The Second Advent with Subsequent Events in Heaven and on Earth

PREFACE

The long-lost Hope of our Lord’s Personal Return to call from earth to heaven His own has been graciously revived among us within recent years. And “The Sure Word of Prophecy,” giving light regarding events which “must shortly come to pass” among God’s earthly people Israel, and the Nations, has been searched and studied with a new interest by very many. But alongside of this, the enemy has sowed his tares, and spread his errors broadcast on every hand concerning “things to come.” It was with a sincere desire to help a happy group of young believers, who had, like the Thessalonians of early time, been “turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven” (1 Thess. 1:9), that these lectures, illustrated with a chart, setting forth the order of events as given in the Word were given, and at the request of those who attended them they are now issued. They are elementary and simple, and designedly free from debatable points. Their purpose is to lead their readers to the Word of God, to search and study it for themselves, with the desire that they may be found “watching and ready” in that hour when “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven.”

J.Ritchie

Kilmarnock, May 1987

A NEW AND ENLARGED EDITION

For twenty years, the original edition of this unpretentious little volume has been circulated widely. It has now been reissued in an enlarged size, with “Appendices” and “Notes” added, dealing with points of special interest, and giving somewhat fuller details on Prophetic and Future Events, which the Great World War has brought into prominence. But the main theme—which is the Personal and Imminent Return of the Lord Jesus—the Hope for which we wait, is its Pole-Star still.

J.Ritchie

Kilmarnock, Oct., 1917

Introduction

The object we have in view in these studies is to gather the testimony of God concerning the great events of the future, as contained in the Holy Scriptures, and to present the same in a simple form for the help and blessing of the Lord’s people, especially for those amongst us who have not had much opportunity to search the Scriptures on the subject of the Personal Return of their Lord, or to give themselves to the study of the prophetic Word. We shall endeavour to avoid speculation and controversy, and to limit out searching and meditations to those things which are clearly revealed by God for the edification of His beloved people. Next to the believer’s personal salvation by grace, and his present position and portion in Christ, there is nothing that can possibly be of greater value to his soul than to read aright and learn from God his interest and share in the glory that is to come. To that glory, grace has already called him (1 Pet. 5:10), and until he reaches and shares it with his Lord he can never be fully satisfied. It is to the future that he looks, and God has graciously revealed as much concerning that future as He sees needful to sustain his faith and nourish his hope while yet a pilgrim here.

Future Events

The events of the future may be said to embrace two great circles—the heavenly and the earthly. God has purposes concerning the heavens and His heavenly people. He has also purposes concerning the earth and those that dwell therein. He will glorify Christ in both. First, in the heavens above, next in the earth below. The hope of the believer and of the Church is the personal advent of the Son of God from heaven. For this we are taught to look, and watch, and pray. It is our proper and proximate hope. The hope of Israel is the return of Christ as their Messiah to earth to set up His Kingdom and to reign. But ere this can be fulfilled, momentous events must first take place in heaven and on earth. These events, and the signs of their approach are made known in the prophetic Scriptures.

KEY TO THE COLOURED DIAGRAM

An attempt has been made in the accompanying diagram to tabulate these events, in so far as this can be done with certainty and safety. To enable the eye to easily distinguish between the leading events in the heavens above, and on the earth beneath: the future of the Church, of Israel, and of the Nations; various colours have been adopted to represent them in our diagram.

The Colours

Red.—ISRAEL in the past and future. Jehovah’s earthly people. From the call of Abraham to the Cross of Christ, Israel’s history as the chosen nation is traced on the page of Scripture. In the death of Christ, and their subsequent rejection of the testimony of the Holy Ghost, they filled up the full measure of their iniquity, and were cast off (Rom. 11:15), wrath having come upon them to the uttermost (1 Thess. 2:16). The Red column broken off shows their casting off as a nation throughout the present age. After the present out-calling of the Church has been completed, and the saints gathered to be with Christ in glory, God’s dealings with His earthly people will be resumed as shown in the Red renewed; and after their gathering to their own land, their tribulation, conversion, purification and judgment, they will be re-established in Immanuel’s Land, with the earthly Jerusalem as the metropolis of earth, and Christ as the King of Israel.

Green.—THE GENTILES, or Nations of the earth. “The Times of the Gentiles,” or period of Gentile domination began when Judah was carried captive to Babylon, and will continue until the return of the Son of Man to earth to set up His Kingdom. The rise, progress, and final overthrow of the kingdoms which fill up these times are fully described in the Book of Daniel the prophet (see Daniel 2:36-45). They will end in judgment. During the millennium, the Gentile nations will be in blessing, under and through Israel, as shown by the Green appearing around the Red circle, with the river of blessing flowing out from the earthly Jerusalem, and in the upward path to the earthly Zion, to which the Gentile nations will go to worship Jehovah and keep the set feasts (Zech. 14:16).

Blue.—THE CHURCH. Begun on the day of Pentecost by the descent of the Holy Ghost; at present being gathered out from Jews and Gentiles (Acts 15:14) through the preaching of the Gospel, united to Christ, the Head in heaven, as members of His body (Eph. 1:22-23; 5:30), one new man (Eph. 2:15), to be completed, perfected, and presented as “the Church glorious” (Eph. 5:27) at the coming of the Lord from heaven.

The earthly history of the Church as God’s witness and light-bearer on earth is represented by Seven Golden Lampstands, the symbols of seven consecutive stages of the Church’s testimony and failure (see Revelation 2-3).

Yellow.—GLORY. The first display of this glory will be to the saints raised, changed, and caught up to meet their descending Lord in mid-air, when He comes for them as the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). There they shall gaze upon His unveiled glory (1 Cor. 13:12), and see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Later, He will come to earth in manifested glory (Matt. 24:30), accompanied by His saints and angels (2 Thess. 1:1), and all His foes will perish before the brightness of His appearing (2 Thess. 2:8). During the millennium, the Lord Jesus will reign with all His saints in heavenly glory above. The New Jerusalem, having “the glory of God” within her (Rev. 21:2), will through her transparent wall shed forth that glory on the earthly city below (Isa. 6:1), and the nations shall walk in the light thereof (Rev. 21:24). Glory will eternally dwell in the New Heavens and the New Earth, after sin and all its consequences shall have been purged, and Satan, with all the lost, consigned to their eternal doom in the Lake of Fire.

The Symbols

The Serpent represents the history and work of the great Adversary, called “The Dragon, that old Serpent, the Devil and Satan” (Rev. 20:2). He fell from his first estate and dragged angels with him (Matt. 25:41: 2 Pet. 2:4). He planned and secured the fall of man in Eden (Gen. 3:1): he tempted Christ in the wilderness, but failed to gain His allegiance (Matt. 4:1-8). He was vanquished at the Cross (Heb. 2:14), but is still allowed to hold his usurped authority as “the prince of this world” (John 12:31), and the “god of this age” (2 Cor. 4:4). As a roaring lion he seeks to devour (1 Pet. 5:8), as a subtle serpent to beguile (2 Cor. 11:3), and as an angel of light to deceive (2 Cor. 11:14). He will yet be cast out from the heavens, to which he at present has access (Eph. 6:12), down to earth (Rev. 12:9), where he will stir up unregenerate men against God, His Christ, and His people, and give His power to Antichrist his human representative. At the Coming of the Son of Man he will be laid hold of, and bound in the bottomless pit, or “abyss,” during the thousand years of Christ’s Millennial Reign (Rev. 20:1-3), at the close of which, he will be loosed for a little season, will cause a last great rebellion, and finally will be cast into the Lake of Fire, where the Beast and the false prophet who had preceded him are—the trinity of hell, to be there for ever (Rev. 20:10).

The Star.—Christ’s Coming for His saints as the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16). This is the hope of the believer and the Church.

The Seven Seals.—The unfolding of the purposes of God regarding the earth. The events which these seals symbolize will take place between the ascent of the saints at the coming of the Son of God to the air, and their descent with Him as Son of Man to earth. They occupy the first part of the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy.

The Seven Trumpets.—These represent God’s judgments on the earth and its peoples. They are of a preparatory and warning character.

The Seven Vials.—Divine judgments and indignation poured out upon men and nations on earth. The period of these judgments is the latter half of Daniel’s seventieth week.

The Sun of Righteousness—Christ appears in glory and reigns over the earth (Mal. 4:2), in Millennial splendour and blessing.

THE ORDER OF EVENTS IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH FROM THE CROSS TO THE ETERNAL STATE

The Past (The Death of Christ on the Cross):

The Cross, the centre of all God’s counsels—Gen. 3:15; Isa. 53; Dan. 9:26; John 11:51-52.

The Resurrection of Christ—Matt. 28:1-10; 1 Cor. 15:20.

Christ’s Ascension—Luke 24:51; Acts 1:9.

His Exaltation at the Right Hand of God—Phil. 2:9; Heb. 1:1; 12:2.

The Descent of the Holy Spirit—Acts 2:1 with John 14:26; 16:7.

Characteristics of the Present Age:

The Jews cast off Nationally—Acts 7:51; Rom. 11:15.

The Gospel Preached among all Nations—Matt. 28:19;  Rom. 16:26.

The Church called out from Jew and Gentile—Acts 15:14; Eph. 3:18.

One Body—Eph. 4:4; 5:30.

Christ the Head of the Church in Heaven—Eph. 1:22; 5:23.

The Church on Earth as God’s House—1 Tim. 3:15; Heb. 3:6.

The Church as Christ’s Light-Bearer—Rev. 2-3.

Satan, Prince of this World—John 12:31; and God of this Age—2 Cor. 4:4.

Bodies of Saints in the Grave—Acts 8:2; 1 Cor. 15:44; their Unclothed Spirits with Christ, Acts 7:59; Phil. 1:23; 2 Cor. 5:8.

The Church waiting for Christ—Rev. 22:17; 1 Cor. 1:7.

Christendom ripening in Apostasy—2 Tim. 3:1-13.

The Future:

The Personal Return and Parousia of the Son of God—John 14:3; Rev. 22:20.

The Hope of the Church—Tit. 2:13; 1 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:20.

His Descent into the Air—1 Thess. 4:16; 2 Thess. 2:1.

The Dead in Christ Raised—1 Thess. 4:16; 1 Cor. 15:20, 52.

The Living Saints Changed and Caught Up Together to Meet the Lord—1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 4:17.

Received by Him—John 14:3

Gathered unto Him—2 Thess. 1:1.

They see Him as He is—1 John 3:2.

Presented faultless by Him—Jude 24

In the Father’s House—John 14:2; 17:24.

EVENTS IN THE HEAVENS (After the Saints have been Caught Up, and Before they Return to Earth with Christ)

The Judgment-Seat of Christ, and the Rewards of Service—Rev. 22:12; 2 Cor. 5:10; 1 Cor. 3:14; 4:5.

Satan cast Forth from Heaven—Rev 12:7.

Judgments sent from Heaven upon Earth—The Seals, the Trumpets, and the Vials of Wrath—Rev. 6-17.

The Marriage of the Lamb—Rev 19:7; Eph. 5:25-27.

EVENTS IN THE WORLD (After the Saints have been Taken Up Out of It)

The Apostasy of Christendom—2 Thess. 2:3; Rev. 3:16; 1 John 2:18.

The Strong Delusion and the Lie Believed—2 Thess 2:1.

Antichrist Manifested and Received—2 Thess 2:3, 10; John 5:43.

Judgments upon Christendom which becomes “Babylon the Great”—2 Thess 2; Rev. 6-8.

Return of a Jewish Remnant to Canaan—Joel 3; Zech. 13-14; Rom. 11:15-20.

They rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem and resume Jewish Worship there—Acts 15:16; Ezek. 43; Rom. 11:2.

The Gospel of the Kingdom Preached—Matt. 24:14; Rev. 11:1-7; Isa. 59:19.

The Beast, or Head of the Restored Roman Empire arises—Rev. 13:1-8; 17:11-17; Dan. 7:8-24, 9:27; 11:21-45.

Another Beast, the False Prophet appears—Rev. 13:11-18; 16:13-16; 19:20.

The Roman Empire Revived in Ten Kingdoms—Rev. 13:7.

Daniel’s Seventieth Week begins—Dan. 9:27.

Antichrist makes a Covenant with the Jews, for one Week, or Heptad of 7 years—Dan. 9:27; Isa. 28:15.

Two witnesses prophesy 3½ years, are killed, raised and received up to Heaven—Rev. 11:3; Zech. 4:11-14.

Satan cast into the Earth—Rev. 12:9.

The Covenant is broken by Antichrist—Dan. 9:28; 12:7.

Babylon the Great, her iniquity, her glory, and her doom at the hand of man, and her judgment from God—Rev. 17-18.

The Great Tribulation—Matt. 24:21-30; Jer. 30:7; Dan. 12:1; Rev. 13; 17.

The Martyred Remnant—Dan. 7:21-25; Rev. 13:7; 14:13; 15:2.

The Spared Remnant—Rev. 7:4, 14.

The Beast and his Armies gathered against Jerusalem—Zech. 14.

The Appearing of Christ

His Manifestation in Glory—Tit. 2:13; Rev. 1:7.

With all His saints—Rev. 19:11-16; Col. 3:4.

To Earth—Zech. 14:4-9; Jude 14-15; 2 Thess. 1:7-10.

His Coming as Son of Man—Luke 21:27; Matt. 24:29.

Deliverer of Israel—Zech. 14:4 and Judge.

The Day of the Lord—1 Thess. 5:2; 2 Thess. 2:2-12; 2 Pet. 3:10; Mal. 4:1-2; Zech. 14:1-4; Joel 3:9-16; Isa. 2:12, 21; 13:9-13; 26:20-21; 63:1, 6.

Judgment Executed on Antichrist—2 Thess. 2:8.

Judgment Executed on the False Prophet—Rev 19:20.

Judgment of the Living Nations—Matt. 25:35, 46; Joel 3:11.

Satan cast into the Bottomless Pit, and bound there for a Thousand Years—Rev. 20:3.

The Millennium

Its Characteristics—Rev. 20:6; Acts 3:19-21; Rev. 21:9-27; 22:1-6; Zech. 14:5-9; Isa. 2; 11; 22:19-20; 25; Ezek. 36; Jer. 31:31-34.

The Conversion and Purging of the Jews in their Land—Zech. 12; 13; will precede it, also—

The Restoration and Gathering of the Ten Tribes of Israel to their Land, and their Re-union with Judah—Rom. 11:26; Isa. 11:11-52, 18; 66:19; Ezek. 20:33-49; 37:15-22; Deut. 30:1-5; Jer. 30:3; Hos 3:4-5.

The Earthly Zion, the Centre of Rule and Blessing—Ps. 69:35; 102:13.

Jerusalem, the Metropolis of the World—Jer. 33:16; Zech. 8:3-4; 12:6; 14:8-16; Joel 2:32; Isa. 2:3; 4:5; 54:11-17; 62; 66:19-24; Ezek. 48:35.

Christ Reigns as King—Jer. 3:17; Isa. 11:1-12; 32:1; Ps. 62; 99; 100; 105; Zech. 14:4-16; Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14; Rev. 19:16; Ps. 72:8-16.

His Saints Reign with Him—Rev. 20:4; 1 Sam. 2:8.

The River of Blessing—Zech. 14:8; Ezek. 47; 1:9.

Creation’s Groan Ceases—Rom. 8:19-21; Isa. 40:6-9.

The Whole Earth at Rest—Rom. 8:25.

The Curse is Removed—Joel 2:23-27.

The New Jerusalem—The Bride, The Lamb’s Wife—Rev. 21:9-27; 22:1-5 OVER the earth.

----

Satan Loosed—Rev. 20:7-8.

The Last Great Revolt of Man—Rev. 20:8.

Satan’s Doom—Rev. 20:10.

The Final Doom of the Lost—Rev. 20:14-15.

The Present Heavens and Earth Pass Away—2 Pet. 3:2-10.

Judgment by Fire from Heaven—Rev.

The Great White Throne—Resurrection and Judgment of the Unjust—Rev. 20:11-14; 2 Tim. 4:1; John 5:25-29; Rom. 2:16.

The Eternal Slate—A New Heaven and a New Earth—Rev. 21:1-5; 2 Pet. 3:13; 1 Cor. 15:25; Rev. 21:8.

The Final Condition of the Lost—Rev. 2:14; 21:8.

GOD ALL IN ALL.

THE PROPHECY OF THE SEVENTY WEEKS

The key to a right understanding of the greater part of the prophetic Word, especially that part of it which applies to God’s ancient people, is the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks. This prophecy, which is found in Daniel 9:24-27, was made known to the prophet in answer to his prayer for mercies upon Judah and Jerusalem during the period of the accomplishment of its “Desolations” (Dan. 9:2, R.V.).

The weeks are weeks of years, as will be clearly seen from the parts already fulfilled. The word translated “week” means “heptad,” or seven: the context must decide whether days, weeks, or years. In the prophecy, the word means weeks of years of 360 days each.

This period of seventy weeks, or 490 years, is divided into three unequal periods of 7+62+1. They are as follows:—

1. The first of these periods dates from the going forth of the edict to build Jerusalem—not the temple as it is generally reckoned—but the city (see Dan. 9:25), where the “street and wall” or “rampart” are mentioned, neither of which belonged to “the house of the Lord” (Ezra 3:11; 7:23). This edict was given by Artaxerxes in the twentieth year of his reign (Neh. 2:1-5 with 8), which was B.C. 445. From this edict for the restoration of Jerusalem, till the close of Malachi’s prophecy and of Old Testament history is forty-nine years—seven weeks.

2. The second period of sixty-two weeks, is from the close of Old Testament history, when the prophet’s voice ceased, to “Messiah the Prince,” that is to the presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as David’s Son, and Zion’s King (Luke 19:38 with Zech. 9:9), which can be ascertained by computation[1] to have been exactly sixty-nine weeks of prophetic years, of 360 days, from the decree to build Jerusalem, to the very day on which Christ entered Jerusalem. Between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week, although only marked off by a point in our English Bible—comes in a long interval, or timeless gap, during which prophecy is at a standstill, while Israel is cast off and the present age of grace and of the outgathering of the Church, runs its course. The cutting off of the Messiah (v. 26) was not immediately followed by the blessings to Daniel’s people described in verse 24, but by judgment, consequent on their rejection of the Spirit’s testimony to Him in resurrection glory (Acts 3:18: 4:2), wrath coming upon them to the uttermost (1 Thess. 2:16).

3. When the present age has run its course, and the Jews again return to their land, and have built a temple to Jehovah, the last of these prophetic periods—the seventieth week—will begin. It will be divided into two equal periods, of “three and a half years,” elsewhere named “a time, times, and the dividing of time” (Dan. 7:25). The covenant made by the Jewish leaders with Antichrist, in which he evidently undertakes to be the Patron of their religion and the guardian of their liberty, will be broken by him at the close of the first half of the week, and this will be followed by “the Great Tribulation,” which continues for three and a half years, or 1260 days (Rev. 11:3), at the end of which the Son of Man will appear in power and glory (Matt. 24:30), to hurl the oppressor alive into the burning lake (Rev. 19:20), to deliver His earthly people (Zech. 14:1-6), and to establish His Millennial Kingdom. Such, so far as it has been given to us to trace them on the page of inspired Scripture, are the simple outlines of these great events of the future, which have been given us by an All-Wise God, not to make us mere prophecy-mongers or dealers in bare speculation, but as a light to shine on our rugged path (2 Pet. 1:19, R.V.), showing us our homeward way through a dark and evil world, until the Day Star arise.

THE PERSONAL RETURN OF THE LORD JESUS

The Personal return of the Son of God from Heaven is the hope of the Believer and of the Church. This is the great event to which the Lord Himself has directed the hearts of His people. It was for this that the saints of early days were looking. The Church in her early love and beauty was waiting for her Lord, as the expectant bride with yearning heart waits for her bridegroom. To see the One who loved her, and who was loved by her, was her hope. But the mists of traditions soon arose, and “the hope” became obscured. Love waxed cold, and worldliness set in; then the desire for the speedy advent of the Lord declined, and soon the doctrine was conceived and spread abroad that He would not, and could not come, for many generations. For century after century this has held the field, and even now is believed and accredited as truth by thousands who bear the Christian name. Strange are the theories, and manifold the speculations, which have been conceived and propagated, since the Church’s proximate and proper hope was hid to the eye of faith; some so crude and irrational that they have turned the subject into ridicule; others so ingeniously set with perverted Scripture that even God’s own saints have been misled thereby. The conversion of the world: the universal spread of Christianity; the fulfilment of many prophecies, and death, have all been raised between the believer and the personal return of his Lord.

It is with an earnest desire to lead fellow-believers to read and search the Word of God for themselves, and to find therein that “testimony of the Lord” which “is sure, and maketh wise the simple,” that we would seek to look at some of our Lord’s own sweet words of promise, and of those of His apostles inspired by the Spirit, that teach us to look for His personal return as the hope of our hearts.

May He who walked with the two on the Emmaus’ road, expounding to them “in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself,” causing their heart to burn within them, draw near to us, and so speak, that our daily longing, yearning cry shall henceforth be, “Come, Lord Jesus.”

The Lord’ s Own Promise

It was in an upper room in the city of Jerusalem, with His eleven true followers gathered around Him, that the first full intimation of His going away from them and His personal return for them was given, it is recorded in John 13:33 to 14:3. These are the very first words He had plainly spoken to them of His going to the Father’s house, and His coming back again. They are in harmony with His presentation as the Son of God, given in the Gospel according to John throughout. What we have in Matthew regarding His coming is as the King, and in Luke as the Son of Man, but here it is the Son of God going to the Father and returning to receive His loved ones to the Father’s House, the place of love. His disciples were very sad and sorely troubled at the thought that He was about to leave them, and that they were to be without Him, in a dark and evil world. It was just then that the words were spoken—“In My Father’s house are many mansions, if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you I will come again and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:2-3). This is what is called “The Promise” (Heb. 10:36), and “The Hope” (Heb. 10:23, R.V.). The manner and the accompaniments of His return[2] are made fully known by the Spirit through the Apostles in the Epistles, but here we have the personality of it. It is from His own lips that we have this first sweet promise “I will come again” (lit. “I come again”). And it is direct from Himself again that we hear of it for the last time in His own words from the highest heaven, “Surely I come quickly” (Rev. 22:20). The wonder is that any should have mistaken the meaning of these words. Yet this has been done, and instead of the personal return of the Lord Jesus to receive His own, death, fulfilment of prophecy, the conversion of the world, and the progress of science, have all been made to fill the place of the believer’s hope. The One who said “I go,” is the One who says “I come.”

The testimony of the heavenly visitors who came forth to speak to those who witnessed His ascension to the right hand of God was, “This same Jesus which is taken up from you shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go” (Acts 1:11). It was Himself, the Eternal Lover of His people, who was taken up from the midst of His disciples in the act of blessing them, and it is “the Lord Himself” who “shall descend from heaven with a shout” to receive His people to His heart and home. Yet it has been asserted by men of influence, and received as true by many, that the only “coming” of the Lord for which Christians are to look, is a “spiritual” coming, or “a coming to the heart.” Now, we do not for a moment doubt that there is a sense in which the Lord comes and takes up His dwelling in the hearts of His people (Eph. 3:17). Equally true it is, that to those who love the Lord, and keep His words, both the Father and the Son come and make their “abode” (or “mansion”—the word is the same as in verse 2) (John 14:23). But neither of these, nor any season of spiritual reviving or refreshing, which may come to the saints on earth is the fulfilment of the promise of the Lord—“I will come again and receive you unto Myself.” Nothing short of the Lord Himself, His personal return and presence, can fulfil the promise, or satisfy the believer’s heart. And not only is it a Person for whose coming we are taught to look, but the very same Person who went away. “This same Jesus shall so come” (Acts 1:11). Eighteen centuries in that bright glory, where He now is, exalted to the highest place in heaven, surrounded by myriads of holy beings, have wrought no change in Him. He will come forth “the same Jesus” as when He took the babe in His arms and blessed it, or stood by the grave of Lazarus and wept. True, He is now glorified, and no longer in the form of a servant as when He trod this earth. But He has carried His Manhood with Him into Heaven, and there, amid all the glory of the eternal throne, He lives as the God-Man. And as such He will come again. There, on that bright throne He sits, waiting for the hour when He shall receive and welcome the Bride for which He bled, to be for ever with Himself.

            “There, amid the songs of heaven, sweeter to His ear,

                Is the footfall through the desert, ever drawing near;

            There made ready are the mansions, glorious, bright and fair,

                But the bride the Father gave Him, still is wanting there.”

He waits, as Isaac waited for the home-bringing of Rebekah; we look, as Rebekah looked for Isaac, until their eyes met, and the bride was presented to the son by the faithful servant. It is not events, it is not prophecies fulfilled, it is not even glory, but it is the Lord Himself, we long to see. Not the crown He giveth, but the pierced hand. Not heaven, but “His face.” To illustrate this: When the British soldiers returned victorious from Egypt, there was great excitement in London on the day of their arrival. Banners were flying, and crowds waited to do honour to the conquerors. By and bye there was a public banquet, and the Queen herself decorated those who had distinguished themselves by acts of heroism. But there stood on the platform awaiting the arrival of the train, one solitary person, absorbed in the object of her hope. She was a soldier’s bride. More than banners or banquets to her was the hope of seeing him whom she loved, and more to him than a “Victoria Cross” was the joy of meeting and receiving his bride.

The Time of His Coming

“Surely I come quickly” (Rev. 22:20). “Yet a very little while, He that cometh shall come, and shall not tarry” (Heb. 10:37, R.V.). Men have fixed dates, and proclaimed the year and day when Christ would return.[3] But they have only displayed their ignorance and folly. The Scripture gives no hint as to the day: dates do not belong to the dispensation of the Church’s call. Signs and tokens of His nearness there will be none. All has been said that will be said. The stillness of the heavens has not been broken for over eighteen centuries; not since the last uttered word from the throne, “Surely I come quickly.” The next will be His shout as He descends, the rallying cry that will gather around Him His loved ones of every clime. Dates there are in the prophetic Word; events to transpire, and prophecies to be fulfilled, ere He can return to earth in manifested glory, to set up His Kingdom and to reign, but between us and His return to “receive” His bride, there is nothing. No event that must transpire. Not the thickness of a sheet of tissue paper is placed between us and His return. Do we really believe this? That ere the sands of this day run out, the Lord Himself may come! That our feet may stand even now on the outskirts of the glory, and that in an eye-twinkle we may be there. Like Israel of old, encamped on the banks of the Jordan: the goodly; the lying just across, full in view, and all that had to take place ere they were in it, was the silent passage of the ark through the stream, an event unknown to the nations, and quickly accomplished.

The “Hope” and the “Appearing”

The personal return of the Lord Jesus is presented to us in two distinct stages. First—He will come to the air, and there He will gather His sleeping and His waking saints from earth up to, and around Himself. Then from that place He will return with them to heaven, into the Father’s Home. After an interval, during which momentous events in heaven and on earth will occur, He will return with all His saints to the earth, to manifest His glory, and the glory of His people, and to execute judgment on His enemies. In order to get a right understanding of the truth, it is necessary to distinguish between these two aspects of the Lord’s return.[4] His coming as Son of God to the air, is the proximate hope of the saints (1 Thess. 1:10). There is no predicted event which must occur, and no prophetic word that must be fulfilled, before the Lord’s descent into the air, to call together His sleeping and His living people. His own word regarding this event, uttered from the throne above, is, “Surely I come quickly” (Rev. 22:20). No one can tell the day. Dates and numbers do not help us in the least regarding it. But the attitude of the saints is to be “Waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 1:7). “Looking for that blessed hope” (Tit. 2:13).

Before He comes as Son of Man to earth, accompanied by His people in power and glory, many prophecies must be fulfilled: the Antichrist must arise (2 Thess. 2:3); and God’s ancient people will be gathered to their land (Ezek. 37:21).

The words used by the Spirit to describe these two events are worthy of our notice. The Lord’s coming to the air is spoken of as “The blessed hope.” It is called His Parousia, or presence.[5] His return to earth is named “The appearing in glory.” His Epiphany, or manifestation in glory (See Tit. 2:13, R.V.).

The Manner of His Coming

As Son of God, He will come to the air (1 Thess. 1:10), as Son of Man he will return to earth (Matt. 24:27-37). The descent into the air will be with a “shout, the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God”[6] (1 Thess. 4:17). This will be immediately answered by a resurrection of sleeping saints, and a transformation of those who are alive and remain; whereas, at the descent of the Lord to the earth, He will be accompanied by “His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance” on His enemies (2 Thess. 1:7-9: 2:8). The Gospel by John, in which the Lord is presented throughout as the Son of God, is the only Gospel in which we find distinct mention of His coming as Son of God FOR His people. The many references found in the Gospel by Matthew, in which the Lord is presented as the King of Israel, and in the Gospel by Luke, in which He is presented as the Son of Man, are especially connected with His return TO earth, to judge His enemies, to deliver His earthly people, and to set up His Kingdom. It has been said by some, who contend for the theory of a general return, in which all these events are supposed to transpire, that this makes “Two Second Comings of Christ.” Our answer is, No. It only distinguishes between two stages and aspects of the Second Advent of our Lord, and this is exactly what the Scriptures teach us to do. His first advent, when He came to live and to die for us, was in two stages. First to Bethlehem as the infant of days, and later, to Jerusalem as the King of Israel to reign, and the Lamb of God to die. When He came to Bethlehem, the world knew nothing of His coming: it was only revealed to a few, and they gathered unto Him and owned Him. When He entered Jerusalem, the multitudes thronged the road, before and after Him, and the shouts of “Hosanna” were heard afar off. And so when He comes again to mid-air for His own, they shall gather to Him at His call from earth and sea, but the world will go on in its course. The descent of the Lord, and the rapture of the saints may not arrest the world’s attention. The world will not behold the descending Lord at all, and we have nothing to warrant the thought that the world will see the ascending saints.[7] When He comes to earth “Every eye shall see Him” (Rev. 1:7), and His enemies shall quail before the brightness of His manifested glory. But on the fair morn of resurrection, the saints alone shall behold the beauty and loveliness of their Lord, and they shall see Him “as He is,” without a veil or a cloud between.

            “Him eye to eye, we then shall see,

                Our face like His shall shine;

            O what a glorious company,

                When saints and angels join.”

The Accompaniments of His Return

The ascension of the Lord Jesus from the midst of His own disciples while in the act of blessing them on the slope of Olivet was an event unknown and unshared by the world. He had led His loved ones out from the religious but guilty city, and gathered them around Himself. Thus separated from the world, and alone with Himself, He lifted up His hands—His pierced hands—and blessed them. Who can estimate the joy of that hallowed moment? With nothing between; the Blesser and the blessed ones face to face: all grouped around Him, with the world far away. There they stood, under the uplifted hands of their Risen Lord! And while He was thus in the act of blessing them, He was quietly lifted up from their midst, and carried upward, until a cloud received Him out of their sight (Luke 24:51). Their eyes saw Him no more, but their faith knew and beheld Him, beyond that glory-cloud, within the heavens, blessing them still. As they stood there with uplifted eyes, looking steadfastly into the heavens (see Acts 1:10, R.V.), whither their Lord had gone, two messengers, clothed in white raiment, appeared at their side, with the cheering words, “This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so COME is like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). These words inform us of the manner of our Lord’s return.[8] How did He go away? From the midst of His loved ones, in the act of blessing them. Such will be the manner of His coming again. “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven” (1 Thess. 4:16). “I will come again and receive you unto Myself” (John 14:3). He will not send, He will come Himself. Never did an earthly bridegroom go forth to claim his bride, with a love like His! With yearning, loving longing heart, He will go forth from the glory and the peace of His Father’s house, to gather from earth’s wastes, the saints for whom He lived and died. O wondrous moment! Fit recompense for the sorrows of Gethsemane, and the deeper woes of Golgotha. Who can tell the sufferings of that Cross; the travail of His soul; the anguish of His broken heart? But the day of His recompense will come. He who knew the sorrow will also know the joy. As we sing—

            “Lord Jesus Thou, and none beside, its bitterness could know;

                No other tell Thy joy’s full tide, which from that cup shall flow.”

“The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout:” a shout of triumph and of victory. Such is the meaning of the word. It is the word of a captain to his soldiers, well known to their trained ears, already familiar with his voice. Others may see and hear, as they have done before (see Acts 22:9), but the voice will be heard and known by those alone to whom He speaks. Heaven’s voices have often been a secret to the world. The heavenly host sang on Bethlehem’s plains, but only the waking shepherds saw and heard. The world slept on. The glory of the transfigured Lord shone “above the brightness of the sun,” on the holy hill, but only the disciples were awakened to see His glory (Luke 9:32). The world knew nothing of the event at all. In keeping with this is the Lord’s own announcement of His second advent, His last description of Himself as the Coming One: “I am the root and the offspring of David, and the Bright and Morning Star” (Rev. 22:17). The Morning Star disturbs not the sleeping world. It steals quietly into the lower heaven, shedding forth its silvery light—fair harbinger of the coming day—and then it retires. It comes at that unique moment, which can scarcely be reckoned of the night, or of the day; the witness to the waking watcher that the night is past, and the day at hand. And such will the advent of Christ be, when He comes to the air to receive unto Himself His own. He will not disturb the world: His business is not with it. Enoch was “translated” without seeing death, and was “not found,” but the world knew not where He had gone. Elijah was “taken up,” but only Elisha saw him go: the sons of the prophets sought him in vain on hill and in valley. Before the night of earth’s travail and sorrow, before the fiery blast of judgment which earth must feel, will be the morning of bliss and of glory for the saints. They will be safely gathered into the house, before one shaft of judgment can proceed from the throne[9]. The flock will be around the Shepherd: the Bride will be in the presence of her Bridegroom. This will be more to Him than crowns and kingdoms, to have with Him for ever the saints who are the purchase of His blood. “He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied.” And more than heaven and all its glory to the saints will be the joy of being by the side of their Lord, the Eternal lover of their souls. To gaze upon the brow once crowned with thorns! To see the Man who wept at Bethany! And to be thus for ever with the Lord.

THE SLEEPING SAINTS RAISED AND THE LIVING CHANGED

The saints of early times were not looking for death; the Lord’s coming was their hope. It was when the Church became united with the world, and lost sight of her heavenly calling and hope, that death came to be regarded as the only terminus of the Christian’s earthly course. And soon after, the theory of a general judgment at the consummation of all things gained ground, as that which is to finally determine the destiny of the righteous and the wicked. We need hardly say, that there is not a vestige of Scripture for such a doctrine; nay more, the whole testimony of Scripture is emphatically against it. We are not told that a believer must die. On the contrary, we are assured that “We shall not all sleep” (1 Cor. 15:51). There will be those who, like Enoch and Elijah, will “go without dying.” There will be a people on earth “who are alive and remain” unto the coming of the Lord (1 Thess. 4:17). The Apostles, and believers of early days, regarded themselves as being of that number. In speaking of the dead in Christ, who will be raised, and of the living who will be changed at the advent of the Lord, they reckoned themselves among the latter.[10] The language is “We shall be changed” (1 Cor. 15:53): “We which are alive and remain” (1 Thess. 4:15). The only exception to this was the Apostle Peter, to whom the Lord gave a special revelation that he would “put off” his tabernacle (2 Pet. 2:14); in other words, that he would die. Death is not therefore the proper hope of the Christian; it is translation or resurrection. Not a general resurrection “at the last day” as Martha believed (John 11:24), and as thousands still believe, who have a fuller revelation than she possessed, but “an out-resurrection,” a resurrection from among the dead, as the word chosen to describe it by the Spirit implies. See Acts 26:24 and 1 Peter 1:4, where it is used of Christ’s own resurrection; and Acts 4:2 and Philippians 3:11, where it is applied to the resurrection of believers only. No believer is warranted in saying that he will not die. This would be going beyond the words of Scripture. The disciples fell into this error regarding the words of the Lord Jesus spoken after He had risen from the dead, to John. “Then went this saying abroad among the brethren that that disciple should not die: yet Jesus said not unto him, he shall not die, but if I will that he tarry till I come” (John 21:23). John doubtless did die, or “fell asleep,” as thousands have since. Yet death is not the Christian’s proper hope. It is to be changed and caught up to meet the Lord at the moment of His personal return. Strange as it may appear, these two events are by some interpreted as being the same, and texts that speak of the Lord’s return are often applied to the Christian’s death. But this is a grave mistake.

The Lord’s Coming is not Death

Death never means the Lord’s coming. It is in many respects a contrast to it. When a believer dies, or “falls asleep” (Acts 7:60; 1 Cor. 15:18; 1 Thess. 4:15), the Lord does not come again and receive him. He departs to be with Christ (Phil. 1:23), he “puts off” his tabernacle (2 Pet. 1:14), he is “absent from the body” (2 Cor. 5:8), he is “unclothed” (2 Cor. 5:4). When the Lord Jesus comes, He will “change the body of our humiliation,” and fashion it like unto the “body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21, R.V.). At death, the body goes to “corruption” (1 Cor. 15:54); at resurrection it is raised in incorruption, and “death is swallowed up of victory.” At death, the saints are parted amid tears. When Jesus comes, they will be gathered together in unspeakable joy.

Those who have Fallen Asleep

We do not for a moment doubt that dear ones who have fallen asleep are perfectly happy in the presence of their Lord. It has not been the will of God to give us many details of the experiences and employments of those who have been called away from us here to be with Him there, but the glimpses that we do get are sufficient to assure us that they have lost nothing, but have gained a great deal by their absence from the body and their removal from a world of sin and woe. The parting may have been bitter, but it was not without hope that we laid them in the tomb. As we sing—

            “Saint after saint has gone: has lived and loved and died,

                And as they left us one by one, we laid them side by side;

            We laid them down to sleep, but not in hope forlorn,

                We laid them but to ripen there, till that fair glorious morn.”

They are with Christ which is “very far better” (Phil. 1:23, R.V.). They are “at home with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8, R.V.). Far from earth’s conflicts, toils, and sorrows, in that fair paradise with Christ, sharing the rest and the joy of that blessed place. But they have not come to the goal of their blessedness: they wait to be “clothed upon” with their “habitation which is from heaven” (2 Cor. 5:2, R.V.); to put on that incorruptible body, which shall be given them on the morn of the first resurrection. They have gone to the upper waiting room, to wait with their waiting Lord, while we in this lower and outer court of service are waiting for Him here.

The Resurrection of the Dead in Christ

In immediate response to the “shout” of the descending Son of God, with “the voice of the Archangel and the trump of God,” there will be a resurrection of all the dead in Christ. The first great act of Christ’s future triumph will be in the realm of death. He will sweep the grave in one moment of the dust of all His saints. Blessed be God! He has already conquered there. He passed through death and the grave, and in passing through He wrought a victory which He is pledged to share with all His people. Meanwhile the bodies of many lie mouldering in the tomb. They have reached that condition described as “corruption.” The grave has long closed its mouth upon them, and, to all appearance, saint and sinner share the common doom, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Gen. 3:19). And thus the world reads it. It speaks of the grave as “man’s last long home.” Unbelievers lay their dead in the silent tomb with “no hope.” The saint views death with a different eye. To faith, it is only a “falling asleep” (1 Cor. 15:18), and the grave is but a temporary resting-place till the morn of resurrection.

            “O false ungrateful world, to call the grave,

                ‘Man’s last long home,’

            ’Tis but a lodging kept from day to day,

                Till Christ shall come.”

Faith knows that their ransomed spirits are with Christ; “far better” than in days of earthly life, when they tabernacled in a mortal body. Yet that “unclothed” state is not the final and perfect state of the believer. He waits to be “clothed upon with his habitation which is from heaven” (2 Cor. 5:2, R.V.). And this he shall receive in the earliest moment of that coming day of Immanuel’s power. “The dead in Christ shall rise first.” The grave will yield its ancient charge. Death will be swallowed up of victory. “The trump of God,” elsewhere called “the last trump” (1 Cor. 15:51) is a figure taken from the Roman camp, which had frequently to be awakened in the still hours of night. The first blast of the trump awakened the sleeping host: the second rallied them, and at “the last trump” the army marched. What a sight, when the myriads of God’s redeemed awake from their sleep in silent grave and sea! What a rallying when they gather from every clime and country! What a triumphant march that will be when they ascend together, in one glorious throng, from earth to heaven! All in bodies of glory: all in the fair image of their Risen Lord. But let it be distinctly remembered that this is not a general resurrection. “Resurrection of the dead” (Heb. 6:2) is a fundamental truth of Christianity, and saint and sinner must share it, but not at the same time or after the same manner. The saved will be raised in the very earliest stage of their Lord’s return when He descends into the air, to be glorified; the lost will be raised after His millennial reign, to be judged (See Rev. 20:4, 12). The resurrection of the dead in Christ is therefore after the same manner as Christ’s own, it is a “resurrection from (or from among) the dead” (Phil. 3:11, R.V.), elsewhere called “a resurrection of the just” (Acts 24:15, R.V.), and a “resurrection of life” (John 5:29).

Thus clearly, will the Lord distinguish between “His own” and “the world” in that day, as He has aforetime done (John 13:1; 17:16), and would still have His people do (2 Cor. 6:14-17). And what a miracle of Almighty power and unerring discernment will that resurrection be! Not one saint awanting: not one sinner there! The vault may contain the dust of generations, who have died in sin, but there also lies the precious dust of one who “fell asleep through Jesus” (1 Thess. 4:17, R.V.). In that resurrection morn, the saint alone will come forth from the tomb, in the beauty, and loveliness of his Lord, while “the rest of the dead” will lie undisturbed for at least a thousand years.

The Resurrection Body

The question has been asked “How are the dead raised, and with what body do they come?” (1 Cor. 15:35), and “science, falsely so-called,” has stepped forward with the answer, that there can be no resurrection at all. Resurrection is beyond, yea quite opposed to man’s reason: but to faith “the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.” Christ’s own resurrection was a miracle and a mystery. The world was unable to account for it, and it forged a lie to deny it (Matt. 28:13). This also it may do with the resurrection of the saints.

The bodies of the sleeping saints will be raised “incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52) that is, insubject to decay. Death shall never feed on them more. Their risen Lord, whose resurrection is the first-fruits and pledge of that of His people, has entered now on “an endless (indissoluble) life” (see Heb. 7:16, margin). They also will “die no more” (Luke 20:36). There will be no dismission of the ransomed spirit from its “heavenly,” as there had been from the “earthly” house. It will be its fit companion. “Weakness” (1 Cor. 15:43) characterises the mortal body, soon bringing weariness and fatigue, even in the service of the Lord. The “willing” spirit (Matt. 26:41) often finds it a burden and a hindrance. The resurrection body will be a “spiritual” body: it will be characterised not by frailty but by “power” (1 Cor. 15:43-44), a meet companion for the ransomed spirit, enabling the risen saints to serve unweariedly and perfectly in the glorified state. It is for the “clothing upon” of this glorious body, that the saints now on earth in mortal bodies groan (Rom. 8:22).

There is much help on this part of the subject to be gathered from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. The young converts at Thessalonica had been taught to wait for the Son from heaven (Chap. 1:10), and there is pleasing evidence in the letter written to them by Paul, that their hope abounded. But some of their number had meanwhile “fallen asleep,” and they sorrowed at their absence, thinking possibly they would miss the joys and triumphs to be shared by the living saints at the coming of the Lord. We need not wonder at this, for they had not the full revelation that we now have. Their sorrow was an occasion for the Lord giving to them and us, through Paul, additional light on the future of the dead in Christ. Instead of being behind in the honours of the coming morn, they are to be the very first to share it, “The dead in Christ shall rise first”—not one awanting. Not as they were laid down in the silent grave, but in bodies of resurrection power and beauty, fitted to bear the glory into which they are about to be introduced.

            “No fevered brow is there,

                No keen and throbbing pain,

            No wasted cheek, where frequent tear,

                Hath rolled and left its stain.

            They shine in the light of God;

                Christ’s likeness stamps each brow,

            The shadows of earth and death are past,

                And they rise in glory now.”

The question has been asked, “Will the saints recognize each other in that resurrection state?” In matters on which Scripture is silent, or has only informed us in part, it is unwise to speculate.

That the resurrection body will be entirely different from the present mortal body is abundantly proved, but there is nothing to show that it will lose its identity. Moses and Elias, who appeared in glory with their transfigured Lord on the mount were instantly recognized by Peter, even although he had never seen them in mortal flesh. And in that scene of glory, Moses stands the representative of the dead saints who shall be raised, and Elias of the living saints who shall be changed. The apostle looked forward to the meeting with the saints of Thessalonica, as his hope, his joy, and his crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord at His coming (2 Thess. 2:19). And surely we may infer, he will be able to distinguish them from others in “the great congregation.” There will be resurrection and re-union. Long-divided saints will gather with loved ones gone before; all in the perfect image of the Lord, all reflectors of His glory, and all admiring Christ in each other (2 Thess. 1:10).

            There each others’ faces seeing,

                Bright with beauty all of grace;

            We shall still the former being

                In the new perfection trace.

The Living Saints Changed

Immediately after the dead in Christ have been raised, the living saints on earth will be changed. They do not “precede” (1 Thess. 4:16, R.V.) their brethren who have fallen asleep, for, as we have already seen, the resurrection of the dead in Christ, is the first in order, of the triumphs of that coming hour. Yet, the living will be in no-wise behind them. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and “WE shall be change” (1 Cor. 15:42, R.V.). There will be no interval between these two great acts of Divine power. The “moment” that witnesses the triumph of the Lord in the resurrection of His sleeping saints, will witness His power in the “change” of those who are alive in mortal flesh. Death shall never claim them as its prey. They shall “go without dying,” yet not without being changed.

The first mention of this great event recorded in Scripture was spoken by the Lord to Martha of Bethany in the day of her sorrow, when her brother Lazarus lay in the tomb. Her hope of resurrection was that he would rise again at “the last day.” This the Lord sought to dispel by presenting Himself as the “Resurrection and the Life,” and then He added the ever-memorable words: “He that believeth on Me, though He die, yet shall he live, and whosoever liveth and believeth on Me shall never die. Believest thou this?” (John 11:25-26, R.V.). In these words we have the bud of the promise, more fully disclosed in the Epistles, the “mystery” not made known to saints of former times, but revealed to Paul (1 Cor. 15:56): namely, that the saints who will be found alive at their Lord’s return, shall not taste of death at all, but shall pass into the glory of their Lord “without dying.”

            “One moment twinkling fair and bright,

                And we caught upward through the air,

            Shall shine in Thy transcendant light,

                And even Thy heavenly image bear.”

Death is no debt of nature to the Christian. For him death has been “destroyed” judicially at the Cross, and will be “abolished” at the coining of the Lord. But flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50). The mortal body, although now indwelt by the new life (2 Cor. 4:10), sanctified by the Holy Spirit’s presence (1 Cor. 6:19), and fit to be presented for the service of the Lord (Rom. 12:1), is not fitted to bear the light of unveiled glory. It must either be “dissolved”—as it is in those who have fallen asleep, or “changed” as it will be in those who are “alive and remain” when the Lord descends. What the nature of this change will be, or how it will be wrought, we do not yet fully know, nor are we able now to fully comprehend.

But we do know this, that the change will be wrought in the “twinkling of an eye,” that it will impart “immortality” to the living, and “incorruptibility” to the dead in Christ, so that death can never have them as its prey. They shall be made “like” unto their Lord (1 John 3:8). The body of their humiliation shall be “fashioned anew, that it may be conformed with the body of His glory” (Phil. 3:21, R.V.). The last trace of the fall shall be done away, and with the image of their Lord impressed upon them, the changed saints shall be “caught up together” with the sleepers who have been raised, to meet the Lord in the air, and to gather unto Him (2 Thess. 2:1) one glorious company, one unbroken circle; including, no doubt, the noble line of patriarchs, prophets, martyrs, and faithful witnesses of ages long gone by, as well as “the Church of the firstborn” (Heb. 11:23). Apart from us they could not be made perfect (Heb. 11:40), but then with us they shall surely share the out-resurrection, as part of the heavenly calling (Heb. 11:16). Verily, they will form a noble host. Not one sheep or lamb of the blood-bought flock amissing then! Not a trace of sin, or its ravages there! God has triumphed! Christ has won the victory! The saints are like and with their Lord. O wondrous moment! Glorious Victory!

            “How shall I meet these eyes, mine on Himself I cast,

                And own myself the Saviour’s prize, mercy from first to last.”

And as this will bring to the saints that “fulness of joy” (Ps. 16:11), which is to be theirs in the presence of the Lord, so it will be unto Him the day of His “exceeding joy” (Jude 24). To have His long-loved people, the purchase of His precious blood, for ever by His side, gathered from every clime and kingdom, all safe at last, guided by His hand to their eternal home, will be to Him the fulness of all His joy, part of that joy that was set before Him when He “endured the Cross” and despised the shame (Heb. 12:2). “He shall see of the travail of His soul and shall be satisfied” (Isa. 53:11). And in prospect of that coming triumph each saint can say—“I shall be satisfied when I awake with Thy likeness” (Ps. 17:15). Thus the glorified saints, in company with their Lord, pass into the place prepared, the home and the dwelling-place of love.[11]

THE SAINTS IN GLORY

Between the coming of the Lord Jesus for His saints, and His appearing with them in glory, there will be an interval, during which momentous events will take place in heaven and on earth. It is not our present purpose to consider what will happen in the world below, but rather to trace the path of the risen and glorified saints who have passed into the heavens with their Lord. It may not be possible to tabulate in exact order the varied spheres of glory into which the risen saints will pass, but we may surely gather from the Word of God some of those “things to come,” which have been made known by the Spirit, to nourish faith and hope in the saints during their earthly days.

First in order of all these glorious things will be the seeing of the blessed Lord Himself. “We shall see Him even as He is” (1 John 3:2, R.V.). The very first to gaze upon the unveiled glory of the Son of God will be the risen saints, as they gather around Him on that fair resurrection morning. No longer as through a glass darkly; or, as now by revelation of the Spirit through the Word, but “face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). Not a “brief glance” as Stephen had, through the open heavens, when cruel men led him forth to death: not a “passing word” as Paul heard from the glory, as he journeyed towards Damascus, but the beginning of an eternity of gazing upon His beauty, and of hearing His voice. Yes, blessed be God, before the glory of His kingdom, before He sits upon His throne, ruling the world in righteousness, before His enemies lick the dust, His loved and ransomed people will be gathered into His immediate presence to behold Himself. As the beloved John G. Bellett, of Dublin, so sweetly said, when He drew near to the end of His journey:—“Oh, to be with Him, before the glories, the crowns, or the kingdoms appear. It is wonderful, wonderful! With the Man of Sychar. With the Man of the gate of the city of Nain. I am going to be WITH HIM for ever.”

The “Father’s House,” the circle of love, comes before the throne of glory. There He will present the people given Him by the Father. Not one will be awanting on that day (John 6:39). There they will be greeted and welcomed to His everlasting habitation by the God who loved them long before. As we sing—

            “There no stranger-God shall meet thee,

                Stranger thou in courts above;

            He who to His rest shall greet thee,

                Greets thee with a well-known love.”

The Book of the Revelation—which is a book of signs and symbols, shows the saints as raised in glory. In Chapters 2-3 the earthly history of the Church is traced from the time that it left its first love, till its final rejection by the Lord. In the beginning of Chapter 4, John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved”—who is here the representative of the living saints—is caught up into heaven, and from that time onward we hear no more of the Church as a light-bearer upon the earth. Chapter 4:4 presents another, and possibly a later view of the risen and glorified saints, as elders seated on thrones, clothed in white raiment, and wearing victor’s crowns of gold. These crowned elders may represent saints of former dispensations who have been raised and glorified. They are now seated round about the throne (Rev. 4:4). Then closer still, nearer to the Lamb “who is in the midst of the throne” (Rev. 5:6); yea, one with Him there—for they are said to be “in the midst of the throne” (Rev. 4:6)—are “four beasts—four living ones” (this is a better rendering than “beasts,” see Newberry’s Bible), instinct with divine and spiritual intelligence, of those before and behind. Who can these represent but the Church,[12] the saints of this present age, who will lead the worship of heaven (Rev. 4:9; 5:8, 14), and execute the judgments of God in the age to come (1 Cor. 6:2; Rev. 6)? These saints of the past and present dispensations, now glorified together, fall down and worship the Lamb. They both proclaim Him as the Worthy One, and acknowledge His blood as the ground of their redemption. They stand there in glory upon His merit alone. They know no other stand. They see Him there as the Lamb once slain. The memorials of Golgotha are there—the pierced hands and feet, the wounded side—proclaiming amidst the glory, the love that led Him forth as the Victim to die. On “the Lamb in the midst of the throne” every eye in all that ransomed throng is resting in ineffable delight. Of Him every voice is swelling.

The risen saints are also seen presenting the prayers of saints, who are still on earth, in golden vials full of odours. These saints on earth are not of the heavenly company, but part of the earthly calling among whom God is again working. They are not raised and glorified, but on the earth, passing through seas of trouble, and crying to God for deliverance. Later, they appear “before the throne” (Rev. 7:9), not “around” it, as the elders, or “in the midst of it,” as the living ones, but “before” the throne, and before the Lamb, to serve God day and night in His temple (Rev. 7:15).

Thus we learn that in the great congregation of the redeemed in glory there will be many families (Eph. 3:15), and various circles; each in the ordered place assigned it in the wisdom and love of God, and all perfectly doing His will, and manifesting the glories of the Lamb, whose redemption work they own has made them meet for that heavenly glory.

The heart lingers in worship and desire over these glorious descriptions of the saints’ coming bliss. What joys await us in these bright courts of heaven! What has not been provided for the saints of God, the objects of His eternal love? There are seats, or thrones, on which they sit grouped round the rainbow-circled throne of the Eternal God. The crowns upon their heads bespeak their victor honours. The golden vials filled with prayers from sufferers yet on earth, proclaim their heavenly priesthood. Their robes of spotless purity and whiteness, tell what the saving grace of God, the cleansing blood of Christ, and the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit have wrought for them, and in them. Is it any wonder that they sing and ascribe all praise to God and to the Lamb? Surely as we think of these things, and look forward to those scenes in which, through grace, we shall have our part, our hearts must take up their song and sing—

            “Let us with joy adopt the strain,

                We soon shall sing for ever there.

            Worthy’s the Lamb for sinners slain,

                Worthy alone the crown to wear.”

The Judgment-Seat of Christ

After the saints have been caught up to heaven, and before they return with Christ in glory, there will be a season set apart for the review and reward of service rendered here. This tribunal or “Judgment-seat of Christ,” is spoken of in many parts of the inspired Word, and its character and results are there foretold. In view of the many crude and traditional theories respecting judgment which have held the field for centuries, by which this great and blessed subject has been obscured, it is needful to distinguish between “things that differ.” There are various judgments spoken of in the Word, differing in character and time. There will be a judgment of living nations at the beginning of the Millennial reign of Christ (see Matt. 25:31), and there will be a judgment of the dead at its close (Rev. 20:11). We must not confound these with the Judgment-seat of Christ. In both of these judgments, some go from judgment to punishment. But there is no such portion for the saved, no damnatory judgment awaits the saints of God.

Their judgment as sinners is past at the Cross: there they judicially died, and in virtue of the Cross they come no more into judgment (John 5:24, R.V.). As children their judgment is present. They are subjects of the Father’s discipline and rule (Heb. 12:6-9). As servants, their judgment is future, at the Judgment-seat of Christ, before which they shall stand in resurrection glory, within the heavens, to have their service reviewed and rewarded by their Lord and Master, and their places in His kingdom and glory determined. In order to apprehend the full meaning of all this, it is needful to remember that the saints of God are also servants of Jesus Christ. They are “bond-servants of Jesus Christ” (Phil. 1:1), and stewards entrusted with their Master’s goods, during His absence (Matt. 25:14). Runners in the race (1 Cor. 9:24-27), and wrestlers in the fight (2 Tim. 2:3-4). Now, they are to be gathered before their Master to hear His estimate of their earthly work. All that has been done by them while in the body, since they were converted, will be “manifested before the Judgment-seat of Christ” (2 Cor. 5:10, R.V.). The ancient “Beema,” or Judgment-seat, was an elevated place on which the umpire of the Grecian games stood, watching the progress of the race or contest. When all was over, the runners and wrestlers—the successful competitors—assembled before that “Beema,” to receive “the corruptible crown” of laurel leaves or parsley, from his hand. Some had no reward, they had lost “the victor’s crown.” But while they had no reward, there was no punishment for them.

Such is the imagery used by the Apostle, in pointing us onward to the judgment of our service there. In the midst of the glory within the heavens, surrounded by heavenly hosts of wondering beings, the Judgment-seat will be set. The servants of Christ, all in glorified bodies, will be gathered there. From every corner of the earth, from various paths of toil and warfare: some unknown, others well known, all will be there. Hidden ones, whose days on earth were spent in lone corners appointed by the Lord of the harvest! Great ones who stood before the world on the pinnacle of fame! All will be gathered there, to hear from their Heavenly Master’s lips what value He has put upon their earthly service. The works (1 Cor. 3:14), the motives (1 Cor. 4:5), and the manner of their service (2 Tim 2:5), will all be manifested there. Christ will publicly avow His approval of all that has been pleasing unto Him, the rest will be burned up (1 Cor. 3:13), and for that the servant will suffer loss.

Much that in “man’s day” had been accounted great, will appear as “hay and stubble” there. Much that passes now as “zeal” and “faithfulness,” in that day, when the hidden springs and motives are disclosed, will be seen to be only self and sin. Deeds that were blazed abroad through the Church and the world, may be of little value there; but that which was of no esteem in the eyes of men, though it may have met the world’s displeasure, will receive the Master’s “well done.”

            “Deeds of merit, as we thought them,

                He will tell us were but sin;

            Little acts we had forgotten,

                He will own were done for Him.”

The servants of Christ will be all possessed of their Master’s mind, and able in His light to see light clearly. Each and all will say “Amen” to His verdict, and thus they will pass on from the Judgment-seat to other scenes of glory, with wondering gratitude and praise. The “victor’s crowns”—for such is the meaning of the word used by the Spirit in describing them (see Newberry’s Bible, margin)—which will be given to the faithful servants, will be according to their service here. Amid all the glories of the ages to come, they will be the remembrancers and memorials of their toil and conflict here. The Victor’s Crown of Life (Rev. 2:10), of Righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8), and of Glory (1 Pet. 5:4), all speak of recompense and reward, and point to places of honour in the kingdom and the glory to come.

When the period of David’s rejection was over, and the day of His power and glory was about to shine forth, he called before him those of his faithful followers who had been with him in the cave of Adullum, who had shared the sorrows of his lowly path, and appointed them to places of honour in his kingdom. Three of his faithful bodyguard, who fondly loved him, heard him whisper, “Oh that one would give me to drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem” (2 Sam. 23:15). To gratify their royal master, they broke through the ranks of the enemy, and brought it to him at the risk of their lives. That dead, although not immediately rewarded, was surely recorded in the annals of the kingdom. And when David came to the throne, he publicly recognised that deed of love, and rewarded his three faithful servants in the sight of all Israel. And thus it shall be in the coming day of Christ’s Judgment-seat. No cup of cold water given in His Name will be forgotten. All that has been done for and in the Lord will be fully remembered and recompensed. The rewards and honours will be according to heaven’s estimate. Some will be there, who were little thought of here. Their labours, privations, and sufferings for Christ’s Name’s sake, received no acknowledgment on earth. They passed away unknown, unnoticed, and unnamed, to their rest and reward. Yea, some of them bore the brand of shame and dishonour. As one who knew by experience the meaning of it, sang—

            “I have borne scorn and hatred,

                I have borne wrong and shame;

            Earth’s proud ones have reproached me,

                For Christ’s thrice-blessed Name.

            Where God’s seal set the fairest,

                They’ve stamped their foulest brand;

            But judgment shines like noon-day,

                In Immanuel’s land.”

The Marriage of the Lamb

Before the return of Christ and His saints to earth in manifested glory, an event will be celebrated within the heavens, in which the heavenly host expresses its unbounded delight by songs and hallelujahs. This event is the Marriage of the Lamb. The bridal relationship is one to which the Scriptures largely testify, in type and teaching. The apostle represents the saints as already “espoused,” and his desire was that they might be presented as a “pure virgin to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2, R.V.). The mystic language of the “Songs of Songs” has long been recognized as expressing the present relationship of Christ and His people. The imagery there is that of an espoused pair, communing together in various scenes. The Scripture brides of early days have all told the typical story of this same relationship, in its various aspects.

Adam slept, while Eve was formed, and she was bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh.

Isaac waited within his father’s house, while Rebekah, his chosen bride, was won and escorted through the desert by the faithful servant.

Jacob loved and toiled for Rachel, whose beauty and grace had won his heart.

Joseph, during the time of his rejection by his brethren according to the flesh, received Asenath his bride, as Moses in late years received Zipporah, from among the Gentiles. And there are others who fill up their part in telling forth the mystery, which even now is known to faith, and shall yet be manifested in the sight of wondering worlds—the union of Christ and His people.

The announcement of the Lamb’s marriage comes from “the throne,” and its celebration is in heaven. The full time for earth to see His glory, and the glory of His blood-bought bride, has not yet come. It is rather the day of His peculiar joy, in receiving and presenting before all heaven, the special object of His love, the one pearl of great price, for which He gave up all that He had (Matt. 13:46).

There can be little doubt that the Church[13]—the saints of this present age, who have been brought into a close relationship with Christ as the suffering and exalted Lamb—are here represented as ‘the Bride,” and afterwards described as “the Lamb’s wife.” Others are “bidden to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (v. 9, R.V.), and as guests and sharers of His joy, their place is “blessed.” As the Baptist, in earlier times, had his joy in being a “friend” of the Bridegroom (John 3:29), so these saints rejoice as they see the long known mystic union made manifest, and the Bride of the Lamb brought forth to view, to be owned by Him before all heaven. Her fitness to fill this honoured place is assuredly to be found in the “Blood of the Lamb,” once shed for her redemption. Her form and comeliness have been wrought and fashioned by the Spirit. Yet it is said that the garments of fine linen in which they stand, is “the righteousness,” or “the righteous acts of the saints” (Rev. 19:8, R.V.). Thus all that has been of God in the saints—the fruit of His grace, and of the Spirit’s work no doubt, yet reckoned as personally and actually their own—will not only be rewarded at the Judgment-seat of Christ, but will be manifested and owned before all heaven, in that day of the gladness of Christ’s heart, when He shall see in His glorified Bride the fruit of the travail of His soul.

It has been suggested by some, and strongly urged by others, that the Bride of the Lamb is not the Church, or the saints of the heavenly calling, but the restored nation of Israel. But while there is much of the language used in the prophetic Scriptures concerning Israel which may be typically used of the Bride of the Lamb, the two are not synonymous.

Israel of the past is spoken of under the figure of a divorced wife (Hos. 1:2: 3:1), who will yet be betrothed to Jehovah in righteousness and faithfulness (Hos. 2:19-20), and will be rejoiced over in her restoration, as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride (Isa. 62:5). But while Jehovah will have His earthly people in covenant relationship with Him, dwelling on the earth, and worshipping Him in an earthly temple, in the earthly Jerusalem, the Lamb will have His Bride in the heavens, reigning with Him over a restored Israel, and a renewed earth. Thus the heavenly and the earthly although distinct, will yet be joined: as the heavens and earth of old were by the mystic ladder of Bethel (Gen. 28:12), which Nathaniel, an Israelite indeed (John 1:47), was told would find its antitype in days to come (John 1:51). And that word is immediately followed by the typical marriage in Cana, where the Lord became the provider of their cup of joy, and at the same time “manifested forth His glory” (John 2:11), ere yet He went forth in judgment to cleanse the temple of God in Jerusalem.

It was an ancient law in Israel, that when a man had taken a new wife, he should not go out to war, or be charged with any business for one year (Deut. 24:5). He was to remain free at home and cheer up his wife. After the marriage of the Lamb has taken place in heaven, and before He comes in judgment to “make war” (Rev. 19:11), accompanied by His saints and the armies of heaven, there appears to be a period of repose. With what holy cheer will the heavenly Bridegroom then “cheer” the heart of His glorified Bride! What unfoldings of His love! What unveilings of His glory! Things now hidden will then be revealed! The Lord will justify all His ways with His own, and their hearts will respond, “He hath done all things well.”

THE APOSTASY AND DOOM OF CHRISTENDOM

Soon after the formation of the Church as God’s light-bearer upon earth (see Rev. 2-3) the beginnings of departure from God, and the introduction of what was of man began to show themselves. As the body of Christ formed by the Holy Ghost, and united to the living Head in heaven, the Church is the workmanship of God, perfect and complete, beyond the reach of men and demons. But as God’s dwelling-place on earth (1 Cor. 3:16), and His testimony in a ruined world (1 Tim. 3:15), gathered and administered by human instrumentality (1 Cor. 3:10-14), it is liable to decay and corruption. And as in all former dispensations man has failed, so in the present age he fails also.

Christianity very soon after its establishment in the world, became the object of Satan’s hatred, as its Founder, the Lord Jesus had been while here upon earth. First by persecution he sought to obliterate it from the world, and when this failed, he betook himself to its corruption. As our Lord foretold in the parable, the enemy, when he could not hinder the growth of part of the good seed as he at first had sought to do (Matt. 13:19), next sowed tares among the wheat, and thus corrupted the field (Matt. 13:25-38).

The history of Christianity as given in the New Testament shows how sadly this has been fulfilled, and by what means the enemy has accomplished his work. Sad as the picture is, it is needful for us to look at it narrowly, so that we may know the enemy’s tactics, and not be ignorant of his devices, for the thing that hath been, is that which shall be, and here as elsewhere, “there is no new thing under the sun” (Eccl. 1:9).

In the infant Church at Jerusalem, while yet the memories of Pentecost were present, there were deceivers (Acts 5:2), and murmurers (Acts 6:1).

In the Galatian Churches, Judiasing teachers sought by the introduction of their leavening doctrines, to lead those who had been saved by grace back to the bondage of law, bewitching them with their words, and preaching another Gospel (Gal. 1:8; 3:1; 5:7-9).

At Colosse, philosophy, rationalism, and worldliness were beguiling the saints (Col. 2:8-20).

At Corinth (1 Cor. 1:9), sectarian divisions were manifesting themselves, and gloried in by some; evil practices were looked at with complacency by others (Chap. 5:1), and the saints generally were carnal (Chap. 3:1).

Paul forewarned the Ephesian elders (Acts 20:29), that “grievous wolves” from without, would seek to devour the flock, and perverse men, from within, would seek to lead away the disciples of the Lord after themselves. “The mystery of iniquity” was secretly working even in the apostle’s day (2 Thess. 2:7), and in his last letter, written to his son Timothy, shortly before his death, he tells him of still greater evils spreading themselves abroad, among those who professed the Christian name, and of evil men and seducers waxing worse and worse (2 Tim. 3:13). The Apostle John tells us that in his day also there were many apostates and antichrists, denying the Father and the Son (1 John 2:18-19). The messages to the Seven Churches of Asia (Rev. 2-3) tell how departure alike in doctrine and practice, with the presence of evil men and principles, characterized these churches, which were doubtless representative of the rest. All these combine to show that Christendom, or that which bears the Name of Christ on earth, will steadily increase in departure from God and His Word, by inward corruption—as symbolized in the woman hiding the leaven in the meal (Matt. 13:33), which wrought in secret, yet made sure progression, until her own food had become a leavened mass (Gal. 5:9), and in outward conformity to the world, as symbolized by the mingled field of wheat and tares. Ecclesiastical corruption and worldly greatness are symbolized in the great tree affording lodging and protection to the fowls of the air—the former enemies of the truth (compare Matt. 13:32 with 4)—a huge worldly system, partly political and partly religious, which in our day is well represented by State Churches, with their endowments and lordly Prelates, with Kings and Emperors as their heads and supreme rulers. But while the corruption and apostasy of Christendom increases and shall increase, it cannot reach its height while the true saints of God, indwelt by the Spirit, are upon earth. The presence of so many of God’s people here as “the salt of the earth,” preserves it from entire corruption: they cannot hinder, but they do retard its progress. There is a restraining power[14] still on earth (2 Thess. 2:6-7), and while this continues, the full apostasy of Christendom, and the manifestation of Antichrist, cannot take place. Indeed, the saints of this present time will not be here when the climax is reached, for like Enoch their prototype, they shall be “translated” ere the world’s iniquity reaches its full measure, and Divine judgment falls upon it from heaven. This translation will be at the coming of the Lord to the air, and our gathering together unto Him (2 Thess. 2:1). Then the salt will be gone from the earth, and it will soon go to corruption. The light will be gone from the world, and it will be left in darkness. The Holy Ghost will no longer be present working as He now is, convicting the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment, and witnessing through the saints for Christ. So that the pent up streams of ungodliness will then flow out unhindered, bearing everything on their bosom. Every vestige of real Christianity will then be gone from the world, and it will take very little to blot out its memory from the earth altogether. Immediately after the saints have been caught up to be with the Lord in heaven, corruption and apostasy in that which may still bear Christ’s Name will speedily reach its climax. The testimony of Scripture on this is so full and clear, that it is a wonder how any Christian can mistake it. Yet, alas! many who hold honoured places as teachers and leaders in the Churches, have mistaken the teaching of Scripture, and substituted a theory of their own directly the opposite, instead.

The popular creed of Christendom—chiefly based on a misinterpretation of parabolic and symbolic Scriptures—is that Christianity as it now exists in the world, will gradually work its way, diffusing its influence among the nations[15] of the earth, as leaven works in meal, until the whole is leavened. And this is made to mean that every nation, people and tongue, shall thus be brought to own Christ as their Lord and King. If this were the true interpretation of the parable (Matt. 13:33), and if other Scriptures bore witness to the world’s conversion, by means of the testimony and influence of the professing church, every Christian’s heart would rejoice. But we are not taught to look for the world’s conversion: nor are we told in Scripture that what now bears Christ’s Name upon earth is to go on increasing in purity, spiritual power, and holy influence, until, as poets have sung, and seers predicted, the nations of the earth shall be brought to bow before it, and the knowledge of the Lord cover the earth, as the waters covers the sea. We read nowhere in God’s Book of any such future for the earth, to be brought about by the church’s influence, but, on the contrary, we are told in the Word of the Lord, that professing Christianity, which almost from its beginning was corrupted by false doctrines and worldly practices, shall continue to wax worse and worse, until finally disowned by God altogether, it is destroyed by the “beast,” or secular power. How different would the attitude of many of God’s people be towards it, did they but take their estimate of it from the Word of God, and not from the theories and fables of men! The true place of the Christian’s testimony and influence, is in separation from all this gigantic Babel of worldly religion, and Satanic delusion. His place is “without the camp” with a rejected Christ.

The last view that Scripture gives of corrupted Christianity is under the symbol of a shameless drunken women, decked in scarlet and pearls, seated on a wild beast, with a cup in her hand, full of all abominations, and ministering to the vilest passions of men. Her name is stamped upon her forehead “Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and abominations of the earth.” This has been explained as Popery. And the horns that grow out of the beast’s head are by many made to be Popery also. But this is merely playing with symbolic Scripture. How can the beast, and his rider, and his ten horns, all mean one and the same thing? The beast is undoubtedly the Roman empire of the future, the ten horns the ten Kings or Kingdoms composing that empire, and the woman who is upheld and sustained by the beast, is corrupt and Apostate Christianity in its final stage, in association with and supported by the secular power, and will include within it all and every shade of the corrupt mass of Christless profession, Papal and Protestant, which will be spued out of the mouth of the Lord (Rev. 3:16), and left for judgment when He comes to remove His true people from earth to heaven. The true Church will then appear in resurrection glory as “The Bride of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7; 21:9), the false as “The Great Whore” (Rev. 17:16; 19:2), the corruptress of the earth. Her first destruction will first be at the hands of the great world-powers, which she formerly ruled (Rev. 17:16), and later by direct judgment from heaven (Rev. 17). So that at the return of the Son of Man, with all His saints in power and glory, there will not be a vestige of real Christianity found on earth. Such will be the inglorious end of that which now boasts of its wealth and greatness, and is held in high honour among men. May the true people of God keep themselves unspotted from the world’s religion, with all its glitter and show, which even now has in it the germs of all that will appear in full measure in that day.[16]

THE ANTICHRIST

The second great development which will occur during the interval between the rapture of the saints at the coming of the Lord to the air, and their return in power and glory with Him to earth, will be the rise and manifestation of Antichrist, or The Man of Sin. Even in the apostle’s days “the spirit of Antichrist” (1 John 4:3), was working. And it still works, assuming varied forms, and employing varied instruments, all against Christ, many of them in imitation of Him and His works. But the personal Antichrist of whom we read so much in both Old and New Testament Scriptures, has not yet been revealed, nor can he be, while the Withholder[17] is present on earth (2 Thess. 2:6-8). All attempts to explain away the prophecies regarding this mysterious Being, by references to the Church of Rome, or the Roman Pontiff, are futile. He will not be a mere ecclesiastical pretender, shorn of temporal authority, like the Pope, but the acknowledged Head and Emperor of the revived Roman Empire, with its ten kingdoms, embracing the greater part of Europe. As his name Antichrist implies, he will be “against Christ.” All the descriptions given of him show that morally he will be a direct contrast to the Son of God. Christ was the brightness of the Father’s glory, the express image of His Person (Heb. 1:3), God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:17). Antichrist will be the representative of Satan, the incarnation of all his deceit and subtilty, and possessed of all his powers (2 Thess. 2:9). Christ sought not His own glory (John 8:50), but humbled Himself (Phil. 2:8): Antichrist will exalt himself, and demand to be worshipped (2 Thess. 2:4). Christ was the truth (John 14:6): Antichrist will be the lie (2 Thess. 2:11, R.V.).

By miracles and wonders, Jesus of Nazareth was approved of God, as the chosen Messiah of Israel (Acts 2:22), but they received Him not. By miracles and wonders, the prophet of this super-man from hell, will deceive all who dwell upon earth, whose names are not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and thus command their homage for his master’s image (Rev. 13:15). The authority once offered to the Lord Jesus, by the tempter, but refused (Luke 4:5-7), will be accepted by Antichrist, who, in return with his prophet (Rev. 13:11), will convert the world to Satan, and seek to further his claims and establish his worship; the last great travesty of the Three-One God, in their relations and operations. The Son revealed the Father (John 1:18), and received from Him all authority (Matt. 28:18). The Spirit came forth from the Father and the Son (John 15:26), to testify of Christ, and to lead the hearts of saints Godward in worship (Rom. 8:15; Eph. 2:10). Antichrist and his prophet[18] (see Rev. 13:14), will proceed from the devil, and act for him, gathering sinners against God into Satan’s net, for their destruction. Many who refused to believe the truth and to be saved by grace, will without question believe THE LIE of Antichrist, and be damned in consequence (see Thess. 2:11). Such will be his connection with apostate Christianity.

Politically, he will be the head of the revived Roman Empire (see Dan. 7; Rev. 13), with its ten kingdoms. The prophet’s vision of the beast arising out of the sea, may be taken to mean that he will be elected by the popular vote of the masses, who ebb and flow as the tides of the sea. All attempts to name the man, or adjust the kingdoms of his empire, are for the present impossible. When the appointed hour has come, the MAN and the EMPIRE will both appear. Revolutions and wars have suddenly produced new empires and their emperors before, and will do so again. To forecast how is only folly. Our business is not to prophesy, or to seek to be wise beyond what God has revealed; least of all to guess and speculate. God has told us all that He has seen needful to inform us of the course of this world, in order that we might be kept separate from it, and from its spirit and politics, which will have their full development under the coming MAN.

His origin seems to be obscure; he is called a “little horn” (Dan. 7:8), and may probably issue from some petty State, but by Satanic power and popular favour he will rise to the highest pinnacle of earthly greatness, and have power given him “over all kindreds and tongues and nations” (Rev. 13:7). His influence will be very great. The ten kings of the future Roman world will agree to give him their kingdoms and power (Rev. 17:13-17). He wears a royal diadem (see Newberry’s Bible, Rev. 13:1), which belongs to Christ by right and title alone (Rev. 19:12-16). His connection with the Jewish people[19], who will be again in the land, is especially the subject of Scripture prophecy. The Lord Jesus came in His Father’s Name but was rejected; the Antichrist will come in his own name and be received as Messiah, even as the Lord foretold (John 5:43). He will make a covenant with them for seven years (Dan. 9:27), but in the midst of it, at the end of three and a half years, he will break the covenant and become a persecutor. All who refuse to worship him and receive his mark will be slain. This will be the period of “The Great Tribulation,” during the latter half of Daniel’s seventieth week. Amid their fearful sufferings, an elect remnant of Israel (Dan. 12:1; Matt. 24:22) will be saved in the flesh, and preserved for millennial blessing upon earth. When the great oppressor is in the zenith of his power, when he has gathered the armies of Europe around Jerusalem, and is about to strike the final blow, then in a moment, the heavens will cleave asunder, and the glorified Son of Man will go forth in power and glory, accompanied by all His saints (see Rev. 19:11-12), and angels (2 Thess. 1:7), to take the Great Rebel red-handed, and cast him alive into the burning lake. His feet will stand on the mount of Olives (Zech. 14:3-4), and His earthly people awakened, the veil no longer blinding their eyes, shall own Him as the Messiah-King, and welcome Him as their Deliverer. O how that sight will wring their hearts with anguish, as they see as in a moment all the past. The marks of the Cross—the pierced hands and feet—will remind them of Golgotha, and looking upon Him whom they have pierced, they will mourn (Zech. 12:10). But the fountain opened on that day (Zech. 13:1), will cleanse them, and they shall find, as Joseph’s brethren did in the day that he revealed himself to them, that all their hatred and rejection of Him, has not turned His heart away from them, or cooled His love for them.

The question has often been asked—“Will the Church, or any part of it, be upon earth during the period of Antichrist’s reign, and of The Great Tribulation?” There will be saints upon earth during that period. Some of them will be slain, and others will be preserved, as the three Hebrew youths were in the midst of the fire. But they will not be of the Church, the body of Christ, the outcalling from Jew and Gentile of this present age. They will be of God’s ancient people, or, as they are named in Daniel 12:1, “the children of thy people;” an elect remnant, who will not be deceived by Antichrist’s subtilties, or his prophet’s devices to lead them into allegiance to the false Christ. Their sufferings are described by the prophets; their prayers for vengeance on their enemies are recorded in the Psalms; and the nature of their testimony is described in Revelation 11:4—all of which go to show that they are not the saints of this day of grace. Those who will be slain for their testimony are of the same spirit as is seen by their prayer (Rev. 6:10). The days of their tribulation will be shortened[20], else none would be saved from death (Matt. 24:22), so terrible will be the ordeal through which they must pass. “It is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jer. 30:7), and pass into the kingdom of the true Messiah, the Prince of Peace, under whose benign sway, “Israel shall blossom as the rose.”

ISRAEL: In the Past, the Present, and the Future

The history of God’s ancient covenant people, the children of Israel, is a living parable. From the time of Abram’s call from Ur of the Chaldees, until they are established under the sceptre of their true Messiah in Immanuel’s Land, the thread of their chequered history may be traced throughout the pages of the Bible. More than half the Bible refers to Israel.[21] Infidels and sceptics have always found it hard to deny what God has said regarding them. They are a standing witness to the mercy and the judgment of God, and their history has been preserved as a warning to Christendom in her boastfulness and pride (Rom. 11:17-21).

Israel’s history begins with the call of Abraham (Gen. 12:1), and the promises made to him as the head of the nation (Gen. 17:1-8; 22:15-18). They were confirmed to Isaac (Gen. 26:2-4), and to Jacob (Gen. 28:13-15). Their bondage in Egypt, their redemption, and their deliverance were foretold (Gen. 15:13-18), and when the time came, God fulfilled His promise made to Abraham (Ps. 15:42-44). Their possession of the land, their idolatry and punishment, are fully given in the books of Joshua and Judges, followed by their desire for, and choice of a king, the beginning of kingly rule, with its full development and decay in the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles.

Two and a half tribes were carried captive by the King of Assyria—Tiglath-pileser (2 Ki. 15:29). Somewhat later, another seven and a half tribes[22] were carried to Assyria by Shalmaneser (2 Ki. 17:6). This was the end of the kingdom of the ten tribes.[23] About a hundred and forty years later, Judah and Benjamin were carried into Babylon. Thus Israel as a nation passed out of their land, and were scattered among the Gentiles. After seventy years, a feeble remnant returned to Jerusalem, and in the days of Ezra and Nehemiah, rebuilt the temple and walled in the city, but they never recovered their national testimony. They were tributary to Persia, then to Greece, and finally to the Roman Emperor, who ruled over them when Messiah was born in Bethlehem (Matt. 2:1; Luke 2:1). It was to the descendants of this remnant that Jesus presented Himself as Zion’s King (Matt. 21:5), but the leaders of the Jews refused Him, and said, “We have no king but Caesar.” “He came unto His own, but His own received Him not” (John 1:11). They joined hands with the Gentiles in crucifying the Lord of Glory (Acts 4:27). Pilate wrote in mockery above His Cross—“THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS” (Matt. 27:37). Even then, the long-suffering of God lingered over the earthly people. In answer to the prayer of their crucified Messiah—“Father forgive them, for they know not what they do”—grace waited upon their repentance, and Peter preached repentance and remission of sins, in the Name of the dead but now risen Christ, in the city where He had been rejected (Acts 2:38). He told them that through “ignorance” they had rejected Christ, and that God was even then willing to fulfil the promises made to Abraham, and to send back Jesus Christ from heaven to bless them (Acts 3:17-26). But they would not listen to the testimony. Stephen’s testimony was also rejected, and the witness stoned to death (Acts 7:54-60), praying as His Lord had done, that the sin might not be laid to their charge. How marvellous were these two prayers! One by the rejected Messiah dying on a Cross, the other by His first martyr Stephen, as the stones battered him to death! Both prayed for mercy to the blinded Jewish people, and God in long-suffering still lingered over them. Paul carried his message of Gospel grace everywhere to the Jew first, and was in continual heaviness for his kindred (Rom. 1:16; 9:1), but they would not listen (Acts 22:22). Pride and hardness of heart made them close their ears (Acts 28:27). Then wrath came upon them to the uttermost (1 Thess. 2:11). “Blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fulness of the Gentile become in.” Jerusalem must be “trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

The Present Age

Throughout the present age, the Gospel is preached to all nations (Matt. 28:19), and to every creature (Mark 16:15). Wherever sinners are found, to them the glad tidings of full and free salvation comes (Tit. 2:11). God is forming a body for Christ called out from Jew and Gentile (Eph. 2:14-15), and when His present work of grace is completed, and the body of Christ formed by the Holy Ghost has been perfected and presented in glory, at His coming to the air to call His sleeping and waking saints to Himself (John 14:3; Eph. 5:27), then God will turn again to His earthly people[24] (Acts 15:16).

The gathering of Judah back to their land, their sufferings under Antichrist, and their future blessing and glory under their true Messiah, form the subject of very many chapters of Old Testament prophecy. Passages have been “spiritualized” and applied to “the Church,” which unquestionably belong to Israel and Judah in days to come. The New Testament Scriptures are not silent on the subject. Israel’s conversion and future blessing are plainly foretold in Romans 11:25-26; 2 Cor. 3:14-16, and many other passages. Out of these we select the following. In Deuteronomy 30:1-9, their restoration as a nation is spoken of. In Psalm 102:13-16, a “set time” for the Lord to favour Zion, and to build it up is predicted, and fixed to be when “He shall appear in glory.” Surely no one thinks that this has been fulfilled. In Psalm 110:1-3, Jehovah sends the rod of His strength out of Zion, and says His people shall be willing in the day of His power. How different from their unbelief and unwillingness in the day of His grace! In Isaiah 14:1-2, mercy upon Jacob, setting them in their land, with strangers joined to them, whose captives they once were, then to be ruled over by them, clearly refers to the future. No such period has been in the past of Israel’s history. The glowing words of Isaiah 60:1-15, concerning Israel’s future glory, her sons and daughters coming from far, with the Gentiles coming to her brightness, clearly point to a period in the future. Amos 9:9-15, tell of the return of “My people Israel,” their building of waste cities and dwelling in them, in the land which Jehovah hath given them.

The partial return of the Jews (that is the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, as contrasted with the ten tribes), to Palestine, is a matter of present day history; but they will yet (and it may be soon), return in greater numbers from all parts of the earth, through which they have for centuries been scattered. But this is not to be confused with their future gathering by the call of God as described in Isaiah 11:10-16, Jeremiah 23:3-8, 30:3-11, 18, Ezekiel 20:33-42. They will at first have a national existence, and probably the recognition and protection of the great powers of Europe, rebuild the temple (Rev. 11:1), and their leaders—who will evidently be still blinded in unbelief—will receive the false Messiah, the Antichrist, and enter into a seven years’ covenant with him (Dan. 9:27). For a time he will be very liberal; very likely in order to get them fully under his influence, but in the middle of the week he breaks the covenant with them (Isa. 28:14), and demands that Divine worship be given to Him (2 Thess. 2:4). Some who have the fear of God in them will refuse. Then follows the Great Tribulation. There will be a faithful remnant in the midst of Israel who will refuse to worship the Beast, and for this they will have to suffer, and some of them to die. This will be ended by the return of Christ in glory for their deliverance, and for the destruction of their foes.

This faithful remnant, who no doubt had been truly converted before, will hold fast to the promises of God, and wait for their Messiah. They will be of those who will be brought in, as many in Israel will be, after the present age of God’s grace to the Gentiles is past, and the Gospel of the Kingdom is again taken up and preached (Matt. 24:14). Judah and Benjamin, the two tribes who were guilty of the rejection and death of Christ, will be especially sharers of this period of suffering, and will be the first to turn to the Lord (Zech. 12:9; 13:1). The ten tribes, on their way back to the land of their fathers, will be restored, evidently later (See Ezek. 20:33-38; Isa. 49:9-19; 66:20), where their return and affecting welcome by the remnant in Jerusalem is described. A time of judgment and purification follows, during which the Lord will purge out the dross from among His earthly people, cleanse the land from its idols and all traces of Antichrist’s reign. Jerusalem will be restored and made the metropolis of earth, “the city of the Great King, beautiful for situation” (Ps. 48:2), and the millennial kingdom, the glorious reign of a thousand years will follow. In the days to come, the heavenly and the earthly people will alike share the glory of Christ, but in different spheres. Israel will be on earth in “Immanuel’s Land,” with an earthly temple, in which commemorative sacrifices will again be offered (Ezek. 43:2-5), by an earthly priesthood (Ezek. 44:10-15). These sacrifices will be commemorative of the Great Sacrifice of Calvary, as the Lord’s Supper is now. The feast of unleavened bread will be celebrated in the first month (Ezek. 45:21), and the feast of tabernacles commemorated in the seventh (v. 25), as of old (Lev. 23). The spared nations, too, shall go up to Jerusalem and there celebrate it (Zech. 14:16). But the heavenly people will be with Christ in heavenly glory, in that glorious city of which John says—“I saw no temple therein,” but where without a veil, the glorified saints gaze upon the Lamb, who is the light and glory of the New Jerusalem.

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES

The “Times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:24), or the period in which Gentile supremacy continues in the earth, began when Judah became the vassal of Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, and governmental power was transferred to the Gentiles, as had been predicted in the time of Hezekiah (2 Ki. 20:17). The “Times of the Gentiles” will end when the Son of Man returns in power to earth to judge the nations, and establish His Kingdom.

We have already seen that Israel was Jehovah’s chosen nation. In Jerusalem was His temple, and in Zion His seat of earthly government. To the chosen city the tribes went up to worship, and from it as a centre, rule was exercised. The Divine purpose was that through Israel His way should be made known on earth, and His saving health among all nations (Ps. 67:2). But Israel proved unfaithful, and was punished for her sin. The Gentile monarch, Nebuchadnezzar, was allowed to besiege the chosen city, to add to the “servitude” the “captivity,” and carry Judah’s king a captive to Babylon, to raze the Temple, and complete the “Desolations.” Thus ended Divine worship and Kingly rule in Jerusalem. The sceptre passed into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar; who was the first Gentile monarch to whom God committed governmental rule (Dan. 2:37; 4:22), and thus began the “Times of the Gentiles.” But while the sceptre of government was for a season taken from Israel and committed to the Gentiles, the Divine glory did not follow it. Ezekiel, who prophesied at the same period as Daniel, saw the glory reluctantly rise from the temple, and after hovering for a time above the city, go up to heaven. There it remains, until the Son of Man returns, bringing the glory back to earth, when the government of earth which has failed in the hands of the Gentiles, as it did in Israel, shall be vested in the hands of the Son of Man. Then “all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve Him.”

The origin, character, and duration of these times, are given in two visions. The vision of the Great Image, as recorded in Daniel 2:31-35, was given to Nebuchadnezzar the king, but forgotten by him. Daniel brought it back to his mind and interpreted to him. The image gave a continuous view of the Times of the Gentiles, in their unity, while the various metals of which it is composed shows the progress of deterioration, from absolute government, to utter democracy. The “Head of Gold” represented the Babylonian or Chaldean power, as it was seen in Nebuchadnezzar. To him the prophet said—“Thou art this head of gold” (v. 38). He was monarch and absolute ruler over the entire kingdom of Babylon (Chap. 1:1). The character of his government was represented by gold. He received it from God. “Thou O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom” (v. 37). Alas!—as the following chapter shows—he used the power thus committed unto him for his own glorification, and the persecution of those who were the true servants of God. His pride of heart is seen in the golden image set up on the plains of Dura, and his misuse of the power committed to him appears in the command given for all to worship it. In this he is the type of Antichrist, the last Gentile monarch, whose prophet will “cause as many as would not worship the image of the Beast to be killed” (Rev. 13:15). There is only One who will rightly exercise aright the absolute authority which has already been committed to His hands (Matt. 28:18). He is the Lamb of God, the perfectly obedient One, who proved by His subjection while in “the form of a Servant” His fitness to hold the sceptre. Men have often reached earth’s thrones by force and injustice, cruelly treading down the weak, and using the power they have gained to crush the righteous. But the new sight earth shall yet see with wondering eyes, will be “a Lamb upon the throne,” a “King of Righteousness and of Peace,” under whose benign sceptre the poor and the needy shall find shelter and defence, and the wolf and the lamb shall lie down together (Isa. 11:6).

The second empire, as represented in the breast and arms of silver, was the Medo-Persian, as we learn from Daniel 5:28-30. It arose after the Chaldean, but its power was “inferior” to the Chaldean. This is shown in the less valuable metal used to represent it. And we learn that Darius, though he laboured to deliver Daniel from the den, was unable, as others associated with him in government had planned and carried out a plot which he was bound to ratify. Nebuchadnezzar would have cast them into the den rather than yield to their demand, for his power was absolute. But Darius, who had associated with him the aristocracy in government, could not.

The third empire is the Grecian, represented by the thighs of brass. It was founded by Alexander the Great through his military prowess, and at his death it was divided among his generals, who in turn lost it.

The fourth empire is the Roman, represented by the legs of iron. This as we learn from Luke 2:1 and 3:1, was the power that ruled when Christ was born. Its progress, as seen in the iron, was by conquest. “Forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise” (v. 40). It was fierce and terrible, and as we know, its representative crucified the Son of God, and persecuted His saints.

In the seventh chapter of Daniel, these four empires are seen in a vision given to the prophet under the figures of four wild beasts. How differently the man of faith sees earth’s kingdoms from the man of the world! Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image, and was evidently so charmed with it, that he made one like it, but all of gold—all of what represented his own part of it—to be an object of worship. Daniel saw four wild beasts rise up out of the raging sea—a Lion, a Bear, a Leopard, and a nameless monster with ten horns on its head. The interpretation given to Daniel shows that these four wild beasts represent the same empires as the metals of the image. There, the deterioration of their power is seen, here, how they misuse the power committed unto them.

The Roman Empire has already existed, and passed away, although the kingdoms that composed it remain. But, as we learn from the book of Revelation, it will exist again at the time of the end, in a new form of ten kingdoms, and will finally be ruled over by THE Antichrist—as Emperor.

The Stone cut out of the mountain without hands, falling on the feet of the image and breaking it to pieces shows, that when Christ returns to earth as Son of Man, the end of Gentile rule will be brought to pass through judgment. The whole of the image disappears, and the Stone which smote it becomes a great mountain. This stone, as the prophet informs us, represents the kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up, which shall fill the whole earth. This will be the millennial kingdom of the Son of Man.

We learn, therefore, that the “Times of the Gentiles” will end at the return of the Lord Jesus as Son of Man, having been invested in heaven by the Ancient of Days with the Sovereignty of Earth (Dan. 7:13). He will then wear His many diadems (Rev. 19:12), on that day, and His name announced is “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS (v. 16).

What though the chivalry of Europe, headed by their last great Emperor and his prophet, are gathered to make war against Him? What though the nations rage, and the wicked join hand in hand? What though the world-powers band themselves together to resist Him? The hour of God’s wrath and judgment has come. “He treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (Rev. 19:15). The Beast and his prophet are cast alive into the lake of fire: its first tenants. Ringleaders and accomplices in sin, they go to their eternal doom together without dying. Their deluded followers are slain. Then follows the sessional judgment of the sheep and goats (Matt. 25:31-46), those Gentile nations which had not formed the kingdom of Antichrist, many of whom had heard God’s glory declared by the remnant of Israel (see Isa. 66:19), who owned the message and welcomed the messengers whom the Lord calls “My brethren.” Thus the wicked are gathered out and punished, while the righteous are spared, and pass into their places in Christ’s earthly kingdom prepared for them “from the foundation of the world.” The heavenly people were chosen for their inheritance “before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:4).

Such is the character, and such must be the inglorious end of the boastful Gentiles. May God’s people seeing this, keep themselves separate, with unspotted garments from the spirit and course of the world, alike in its pleasures, its politics, and its empty profession, ever content to occupy the place of “strangers here,” and pursue the path of “pilgrims” passing on to the rest and home beyond.

THE MILLENNIAL REIGN OF THE LORD JESUS

The millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus is the subject of many of the prophecies in the Old Testament. The last words of David—“He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in the fear of God: and He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun ariseth, even a morning without clouds” (2 Sam. 23:3), can refer to no one in their fulness save Him who is David’s Son, the Lord Jesus, and to no period of time save His coming Millennial reign. The period of this glorious reign is to be for “a thousand years,” as we learn from Revelation 20:4. This is why it is called “the Millennium” or thousand years. Commentators and expositors who “spiritualize” all the prophecies concerning the reign of Christ, must find some difficulty in accounting for this precise statement concerning its duration and limit. If as they say, the reign of Christ is not to be literal, but spiritual: not over Israel and the world, but “in His people’s hearts,” why should it be for “a thousand years?” Surely His people’s hearts will not cease to be His throne then, will they? No; but while now He dwells in their hearts by faith, and rules over them by His Word, the world rejects Him and refuses to own His sway. In that bright era yet to come, the whole earth will own the sceptre and the word of the once-crucified and still rejected Jesus of Nazareth, and acknowledge Him as the King. Let us see how this wonderful period will be introduced, and seek to learn some of its characteristics. When the Son of Man appears in glory, He bears the Name of “King of kings and Lord of lords” (Rev. 19:16). He will have been invested with this title in heaven, and is seen coming down to earth to establish His kingdom. The destruction of His foes, especially of the Beast and his prophet will immediately follow His descent to earth (Rev. 19:19-21). And this will be followed by the binding of Satan, the great usurper, who from that day in which he caused the fall of man in Eden, has been the prime mover in all sin and rebellion against God and His Christ. He is cast, with all his names branded upon His brow, into the bottomless pit, and sealed up there for “a thousand years.” What a change that will make on earth to begin with! The ringleader gone, the great deceiver absent, the adversary shut up, men will be at liberty to listen to God and His Word. There will be no thief to steal the seed then as there is now (Matt. 13:19): no enemy to sow tares (Matt. 13:39): no god of this world to blind the mind (2 Cor. 4:4). God will have His way, and that way will be a way of judgment. From the very moment that the Lord comes to the air, and the saints are caught up to heaven, judgments begin to fall upon earth. From Revelation chapters 4 to 19 covers a period of judgment. First the seals, then the trumpets, finally the vials, all these precede the Son of Man’s return to earth, and all are of a retributive character. And when He comes forth, having taken to Himself His Kingly power (Rev. 19:6), He treads “the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” There can be no more half-measures then, but fierce, unmingled vengeance meted out without mercy, by the will of Him who was once crucified at the hands of wicked men at Calvary. Following this warrior judgment, in which He acts alone (Isa. 63:3), there will be a sessional judgment (Matt. 25:31), when He will sit on the throne of His glory as “the King,” and gather the nations of earth before Him for judgment. This is referred to in Joel 3:2, 12-21. Those who have treated His earthly brethren (the Jews) well, will be welcomed into His earthly kingdom (v. 34), while those who had neglected them, are cast into everlasting punishment—where the Beast and the prophet already are—in the lake of fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels, and where they also will be at the close of the Millennium. In this way the kingdom of the Son of Man is set up. He will go on subjugating and bringing men and things into conformity to God and His will, until the oft-repeated prayer shall be fulfilled—“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” This will not be brought about as we have been told, by the preaching of the Gospel as we preach it now, nor by the progress of science and education, but in judgment administered by the Son of Man when He appears in glory. The glories and characteristics of the kingdom of Christ are largely dwelt upon in the prophets and the Psalms. What glowing descriptions of that coming day of righteous rule are given in Psalm 72! What descriptions of its peace and prosperity in Isaiah 35! How the grandest pageantry of this world’s glory pales before it! Earth has never seen since the day of her fall, such a sight as she shall see—

            “When her King cometh down, with His people to reign,

                And His presence will bless her with Eden again.”

The Heavenly and Earthly

The millennial kingdom will have its heavenly and its earthly departments. In the present day, God is calling out a people from earth for heaven. They are partakers of the heavenly calling (Heb. 3:1). Their citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20). They are strangers and pilgrims on earth (1 Pet. 2:11). When the Lord comes to the air, He will bring from earth and the grave the sleeping and waking of His saints, and gather them all to Himself in heavenly glory. Heaven is their home. There they will be glorified with Christ, and publicly acknowledged as the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife. During the millennium, the heavenly people are represented as a glorious city, the New Jerusalem, which is seen at the beginning of the millennial reign, “descending out of heaven from God” (Rev. 21:8). This is not to be regarded as a literal city, but as a figure of the heavenly people, the glorified saints, who have already been received in the Father’s house, reviewed before the Beema of Christ, and rewarded according to the measure of their faithfulness to Christ in earthly days. Now they appear in all their varied glories, and in the places they are to occupy in the “heavenly kingdom” (2 Tim. 4:17), of the Lord Jesus. In figurative language the glories of that kingdom are here described. And what a description it is! How incomparably grander than the glitter of earth’s royal courts and kingly palaces! Great Babylon, the false church, is described in Revelation 17, in all her worldly glory, and this is quickly followed by her fall. Here the Holy City, descending from God and bearing His glory, shines out in all her beauty, and takes up her place over the earthly Jerusalem in the cleansed earth. Time forbids us lingering over the description here given of this wondrous city. Its light, like a precious stone, clear as crystal (v. 11), shines down upon earth, and the nations walk in its light. The earthly Jerusalem, which will be rebuilt, in great magnificence and beauty, will be illumined by the light of this heavenly city (Isa. 60:1), streaming through its crystal walls. In Israel’s land there will be a temple, built according to the plan given to Ezekiel (chaps. 40-45), in which there will be commemorative sacrifices offered—not to atone for sin, but as memorials of the one great Sacrifice of Christ, as the Lord’s Supper is its Remembrance Feast now. In the heavenly city there is “no temple”—

            “God and the Lamb shall there, the light and temple be,

                And radiant hosts for ever share, the unveiled mystery.”

The transfiguration scene on the holy hill was a foreshadowing of this blessed time (Luke 9:28). Moses and Elias were with their transfigured Lord in heavenly glory, talking with Him. Peter, James, and John were on earth in mortal bodies, yet within sight and sound of the heavenly company. Moses prefigures the dead saints who have been raised, Elias, the living who have been changed, and are now glorified with Christ. Peter, James, and John tell the place of restored and converted Israel on earth, basking in the beams of heavenly glory. The earthly Jerusalem will be the world’s metropolis, and there a lineal descendant of the house of David, called “the prince” (Ezek. 46:2, 10), will be the representative of Messiah, and have his dwelling upon Mount Zion, from which will go forth the law (Isa. 2:3). The effects of Christ’s benign rule will be felt and owned in every part of His dominions. Earth, after her six thousand years of sin and sorrow, will enjoy her Sabbath rest. Righteousness, which suffers now (1 Pet. 3:14), will then reign (Isa. 32:1), and the righteous shall flourish (Ps. 72:7). The poor and the needy, now crushed beneath the heel of the rich and the great, will then have the Prince of Peace as their Protector (Ps. 72:4-12). The kings of earth shall bring their presents and lay them at His feet. “All kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him” (Ps. 72:11), and He who hung on Calvary rejected and despised of men, shall have dominion from sea to sea. Yes, blessed be God, our eyes shall see Him crowned with all this wealth of glory, and with thrilling hearts His saints shall say—

            “Bring forth the royal diadem,

                And crown Him Lord of all.”

Blessed as it will be to be among those over whom He will reign as King, there is something better. That is to sit with Him on His throne. And such shall be the portion of His saints, of those who have been fellow-sufferers with Him in His rejection (Rom. 8:17). They shall sit with Him upon His throne (Rev. 3:21). They, with others who had suffered unto death during the reign of Antichrist, shall reign with Christ in His Millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:4). The effects upon earth itself will be marvellous.

Creation’s groan will cease. When Adam fell, he dragged his inheritance with him. Since then, the curse has been upon it. The thorn and the thistle are still with us, and neither the progress of science nor the onward march of civilisation can root them up. Day by day the groan of human misery arises from every corner of the earth. But when its rightful King is on the throne, when the government of its affairs is in the hand once pierced, its groan shall be hushed, it shall be delivered from the curse and the bondage of corruption, and creation ushered into “the liberty of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21, R.V.).

The earth will yield its increase (Psa. 67:6). Now, the wail of want arises, and the hungry beg their bread. Then, the earth shall yield such plentitude, that the plowman shall overtake the reapers (Amos 9:3). The desert shall blossom as the rose (Isa. 36:1), and in its great Saharas, streams shall break forth.

The beasts of prey shall be changed. “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock” (Isa. 65:25). “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them” (Isa. 11:5-6). Such peace, such harmony, earth has never seen since the days of Eden.

Human life will be prolonged. From Isaiah 65:17-20, we learn that death will be the exception during the Millennium, perhaps only in direct judgment on sin. When one dies at a hundred years now, he is counted very old: then he will be only a child.

Wars shall cease. “They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Micah 4:3) Wars of conquest and for power will cease, and peace will hold her sway. Thus shall all things in heaven and on earth be reconciled (Col. 1:20), and gathered together in one, in Christ (Eph. 1:9). And when all has been subdued, and brought into subjection to God, and under the feet of Christ, then we are told He shall “deliver up the Kingdom to God, even the Father” (1 Cor. 15:24). All in due order, all as God would have it. Blessed be His Name! His Kingly rule shall thus be as perfect as was His obedience on earth as the Lamb.

Perfect in obedience, in His humiliation, when all forsook Him; perfect in His obedience to God as King, when all bow before Him. Of Him alone we sing: “Worthy is the Lamb.”

Now let us briefly glance beyond this period of millennial bliss and prosperity, for “the thousand years” is not the end of time. One last glance of man must yet come before us, ere he pass for ever off the scene, and ere the earth, which has been the theatre of his sin, shall pass away, to make room for a new creation. Man’s last trial will be at the close of the millennial reign.

Satan will be Loosed

Satan will be loosed from his prison (Rev. 20:7), at the close of the millennium. Immediately, he sets himself to his old work of deceiving sinners—very likely offering them something better than the rule of the Prince of Peace had given—repeating his Edenic tactics. From the corners of the earth he gathers a host, greater than any he had formerly led, to go out to battle against the Lord, His saints, and His city. Where did these deceived multitudes come from? In two millennial Psalms, there is more than a hint, that although all will bow to the sceptre of Christ, all will not be converted. Hypocrisy will lurk beneath their apparent submission. “The sons of the stranger shall yield feigned obedience unto Me” (Ps. 18:43-44, margin). Again in Psalm 66:3, “Thine enemies shall submit themselves unto Thee” (margin—“lie, or yield feigned obedience”). When the kingdom is set up, all are evidently converted, but those who will be born during its course will require then as now to be “born again” in order to enter the true kingdom of God (John 3:3). Many will be, but others act the hypocrite. They dare not show open hostility to the reigning Christ, but immediately Satan is loosed they rally around him. This shows what they are, and how utterly ruined and bad, man is by nature. After a thousand years of manifested glory, in which men will see heaven open, and its glory-beams streaming down upon earth, they turn round to the devil and join him in his last great rebellion against God, His earthly people, and His beloved city. Once more the enemy attacks Jerusalem, either to seduce its dwellers from allegiance to Christ, or to destroy them, and sweep the last testimony to God and His Son from earth. But “fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them.” They utterly perish, and their baffled leader, “the devil that deceived them,” is cast into his final abode, beside the Beast and false prophet—the trinity of evil—in “the lake of fire.” Then follows the passing away of the present heavens and earth, the resurrection of the dead in sin, the judgment of the great white throne, and the final doom of the wicked in the lake of fire.

The New Heavens and New Earth

Beyond all these scenes of judgment, beyond the millennial reign of Christ, after time has run its course, and man has finished his history, lies the Eternal State. A brief glance of it is given in Revelation 21:1-8. At the beginning of the millennium, the earth had been purged and the curse removed, but here the freshly-created heavens and earth are seen. The glory and beauty of this new creation will far exceed the old. In the new earth the New Jerusalem takes up her abode, and become the tabernacle of God, His earthly dwelling-place among redeemed men. This is the Sabbath rest of God and His people, into which no lurking serpent will ever steal, but where God—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost—shall be ALL IN ALL.

The eternal state will be more glorious than the millennial kingdom had been, and the new heavens and earth will excel the glory of the old, even as the second Man the last Adam, excels the first. All therein will be of and according to God.[25]

In the new earth there is no more sickness or death, no more sin in man, and no more sea. In the millennium all these exist. But now “the former things are passed away” (Rev. 21:4). To this sinless earth, the New Jerusalem descends in all her loveliness and beauty, “as a bride adorned for her husband.” During the thousand years of her millennial reign, she has gathered no grey hairs, no wrinkles on her brow. In that fair resurrection state, there is no decay. God has stamped Eternal on all His work. It shall stand through eternal ages to show His praise. And the closing word of the great “Revelation of Jesus Christ” is the sweetest of all. After the glories of the redeemed have been described, and the doom and destiny of the lost has been fixed for ever, the Lord and Lover of our hearts Himself appears, to give His last most precious Word of promise to His waiting, watching people. It is just as we might expect, concerning Himself—“SURELY I COME QUICKLY” (Rev. 22:20). This is the very last word from the throne in the heavens. The next will be His “shout” of triumph, when He comes, in the joy of His heart to call together around Himself His own from every land. No date is given, no hour is named. “Quickly” is the last and latest echo of His voice. May the joyful response of our hearts ever be—“Come, Lord Jesus.”

            “Come quickly, blessed Saviour, come,

                With one accord we cry to Thee;

            Long have we hoped that Thy return

                Would bid the night of darkness flee:

            O open Thou again the skies,

                O leave again for us The throne:

            O Well-Beloved, once more arise,

                Come, to Thyself receive thine own.”

NOTES

Note A—The Manner of The Lord’s Return

The commonly held opinion that the Second Advent of the Lord will be “at the end of the world, to judge all mankind,” is a strange contradiction of all that the Scriptures, and especially the Epistles teach us, regarding the various aspects of our Lord’s return. To fail in distinguishing His coming for His own, which the world may neither see or hear, from His return with His own in power and glory on the clouds of heaven, in flaming fire, accompanied by angels, to execute judgment, is to confuse everything, and make the reverent study of prophetic truth a hopeless puzzle. But if we put away preconceived opinions, set aside theological discussions, and cease to read Scripture in the light of the Creeds, taking the Word alone as our guide, and noting the distinctions as to times and peoples and dispensations which it makes, the whole subject will stand forth in its order and completeness, without confusion, in perfect symmetry.

Note B—Fixing Dates for the Lord’s Coming

Few things have done greater harm, and none has caused greater prejudice, than the guessing and then fixing of dates for the Lord to return, the Millennium to begin, and the end of all things to come. This has been continued in one form or another since the second Century. At the close of the first thousand years, it was widely taught that the end of the world was at hand. Fields were left untilled, and a general fear came upon mankind. But the fateful date passed, the world resumed its way, and indifference to the whole subject followed. In our own day many have calculated and counted, some by the stars, some by the dates of various events, a few from the types, and some by systems unintelligible to any, save their immediate following, when and how the Lord should come. But each and all have manifested their folly. The Personal Return of the Lord, which is the hope of the believer and of the Church, is not governed by events on earth, or dates on the Calendar. It is not dependent on “times and seasons,” but only awaits the Father’s pleasure, and the completion of His purpose, in the outcalling from the earth of a people for heaven. Then He will come. But the day and hour of His coming no one knows.

Note C—His Coming For and With His Saints

The key to much of the New Testament teaching on the subject, is the clear and oft-repeated distinction between the Lord’s Coming FOR His people, and His return WITH them to earth. Consideration of the words most commonly used to distinguish them, their accompaniments and objects, would prevent the existing confusion regarding these two distinct, though related aspects of the Lord’s return.

Note D—“Parousia,” “Apokalupsis,” “Epiphany”

The word most frequently used to describe the Lord’s coming to the air for His People is Parousia, as in 1 Corinthians 15:23, 1 Thessalonians 2:19, 4:15, 2 Thessalonians 2:1, 8, and 1 John 2:28, which means—presence. It is used for one’s arrival (1 Cor. 16:17), and continued presence in contrast to His absence, and includes the period during which Christ with His glorified saints, continues in the heavens before His manifestation with them in glory. Apokalupsis, as in 2 Thessalonians 1:7, 1 Peter 1:7, 13, and elsewhere, means—manifestation, unveiling, revelation, and is commonly used of the Lord’s return to earth with His people in power and glory. Epiphaneia, as in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:10, Titus 2:13, means—forthshining, appearing, and is connected with the manifested glory of the Lord and His people, with the effects thereof on the world.

Note E—The Last Trump

“The trump of God” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, and 1 Corinthians 15:52, named “the last trump,” is entirely distinct from the seventh trumpet of Revelation 11:15, which is not connected with grace or glory for the saints, but with judgment (see Rev. 10:6-7), and the introduction of the millennial reign of Christ.

Note F—The Rapture of the Saints

The ascension of the Lord, although it took place in the full light of day, and near to the city of Jerusalem, was not seen by any, save the disciples over whose heads His hands were uplifted in blessing, as He was silently lifted from their midst, and “carried up into heaven” (Luke 24:51). There is nothing said in the Word to indicate that it will be otherwise with the saints, in the moment of their translation.

Note G—The Return to Olivet

The coming here, is the Lord’s coming to Olivet (Zech. 14:4), and to the earth for the deliverance of His earthly people, and the establishment of the Kingdom. But its “manner” forbids the popular thought that His coming is “spiritual,” and not personal; to “the heart,” and not to the world. He shall “so come in like manner” as He went.

Note H—The Christian’s Hope

In 1 Thessalonians 4:17, the Apostle ranges himself with those who are alive and remain, while in 2 Corinthians 5:8, though expressing his full hope to be resurrected or changed—clothed upon with his house from heaven—yet owns his willingness to be “absent from the body and at home with the Lord”—that is in the unclothed, intermediate state, between death and resurrection. So that while the Christian rightly instructed will not say “I must die,” he does not deny that he may “fall asleep” before the Lord comes.

Note I—The Crowned Elders

There are some who hold that the Elders and the Living Creatures are the same glorified saints in two aspects, as worshippers and executors of the Divine will in service. See Wm. Lincoln’s Notes on Revelation Chapter 4.

Note J—The Bride of the Lamb

There are those who teach that the Bride is the earthly covenant people of Israel in days to come, and that the city, the New Jerusalem, “prepared as a Bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:2), is the Home of the future regenerate Israel of millennial times. This claim is chiefly based on such passages as Isaiah 61:10 and 62:4-5, which undoubtedly refer to the earthly people. And they say that the Church, being named the “body of Christ,” cannot also be the Bride. We do not see how this follows. The Church is certainly the Body, but this does not cover all its relationships: it is also named a “household” and a “building,” and it will yet be a “temple” (see Eph. 2:20-22). The bridal relationship is in no way incongruous with that of the body. Eve, the bride of Adam, was builded from a rib of his body, and the aggregate of the members of Christ’s mystical body, the Church, form the Bride the Lamb’s wife. The Book of Revelation is a Book of symbols, and, under the figure of a city, the glorified saints are here presented in association with the Lamb, in the millennial age, sharing His rule, and dispensing blessing to the earthly people and the world, and later on, in the Eternal State.

Note K—The Power that Withholdeth

That which withholdeth, or as the R.V. gives it, “that which restraineth now,” has been understood by some to refer to the Spirit’s presence in the Church on earth; and by others to such rule as is established and acknowledged by God (Rom. 13:1), for the restraint and punishment of evil doers. It is not wise to dogmatise where Scripture is silent, but the context clearly shows that it is a power antagonistic to the evil which is already working, but which cannot be revealed in its full development as seen in the coming Antichrist, until that Restrainer is removed, or “taken out of the way.” We know from other Scriptures that immediately the call of the Church is complete, and the living saints removed from the earth, there will be an outburst of lawlessness such as has never yet been seen on earth, and that the Spirit’s work as now witnessed in connection with the preaching of the Gospel, among all nations, will have ceased. And His future operations, “in the midst of Israel” and “upon all flesh,” as described in Joel 2:7-11, will not then have begun.

Note L—The Withholder

“There is one that restraineth now” (2 Thess. 2:7. R.V.)—The Restrainer must be a person, in whom the “that which restraineth” of verse 6 finds its expression. This does not support the theory that it is God’s providential dealings in the world which restrains the full development of lawlessness.

Note M—The Seventy Weeks and Antichrist

Before the events which come within the scope of the Seventieth and yet future week of Daniel 9:24-27 can be fulfilled, the present dispensation will have reached its close, the Jewish people will be again in their land, the ten kingdoms of the Roman earth will have come into existence, and their Emperor will be in power. The “covenant” or treaty made by him with the “majority” of them may be the occasion of their national autonomy, and a guarantee of their liberty to worship the God of their fathers, in their newly built temple, in Jerusalem. But when half the period is reached—three and a half years—their Protector turns Persecutor, tears up the treaty as “a scrap of paper,” demands worship to his image set up in, or on their temple, and then begins the great Tribulation.

Note N—Judah’s Servitude and Captivity

The Servitude of the two tribes which had remained in the land, to Babylon, was predicted in the time of Hezekiah (2 Ki. 20:17), and this came to pass in the third year of Jehoiakim, when Nebuchadnezzar, then Crown Prince of Babylon, invaded the land and seized Jerusalem, but left its king as his vassal ruler, taking with him back to Babylon some of the sacred vessels of the temple, to grace his idol temple, and a few royal youths—among whom was Daniel and his companions—to adorn his court. This was the end of Divine rule in Jerusalem, the beginning of the Servitude to Babylon, and the opening of that period named by the Lord “The Times of the Gentiles.” Five years after, the armies of Chaldea returned, this time completing the conquest of Jerusalem, leaving only the poorest of the people in the land (2 Ki. 24:14). This was “King Jehoiachin’s captivity,” as Ezekiel, who was among them, names it (Chap. 1-2). Zedekiah was then left in Jerusalem as vassal king. Receiving a promise of help from Egypt, he revolted, with the result that Nebuchadnezzar came against Jerusalem the third time, destroying it by sword and tire, and left the land in desolation

APPENDIX

The great European War, in which some twenty nations are engaged, has been productive of many guesses as to what may be the ultimate fate of the conquering and the vanquished countries. Already Revolutions have occurred, and the shadows of others is falling, which may bring such a change as will alter the map of Europe. Just as we write, the struggle is passing into Palestine, and the clash of arms is heard within a short distance of Jerusalem. All this points to a near fulfilment of prophecies on which watchful eyes have looked for centuries, and concerning which exercised hearts have sighed—How long. But it cannot be too oft repeated, or too well remembered, that whatever the “signs of the times,” and the portents of this awful conflict of nations may read, as to preparation of the way for the accomplishment of events foretold in the prophetic Word, there can be no actual fulfilment until the present age of grace has reached its close, and the present outcalling of a people for heavenly glory has been completed, and the whole of them removed from earth at the coming of the Son of God (1 Thess. 1:10). Then—and not till then—the long-stopped clock of prophecy will resume its round, and events which might have happened eighteen centuries ago, but for Israel’s continued unbelief, will come in rapid succession, the prophetic events of Israel’s sacred calendar will receive their fulfilment to the letter, and Gentile supremacy will reach its crisis and come to its end as predicted, at the coming of the Son of Man.

The reconstruction of a ten-kingdom Roman Empire will in all likelihood come as a result of the present world-war[26] and the consequent changes which it will bring, but it would be idle to guess of what peoples these kingdoms may be composed. For if a great country like Russia can pass from an Autocracy, to a lawless mob without a ruler, in a few months, emperors pass into exile, and kings flee to seek refuge in countries far from the place of their thrones, it is unsafe to predict what a day may bring forth. One thing we know, it is this: that no part of the Divine purpose can ultimately fail, and that high above thrones and dominions “the God of Heaven—the Most High ruler in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:32), will see that no part of His counsels fail.

J.Ritchie