by C. T. RUSSELL
PITTSBURG, PA.
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“Take heed to yourselves
least at any time your hearts be overcharged with.... the cares
of this life; and so that day come upon you unawares.”— Luke
21:34.
ROCHESTER, N. Y.
OFFICE OF HERALD OF THE
MORNING
1877
OUR LORD’S RETURN
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CHAPTER I
THE OBJECT OF THE SECOND
ADVENT
That our Lord intended us
as His disciples to understand, that for
some purpose,
in
some manner, and at some, time, He would come again, is, we
presume, admitted and believed by all familiar with the
scriptures. But the object of that coming is viewed from widely
different standpoints, and seen in as various colors as there
are glasses; each observer honestly and sincerely desirous of
seeing and understanding the subject correctly. We shall not
attempt in these few pages to give all that can be presented
upon this subject, but simply offer a sketch of what we
understand the events and their order to be;— giving as far as
space will permit, the scriptural evidence favoring it. In doing
so, we shall endeavor to exercise Christian courtesy, when
referring to the views of brethren who differ with us.
The writer believes that in
order to an understanding of this subject, it is necessary for
us to have some clear conception of God’s plan for the salvation
of the world of mankind. If we can obtain this, it will
unquestionably give us information very valuable, in the
consideration of our subject; for, in that plan, not only the
first but also the second advent has an important place. Here a
vital question arises, viz:
HAS GOD A PLAN?
Or, did He in an idle
moment frame this world, and bring us, His creatures, into
existence simply to exercise His creative power; entirely
unmindful, or uncaring, what should be the result to us of that
existence? Many who love the Lord with all their hearts speak of
Him and His work as though this were the case. They think of the
fall of Adam, by which “ Sin entered the world and death by [or,
as a result of] sin,” (Romans 5:12) as an emergency entirely
unexpected and unprovided for by the Creator.
Such naturally regard the
salvation provided through our Lord Jesus Christ as an
afterthought. God, having been thwarted by an agent of His own
creation, —the Devil,— now sought to repair the mischief by
providing a way by which a few of these creatures could be
saved. They regard the present and past contest between good and
evil, as a race between God and the Devil, in which, so far, the
Devil has been the most successful.
They hope and trust,
however, that before the winding up of all things, the numbers
of the saved will be greater than those of the lost: and so God,
even without any plan, come off conqueror.
But, Christian friends, He
who would rebuke a man for building a tower without first
counting the cost, shall He build and people a world without
counting the cost? Nay, verily; God has, and always has had, a
plan— a purpose; and all His purposes shall be accomplished. He
works “ all things after the counsel of His will.”
Not only is this true, but
He has revealed his plan to us in “ the Scriptures, which are
able to make us wise,” and given us His Holy Spirit to enlighten
our understanding, “ that we might know the things that
are freely given unto us of God.” (1 Cor. 2:12.) Which things,
neither the world nor carnally minded Christians can see
(v. 14); they are revealed by the spirit in answer to diligent
search. “ If thou seekest after wisdom, and liftest up thy voice
for understanding, yea: if thou searchest for her as men search
for silver; then shalt thou find the knowledge of God.” When He,
the Spirit of Truth is come, He shall guide you into all truth.
The Spirit does this as we
have seen through the Word— the lamp. But God’s word, the Bible,
is a revelation not intended for one decade or century, simply;
but, to the conditions of His people, at all times and in every
age. It is continually unfolding to us some new, fresh beauty,
of which but a short time before we had not even dreamed. It is
because of this continuous unfolding of truth, as it becomes “
meat in due season” to the household of faith, that under
another figure the same word is compared to “ a lamp to our
feet;” for, “ the path of the just shines more and more until
the perfect day.” It shone some away back in Enoch’s day, and
has been increasing ever since; not, that light yesterday is
darkness today; but, there is more light today, by which we can
still better appreciate that of yesterday.
Have we, as a church, all
the light now? Certainly not; nor will we have until the “
perfect day.” Whilst we remember, then, that “God moves in a
mysterious way His wonders to perform;” we should be ready and
watching for the earliest glimpse of the next unfolding of His
revelation of Himself and His plan; remembering that “His
purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour.”
We will now see that we can
find of God’s plan reveled in His word, therefrom to judge of
the object of our Lord’s return.
We lay down as a
foundation, then,— whether the plan is so far unfolded that we
can fully comprehend it, and see the connection which must exist
between the past and present dealings of God and that plan, or
not:— First, God has a purpose or plan. Second, That plan is
based and founded upon love, for “ God is love.” (1 John 4:8.)
We do not cast aside God’s
justice, etc.; but, whatever His plan it must comport with His
character— Love— for, “ He cannot deny Himself.” The Christian
church is about equally divided upon the question of Election
vs. Free Grace, or Calvinism vs. Arminianism; a small number,
proportionately, believing in Universalism or the final eternal
salvation of all mankind. Doubtless, all familiar with Scripture
know that each of these positions are supported by much
scripture; and yet, can they all be true?
Must there not be some
connecting link which will harmonize and reconcile them? Surely
this is the case, for God’s Word is not yea and nay.
Let us examine the first
two, Calvinism and Arminianism, separately; the last,
Universalism, is so flatly contradicted by much direct
scripture, that we shall measurably pass it unnoticed. And what
we have to offer on the others is not designed as a fling
against any of the “ branches of the true vine;” but strongly
expressed, to call special attention to the more uncomely
features of those doctrines which their strongest advocates will
concede are weak points.
Calvinism virtually says:
God is all wise; He knew the end from the beginning; He had a
plan which was to save a few, not from any merit in them,
but of His sovereign choice He elected these to eternal life,—
all others to eternal death. He could as easily save all men,
but He does not want to: He is able, but unwilling, to save any
but a few.
Armenianism virtually says:
God loves all His creatures; His tender mercies are over all His
works. His is trying His utmost to save them all, but is not
able: only the very few, the “ little flock.” Sin slipped past
Him, entered the world at the outset, and has gained such a
foothold that only by the aid of His children can it be
overcome, even in ages.
As before suggested, each
of these, although apparently, antipodes, have some scriptural
basis, and we believe, when properly arranged, are in harmony
with each other.
We will now look at the
Bible; first at a dark picture, then at a brighter one. Here we
find that though little light was given as to man’s salvation
and future happiness at the first unfolding of the plan, even
that little was not given to the world at large— the masses— but
to a few Patriarchs, among whom were Enoch, Noah, Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. These were chosen,- elected,- not alone from
the world, but from among the other members of their families,
as it is written:“ Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated.”
[loved less.] Isaac alone of all of Abraham’s children was the
child of promise. Of Abraham it is written “ Thee only have I
chosen of all thy father’s house.”
At Jacob’s death, the
principle of election changes, but the fact remains. All of
Jacob’s children are thereafter recognized as God’s
representatives,— His church, or people.
There on his death bed, the
old patriarch blesses each of his sons and gives to Judah the
sceptre,— symbol of nationality,— saying:“ The Sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until
Shiloh come.” This was fulfilled to the letter. That tribe
represented the nation until Christ came. To this one nation God
gave the Law, in which was shadowed forth the Gospel. This
shadowy light, the Law, was given to no other nation or people;
it was exclusively to Israel, as we read:“ You only, have I
known of all the families of the earth.” We will therefore
designate this the Jewish or Law age.
At the death of Christ
another change takes place. The Law ends. He made an end of the
Law, “ nailing it to the cross,” and introduced a new
dispensation,— the gospel of grace, under the law of the Spirit.
This is not restricted to one nation, as was the law, but is
free to all, to be “ preached in all the World, for a
witness” before this age ends. (Matt. 24:14). But although we
are to know no difference in our presentation of it to all
people, God has been guiding and directing its course. Under
that direction, we of Europe and America, have been more favored
than the inhabitants of other parts of the earth. Why did the
light of truth and salvation, started by our Lord and His
apostles in Palestine, travel northward and westward through
Europe and America, rather than southward and eastward through
Africa and Asia? Did it happen so? oh no! Our Father is at the
helm; He is guiding His truth.
True, now the bible is
published in the language of every nation. It is now
being “preached to every nation”:(not individual) but this we
may say, has all been done during the present century. Yet
today, 4 out of 5 of the inhabitants of earth know not that
Jesus died for them. Here is a sense in which God is even now
electing. He elected to send the gospel to you and me and our
fathers, and He chose not to send it to yonder Hottentot and his
fathers. But says one, God works by instrumentalities. He has
been wanting His people to come to the work, any by giving of
the money and talents which He so freely bestowed on us, we may,
through missions, which He will bless, have the privilege of
being coworkers with Him.
To much of this we can
heartily assent. We believe that through us God is working; that
He is pleased with our zeal in His service. But we cannot for
one moment suppose that the eternal welfare of four-
fifths of the human family is made to depend entirely upon the
zeal and liberality of the other one- fifth. No! No!! The God of
love, is not experimenting at the expense of the eternal
happiness of the great mass of His creatures.
We see, then, that in some
sense God has so far been electing the church. But why. He must
have a purpose and object in so doing. He has a plan, and
doubtless it is far greater and grander than ever entered into
the heart of man to conceive. What saith the scriptures?
In the promise of God to
Abraham:“ In thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed,” God’s plan and purpose is stated in one
sentence. Paul, in an inspired comment upon this promise, (Gal.
3), says, “ He saith not to seeds, as of many, but as of one,
and to thy seed, which Christ.” Is it Christ Jesus individually
that is here referred to as the one seed ? No; the
apostle continues (vs. 29) if ye [the church] be Christ’s, then
are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,
(as originally made to Abraham).
We learn that God has us
comprehended in His plan when speaking to Abraham. Not only
Christ Jesus, the head of this seed, but they that are Christ’s-
the little flock- as members of His body: and this one seed
will not be complete until the last member of that body is
perfected. This thought is maintained throughout the Epistles -
Christ, “ the head of the body, the church.” (Col 1:18. Eph.
1:23, Eph 4:12; Eph 5:25- 32; 1 Cor. 12:12, 1 Cor. 12:27; Romans
12:5, etc.) The figure is carried yet further. We, His
disciples, are spoken of as filling up the measure of Christ’s
sufferings. (Col. 1:24; 2 Cor. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:10.) And we have
the promise, “ that if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign
with Him.”
The promise, to which we
are heirs, declares that when this seed is complete, all nations
shall be blessed in it. A promise made away back in Eden, that
the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head, crush
evil and sin, is another to which we are joint heirs.
But did not Jesus do this
(bruise Satan) when he died? No; the death of Christ and the
subsequent persecution of the church are the “ bruising of the
heel.” Paul says, “ Satan is to be bruised shortly under the
feet of the church,” — head and body, (Rom. 16:20).
Again, the same thought is
expressed under the figure of
THE BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM
The church is represented
as a chaste Virgin, espoused to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2). As
such we are now betrothed, and have received the seal of that
engagement — the first fruits of the Spirit. Not married, not
the bride yet, but waiting and longing for that union with the
Bridegroom. When He went away He said, “ I will come again and
receive you unto myself. He expressed it so in the parable of
the “ Ten Virgins.” When “ the Bridegroom came, they that were
ready went into the marriage.” There and then we shall enter
upon the full realization of the “ things which God hath in
reservation for those that love Him.”
All, we presume, will agree
with us, when we say, that no matter how much enjoyment we have
prior to the resurrection, we certainly wait until then for the
full measure. The whole church or body is complete before the
final rewards are given.
Hence, when recounting the
ancient worthies, the Apostle says:(Heb. 11:39, 40), “ They
received not the promises that they without us should not be
made perfect.” And, of Himself, when about to die, He said, “ I
have fought a good fight... 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. 4:8) True, we now
have and enjoy many blessings in Christ. Now we have the peace
that the world can neither give nor take away. But all this is
but a foretaste; the weight of glory comes over there. We now,
in a certain sense, have begun our office, as Kings and Priests,
conquering self and the lusts of the flesh, and “ offering up
spiritual sacrifices unto God;” but it is only in the same sense
that we are now spoken of as being risen with Christ, and seated
with Him in heavenly places. By faith in His promises we
anticipate the glory and the rest that remains; and although
beset with trials and troubles in life, we have a peace to which
the world is a stranger.
When the Lord promises,
saying, “ To him that overcometh, I will give to sit with me in
my throne,” and “ to him that overcometh I will give power over
the nations,” does He mean it? Is he to “ sit on the throne of
His glory?” Will He take to Himself His great power and reign
over the nations? Surely, His word cannot fail; it will be as
real a reign over the nations for us (the church) as for Him.
God gave “ Christ to be the head over the body;” and “ He that
hath freely given us Christ, will He not with Him also freely
give us all things?” Yea, verily, brethren, we have not realized
“ our high- calling which is of God in Christ Jesus.” We
are called to sonship of God, and not his alone, but to be joint
heirs with Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the little company
whom God saw away back in Eden, through whom He is shortly to
bruise Satan and “ bless all the families of the earth.” It is
this company to whom Peter refers, (Acts 15:14) saying, “ God
did visit the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His
name.” We are the Virgin, soon to receive the name of our Lord,
“ a new name that no man knoweth save he that receiveth it.”
It was for these Jesus
prayed:(John 17) “ I pray not for the world” but for them thou
hast given me, and “ not for these only but all them also which
shall believe on me through their word, “ that they
all may be one in me .”
This oneness and unity the
Lord did not expect in this present time. He says He came to
bring division. Consequently He is not disappointed nor thwarted
in His plans. In the parable of wheat and tares, He tells us
that the enemy would sow tares among the wheat, and they look so
much alike that we cannot separate them. “ Let both grow
together until the harvest,— the harvest is the end of
the world” [aion - age] then He will have them
separated by angels.
Yet, as Jesus says “ the
Father heareth me always,” we may know that at some time they
all will be one in Him. When? At the resurrection, when we are
united to our head, becoming the “ one seed,” at the marriage
when we are united to the Bridegroom and they twain
become ONE. But although this prayer was mainly for the church,
yet Jesus loved the whole world. Yes, he dies for the World, and
they have a place in this prayer. But notice where. He prays for
the church first, that they all may be made one in Him; then the
object of the union is “ that the world may believe.” But the
believing of, and prayer for, the World, is after the marriage
of the chaste Virgin. For this marriage, “ we ourselves, that
have the first fruits of the spirit, groan within ourselves
waiting for the adoption, to wit:the redemption of our body”;
this one body of which we each are members.
When we (the gospel
church,) are redeemed, is God’s plan accomplished? No. It is
only begun. It is a grander, a more lofty plan. Not only do we
groan for this consummation, but we have seen from our Lord’s
prayer that the world has an interest in it, and Paul positively
asserts, that “ the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in
pain together.”
What are they expecting?
Certainly not what we are looking for. They do not expect to
form part of the body. No:“ the earnest expectation of the
creature, waited for the manifestation of the sons of God.”
(Rom. 8:19) Not Son of God, but sons. “ Beloved, now are we the
sons of God.” What interest has the world in our manifestation
or shining forth? Simply this, — Until we are manifested
although we are the “ light of the world,” and it is blessed by
this light, which we are to let “ so shine that men may glorify
Our Father in heaven,” yet how much more will it be blessed,
when we “ shine forth as the sun in the Kingdom,” — when
separated from the world as well as from the tares in the
harvest. (Matt. 13:43) If we now are a blessing to the world as
light-bearers, poor and weak though that light often be, are we
surprised that the hope of the world is this shining forth of
the church? Paul tells us why they wait and groan for our
manifestation. “ Because the creature itself also shall
be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the sons of God.” That is, when the church has been
delivered from the present condition (subject to death) the
bondage of corruption, then the world at large will have an
opportunity in the same direction, — “that the world may
believe” and as many as do so “ shall be delivered into the
glorious liberty of the sons of God.” Sons, but not joint-
heirs . This will be the only distinction between them and
us, — the gospel church.
God loves all his
creatures, not because we love Him, but from pure benevolence. “
God so loved the world” — while we were yet sinners. But He is a
God of order. He has a plan, and is carrying it out. During the
past six thousand years, He has been getting ready, — preparing
the instrumentality through which to bless the World. The time
seems long to us mortals, but not so with Him who is from
everlasting to everlasting.
This “ little flock” who
receive the Kingdom are but “ the first- fruits unto God
of His creatures. (James 1:18. Rev. 14:4) If there is a
firstfruits there must of necessity, be more of a harvest,
else the language is senseless. Eph. 2:7, declares the object of
God in our salvation to be, “ That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding riches of His grace.”
But let us follow the
church, — the first- fruits. We last saw her as the chaste
virgin going into the marriage, when the bridegroom came. We
next hear the great voice of a multitude saying (Rev. 19:7) “
Let us be glad and rejoice and give honor to God, for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself
ready. We have heard of the marriage — listen! the angel says to
John (Rev. 21:9,10) “ Come hither, I will show thee the Bride,
the Lamb’s wife.” We want to see her, let us follow. “ And he
showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God.” Are we to understand that this city is a
symbolic representation of the church? Yes, just as in another
symbol she is the “ Temple of God.” But what of the precious
stones of which it is built? These are the same as the stones of
the spiritual Temple; i.e., living stones, — the same that Paul
speaks of as “ Precious stones” (1 Cor. 3:12), or the jewels of
Mal. 3:17.
When this city “ shines”
the nations will walk in the light of it. Now they are blest by
the feeble light of the church; then they will walk in the
perfect light which will shine from her. (Rev. 21:24) there
flows a river —from under the throne— “ a river of the water of
life.” Not the ordinary kind of water. No, this is “ water of
life,” the kind the Lord promised to give us, and which He does
give now to every one begotten. It shall be in you a well of
water.” This kind of water would not flow in a natural river
bed, but this same sort is here brought to our view as flowing a
broad, deep, mighty river. No longer the little well, no longer
confined to the few, the “ little flock,” but “ whosoever will”
may partake of it freely. There the Spirit and the Bride will
say come, and he that hearth will say come. It will be free to
all. But, notice when, it is in the heavens and new earth, (Rev.
21:1) — in the next dispensation. The church is not the Bride
now, but a chaste Virgin. When she is married (united) she will
be the Bride, and then it is that she says come to whosoever
will.
Oh, can we not pray from
the depths of our hearts, come, Lord Jesus! come quickly! Shall
we not, since we and all creation wait for it, rejoice at the
sound of the Bridegroom’s voice, as He nears our dwelling? We do
rejoice and lift up our heads, knowing that our redemption
draweth nigh.
This is a glorious prospect
for both the church and the world. But how about those who died,
not having heard the name of Jesus, who did not enjoy the
privileges of light? Must these all suffer the loss of eternal
life and happiness with not even an opportunity to lay hold on
it? Must they all go to hell, simply because they lived before
God’s plan had so far developed as to embrace them? Or, shall we
go to the other extreme and say, God will save all those who
have never had light and truth? If this be true, we have made a
great mistake in sending missionaries with this light to the
heathen. We know that when it is presented to them they do not
all receive it and become Christians, and if it ignorance they
would all be saved, we not only do them a positive injury but
waste numbers of valuable lives and millions of money.
And further, if God can
consistently give these eternal life without a trial, or
probation, why did He not give us all as good a lot, and save us
all without our coming into the present probationary condition;
or why did He not kindly leave us all in the dark, and thus save
all?
Neither of these lines of
human reasoning will stand the test. We must see what God’s
plan- book, the Bible, has to say on the subject. But first let
us take a glance backward, and see about what proportion of our
fellow creatures have a personal interest in the matter. We have
seen that during the first 2100 years only a few Patriarchs were
chosen.
This brings us down to the
time that the nation of Israel became God’s representatives,
atthe death of Jacob, the last patriarch. Of all others Paul
declares, “ death reigned from Adam till Moses,” — or, until the
Law, which was given to but one people; and of these only a very
few were saved; only those who could rise above the type and
discern the antitype. The value of the Law in saving men may be
gathered from St. Paul’s teachings.
He says, “ that no man is
justified by the Law is evident.” (Gal. 3:11) “ By the deeds of
the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His [God’s] sight.”
(Romans 3:20) “ For if righteousness come by the Law, then
Christ is dead in vain.” (Rom. 2:21) “ If the Law given could
have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the
Law.” (Rom. 3:21.) “ For the Law made nothing perfect.” (Heb.
7:19) “ Wherefore then serveth the Law? It was added because of
transgressions, till the Seed should come, to whom the
promise was made.” (Gal. 3:19) That is, the seed of Abraham not
the fleshly descendants, for says Paul, “ the children of the
flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of
the promise are counted for the seed.” (Rom. 9:8) Children of
faith, Christ, and the church. (Gal. 3:29)
Thus we learn that nearly
all of the “ little flock” is being gathered during the gospel
age.
Today, about one individual
in five knows that Christ Jesus died for him. Until the present
century, and during the dark ages, probably one in forty knew
it. A fair calculation of the numbers who have never heard the
Gospel, from creation to the present time, would be about
120,000,000,000 souls.
Whether we can understand
God’s dealings or not we may rest assured, “the God of all the
earth will do right.” But we are anxious to have the matter
cleared up, if it can be, from God’s Word. For, unquestionably,
the facts already obtained from the Bible appear to clash
directly with some of the plainest statements of Scripture. For
instance, we read of Jesus, this is the true light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world.” How shall we
understand such a statement? Thousands of millions have not even
heard of Him. Are we certain that hearing of Christ is
essential? May they not be saved by living up to the light of
nature? It is certain that they must hear of Christ before
salvation, for, says Paul, “ How shall they believe on Him of
whom they have not heard?”
The conditions of salvation
are “ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved.” Again, “ there is no other name given under heaven or
among men, whereby we must be saved.” Must; if
saved at all, it must be in Him . If they could even do
by nature many things contained in the Law, we have seen that “
the Law could not give life;” “ for by the deeds of the Law
shall no man be justified.” Again we read, “ Jesus Christ, by
the grace of God, tasted death for every man.” But if they never
hear of it, and are never benefited by it, how can it be said to
be “ for every man?” Again, “ There is one God and
one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus: who gave
Himself a ransom for all; to be testified in due time .”
Ah! here we have it. God is
a God of order. He has a “ due time” for everything He does, and
when His “ due time” for everything He does, and when His “ due
time” comes, it will be testified to all men that “ Christ died
for the ungodly.” That true light shall yet lighten every man
that ever came into the world. It certainly was not His plan
to have it testified to them in the ages past, else it would
have been done. But it will be testified in due time.
Now we see a meaning in the
statement, “ As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be
made alive.” I know that these are texts used by Universalists,
(but I am not a Universalist), but shall we not use them simply
because they do? No; “ all Scripture.... is profitable.” This is
the time “of restitution of all things,” mentioned by Peter,
(Acts 3:21) of which he says “ God hath spoken by the mouth of
all the holy prophets since the world began, This is not
for the church, but for the world. The church gets something far
better than a restitution:The whole human family get back in the
second Adam all they lost in the first Adam. They did not lose
eternal life or a spiritual existence in the first Adam, for he
was a probationer for these himself, and as a stream cannot rise
higher than the fountain we could not lose more through his
disobedience than he possessed. There are two lives [1]
— natural and eternal; and two deaths, temporal and eternal. He
lost natural life and obtained temporal death. Consequently the
restitution through Christ would only give to the world natural
life and a natural body, at their restitution, such as Lazarus
and Jairus’ daughter had when brought to life again. Of the
church — the dead in Christ, at His coming — alone it is said, “
Sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body.” All others rise
fleshly, natural bodies and liable to die again. The Law
contains no higher promise than that of natural life. “
That thy days may be long upon the land;” and no threatening
more severe than temporal death. They “ that disobeyed were to
be stoned or thrust through with a dart.”
Eternal life or death are
not mentioned in it. The Jews had an idea of a future
life in Christ’s day, but not from the law. The heathen had an
idea also without any revelation, — simply a guess. For
“Christ brought life and immortality to light through the
gospel.” (2 Tim. 1:10) If he brought it to light, it was not
brought to light by Moses.
We find the matter clearly
stated in Rom. 5:18,19; “ as by the offense of one [Adam]
judgment came upon all men to condemnation; [death] even
so, by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon
all men unto justification of life; for as by one man’s
[Adam’s] disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one [Christ] shall many be made righteous,” (i. e.,
justified to life as above).
They rise simply to have
during the millennial age what we have had during our
lifetime, viz.: To hear of the love of God and death of Jesus
for them, and to have an opportunity to accept of Him. They will
not all receive Him, for we read of “ a great company being cast
into the lake of fire, the second death;” even at the end of
this millennial age (Rev. 20:9), when they have had a knowledge
of the truth, which will then have been testified to every man.
Now we can understand 1
Tim. 4:10. “ We trust in the living God, who is the Savior of
all men, especially of those that believe.” All men are to be
saved from all they lost in Adam: while those that believe (the
church) have an especial salvation - the eternal .
Not a second chance: it
cannot be another or a second chance unless they have had one,
and we have just found that so far the masses have had none; no!
We advocate no second- chance for any man, but refer to Heb 6:4,
6 and Heb. 10:26, 28 - If we sin wilfully, turn our backs upon
God’s salvation and the blood of the covenant, after we have
received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a
sacrifice for such. Christ died once for all, and it will
be testified once, but He will die a second time for no
one. “ He dieth no more.”
To the justice and mercy
and love of this plan of God, when realized, we think the church
and world can say “ Amen. True and righteous are thy judgments.
Lord God Almighty.”
It makes a harmony out of
the various, heretofore conflicting texts of scripture; we can
see, now, how and why some were chosen or elected in Christ; how
and when God is no respecter of persons, and the grace for all
who will receive it with ample place for all the scripture
supposed to teach universal eternal salvation, and with it all,
begin to see a depth and scope to God’s plan we never before
dreamed of.
With Cowper we would say —
“Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His
grace: Behind a frowning countenance He hides a smiling face.
“ His purposes will ripen
fast, Unfolding every hour; The bud may have a bitter taste, But
sweet will be the flower.”
When will this grand,
glorious age of restitution begin? Peter says, at the coming of
the Lord:“ whom the heavens must receive until the times of
restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of
all His holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:21) We
read of the restoration of Israel and other nations in Jeremiah,
Isaiah, and the minor prophets: and also of the earth being
restored to Edenic beauty, when the wilderness shall blossom as
the rose, and the church, in general, believe in the restoration
of a living remnant of Israel to their own land and to God’s
favor, but as a rule they have never thought of the prophecy
embracing the dead as well as the living, and the other nations
as well as Israel.
But these things are
mentioned in the same Bible.
In Ezekiel 39:21- 29, God
tells how He has cast off Israel into captivity for their sins;
and “ there fell they all by the sword;” (Ezek 39:23) but He
promises to bring the whole house hack into their own land. Then
speaking of the gathering as accomplished, He says, “ I have
gathered them into their own land, and left none of them any
more there” (Ezek. 39:28) They fell by the sword, died, and He
brought them all back again into their own land.
But Israel was a peculiarly
favored people, says one. We remember Paul speaks of their
restitution in Rom. 11:25 to end. (Read carefully.) “ They are
beloved for the father’s sakes:” therefore, they are all
concluded in unbelief that God may have mercy upon all,
and they are to “ obtain [this] mercy through your [the
church’s] mercy.” Perhaps this restitution refers only to this
people: not to all nations. David says:“ All nations which thou
has made shall come and worship before thee;” [Christ] Numbers
of nations never yet worshipped, either from love or fear. The
sodomites were such a nation. Let us consider their cast next.
Surely, they were a sample
of the ungodly; there was no special favor of God ever
manifested toward them as a people, neither was there any
remnant of them left, when God rained “ fire and brimstone from
heaven and destroyed them all .” And yet, of these
Sodomites we read, (Ezek. 16:48-63) that Israel shall return to
her former estate at the same time that Sodom and
Samaria return to their former estate (vs. 53and 55). In verses
49 and 50 we are told what Sodom’s sin was; and, says the Lord,
“ I took them away as I saw good.” He saw good to take them away
without their coming to a knowledge of Christ, it was not due
time for that to be testified, but it will be in the
future. God proposes to bring them back to their former estate;
what they lost by sin and death entering the world through the
first Adam is to be restored in the second and they will have
the same opportunity that he had, and better, in that the old
serpent, the devil, Satan will be bound [or evil restrained]
that he may deceive the nations no more until the thousand years
are expired. But some one, not yet satisfied, says, perhaps God
is speaking ironically, and means that he would as soon think of
bringing Sodom and Samaria back to Israel. Friend, read
carefully Ezek 16:60- 63, and you will no longer think so;
remember also that Sodom had been destroyed nearly a thousand
years before this prophecy was made.
This helps us to understand
— “ God is His own interpreter” — what Jesus meant when He said
it would be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than
for the Jews whom He addressed; He declares that if the same
mighty works had been done in Sodom, she would have repented
long ago. Well, Lord, why were such mighty works not done
there, so that they had repented? It was not their due time;
they were not on trial. In (their day of trial, when they are on
probation for eternal life) their “ day of judgment” (not a
24-hour day, but the millennial or judgment age) they will fare
better than the Jews — have fewer stripes. “ It will be more
tolerable for Sodom in the day of judgment than for you.”
All must be judged or
tried, and “ judgment must begin at the house of God” — the
church. It did. Christ, the head, was tried in all points, yet
without sin. We, the members of that house, are now on trial. We
will not come into the judgment — or trial with the world. “ We
shall not come into condemnation, (judgment - Krisis) but are
passed from death unto life;” because of faith we are covered by
Christ’s righteousness: because of the blood of Christ, our
Paschal Lamb, sprinkled on our hearts and having that Lamb in
us, we the first born, are passed over .
But after the House, all
the world will come into trial for life (judgment,
Krisis). Those who accept of God’s conditions will be delivered
from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the
sons of God, (Rom. 8:21); those who will not have the gift of
God must die the second, the eternal death.
When the world is on trial
we shall be the judges; for, “ know ye not that the saints shall
judge the world?” It is here that the parable or the sheep and
goats is laid, when the son of man shall sit on the throne of
His glory .
It is during the millennial
age that He does sit on the throne of His glory:and the
overcomers sit with Him in the throne. Then before Him
are gathered all nations, and the sheep will separated from the
goats; they do not stand in rows nor all at once any more than
the church has while she has been on trial; the separating being
a gradual work dependent upon their acceptance or rejection of
God’s grace and truth. The things of their past lives for which
they must answer being inasmuch as ye have or have not done unto
“the least of these my brethren” (the church seated in the
throne).
We conclude, then, that it
was necessary that evil should enter the world, so that by
contact with it and its results — misery and death — we might
forever know good from evil. In no other way, perhaps, could God
so fully make known to His creatures His various attributes —
justice, mercy, love, etc.
In the age which ended with
the flood, God measurably left mankind to themselves, without
law or control. In the results — degeneracy and corruption,
demonstrating to us, that unassisted our tendency is downward.
During the Jewish age, the law was given — not to give life, “
For the Law could not give life” but to show them and us how far
short we come of perfection, even at our best; that so we might
realize the necessity of salvation as a “ gift of God” which we
could not merit by the works of the Law.
It was given “ because of
transgression until THE SEED should come” (Gal. 3:19 and
20). It was simply a system of types. etc., “ a shadow of good
things to come” — the gospel.— and served as “ a schoolmaster to
[educate] bring us to Christ,” in whom alone we can receive
eternal life. This brings us to the Gospel Age, when although
the scope of the Law— in spirit, is broader, deeper and more
comprehensive than the letter, yet we can be justified through
faith; “ For what the Law could not do, in that it was weak
through the flesh, God sending His own son in the likeness of
sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the
righteousness of the Law might be fulfilled in us who walk not
after the flesh, but after the spirit.” (Rom. 8:34)
All these various parts of
God’s great plan we find working in harmony with each other, and
with His own nature. In no other way could our minds recognize
the justice of God in utterly destroying many nations before
Israel— men, women and children— except that He “ slew great
kings, for His mercy endureth forever.” “ He overthrew Pharaoh
and his host, for His mercy endureth forever.” Yes, the fact
that “ His mercy endureth forever” explains all this; and it is
twenty- six times repeated in this 136th Psalm. Now we can
realize more fully than ever before, His wondrous love; and as
we kneel alone before Him we can feel that He is worthy of all
homage and worship, for not only “ God is Love ” and “
His mercy endureth forever,” but when our substitute
tasted death for all, “ He is just to forgive.” Our
feelings are well expressed by St. Paul, when writing on the
same subject (Rom. 11:33)—” O, the depth of the riches both of
the wisdom and knowledge of God; how unsearchable are His
judgments and His ways past finding out!
For who hath known the mind
of the Lord?” Truly the plan of God does show us the object of
our Lord’s return. He comes to organize the one seed by
which Satan is to be bruised— evil restrained and in which “ all
the kindreds of the earth shall be blessed.”
He comes to glorify or set
up His kingdom— the church— that as we have “ suffered with Him
we may also reign with Him.” “ That the saints of the Most High
may take the kingdom under the whole heavens and possess it
forever.” In taking possession, it “consumes and breaks in
pieces all these kingdoms [not the people but the governments]
and it shall stand forever.” “ Wait ye upon me, saith the Lord,
for my determination is to gather the nations that I may
assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even
all my fierce anger, for the whole earth shall be devoured
with the FIRE of my jealousy . For then will I turn
to the people a pure language that they may all call upon
the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent.” (Zeph.
3:8). This chastisement of the world is not because God takes
pleasure in human suffering, for “ He doth not willingly afflict
the children of men,” but for their good; and it is gratifying
to learn that “ when the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the
earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”
When He hath made wars to cease unto the ends of the earth, by
the desolations which He hath made. (Ps. 46:8,10).
When He has established His
kingdom; then “ peace shall flourish.” “Nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any
more.” Now “ The devil is the prince of this world.” Jesus said,
“My kingdom is not of this world.” but when “ He shall take unto
Him His great power and reign,” when “ the kingdom is the
Lord’s and He is the Governor among the nations; [then,
and not till then] all the ends of the world shall remember and
turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall
worship Him.”
He comes now as “ the
desire of all nations.” At the first advent there was no beauty
in Him that they should desire Him.
He comes to bring about the
great restitution which was so beautifully represented and
shadowed forth under the Law in “ the year of Jubilee,” in which
every man was restored to all His possessions, and to personal
liberty. (Lev. 25:13.) The millennial reign is the great
antitypical jubilee, (the substance which cast the shadow in the
Law) in which every man will have restored to him in the second
Adam just what he lost in the first Adam, and have an
opportunity to know God and to learn of that only name by which
they can be saved— Jesus; who tasted death for every man, to be
testified in due time. Then the wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad, the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the
rose, the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, they shall
see the glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. (Isaiah
35:1, 2)
Now we can suffer from the
sin of Adam, and the errors of our ancestors, even the innocent
babe of an hour old, but “ In those they shall say no more, the
fathers have eaten a sour grape and the children’s teeth are set
on edge: but every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man
that eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.” “
The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” (Jer. 31:20, 30; Ezek.
18:3)
Shall we not, then, take up
the strain which employed the apostles and prophets of old! Will
the hope of the coming of the Bridegroom, which inspired with
zeal the early church, not now energize us to strive for the
prize of our high calling which is of God, in Christ
Jesus? Verify He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself.
(I John 3:3)
Lift up your Heads,
desponding Pilgrims, Give to the winds your needless fears; He,
who hath died on Calvary’s mountain Soon is to reign a thousand
years.
Tell the whole world these
blessed tidings, Speak of the time of rest that’s near; Tell the
oppressed of every nation, Jubilee lasts a thousand years.
What if the clouds do for a
moment, Hide the blue sky where morn appears; Soon the glad sun
of promise given, Rises to shine a thousand years.
A thousand years earth’s
coming glory, ‘Tis the glad day so long foretold; ‘Tis the
bright morn of Zion’s glory, Prophets foresaw in times of old.
CHAPTER II
---------
THE MANNER OF CHRIST’S
SECOND COMING
Having considered the
object of our Lord’s return, the manner in which He will come
becomes to all “ who love His appearing” one of great interest,
and invites your attention.
The reader will please bear
in mind that the subject is here treated abstractly, without the
least reference to the time of the event, whether it be nigh,
even at the door, or thousands of years future; and further,
that these pages were not written for the world, but for “ the
household of faith” for those who accept the Bible as God’s
word, and “ who by reason of use have their senses exercised.”
(Heb. 5:14).
Experience has proven what
Scripture so plainly declares, viz: that “ the natural man
receiveth not the things of the spirit of God;” he can
understand the arguments but “ they are foolishness unto him.
Neither can he know them because they are spiritually
discerned.” (1 Cor. 2:14) In order that we may have a good
foundation, and as a basis for further investigation, we will
first enquire, what is a spiritual body?— what powers are
theirs, and by what laws are they governed?
We are here met by the
objections— we have no right to pry into the hidden things of
God; and, “ Eye hath not seen, ear heard, neither have entered
into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for
those that love him.” To both of these propositions we assent,
but believe we cannot find out by studying God’s word— and our
investigation will be confined to it— what He has not revealed.
The above quotation of scripture, (1 Cor. 2:8) refers to the
natural or carnal man, and by reading it, in connection with the
three verses following it, the objection vanishes: for, says the
apostle, “ God hath revealed them unto us by His spirit,” which
was given to us that “ we might know the things freely
given unto us of God,” and in the last clause of vs. 13, he
gives us the rule by which we may know. viz.:“ Comparing
spiritual things with spiritual.” We are very apt to invert this
rule and compare spiritual things with natural, and thus get
darkness instead of light. Let us now use the apostle’s rule.
There is a spiritual body
as well as a natural body; an heavenly as well as an earthly
body; a celestial as well as a terrestrial. They are distinct
and separate. (1 Cor. 15:38- 49.)
We know what the fleshly—
natural body is, for we now have such a one; it is flesh, blood
and bones; for “ that which is born of the flesh is flesh,” and
as there are two kinds of bodies, we know that the spiritual is
not composed of flesh, blood and bones, whatever it is made of.
It is a spiritual body, and “ that which is born of the spirit
is spirit.” But as to what material a spiritual body is made of,
we know not, for it doth not yet appear what we shall be;
but we shall be like Him. [Christ]
Angels are spiritual
bodies. Christ was raised from the dead a spiritual body;this
was His second birth. First, born of the flesh a fleshly body—
for, “ as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also
himself likewise took part of the same.” (Heb. 2:14) He was “
Put to death in the flesh but quickened [made alive] by the
Spirit.” He was raised a spiritual body. This resurrection was
His second birth. He was the “first born [2] from the
dead,” “ the first- born among many brethren.” The church
are those brethren and will have a second birth of the same kind
as His, viz.: to spiritual bodies by the resurrection, when we
shall arise in His likeness—being made “ Like unto Christ’s
glorious body.” But, this second birth [3] must be preceded
by a begetting of the spirit— conversion— just as surely as a
birth of the flesh is preceded by a begetting of the flesh.
Begotten of the flesh — born of the flesh — in the likeness of
the first Adam, the earthy; begotten of the spirit — in the
resurrection born of the spirit into the likeness of the
heavenly, the second Adam. “ As we have borne the image of the
earthly we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” All who
are begotten of the spirit are in a sort of embryo condition
waiting for the birth. The head [Christ] has been born;
we are waiting for the adoption, to wit: the redemption of
the body; and, “ the whole creation groans and travails in
pain,” waiting for the birth of the church of the first- born
. We hope, then, by examining facts recorded of angels, and
of Christ after His resurrection to gain general information
with regard to spiritual bodies; thus “ comparing spiritual
things with spiritual.”
First, angels can be, and
frequently are, present, yet invisible: for, “ the angel of the
Lord encampeth round about them that are His and delivereth
them,” and “ are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to
minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?” (Heb. 1:14)
Are you an heir of salvation? Then, doubtless, they have
ministered to you; have they ministered visibly or invisibly?
undoubtedly the latter. Elisha is surrounded by a host of
Assyrians, his servant is fearful; Elisha prayed to the Lord and
the young man’s eyes were opened and he saw the mountains round
about Elisha full of chariots of fire and horsemen of fire [or
like fire]. The Lord also when raised a spiritual body was
present but unseen for thirty- three days and forty
nights (only appearing seven times to His disciples).
Second, angels can and have
appeared as men. The Lord and two angels appeared to
Abraham, who had a supper prepared for them, of which they ate.
At first, Abraham supposed them to be “ three men,” and it was
not until they were about to go that he discovered one of them
to be the Lord, and the other two angels, who afterward went
down to Sodom and delivered Lot. (Gen 18:1) An angel appeared to
Gideon as a man, but afterward made himself known. An
angel appeared to Samson’s mother and father; they thought him a
man until He ascended up to heaven in the flame of the altar.
(Judges 13:20). The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses as a
flame of fire:and, “ behold the bush burned, yet was it not
consumed.” The angel of the Lord appeared to the children of
Israel in the wilderness as a cloud by day and a pillar of fire
by night. (Exodus 13:21 and 14:19.) And doubtless many similar
cases will recur to the mind of the reader. In some of these
cases given they appeared as men; but “the Lord is not a
man” neither are angels men.
Third, spiritual bodies are
glorious in their normal condition; frequently spoken of as
glorious and bright. The countenance of the angel who rolled
away the stone from the sepulchre “ was as the lightning.”
Daniel saw a glorious spiritual body whose eyes were as lamps of
fire, his countenance as the lightning, his arms and feet like
in color to polished brass, his voice as the voice of a
multitude; before him Daniel fell as a dead man. (Daniel 10:6.)
John, on the isle of Patmos, saw Christ’s glorious body, (Rev.
1:14) and describes the appearance in almost the same language—
His voice was as the sound of many waters, His eyes are lamps of
fire, His feet like fine brass as it burns in a furnace, (so
bright that you can scarcely look at it), John falls at His feet
as dead; but He said to Him fear not; I am He that was dead;
behold I am alive forevermore. Saul of Tarsus saw Christ’s
glorious body. It shone above the brightness of the sun at
noonday. Saul lost his sight and fell to the ground, etc.
We have thus far found
spiritual bodies truly glorious; yet, without a miracle, either
the opening of our eyes to see them, or their appearing in
the flesh as men, they are invisible.
This conclusion is further
confirmed when we examine the more minute details connected with
these manifestations. The Lord was seen of Saul alone, “ they
that journeyed with him.... seeing no man.” (Acts 9:7.) The men
that were Daniel did not see the glorious being he describes,
but a great fear “ fell on them and they ran and hid
themselves.” Again, this same glorious being declares:(Daniel
10:13) “The prince of Persia withstood me one and twenty days.”
“Daniel, the man greatly beloved” of the Lord, falls as dead
before this one whom Persia’s prince withstands one and twenty
days!
How is this? Surely, He did
not appear in glory to the prince; no; either He was invisibly
present with him, or else He appeared as a man.
But Christ is also a spiritual body since
His resurrection. During the forty days of His presence before
ascension, He appeared some seven or eight times to His
disciples; where was He the reminder of the time? Present, but
invisible. Notice, also, that in each instance He
is said to have appeared, or He showed Himself,
language never used of Him before His change from a natural to a
spiritual body; now as angels He appeared . Not only so,
but He appeared in different bodies: as the gardener to Mary; “
after that, He appeared in another FORM, to two of them
as they went into the country.:(Mark 16:12.) Afterwards He
appeared in a body, either the same or like the one crucified,
having the marks of the spear and the nails. “ He came and stood
in their midst, the doors being shut .” On these various
occasions He appeared, talked with them, then vanished
out of their sight as the wind; they could not tell whence He
came nor whither He went. “ So is every one that is
born of the spirit.” When we are born of the spirit, (at the
resurrection) we can do so also.
All spiritual beings
exhibit this same power. But Jesus said:“ handle me; for a
spirit [pneuma] hat not flesh and bones, as ye see me
have” and He ate with them. True, I believe it. So did the
angels [pneuma] (Heb. 1:7), appear as men in
flesh and bones; they ate also; their spiritual
bodies did not eat, nor were they flesh and bones, but the body
in which they appeared was flesh, and it ate. The
disciples did not see Christ’s glorious spiritual body; but as
He appeared in a fleshly body. St. Paul teaches us
distinctly that Christ was raised from the dead a life-giving
spirit, [pneuma, the same word used by our Lord.] (1 Cor.
15:44,45). But where did He get the various bodies in which he
appeared? I cannot answer you; but I believe, as you do also,
other things which we cannot understand. I cannot understand
how that grain of wheat grows. Yet I know it does. I know
not how Christ turned the water into wine, or healed the
sick, or raised the dead. Yet I believe that He did these
things. Can you tell me where He got the clothes He wore after
His resurrection? “ They parted His raiment among them, and for
His vesture they cast lots” — the old were gone, and the linen
cloths lay in the sepulchre. Is it more difficult for spiritual
beings, with their powers, to create a covering of flesh than a
covering of cloth? No; the same power can and did do both. Thus
we have found Christ’s spiritual body like those of angels;
glorious, yet invisible to mortals, with power to manifest the
glory, or appear as a man or in any form He may choose. In the
resurrection we shall be like the angels; and “ like unto
Christ’s glorious body.” We shall be like Him; for [not ‘til
then] we shall see Him as He is,” for though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we
Him no more.” [after the flesh.] (2 Cor. 5:16.) Such a spiritual
being was Christ, at the time of His ascension, and with what we
have learned of the powers of that spiritual body, we are now,
we hope, prepared to enquire:
“ HOW WILL HE COME AGAIN?”
Briefly stated, we believe
the scriptures to teach, that, at His coming and for a time
after He has come, He will remain invisible; afterward
manifesting or showing Himself in judgments and various forms,
so that “ every eye shall see Him.” [4] “ Every eye shall see
Him” as He will appear; but “without holiness no man
shall see the Lord ” as He is. “ We shall see Him as He is, for
we shall be like Him .”
SOME OF THE SCRIPTURE
PROOF.
“Behold, I come as a thief”
is the way He frequently spoke of His coming to His disciples.
He comes “ as a thief” for the church— the waiting virgins; both
“ they that sleep in Jesus” — the first resurrection— and “ we,
who are alive and remain.” “ shall be caught up to meet the Lord
in the air; so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
“ Forever with the Lord,
Amen, so let it be; Life from the dead is in that word, ‘Tis
immortality.”
“In that day two shall be
in the mill, two in the field, two in bed; one be taken and the
other left” — like Enoch, who “ was not, for the Lord took him.”
The world will go on with its affairs, unconscious of the great
changes of dispensation. But will they not miss the church? So
many? Nay, but so few of the church. It is only the
overcomers that sit on the throne. It is but a “ little
flock to whom it is the Father’s pleasure to give the
Kingdom.” These are “ the Temple;” these “ the Bride;” “these
follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth;” “these are redeemed
from among men, and are a first fruit unto God and
the Lamb.” (Rev. 14:6.) These have obeyed the Master’s
injunction: “Take heed, least your hearts be overcharged with
the cares of this life, and so that day come upon you
unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all them [who
are over- charged] that dwell upon the face of the whole earth.”
(Luke 21:35.)
These are “ accounted
worthy to escape all these things (“ the day of wrath on the
world;” “ the time of trouble such as was not since there was a
nation”) — They “ stand before the son of man.” But there are
numbers of overcharged Christians who will not be counted worthy
to escape (caught up to meet Him); servants, but not overcoming
servants; not hypocrites, but “ they shall have their portion
with the hypocrites.” They did not build “with gold, silver,
precious stones,” and do not have the abundant entrance; but
they built upon the rock and “ themselves shall be saved,
as by fire.” Many will be purified of their dross in that fire.
“ When the judgments of the Lord are abroad in the earth, the
inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”
These, doubtless,
constitute a part of the “ great company that no man could
number,” who “ come up out of [ek, after] great tribulation.”
This countless company is not the “little flock,” “ the temple,”
nor do they “ sit in the throne,” but these “ serve God
in His temple,” and are around the throne; these “
washed their robes,” (Rev. 7:9- 17) while the “ little
flock” have white robes granted or given to them,
Christ’s righteousness. (Rev. 19:8) No; the “ little flock,” —
the bride,— is a very select company. There will be so few taken
from the present generation that they will not be much missed.
True, the foolish virgins will miss them; (virgins, undefiled,
but not wise); they will recognize the fact that the others have
gone into the marriage, when they say “ Lord, Lord, open unto
us.” But Christ has but one bride; the door to that
marriage is forever closed.
Christian brethren will
know, but the world will not believe in translation; and
in the time of trouble which follows the taking away of the “
salt of the earth,” newspaper reporters will have little
difficulty in accounting plausibly for their disappearance; for
“ not many great, wise, rich, or mighty, hath God chosen, but
the poor of this world, rich faith, heirs of the kingdom
.”
The second advent, like the
first, covers a period of time, and is not the event of a
moment. The first lasted nearly thirty- four years; and the
events connected with it — His birth, baptism, sorrow death,
resurrection, etc., as mentioned by the prophets, all took place
at the first advent. The second advent, as we have seen,
lasts much longer. It includes the millennial reign, and
prophecy covers all the prominent features of that reign. He
comes to reign— must reign until He has put down all enemies;
the last being death. (1 Cor. 15:25)
In the application of
prophecy to the events of the first advent, we recognize order.
Christ must be the “ child born and son given” before “
the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He must
die before He could rise from the dead, etc. So also
in studying prophecy referring to the second advent we must
recognize order; we must judge of the order somewhat by the
character of the event. As the wife is the glory of the
husband, so the Bride is the glory of Christ, for “ we are
called to eternal glory by Christ Jesus;” and are to be
“partakers of the glory that shall be revealed,” (I Peter 5:1-
10.) and as “ the glory shall be revealed in us .” (Rom.
8:18.) We know that Christ could not come in the glory of his
kingdom [church] until he has first gathered it from the world,
and in harmony with this thought we read—” When He shall
appear, we also shall appear with Him in glory.”
(Col. 3:4.)
The prophets foretold the
sufferings of Christ [head and body] and the glory that should
follow. If the sufferings were of the whole body, so is
the glory we suffer with him that we may be also “
glorified together .” (Rom. 8:17.) “ Enoch prophesied
saying— the
Lord cometh with ten
thousands of his saints.” [gr. hagios, never translated
angel]. (Jude 14) Again, (Zech. 14:5) we read—” the Lord my God
shall come and all thy saints with thee .” Thus we learn
that when He appears in glory we are with Him, and of
course we must be caught to meet Him before we could appear with
Him.
We have further evidence to
offer, proving that He comes unknown to the world; but will
attempt to answer two supposed objections first; viz:“ This same
Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into
heaven,” (Acts 1:11.) and “ The Lord himself shall descend from
heaven with a should, with the voice of the arch- angel and the
trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise.” (1 Thes. 4:16)
These texts are supposed to teach that Christ will come visible
to every eye, while the air is rent with the blast of the arch-
angel’s trumpet; at which, mid reeling tombstones and opening
graves the dead will be resurrected. It certainly has that
appearance on the surface, and doubtless was intended to be so
understood until due, [so also at the first advent] but look at
it again; would that be coming in like manner as they saw
Him go?
He did not go with the
sounding of a trumpet and outward demonstration. It does not say
you shall see Him coming, nor that any one would
see, but— He shall so come. For instance, the Prince Imperial of
the French visits Paris under disguise as a civilian; as he
leaves Paris his servant says to you, privately, “ this same
Prince shall so come again in like manner as you have seen him
go from Paris.” Whether you or any one will see him is not
mentioned, simply the manner in which he will return. You
would understand the servant doubtless to mean that the Prince
would come back privately. If he should return in
all the glory of the French Empire, bands playing, trumpets
sounding and cannon roaring, with thousands of soldiers in
attendance, you would say that his servant had either ignorantly
or willfully misinformed you. Our Prince left the glory which he
had with the Father, made himself of no reputation, took upon
Him the form of a servant, etc.
When He visited us He went
away unglorified; His servant, the angel, said—” He shall so
come in like manner.” When he arrives it will be privately. He
comes to organize us, as his kingdom; to set us up. He comes to
be glorified in his saints in that day. (2 Thes. 1:10.) The
world saw him not after His resurrection, they did not see him
ascend. As He said, “yet a little while and the world seeth me
no more,” nor will they see him at the second advent until His
church is gathered, for “ when he shall appear we also
shall appear with him.” What then does the trumpet mean?
Let us see. We are to be rewarded “ at the resurrection,” we
surely will not be rewarded twice nor resurrected twice. We
conclude, therefore, that the “Trump of God,” (1 Thes. 4:16) and
the “ Last Trump,” (1 Cor. 15:52,) are the same, differently
expressed; the same events are mentioned as occurring at each,
viz.: the resurrection and reward of the saints, and for the
same reasons we believe the “ Trump of God” and “ Last Trump” to
be the “ Seventh Trump” of Rev. 11:15- 18. Under it also the
dead are judged and the prophets and saints rewarded. Therefore
the “ Seventh Trump” is the “ Trump of God,” and the “ Last
Trump.”
These trumpets evidently
are the same, but what? The seventh angel sounded . A
sound on the air? No, not any more than the six which preceded
it. They are each said to sound, and Sir Isaac Newton, Clarke,
and all commentators of note agree that five or six of these
trumpets are in the past.[5] They have been fulfilled in events
upon the Earth, each covering a period of time. They certainly
must all sound before the resurrection, for that is under the
seventh. It is in the days (symbolic time, all the other
features are symbolic years) of the sounding of the seventh
angel, when he shall begin to sound [or fore part] the mystery
[Gospel Church] of God shall be finished.
If the Seventh trump were
to make a sound on the air, it would not only be out of harmony
with the other six of the series, but also with all of God’s
past dealings with the children of men. That it covers “ the
great day of His wrath,” the time of judgments upon the kingdoms
of the world and of the pouring out of the “ seven vials” of His
wrath, the “ time of trouble such as was not since there was a
nation” seems more than probable, for we are told in the same
sentence of the wrath of God coming on the nations.
Each of these trumpets are
sounded by an angel, i e ., the events mentioned are
directed or controlled by an angel; hence might well be said to
be their voce. We know that signs speak, and that sometimes
events or “ actions, speak louder than words .” Of
the names of the angels directing the first six of the series we
know nothing, but Paul seems to teach
that the Seventh is under the
control of the arch- angel; and this seems to bring a
connection between the time of wrath
under the seventh trump, and the “ time of trouble” of Dan.
12:1, under “ Michael;” for Jude informs us that Michael, is
the arch- angel .
Verse 2 connects this with
the resurrection also. We see then, that the sounding of the
trumpets, and so coming in like manner, do not conflict but
rather add force to the fact that He comes “ unawares,” “ as a
thief” and steals away from the world His treasure, His jewels;”
remember too that this is Christ the spiritual body, that could
not be seen without a miracle, that was present yet unseen
during thirty- three days after his resurrection.
But will the world not see
the saints when gathered or gathering? No: they are changed (in
the twinkling of an eye) from Natural to spiritual bodies, like
unto Christ’s glorious body, and will be as invisible as He and
angels. But those who arise from their graves?— No, they were
sown (buried) natural bodies, they are raised spiritual bodies—
invisible .
Won’t the world see the
graves open and tombstones thrown down? A spiritual body
(remember we are comparing spiritual things with spiritual not
natural) coming out of the grave will not make any more of a
hole in the ground than Christ’s spiritual body made in the door
when “ He came and stood in their midst, the doors being shut.”
[6]
THE PRESENCE OF CHRIST
BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
Christ’s personal presence
and ministry of three and a half years at the first advent, He
terms—” The harvest .” It was the harvesting of the
Jewish or Law age. Christ was present as the chief reaper. His
disciples as under-reapers; their work was the gathering of
wheat into the higher or Gospel dispensation;— that harvest
ceased at His death, and was the end of that age. Jesus said to
His disciples, “ Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for
they are white already to harvest.” “ I sent you to reap that
whereon ye bestowed no labor, other men have labored [the
prophets] and ye are entered into their labors” (John 4:38.)
That this work was not general, nor to the world we might
presume from the fact that He confined His labors to Judea, but
it is settled beyond doubt by the commission given to the
disciples, viz: Go not into the way of the Gentiles and into any
city of the Samaritans enter yet not: But go ye rather to the
lost sheep of the house of Israel, (Matt. 10:5) for “ I am not
sent save to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” and the
work to them did not cease until five days before His death,
when he road on the ass into the city, wept over it, gave them
up and their house was left unto them desolate. Where
God’s favor toward them as a nation ceased, it began toward the
world (Rom. 11:30) for “ Jesus Christ by the grace of God tasted
death for every man,” and after His resurrection He sends the
disciples to “ preach the Gospel to every nation.”
But it is no longer a
harvest; the church does not reap but sows the seed. Paul
plants, Appollos waters, God gives increase, etc. But there is
to be a harvest in the end of this age, as illustrated in
the parable of the tares and wheat, and taught in the
explanation of the same. Notice that both wheat and tares, are
in the kingdom of heaven,—- the church—- and that this parable,
as also the other six of the series, refers not to the
nonprofessing world, but to two classes in the church.
The Son of Man planted the
church pure, all good seed. During the days of the Apostles
there were special “ gifts of the Spirit” such as “ discerning
of spirits, etc.,” by which they were able to prevent tares
getting in among the wheat — hypocrites getting into
the church. (Instance 1 Cor. 5:3.—” Simon Magus” —” Anannias and
Sapphira.” etc.) but when the Apostles were dead, “ while men
slept” — the enemy began to sow tares, among the wheat. Paul
says that the mystery of iniquity had begun to work even in his
day; now, they grow side by side in all our churches. Shall we
separate them, Lord? No, (we might make some mistake, pull up
wheat and leave tares.) “ let both grow together until the
Harvest,” (Matt. 13.) The harvest is the end of the world” [aion,
age.] In the time of harvest I will say unto the reapers,—
the reapers are the angels—” gather together just the
tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather
the wheat into my barn.”
Notice, this Harvest
is the end of this age, yet, like the one ending, the Jewish
age, it is a period of time,—” In the time of harvest:” —
secondly there is order,—” gather first the tares.”
There will come a time,
then, in the end of this age, when the reapers— angels— will be
present doing some sort of a separating work in the church; and
yet it is an invisible presence, for when the wheat is gathered
(after the binding of the tares)— translated, when we which are
alive are caught up to meet the Lord— when taken they are in the
field, mill and bed; would they be so engaged if they had seen
angels going about gathering tares? No: it is an invisible work,
done by beings invisible without a miracle.
Again, before the living
are gathered, the dead in Christ must have risen, whether
it be but a moment before; “ the dead in Christ rise first,
then we which are alive, &c.” (1 Thess. 4:16.) This harvest
is not of the living only, but also of “ the dead in Christ” —”
those that sleep in Jesus.” The angels gather the living, but
our Lord, who is the chief reaper here, (as He was in the Jewish
harvest) gathers or raises the dead. “ I will raise him up;” “ I
am the resurrection and the life;” and in harmony with this
thought the harvest is brought to our notice in Rev. 14:15—:One
like unto the Son of man, seated on a cloud,” reaps the earth,
Here, two harvests, or two parts of one harvest, are shown, the
second being the casting of the vine of the earth into the wine-
press of His wrath: doubtless the parallel to the burning of the
bundled tares (time of trouble) after the wheat is gathered. The
special point to which your attention is called, however, is the
fact that the harvest will go on without outward demonstration,
the chief and under- reapers being present but unseen.
THE PRESENCE (PAROUSIA) OF
CHRIST.
Some may have confounded
our remarks on the presence of Christ in a spiritual body, with
the presence of the spirit of Christ; but they are quite
distinct. The latter never left the church; consequently in that
sense He could not “ come again.” Of His spiritual presence He
said:“ Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the
world.” We refer to the personal presence which did go away, and
will come again,— a spiritual body .
The Greek word generally
used in referring to the second advent— Parousia,
frequently translated coming — invariably signifies
personal presence, as having come, arrived [7] and
never signifies to be on the way, as we use the word
coming . This fact is recognizedby many who are looking for
the Lord, but the error under which the church in general is
laboring, is that of supposing that presence implies sight,
manifestation, appearance. In the Greek, however, other words
are used to express revelation, appearing and manifestation,
viz.: phaneroo — rendered shall appear in “ when He shall
appear, &c.,” — and apokalupsis [8] — rendered, shall be
revealed— 2 Thess. 1:7.
“ When the Lord Jesus shall
be revealed.” But we have Christ’s own words to prove that He
will be present in the world, and the world will know not of it.
Matt. 24:37. We read:“As the days of Noah were so shall also the
parousia (presence) of the Son of man be.”
The presence of Christ is
not compared to the flood, but to the days of Noah, the days
that were before the flood, as verse 38 shows; as then they ate,
drank, married, etc., and knew not, so shall also the
presence of the Son of man be. The resemblance here mentioned is
that of not knowing — they will not know of the
presence of Christ. They may have been wicked then, and
doubtless were and may be similarly wicked in His presence; but
wickedness is not the point of comparison, as then they ate,
drank, married— proper enough things to be doing, not sins; so
shall it be in Christ’s presence.
Now, look at Luke 17:26. “
As it was in the days of Noah so shall it be also in the days of
the Son of man.” Verse 27 tells how it was in the days of Noah;
they were eating, drinking, marrying, etc. “ So shall it be
in the days of the son of man.” Surely the days of the son
of man are not before His days, any more than the days of
Henry Clay could be days before he was born. No; the more we
examine the more we are convinced that the world will go on as
usual, and know not, until “ the harvest is past, the summer
ended, and they are not in the ark, not with the little flock “
accounted worthy to escape.” There will be no outward
demonstration of the second advent having begun, and Christ
being present, until the church is gathered, whenever it takes
place— soon, or in the distant future.
CHAPTER III
THE KINGDOM OF GOD
The Scriptures everywhere
recognize the church as the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is
likened to “ Ten Virgins,” to “ Wheat and Tares,” to a net in
which are caught both good and bad fish, etc. These figures or
parables represent the church in the present time, good and bad
mixed, in the nominal church of Christ; they so continue to
represent the kingdom until the end of this age, [world] the “
harvest” time, then the wise and foolish virgins, good and bad
fish, and wheat and tares are separated. This kingdom is now “
subject to the powers (governments, kingdoms) that be,” for “
the powers that be are ordained of God.” This kingdom has
promise of all authority and power, and the time will come when
“ The kingdom (ruling power) under the whole heavens shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High, and they
shall possess it forever.” “ The little flock” to whom “ it is
the Father’s good pleasure to give the kingdom” is now being
tried, being made perfect through suffering, being prepared by
contact with suffering and sin for the position to which they
are to be exalted, that as “kings and priests” they may be able
to sympathize with those over whom in the millennial age they
are called to rule. We are to be joint heirs with Christ in His
kingdom and throne, and cannot enter upon our reign until “ He
takes His great power and reigns.”
That will not be until the
end of the world or age; for Jesus says, “ My kingdom is not of
this world,” “ The devil is the prince of this world.” Christ’s
kingdom and ours is of the next age; then “ the Son of man shall
sit on the throne of His glory.” Now He is “ seated at the right
hand of God,” “ sat down with the Father on His throne” The
setting up of the kingdom is our separation from the world,
foolish virgins and tares; the glorifying of the wheat which
then shines forth as the sun. But how will this kingdom rule
over the world?
Will it have Jerusalem for
its capital or seat of empire? Will Christ sit in Jerusalem upon
the throne of David? “Jerusalem shall be rebuilt upon her old
heaps as in the former time,” Israel is not and never again will
be “ the kingdom of God.” They were once, but it was taken from
them and given to another people, children of Abraham by faith—
the church. Under the sounding of the seventh trumpet all the
kingdoms of the world (now under the control of Satan) become
the “ kingdoms of our Lord.” (They pass into the possession
of Christ and under the rule of His kingdom— the devil being
bound.)— Rev. 20:2. Israel, with their capital at Jerusalem,
will doubtless be chief of these fleshly nations, but it will no
more be the Heavenly kingdom than they.
Jesus says unless a man be
born again, born of the Spirit, he cannot see the kingdom
of God neither enter into it. (John 3:3- 5.) The kingdom of
heaven is a spiritual kingdom and cannot be seen mortals, any
more than Satan’s kingdom at the present time. We never see
Satan’s kingdom nor his throne, but we realize its power. This
accords with our Lord’s statement when He was demanded of the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come. He answered and
said unto them: the kingdom of God cometh not with observation,
[margin, outward show] neither shall they say, Lo. here! or Lo,
there! For behold the kingdom of God is within you [in your
midst.]— certainly not in the hearts of those Pharisees. The
kingdom will be present in the world, controlling it, yet
unseen.
How, then, can Christ sit
upon the throne of David? None will argue that the throne of
David, which is cast down and is to be raised, up, means the
pieces of wood, etc., on which David sat. What then? The word
throne is there used as the representative of power— ruling
authority. (we use it so to- day). When God’s kingdom was on the
fleshly plane, David represented Him. The throne was then the
Lord’s and “ David sat upon the throne of the kingdom of the
Lord.” So also of his son it is written. “ Solomon sat upon the
throne of the Lord in the room of his father David.” It is not
the piece of wood that is here referred to; words are but
symbols to represent ideas. The one here represented is, that
the control once vested in David, afterward thrown down,
[removed] and the affairs of the earth given into the hands of
the Gentiles, (Luke 21:24) is to be restored in Christ, on a
higher plane: first, the natural, afterward, the spiritual,
seems to be God’s order in everything.
Jerusalem, when rebuilt,
will not be the kingdom of God; for all, whether born again or
not, could see it. It would have outward show: men would say:
Lo, here! and Lo, there! The heavenly city Jerusalem itself is
the bride, the church. Come hither and I will show thee the
bride; and He showed me the “ Holy Jerusalem .” In
Scripture a city is frequently used as the symbol of a
government or institution. (See Isa. 14:31; Jer. 33:5- 7; Rev.
11:2; Rev. 14:8; Rev. 16:19; Rev. 17:18)
But will the world not see
Christ on His throne when they shall “ say to the mountains and
rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth
upon the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great
day of his wrath is come.” Will they see nothing? “ The day of
the Lord so cometh [on the world and foolish virgins] as a
thief” — a snare. The class here referred to are represented as
recognizing the fact, that “ the great day of His wrath has
come,” the time of trouble; they now realize it. “ He shall be
revealed [to them] in flaming fire, [terrible judgments] taking
vengeance, etc.” What sort of rocks and mountains do you suppose
this will pray to have fall on them— literal mountains? No; few
saints have the faith to pray for mountains to fall, while the
wicked have not faith to pray for small things; besides what
would we think of a man who wanted to die and could think of no
more simple method than to be crushed by a mountain. But these
do not seek destruction: they want to be covered —
protected— in this time of trouble— day of wrath—” when every
man’s hand is against his neighbor,” when “ the mountains
[kingdoms] are moved out of their places: for “ all the kingdoms
[mountains] that are upon the face of the earth shall be thrown
down.” The mountains [kingdoms] shall melt and flow down like
wax at the presence of the Lord. During the time of
commotion and general national destruction, the “ dashing in
pieces” of governments, men will seek protection— covering—
hiding in the great and strong kingdoms of the world. Men will
say there is Great Britain, Russia, etc.; they are strong, they
protect their citizens, let us become citizens of such. They
will seek hiding, also, in such great rocks of worldly society
as Free Masonry, Odd Fellowship, etc., but none of these (can
protect fully) shall be able to deliver them in the day of the
Lord’s anger. Every mountain shall be moved out of its place.
Then the “ stone [church] becomes a great mountain and fills the
whole earth.” Although invisible it will be real; for, as Paul
says, “the things which are seen are temporal, but the
things that are not seen are eternal. It will be a
peaceful kingdom: for “ He maketh wars to cease unto the ends of
the earth” Peace is established on a sure basis, by the breaking
in pieces of the worldly governments. “Every man may then sit
under his own vine and fig tree, with none to molest or make him
afraid.”
“ Now the world is full of
suffering,
Sounds of the woe fall on my ears,
Sights of wretchedness and sorrow
Fill my eyes with pitying tears;
‘Tis the earth’s dark night of weeping,
Wrong and evil triumph now;
I can wait, for just before me
Beams the morning’s roseate glow.”
If this is the character of
the kingdom of God, spiritual, invisible, how can we be “ kings
and priests,” or in any way teach or minister to the world? If
we are of this high order of beings, spiritual, glorious, like
Christ, men in the flesh would fall before us, as Saul, Daniel
and John did before glorious beings. True; but as in past ages,
angels, when it was necessary, appeared as men under the
veil of the flesh, (Heb. 10:20) so we in the next age will
appear to men. Now and in the past ages angels have been the
ministers, (Heb. 1:14) but “ unto the angels hat He not put in
subjection the world to come, (Heb. 2:5) but unto Christ,” head
and body. (Compare Rev. 2:27, Psalm 2:8 and 8:4.) Moses, as a
type of Christ, illustrates this. The first tables of the law
were broken in pieces, and now a second was to be given. When
Moses with two tables came down the mountain, from the presence
of the Lord, his face shone, so that the people could not look
at him.
Afterward he put on a veil:
then they came to him, he conversed with them and delivered to
them the law of God. Afterward when he talked with the people he
wore the veil, but when he went into the Lord’s presence he laid
it off. (Exod. 34:30.) Moses was the minister in the type. We
are the ministers of the new covenant— the antitype. If the type
“ was glorious, how shall not the ministration of the spirit be
rather [more] glorious?” (2 Cor. 3:9). As he did so will we do.
When ministering to and teaching the people we will wear a
veil,—” the flesh” — the glorious body will be covered, tho veil
of flesh seen. We will appear as men, but when we go into
the presence of the Lord we lay it off—” enter into that within
[beyond] the veil” As in the type, Moses first appeared in
glory, and the people trembled and feared, so, during this time
of trouble. Which introduces the New Law, New Age, the
Millennium, there will be outward manifestations of the power
and glory of the new kingdom;” at which “ all faces shall gather
paleness, and their knees shall smite one against another.”
“He’ll rule the world with
truth and grace
And make the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness
and wonders of His love.”
CHAPTER
IV
WHAT I SAY UNTO ONE I SAY
UNTO ALL, WATCH.
The positions taken we
believe to be strong. They commend themselves as strong to
thinking Christians because of the vast amount of scripture
which favor them. Because they harmonize what has been to many
minds contradictory statements and teachings in the Bible; show
a harmony between the character of God and his works; and
display His attributes, mercy, justice, love, etc ., to
perfection. We believe that the real object of the second advent
has been presented.
The manner we think equally
well established, whether it be an event of our lifetime or not.
But for the church to be left without light on so important a
subject, would seem strange, would it not? It would be contrary
to precedent. Noah knew of the flood; Lot of the fire, etc. They
may not have know of DAY AND HOUR, but they certainly had some
knowledge of the nearness of the events before they came. Are we
who expect to be gathered utterly at sea without means of
knowing anything whatever about the time? Did Jesus not say,
that day should not come upon those who watched, unawares?
[without their knowing]. He did; but he also said “ ye know not
when the time is; what I say unto one I say unto all, watch!”
Yes, but shall we suppose that He meant watch, because you will
never know or because you know not? Watch that you may
know. Let us look at the strongest of this class of texts; “ Of
that day and hour knoweth no man; no not the angels in heaven;
neither the Son, but my Father only: Watch ye therefore.” Now
notice: This does not read of that day and hour no man shall
ever know— but no man knoweth . Jesus said that He
himself did not know then; will he never know until he
comes? Will he not know the hour before he comes— at least? (The
writer does not think the day or hour of our
translation is or will be known; but believes the
scriptures to teach that we will have a general knowledge
of our whereabouts before that event occurs, if we are walking
in the light which shines from the word). Let us look at Bro.
B’s illustration of
THE BESIEGED FORT
The fort is besieged. The
General commanding the attack sends word to all noncombatants
living in and dangerously near it, that as he is about to
undermine and blow up the fort; they must remove or take the
consequences. But it will require some time to accomplish the
work. He therefore gives them certain signals by which they may
know, and says: I will display a blue signal when the excavation
is complete; a red one when the powder is properly arranged; and
when the fuses are laid and everything ready, a green signal;
and ye may know that at four o’clock of that day, the explosion
will occur.
But of that day and hour
knoweth no man; no not the engineers who will do the work, nor
myself; God alone knows the future. What I say unto one I say
unto all, watch, for ye know not when the time is. Now what
would those people fool for? Not the explosion— but the signals.
Did the General mean for them to watch because they could never
know, or in order that they might know? Undoubtedly the latter.
So our captain told us to watch.
Not to watch the sky, but
our chart. “ We have a more sure word of prophecy to which we do
well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place
until the day dawn,” says Peter. Now, hear Paul: turn to and
read carefully, 1 Thes. 5:1- 9; try to distinguish between the
church and the world; ye and you vs. they and them. “ Ye
brethren know that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in
the night [on all? No, on the world and over charged
servant]— when they shall say peace and safety, then
sudden destruction cometh upon them . The next clause
tells how sudden. Not sudden like a flash of lightning, but as—
and they shall not escape.
“But ye brethren are
not in darkness that that day should overtake
you as a thief.”
Although in the presence of
the Son of man the world will not know, yet the church, ye
brethren, are expected to know; not from outward sign but from
the light shining upon the pathway. Our Father undertakes to
furnish the light as fast as it is due, but we must walk in it
if we would not be in darkness.
The day of the Lord is
frequently referred to as a snare or trap into which those
without light go unawares. As a thief it comes
stealthily. But some think as a thief means suddenly; we think
not, but if it does, then “ ye brethen are not in darkness that
that day should come upon you suddenly .” When Jesus
said:“ If therefore thou shalt not watch, thou shalt not know
what hour I will come upon thee.” It seems as though he meant,
if you are watching you shall know. Does it not?
But it is not my object in
this pamphlet to call your attention more fully to the TIME of
the second advent than I have above, in answering some of the
chief objections to the investigation of it. (Those interested
in knowing the evidences as to the time, I would refer to Dr. N.
H. Barbour, editor of the “ Herald of the Morning.” Rochester,
N. Y.) I simply add that I am deeply impressed and think not
without good scriptural evidence, that the Master is come and is
now inspecting the guests to the marriage. (Matt. 22:11).
That the harvest is
progressing, the separated at any moment, the wise virgins go
into the marriage, and the door to the high calling be
forever shut.
Even the outward signs seen
by the world seem to point to the fact that a great
dispensational change may be near. From their stand point the
last century would seem to be the “ day of [God’s] preparation.”
Improvements and inventions progress as never before. Now we are
beginning to realize that these inventions, which in and of
themselves are blessings, are, under present conditions of
society, a curse. Every machine made, after a certain limit,
tends to decrease the demand for each mechanic’s labor; supply
and demand regulates the wages he receives. Today there is
employment for less than threeforths of the industrial labor of
this as well as other lands, and even this number average but
half time; what will it be a few years hence? The prophet,
describing the time of trouble implies that it will be brought
about by lack of employment. “ There shall be no hire for man
nor hire for beast, every man’s hand against his neighbor,” etc.
Yet all these things which
tend to decrease the necessity of manual labor, and many more,
yet undeveloped or unknown, will in the millennial age minister
to the comforts and necessities of the world. In fact, humanly
speaking the Millennial Era would be an impossibility without
them. When the kingdom is the Lord’s, right and justice will
hold the reins, oppression and strikes will alike give place to
equity. These inventions will be used for the benefit not alone
of a class but of the whole, they will serve not merely to the
accumulation of dollars, but to the intellectual enrichment of
all classes, and “ all shall know the Lord from the least to the
greatest.”
Beloved, if it now fills
our hearts to overflowing even to think of the many, great,
exceeding precious promises made to the bride, what will the
realization of them be? They all center in and have their
fulfillment when we shall be like Him, and see Him as He is.
These are “ good tidings of great joy which shall be to
all people .” (Luke 2:11).
Reader, are you Christ’s
servant? If so, are you a faithful, watching servant? Are you
building on Christ, the rock? If so, with what? Gold, silver,
precious stones, or wood and stubble? Are you a virgin? a wise
or a foolish one? You was called and accepted to run a race; so
run that you may obtain. The Master saith “ to him that
overcometh” the prize shall be. Surely, that prize could be no
greater; it is the grandest that even God can offer; to make us
His sons and give us a joint- heirship with Christ. Like Paul,
let us count all things as loss and dross, while we press toward
the mark for the prize of our high calling.
What can you do? Believe
His word; walk in the light which shines from it; live up to
what you have and look for more. It will sanctify you; set you
apart; separate you from the world; your thoughts, your talents,
your influence and your purse. This is the Lord’s rule for our
sanctification:
“ Sanctify them through Thy
truth: Thy word is truth.” If you fully realize how select this
“ little flock” is, and how desirable a matter it is to attain
it, your thought will probably be, it too high for me; I am
unworthy; I have never done anything to merit such high honors.
Brother, sister, there will not be one of that bride company
there because they merited it, nor because of their works. Their
robes are not their righteousness; they could not appear in
those. The wedding garment is Christ’s righteousness— imputed—
given unto us because of faith. We must believe God if we would
be accepted. “ Without faith it is impossible to please God.” We
must come to Him as little children, anxious to know and do His
will if we would enter the kingdom.
The overcoming which is
rewarded with a seat with Him on His throne, is not of works,
but of faith . “ This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even your faith.” I would not speak disparagingly of
works, except as the ground of our acceptance . A
fountain or living stream must have an outlet; living faith will
always produce works. We do not serve God to merit eternal life,
but accepting it of Him as a free gift, and realizing His loving
kindness, we desire to express our thanks and find an outlet,
not only in speaking His praise but also in doing those
things which are pleasing to Him.
“Behold I come as a thief: Watch!”
“Ye brethren are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief!”
“Take heed least your hearts be over - charged with the cares of
this life
and so that day come upon you unawares .”
“If thou shalt not watch thou shalt not know what hour I will
come.”
Those who may wish to obtain this pamphlet, for distribution or
sale, should address
order to “ The Herald of the Morning,” Rochester, N. Y. For
terms see cover.
____________________________
[1] We of course recognize
the fact that in the Scriptures both Life and Death are used
metaphorically.
[2] The first raised a
spiritual body. Lazarus and others arose, natural fleshly bodied
and died again. The next to be raised spiritual bodies are “
They that are Christ’s at His coming.”
[3] The words translated
begotten, begat and born in our English Bibles, are
all represented by the one word in the Greek, Genero;
consequently we must judge as to which is the proper word, by
the connection in which we find it. “ Now are we the Sons of
God;” although not yet born, we are begotten sons; so in the
natural the embryo is a son before birth.
[4] This scripture does not
necessarily teach that every eye will see Him at the same
moment . A similar statement is made of the Resurrection. “
All that are in their graves hear the voice of the Son of Man
and come forth.” Taken by itself this seems to teach of the
resurrection all at once . Yet we learn that “ Blessed
and holy are all they that have part in the first
resurrection.” So all shall be cognizant of His presence though
not all at the same moment. “ He will be revealed in flaming
fire taking vengeance:” whether this refers to the “ fire of His
jealousy— wrath— by which the whole earth is to be devoured,”
(Zeph. 1:18 and Zeph. 3:8) or an appearing in a visible flame as
the angel appeared to Moses in the bush, is not clear. We
incline to the former.
[5] The writer
believes that we are now living under the sounding of the
Seventh, that it has been sounding for more than thirty
years, and continues during the time of trouble, and until the
Kingdom of the Lord is Universal Empire.
[6] It should not be
forgotten that only the church is raised spiritual bodies, all
others, natural fleshly bodies as Lazarus, etc.
[7] “ The emphatic
Diaglott,” a very popular translation from the New Testament
from Griesbach, we believe makes no exception, always
translating this word Parousia— presence.
[8] A ministering
brother in the M. E. church has just called my attention to the
following facts especially interesting to readers familiar with
the Greek: Apokalupto is formed from the verb kalupto,—
which means I cover, conceal,— compounded with the preposition
apo . i. e., apokalupto; it means, I uncover, I reveal.
In the middle voice it signifies, I uncover or reveal myself
. References: Luke 17:30,— middle voice,—” when the son of man
uncovers or reveals himself.” If it is claimed that the verb
here is in the passive voice, it does not alter the argument
any, for then we should read, as in our version, “when the son
of man is uncovered or revealed.” The idea is the same in either
case, viz.: something covered up or invisible, is present and
has been present for some time, but now it is uncovered or
revealed. So in the following references:Matt. 10:26— here both
the simple and compound form is used:“ There is nothing covered
(kalupto) that shall not be uncovered (apokalupto).” Matt.
11:27; 1 Cor. 2:10; Gal. 3:23; Eph. 3:5; 2 Thes. 2:3,6,8. In
this last passage it will be noticed that the man of sin is in
existence, and just as much “ the son of perdition” before as
after he is uncovered or revealed. But the day comes when he is
stripped of his disguise, the sheep- skin is removed, and he is
shown to be a wolf; he is uncovered, revealed.
The ordinary word used for
come, in the Greek, is erkomai, meaning I come. It occurs
over three hundred times in the New Testament. But the word
ako, also translated come, has a different meaning; it
signifies completed action, as I am come, am here, am arrived
. With this in mind, examine Matt. 24:50:— The lord of that
[evil] servant shall come [shall have come] in a day when he
looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of.”
Also, in Luke 12:46. These servants are saying my Lord delayeth.
There is no harm in this so long as He does delay, but there
will come a time when He no longer delays, and the servant
who says He delays is called wicked. For “ yet a little while,
and He that shall come—(erkomai, will come— ako,
shall have come) and will not [longer] tarry.” Heb. 10:37.
Another brother, also of the M. E. church, and for several years
a professor in one of their principal colleges, being convenient
to me, I called his attention to the above. After examining the
text critically, he endorsed the above rendering, remarking that
it was very peculiar; then happening to glance at the 46th verse
of Matt. 24 he called my attention to the fact that the word
there translated cometh is elthou, and signifies
after He has come . Read verses 45 and 46 with this
thought in mind.
Is it possible that there
will be faithful servants giving meat in due season after
the Lord has come? It is so stated, and at that same time the
evil servant will not be aware of His presence, (verse 50).
Selected Works of C.T. Russell
