes its blessing to Christ’s death, but is associated, as to its calling, with His earthly glory. The Church, on the contrary, is associated with His earthly rejection. As far as the world is concerned, Israel will know Him as the wearer of the crown ; the Church knows Him as the bearer of the cross. Israel will own THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 275 Him when girded with strength;” the Church owns Him crucified through weakness.” And so of His resurrection. His earthly power will doubtless be taken as the risen One. Still this is not the fact mainly insisted upon in connection with the kingdom glory ; whereas it is always most prominent in con- nection with the Church. He is determined to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from among the dead.” He says to John, ‘‘ I am He that liveth and was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore.” Believers are dead with Christ, and also quickened with Him. They are to yield themselves to God ‘‘as those that are alive from the dead.” Thus, while all are interested in Christ’s death and resurrection, the Church is associated with them in a marked and peculiar manner. How it is associated with them is seen in what follows — “ If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it, and who- soever will lose his life for My sake shall find it.” How unlike the language of Jehovah to Israel ! For the Jews will know Jesus as their Messiah, seated on the throne of earthly power, and wearing the crown of earthly glory. The Christian, knows Him as the Son, “ crucified through weakness,” but living “by the power of God.” How can the Jew have anything but blessing on the earth where his Messiah is ruling as supreme ? How, on the other hand, can the Christian 276 THE CHURCH. look for anything but rejection in the world where his Lord had nothing but a felon’s cross ? The Jew’s confidence is the sceptre which will uphold his earthly rights. The Christian’s is association in life with the One who has triumphed over death, and thus set him on a rock where the gates of Hades are powerless against him. This passage, then, shows the postponement of the kingdom in its outward form, and its existence, mean- while, in another shape, under man’s administration. During this time Jesus reveals Himself under a new name. On this He builds the new fabric of the assembly or Church, which, being founded on His own Sonship and Godhead, is beyond the power of Hades. This Church is associated with Christ in death and resurrection. Earth is not the sphere of its blessings, but of its trials ; and those who follow Christ must take up their cross. How admirably this character of the Church harmonises with the special hope held out before it of the Lord’s return for His saints I The world, subject to Gentile rule, can only drift to more fearful judgment ; the kingdom, entrusted to man, can only become a leavened mass ; the Church, left amidst the nipping blasts of a godless world, and the stagnant gloom of a lifeless profession, can look up to the mansions prepared in the Father’s house, and await tlie hour when the shout shall be heard, and all the redeemed, changed into the likeness of Christ, shall be caught up to be “ for ever with the Lord.” When Christ takes His earthly dominion He will asso- THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 277 ciate with Himself an earthly people, the sharers of His earthly glory and the objects of His earthly favour. But Christ is now the outcast of earth and the joy of heaven. He has, therefore, associated with Himself a heavenly people, the partners of His earthly rejection, but the objects of His heavenly delight. Down here, they are in the world, but not of it ; and He has given Himself at God’s right hand as the object of their present affection, their present occupation, and their present hope. Are our souls up to this magni- ficent position ? Such, then, is our Lord’s teaching in this first mention of the new fabric He was about to build. He afterwards further instructs His disciples on the same subject, telling them how to act in case of injury by a fellow-believer. Should all the means which grace can suggest prove ineffectual, they are to tell it unto the Church.” The Lord then adds, ‘‘But if he neglect to hear the Church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am T in the midst of them” (Matt, xviii. 17-20). Here, then, the power of binding and loosing, be- fore conferred on Peter, is given to all the disciples. 278 THE CHURCH. The assembly is to act in cases of discipline, such as that of one of its members injuring another, and refusing to acknowledge his fault. The grace and gentleness of Christ are first to be shown. If these fail, the dishonour done to His name must be thought of, and the assembly must purge itself by putting away the evil-doer. This is the power of binding and loosing, which is given, not -to the apostles, but to the Church or assembly. It is the authority to put away and to restore those who have sinned. The same power is again given after Christ’s resurrection, where He says to His disciples, ''Eeceive ye the Holy Ghost : whosesoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained” (John xx. 22, 23). This authority, con- ferred, not upon the apostles, but the disciples — that is, on believers as a whole — is not the power of putting away sins, which belongs to God only, but of exercising a divinely-guided judgment as to what offences demand the excision of the wrong- doer, or what measure of repentance justifies his restoration. The power is given in connection with the Holy Ghost. While guided by Him, their authority could not but be rightly used. But the moment they ceased to be guided by Him, the sole ground of their authority vanished. So, too, in the Gospel of Matthew the authority to bind and loose, and the title to ask that anything shall be done for them, rests simply on the presence of Jesus in their midst, “ For, where two or three THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 279 are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” Now, in the New Testament, the name stands for the person acting in the character which the name indicates. Thus Jesus says, “ I have manifested Thy name (the Father’s) unto the men which Thou gavest Me ” (John xvii. 6). Again, He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed m the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John iii. 18). So, the Philadelphians are commended because they had “not denied My name ” (Eev. iii. 8). Being gathered in the name of Jesus, then, is being gathered to His person, owning His authority, and in accordance with His mind. If the meeting, though called by His name, should really be to some other centre, should own some other authority, or should be contrary to His directions. His presence is not promised. Doubtless the Lord’s grace may go beyond His promise, and where there is truth of heart, all allowance will be made for ignor- ance and failure. There may, therefore, be much blessing where there is even wide departure from the Lord’s mind, for we have to do with a God who knows our weakness and pities our ignorance. Thus, in the days of Israel’s ruin, we read of those who through ignorance “had not cleansed themselves, yet did they eat the passover otherwise than it was written ; but Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, The good Lord pardon every one that prepareth his heart to seek God, the Lord God of his fathers, though he be not cleansed according to the purification of the sanctuary ; 28 o THE CHURCH. and the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people” (2 Chron. xxx. 18-20). Grace, then, both can and will come in where failure is the result of ignorance,- and where there is a true heart towards God. But we may be sure that the Lord s way is better than man’s ; nor can the grace which blesses in spite of ignorance, excuse indifference as to what the Lord’s mind really is. The Lord’s presence will not be granted to sanction the ignorance arising from culpable neglect, any more than to give approval to the wilfulness and disobedience of those who use His name to carry out their own thoughts. AVe are then responsible to learn what is meant by meeting in the Lord’s name. Only to those thus assembled are given the presence of Jesus, power with God, and the authority to bind and to loose. Nor, if we understand what it is to be gathered in that name, will these magnificent promises and powers fill us with wonder. Let believers be really assembled in obedience to the Lord’s directions, and with hearts bowed to His authority, owning, in simple faith, His presence in their midst, and where is the room for self-will ? AVhere the possibility of mistake ? How could anything be bound or loosed but according to His guidance ? — anything asked but according to His mind ? The neglect, whether wilful or ignorant, of these conditions, has caused the wide divorce between the kingdom and the Church. Men have claimed to bind and to loose, to remit and to retain, regardless of the THE KINGDOM AND THE CHURCH 281 terms on which this authority Avas bestowed. In the passages which give this power, the Church and the kingdom are viewed as one, according to God’s insti- tution. So long as the assembly was in such a state that it could enjoy the presence of Jesus and the guidance of the Spirit, the kingdom, administered by man, remained co-extensive with the Church. The moment self-will, self-dependence, or self-interest crept in, Christ’s presence and the Spirit’s guidance ceased to lend sanction to their acts, and the decrees of the body on earth were no longer ratified in heaven. The Church, and the kingdom as seen by God, became severed from the kingdom as ordered, or disordered, by man ; the door was flung open for self, the world, and Satan to come in ; the name of Christ Avas made to sanction every abomination and blasphemy Avhich human or diabolic wickedness could dcAuse ; and, though the treasure still remained, dear as ever to the heart of God, Christendom, the field in which it Avas hid, became that hateful thing whose annals the infidel historian has justly described as the annals of hell." CHA.PTEE IT. THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. In our last cliapter we learnt some important truths about the Church from our Lords own teaching. Occupying the interval between His rejection by man and His public manifestation in the glory of the kingdom, it has an entirely exceptional position in God’s dealings. It is associated with Jesus in the place He now holds as rejected by the world, so that believers are promised no other earthly portion than the cross which He bore. It is also associated with Him, however, in His acceptance as the risen One ; being founded, not on His earthly title as the Messiah, but on His heavenly dignity as ^'Son of the living God ; ” and standing in the eternal security of that life which He possesses as the One who was dead and is alive again, so that the gates of Hades cannot prevail against it. Even as to administration, while subject to Christ’s authority, what it bound and loosed was ratified in heaven. But the character of the Church was only fully revealed after Christ’s ascension. It may be asked, when did the Church come into existence ? It was THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 283 not founded wlien Jesus first named it, for He spoke of it as a future thing ; and being associated with His death and resurrection, it could not exist till these had taken place. There is no trace of it during Christ s lifetime, nor till the day of Pentecost. Then, however, an event occurred which we must now con- sider. The Holy Spirit had worked in all ages. Souls were quiokened by Him ; “ holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” Besides these ways of acting, Joel had foretold the pouring out of the Spirit on all flesh, and John the Baptist had pointed out Jesus as the one who should baptize with the Holy Ghost. These predictions will have their complete fulfilment when Christ appears in His glory. Jesus Himself, however, speaks of a coming of the Holy Ghost, in connection, not with His return, but with His departure ; not with His earthly glory, but with His heavenly ; as poured out, not upon all flesh, but upon His own disciples. If any man thirst, let him come unto Me and drink. He that believeth on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, w^hich they that believe on Him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet ; because that Jesus was not yet glorified” (John vii. 37-39). Here the Spirit was only to those who be- lieve in Jesus, and after He was glorified. So, before His departure. He says — It is expedient for you that I go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will 284 THE CHURCH not come unto you ; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you ” (John xvi. 7). There is, then, here brought out a new work of the Spirit, connected with Christ’s absence and heavenly glory. In this new character. He was to abide with the disciples for ever (John xiv. 16), to dwell with them and to be in them (ver. 17), to teach them all things, and bring all things to their remembrance whatsoever Jesus had said unto them (ver. 26), to guide them into all truth and show them things to come, glorifying Christ by receiving of the things that are His, and showing them to His disciples (John xvi. 13, 14). His presence was also to “convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” But this coming of the Spirit has still another aspect. Before His ascension, Jesus bids His disciples “ wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith He, ye have heard of Me. For John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of Him, saying. Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore a.o^ain the kingdom to Israel ? And He said unto them. It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in His own power. 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 Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (Acts i. 4-8). Here Jesus promises His disciples a “ baptism ” of the Holy Ghost. This THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 285 recalls tlie prophecies of Joel and John the Baptist, and as their prophecies are connected with national deliverance, they ask whether He would then restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus replies that the time for this was hidden in the Father’s counsels, but that as the immediate effect of the Spirit’s coming, they would receive power, and should be witnesses for Him in all parts of the earth. There are, then, three things here named, the baptism of the Holy Ghost, the giving of power to the disciples, and the fitting of them to be witnesses for Christ. In the next chapter we read that “ when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place ; and suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it [or they] sat upon each of them ; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance” (Acts ii. 1-4). This was, clearly, the fulfilment of Christ’s recent words, that they should “ be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.” It was also, no doubt, the coming of the Spirit spoken of in the Gospel of John. Indeed the three things named by Christ in the previous chapter — the baptism ” of the Spirit, the conferring of ‘‘ power” on the disciples (of which the miraculous gift of tongues was the first manifestation), and the fitting of the disciples to witness for Jesus ^‘unto the 286 THE CHURCH uttermost part of the earth ” — were all simultaneous in their performance, and were all results of the same event, the sending of the Holy Ghost to take His abode in- the world. But though simultaneous, they must be carefully distinguished from each other. The ‘'power’’ received was shown in the gift of tongues. Joel had foretold certain powers as the results of the Spirit’s outpouring in the age to come. The age to come had not arrived, but the “powers of the age to come ” were given, in a measure, to the Church. Those outwardly connected with it are described as persons who “were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come ” (Heb. vi. 4, 5). Joel’s prophecy was, therefore, partially fulfilled at Pentecost, and hence it is quoted as explaining the marvels noted by the multitude. This is the real force of our Lord’s language also. When He had spoken of the baptism of the Spirit, the disciples, connecting it with the age named by Joel, asked if that age had yet come. Jesus replies that He cannot tell them about the commencement of that age, for it is a secret, but that they should receive the “power” of which the prophecy had spoken. This, then, is one of the things which we see accomplished in the next chapter. Another thing foretold was that they were to be fitted by the Spirit to act as witnesses for Christ, and here again the Lord’s words were remarkably fulfilled. The testimony borne by the disciples on that day THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 287 when the Holy Ghost descended upon them was owned to an extent without parallel in any other age. It was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,” so that three thousand persons were pricked to the heart, and bowed down to own the authority of the crucified Jesus, and to be baptized in His name. This qualification to bear witness to Jesus, though in a manner derived from their own converse with Him, was always connected with the sending of the Spirit, as Jesus had said — “ When the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of Me, and ye also shall hear witness, because ye have been with Me from the beginning ” (John XV. 26, 27). Here, then, are two results of this sending of the Spirit ; the one, in partial fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, conferring miraculous gifts, the powers of the age to come,” upon the disciples ; the other, in fulfilment of our Lord’s words, qualifying the disciples to be witnesses for Him in the world. But these are accompaniments of the baptism of the Spirit, not the baptism itself. There are only two events thus described. The one, the complete fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, is what happens with blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke,” before ^‘that great and notable day of the Lord come ” — an outpouring, not of grace only, but of judgment — a baptism, not merely of the Holy Ghost, but of fire. The other, a partial fulfilment of Joel’s prophecy, though widely different in character 288 THE CHURCH. and consequences, is what took place on the day of Pentecost, and is related in the passage above cited. Since, then, this is the only baptism of the Spirit which has yet been, or which will be while the Church is on earth, it is important that we should rightly apj)reciate its character. The Church, as already shown, was not founded when Christ first spoke of it to His disciples, nor is any trace of it seen before His death, or after His resurrection, until this time. In the first chapter of Acts, the disciples are assembled, but merely as a number of individual believers. Nothing as yet indicates that they were gathered in any corporate character. At the close of the next chapter, however, which describes the baptism of the Holy Ghost, we read that the Church, till then spoken of only as a future thing, was already in existence, for ‘‘ the Lord added to the Church daily such as should be saved ” (Acts ii. 47). The baptism of the Holy Ghost fore- told by Joel and John the Baptist is connected with the establishment of the kingdom in power and righteousness. The baptism of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost is connected with the establishment of the Church. As the kingdom in its mysterious form is a partial fulfilment of the prophetic kingdom, so the baptism of the Spirit at Pentecost is a partial fulfil- ment of the baptism of the Spirit foretold by the prophets. The effect, then, of the baptism of the Holy Ghost was to gather into one body or assembly those who, THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 289 before this event, were nothing more than individual believers. Up to this time they had been, like the Old Testament saints, '^just men,” each having life, each quickened by the Spirit, each the object of God’s favour and grace. Now, by the baptism of the Holy Ghost, they are formed into God’s assembly or Church. Nor is this merely an inference from the fact that the Church is first named immediately after this baptism had taken place. The Apostle Paul, speaking of the Church as the body of Christ, expressly says that “ by one Spirit are w^e all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit ” (1 Cor. xii. 13). Whatever, then, the other ways in which the Spirit acts, the efiect of the ‘‘ baptism ” of the Holy Ghost, promised by our Lord just before His ascension, and fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, was to form into one assembly the isolated, and even antagonistic, elements composing ‘the Church ; so that, instead of merely being a number of individual believers, they become, in Scripture language, members of the same body, as closely connected with each other and with Christ, as limb with limb, or as all the limbs with the head. This, then, is the real character and effect of the baptism” of the Holy Ghost. To apply the name to a great work in the way of conversions is simply a mistake. No doubt the two things happened to- gether at Pentecost, and no doubt the conversions then wrought were the result of that testimony which T 290 THE CHURCH. the coming of the Spirit fitted the disciples to hear. But the coming of the Holy Ghost promised in John s Gospel, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost promised in the first chapter of Acts, are quite different in character and object, though both form parts of the same great transaction, the descent of the Spirit to abide on earth as the representative of Christ during His absence. The coming of the Spirit gave power for testimony ; the baptism of the Spirit formed the disciples into one body or assembly. The two things were quite distinct — simultaneous, but not synony- mous. Not only is it a mistake, therefore, to ask for a baptism of the Spirit,'' which confounds the baptism with the coming ; but it is equally a mistake to pray for a descent, an outpouring, or a coming of the Spirit. The Spirit has come, has descended, and is already here. All the three results of the Spirit’s descent at Pentecost were results attained once for all. The powers were conferred once for all, the fit- ness to bear testimony was bestowed once for all, the assembly was formed once for all. It is true, of course, that persons individually receive the Spirit, and individually become members of the assembly, as they themselves believe in Jesus. Thus when Peter w^ent to 'Cornelius, ‘Hhe Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word " (Acts x. 44). This, however, is not the result of another sending or baptism of the Holy Ghost, but of the individual being brought into the sphere of the Spirit’s operations. A company THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 291 may to-day be exercising the powers conferred by a charter granted more than a couple of centuries ago. It is not necessary to the validity of their acts that the charter should be renewed with each genera- tion of those who exercise the authority it bestows. So the baptism of the Spirit, forming and indwelling the Church, is an act performed once for all ; and every person who, by grace, believes on Jesus as his Saviour, is as much baptized by that one act, as completely incorporated in the body of Christ, as though he had been one of the hundred and twenty on whom the Spirit sat, like cloven tongues of hre, on the day of Pentecost. By the baptism of the Spirit, then, the Church has been formed into a body, consisting of many members, but yet one, for as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ” (1 Cor. xii. 12). This is, perhaps, the most striking, and certainly the most frequent, figure used in Scripture’ to describe the Church. In the passage just cited, the length to which the metaphor is carried iS' very remarkable. Not merely is the body said to be united with Christ, but to be Christ Himself — “ so also is Christ.” The limbs, so to speak, are regarded as being merely attached to the Head, which gives motion, life, and character to the whole, so that it is all s 2 )oken of under the name of the Head. It is not, perhaps, easy to grasp the full force of this remarkable language, which appears so to lose the Church in Christ, that He alone 292 THE CHURCH. is seen, and it is regarded merely as a part of Him. But though our minds may fail to mount to the full height of blessing revealed in the figure, it is at least manifest that a closeness and completeness of union is here made known which may well fill the soul of the believer with wonder and adoration. In the Epistle to the Eomans, which is not a Church epistle, the same metaphor is used, not as a doctrinal exposition of the nature of the Church, but as enforcing the obligation of every believer to act according to the gift bestowed upon him. This makes its use the more striking, because it shows how familiar the idea was to the early converts, even before the full unfolding which it received in the later Epistles to the Ephesians and Colossians. The apostle says to the Eomans, ‘‘For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office ; so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another ” (Eom. xii. 4, 5). In these passages it must be noted that the members are individual believers, not different local assemblies, much less different voluntary associations, self-styled “ Churches,” divided from each other on points of doctrine, discipline, and order. The idea of different sects being the different members, and forming the one body, is not found in these passages, and can only have originated in a culpable negligence as to their real import. Whether this division into sects and denominations is in harmony or in conflict with Scripture, is honouring or grieving to the Spirit of THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 293 God, we shall inquire hereafter, but the slightest attention to the passages quoted will show that, at all events, it is not the state of things to which allusion is there made. These passages, on the contrary, teach that there is but one body ; that this is the body of Christ, or even, in the words written to the Corinthians, Christ Himself ; that each individual believer is a member of that single body ; and that all believers, being thus united, are members one of another. In the Epistle to the Colossians the same figure is frequently used. Speaking of Christ, the apostle writes — “ And He is the Head of the body, the Church ; who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He might have the pre- eminence” (Col. i. 18). In the very first shadowing forth of the Church, Jesus associates it with Himself as the “ Son of the living God,” and as the One who should die and rise again. This is in beautiful harmony with the text just quoted. The passage from which that text is taken unfolds the varied glories of Christ as at once the image of the invisible God,” and “the first-born of every creature.” But besides being the only “creature” who ever was, or could be, “ the image of the invisible God,” He is also “ the Head of the body, the Church,” and, in asso- ciation with this glory, He is further entitled “the beginning, the first-born from among the dead.” Thus we again find His headship of the Church brought out in connection with His Divine nature on 294 THE CHURCH. the one hand, and His death and resurrection on the other. Another passage in the same chapter presents the truth of the believer’s union with Christ in a touching manner. The apostle speaks of himself as filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my fiesh for His body’s sake, which is the Church” (Col. i. 24). The first lesson which Saul of Tarsus, the bitter persecutor, had been taught by Christ was in these words — '' I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest ” (Acts ix. 5). The Lord was going afterwards to ‘‘shew him how great things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (ver. 16). Both these lessons Paul had learnt. If “ the excellency of the power ” of Cod was to be manifested in him, he must have the treasure in an earthen vessel ; he must be always “ bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest ” in his body. The working of the flesh needed to be kept down by these sufferings. But how does Paul speak of them ? He speaks of them, even as Jesus had spoken to him, as “the sufferings of Christ.” He had learnt on the way to Damascus how Clirist, the Head, suffers with the feeblest of His members, and now, when called to suffer for Christ’s sake. He delights to recall that scene, and to remember how He on whose behalf these afflictions were borne, felt them as though each pang were inflicted upon Hiniself. No language could more beautifully show the living union between the believer and Christ. THE BOD Y AND THE BRIDE. 295 Nor is it merely that Christ feels with the members, but that the members are nourished by Christ. Thus the Colossians are warned against the seductions of those who are not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God’’ (Col. ii. 19). The teaching of this passage will come before us presently. I would only just notice, in passing, the variety of forms in which the same figure is used, and the variety of purposes to which it is applied. It is again employed in exhortation : “ Let the peace of Christ [not God] rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body” (Col. iii. 15). Why are the Colossian saints here reminded of this truth ? To give point to the preceding exhortations, in which they are entreated to put on bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering,” to forgive like Christ Himself, to show ‘Hove, which is the bond of perfectness,” and to “let the peace of Christ rule” in their hearts. This oneness of the body was no theoretical creed, received as a doctrine, but rejected as a fact ; no visionary abstraction, to be realised in heaven, but unsuited for earth. It was a practical thing, for the maintenance and display of which believers were made responsible down here, a living truth to be recognised and acted upon in daily life. The Christian’s conduct is to be conformed to his relationships. Why, then, is he to show kindness, forbearance, and love, to his fellow-believer ? Because 296 THE CHURCH, they are called into one body. So real was the one- ness in and with Christ to the hearts of the early disciples ! In the- Epistle to the Ephesians the figure again appears. Speaking of the condition of the Gentiles, who had formerly been ‘‘ aliens from the common- wealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,” he says — “ But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far ofi*, are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition, having abolished in His fiesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordi- nances, for to make in Himself, of twain, one new man” (Eph. ii. 12 - 15 ). What is this “new man?” It is not a literal man, of course, for how could a literal man be composed of two men, J ew and Gentile ? Besides, this “ one new man,” made out of twain, is formed “ in Himself,” that is, in Christ. It can, then, be none other than that “new man,” or that “ one body,” spoken of in Corinthians as Christ, or the body of Christ. It is the Church, in which all earthly distinctions, even those instituted by God Himself, disappear. Here the Church and Christ are again regarded as forming “ one new man,” a mystical unity which blends together the most discordant materials, Jew and Gentile being made one in Him with whom they were both joined and in whom they were both accepted. Hence the exhortation is afterwards addressed to THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 297 them, that they should endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” for, adds the apostle, there is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Eph. iv. 3-6). Here, again, we find the truth practically applied in a way which shows that this oneness of the body was not regarded as an invisible, impalpable thing, never intended to be discerned on earth save by the eye of God, but as the normal con- dition of the Church, for the outward preservation of which believers were responsible. The Holy Ghost teaches that there is but one body, and that for this reason we are to endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” How is this to be done ? By breaking the one body, as to its outward manifes- tation, into fifty or a hundred different and rival bodies ? If not, then Christendom has failed, and this divided condition of the Church is in direct con- tradiction to the express teaching of the Word of God. But the dignity and glory of this one body are further unfolded in a striking manner in this epistle. It is said of Christ that God “hath put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be the Head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all” (Eph. i. 22, 23). Here, it will be observed, we have two headships of a very different character. That He is the Head of the 298 THE CHURCH Church is obvious, because the Church is spoken of as His body. But, besides this, He is presented to the Church as Head over all,” that is, as the One whom God, having already exalted and set in the highest place at His own right hand, will make Heir of all things, the acknowledged and undisputed Head of the whole universe, reigning ‘‘till He hath put all enemies under His feet.” In this character, as Head over all things. He has associated with Him, not as part of the realm over which He reigns, but as part, so to speak, of Himself, “ the Church, which is His body, the fulness of Him that filleth all in all.” And this carries the mind forward to another figure used to illustrate the same relationship, a figure closely connected, and indeed inseparably intertwined, with the one we have just been looking at. Among the practical exhortations at the close of the epistle, the writer says — “ Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself for it ; that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 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. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church ; for we are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones ” (Eph. v. 25-30). What a wondrous unfolding of the tender love of Christ to THE BODY AND THE BRIDE. 299 the Church ! What a blessed revelation of the near- ness and sacredness of the union subsisting between them ! Here we see enacted in the last Adam that which is so beautifully typified in the first. The first Adam was head of creation, but he was alone, with no help meet for him. ‘‘And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone ; I will make him an help meet for him. , . . And the Lord God caused ^