Table of Contents

The Importance of Prophetic Study,

and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted;

with a general outline of  prophetic testimony.

Preface.

Contents.

The Importance of Prophetic Study,

and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted;

with a general outline of  prophetic testimony.

Isaiah 6.

The Second Coming of Christ Pre-Millennial

John 14: 1-3.

The Return and Restoration of the Jews

Isaiah 11.

God's Past Dealings with the Nation of Israel.

The Return and Restoration of the Jews.

Isaiah 11.

The Millennial Reign of Christ,

and the universal blessing of the earth,

connected with the restoration of the Jews.

Psalm 72.

The Distinct Calling and Glory of the Church,

as bride and co-heir of Christ.

Eph. 2: 11, Eph. 3: 19.

The Predicted Corruption of Christianity,

and its final results.

The Times of the Gentiles:

The character and doom of the great Gentile powers.

Daniel 7.

The Hope of the Church

with concluding practical observations.

Rev. 22: 6-21.

The Church Removed before the Apocalyptic Judgments

Appendix to

'Eight Lectures on Prophecy'

W. Trotter - Eight Lectures on Prophecy

W. Trotter

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With the prayerful desire that the Lord Jesus Christ will use this God-given ministry in this form for His glory and the blessing of many in these last days before His coming. © Les Hodgett (contact@stempublishing.com) (2011)

The Importance of Prophetic Study,

The Importance of Prophetic Study,

and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted;

with a general outline of  prophetic testimony.

Lecture 1 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

Preface.

These Lectures were delivered, and are now printed, for the benefit of Christians almost or altogether unacquainted with the subjects of which they treat, hence their strictly elementary character.

The following pages are, to a great extent, a transcript of the reporter's notes. Where, however, a sentiment was not clearly expressed, or where an illustration or argument naturally suggested itself, which had been emitted in delivery, the authors have not scrupled to alter or to add. A few explanatory remarks are prefixed to Lecture 3; and a subject not entered on in the Lectures, because less elementary than they were intended to be, is considered to some extent in an Appendix which closes the work.

The Lord grant that, if he should yet a little longer delay his coming, these pages may be used of him to stir up the hearts of some of his people, and lead them to live and act "like unto men that wait for their Lord."

Contents.

The Importance of Prophetic Study, and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted; with a general outline of prophetic testimony

The Second Coming of Christ Pre-millennial

God's Past Dealings with the Nation of Israel

The Return and Restoration of the Jews

The Millennial Reign of Christ

The Distinct Calling and Glory of the Church, as Bride and Co-heir of Christ

The Predicted Corruption of Christianity, and its final results

The Times of the Gentiles: the Character and Doom of the Great Gentile Powers

The Hope of the Church; with concluding practical observations

Appendix. — The Church Removed before the Apocalyptic Judgments

The Importance of Prophetic Study,

and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted;

with a general outline of  prophetic testimony.

Isaiah 6.

Had the subject of this lecture been the importance of prophecy itself, it might have been regarded in a two-fold point of view, as bearing upon the world, and as bearing upon the church. Prophecy itself is, in part, God's testimony to the world — a testimony indeed of warning and of terror, fitly represented by Ezekiel's roll, written within and on the outside, and full of mourning, lamentation, and woe. And, in fact, one of the saddest consequences of the general neglect by Christians of the prophetic word has been that, instead of bearing in the world's ears continually this solemn and mournful testimony as to the world's course and end, we have chimed in with Satan's lullaby of "Peace, peace," by which he soothes this poor guilty world into deeper slumber; while God's judgments, alas! by which it is sure, ere long, to be overtaken, slumber not. The world dreams of a golden age, a period of peace and plenty — of liberty and good government, drawing nigh; and it labours, as it has done for so many ages, to hasten its arrival. God's people, too, as unwatchful virgins, have slept or slumbered, instead of waking the live-long night to meet the Bridegroom at his coming; and they, too, have had their dreams, and have fancied the gradual and peaceful approach of the same blissful period. And while the world has sought to expedite its arrival by all the means and appliances of philosophy and science, and political economy, and a philanthropy having these for its foundation, how many saints of God have added to these the Gospel, and have thought thus to perfect the machinery by which this guilty, miserable world is to be brought back to universal purity and joy. Yes, and if it should be urged, as it doubtless would by some, that Christianity should be placed in the forefront, and all other things be only considered as subsidiary forces in the contest, what have you gained? The world and the church are still joined in one common phalanx, to fight one common battle, animated by one common hope of victory, and ensuring rest and peace and contentment in this world below. All join in putting far off the evil day, or in denying that there is such a day approaching. Pillows are sewed under all arm-holes — the walls daubed with untempered mortar — the prophets, whether in the world or in the church, agreeing to prophesy smooth things, cry "Peace," when there is no peace. All this is the result of hearkening to the reasonings and speculations of men, instead of the testimony of God's holy Word.

Am I denying, then, that there is a day of universal peace and blessedness yet to dawn upon this oppressed and groaning earth? God forbid! There is a millennium yet to come; a period of universal righteousness and joy, brighter than any that man's hopes have pictured — brighter than any that even Christians themselves have anticipated; a period in which men shall, indeed, "beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;" in which "nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more;" but when "the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together;" when "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all God's holy mountain;" when "the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." But as to the way in which this period is to be ushered in — as to the means by which it is to be introduced, we do affirm — and we hope that in the course of the present inquiry it will be plainly shown to you from the Word of God — that man's fancies and speculations have been preferred to the solemn teachings of this blessed book. It will be shown to you, from the Word of God, I trust, that it is not by the progress of society, or the march of intellect, or the advancement of science; that it is not by the spread of modern opinions, or the rise and growth of liberal institutions; that it is not by the means of schools, and hospitals, and peace societies, and temperance societies; no, nor even by means of Sunday schools, and tract societies, and missions to the heathen, however good in their places these may be (and we have reason to thank God in many respects for them): It is not by these means that Satan's kingdom will be overthrown — that the world will be delivered from his dire oppression, and the universal reign of righteousness and peace be introduced; but by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven. And this is the one grand event placed before us in the "more sure word of prophecy" — an event which men have contrived, indeed, to put off to an indefinitely distant period, but which in Scripture is ever represented as the one impending event, placed as such before both saints and sinners. It has diverse aspects, I grant you, as to these; to the one light — to the other darkness; to the one joy — to the other sorrow; to the one deliverance, and eternal triumph and blessedness — to the other confusion and everlasting despair. But it is, whether regarded in reference to the one or to the other, the one grand event foretold in the prophetic word; the centre, so to speak, of all God's future dealings with mankind. And it takes place, not, as is commonly supposed, at the end of this period of universal righteousness on the earth, but at its commencement. It precedes that period; it ushers it in; and for anything that any of us can tell to the contrary, it may take place in our own lifetime — within the brief space of our own existence here below.

But I will not pursue this theme. It is the definite subject of the next lecture, when the proofs of it will, I trust, through the Lord's help, be placed before you. But I was unwilling to pass on without noticing it thus at the outset. And for this reason, that in nothing has the general neglect of prophecy by Christians had a worse effect than with regard to this event in its bearing upon the world. Instead of testimony to this rapidly approaching and portentous event, Christians have substituted, as a means of acting upon the consciences of the careless, the thought of the uncertainty of their own lives, and the thought of the final day of retribution, at the end of time, at the dissolution of all things. I am not going to intimate that Scripture is silent as to these. No such thing. It does, in a few places, refer to these subjects. "It is appointed unto men once to die, and after that the judgment." The judgment of the dead before the great white throne is solemnly portrayed in Rev. 20. But this we may with safety affirm, that the great subject of prophetic testimony is neither the uncertainty of our lives, nor the setting of the great white throne at the consummation of all things, but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ himself in the clouds of heaven, to inflict terrible judgments upon the living inhabitants of the earth — upon those who shall be alive and behold him when he comes. "Behold, he cometh with clouds: and every eye shall see him: they also who pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him." The difference, as to the effect upon conscience, between these two sorts of testimony, is immense. It is true that life is uncertain; no one can foretell the hour of his dissolution. But this is an observation so trite, so common-place, so familiar with men's every-day thoughts, that it produces little or no impression. We all see so much almost daily of death and its appendages, that they fail to impress the mind. A grave-digger becomes so familiarized with his mournful employment, that to turn up with his spade the decaying fragments of a human body is no more to him than to turn over a clod or a stone. And so with others. So powerful are the effects of habit, and so habitually are we reminded of the approach of death, and the uncertainty which hangs over the moment of its arrival, that the prospect does not act upon the conscience. Nor is it commonly so employed in Scripture. But let the testimony of God's Word come home to a man; let him be convinced that what is before the world is the coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, not a thousand years hence, but for anything he or any one knows to the contrary, within the period of his own life; let him be convinced that for anything he knows or can know to the contrary, his own eyes may see heaven open, and the Son of Man robed in light and majesty descend, attended by ten thousand of his saints, to execute judgment on the ungodly; that unless he embrace the Saviour and believe the Gospel, he may be one of the living objects of his wrath, when that Saviour comes to tread thus "the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God" — let him be really convinced of this, I say, and is there not here an object of majesty and terror sufficient to arrest the most careless in his career of folly? And this, my fellow-sinners, is the prospect the Word of God holds out before you. Dream not of the certain intervention of a thousand years. Men have taught you to believe that this event is certainly at the distance of a thousand years. But Christ says, "Of that day and of that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only." Before passing on, I speak this word of solemn warning to the unconverted here. Don't be deceived. Don't dream of an intervening millennium. There will be no such thing. The proofs will be given you another evening; but here, at the very outset, I charge and warn you in the sight and presence of God, before whom we shall all stand, don't be deceived by the notions which are abroad. No one can assure you that the day of which we speak is at any great distance. For aught we know, your eyes may behold its terrors. Within the period of your natural life, its thunders may burst upon your ears, and its solemnities cause your hearts to quake. Unless you embrace the Saviour, who is still presented to you; unless your hearts are opened to believe the tidings of his mercy, and take refuge in his open arms, on you, as yet alive here below, the terrors of the day of God may fall. You may be among those who shall be trodden in the wine-press, when HE shall come forth from heaven, who has been rejected and despised on earth. Delay not to flee to Jesus. He is the ark of safety that will outride the coming storm. Oh that you might be led to seek refuge in him! His arms are open to receive you. There is no one here that he would not be glad to receive and welcome to his bosom. Oh that this precious covert might safely enclose you all!

Prophecy itself we thus perceive to be important to all; but when we come to speak of the importance of prophetic study, and the spirit in which it needs to be conducted, it is clearly to Christians that we have to address ourselves. It is not that we are not anxious about others. My heart would not let me say a word to Christians, till I had first warned and entreated the unconverted here to flee to Christ for refuge. But, dear friends, the subject for this evening is clearly one in which Christians alone are interested. Christians alone possess two blessings which are indispensable prerequisites to the study of prophecy. One is, the assurance of salvation; the other, the indwelling of God's Holy Spirit. Without the assurance of salvation, how can we contemplate with calmness and self-possession the solemn events which fill the future, as portrayed by the pen of prophecy? If we regard the judgments by which a guilty world is to be overwhelmed, how can I calmly think of these judgments, if I have the least lingering misgiving in my heart as to whether they may not fall on myself? If, on the other hand, we look at the glory in which they who are Christ's will be revealed with him when he comes — the glory of which all believers are co-heirs with him — how can I, with any measure of personal interest, contemplate such a subject, if I have any doubts as to whether I am one of those to whom that glory through grace belongs? No, the study of prophecy supposes the previous reception of the gospel; such a reception of it as has given perfect peace. Yes, my brethren, it is to you who know that, "being justified by faith, you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," that I address myself, in urging upon you the study of the prophetic word. Sheltered in such a hiding-place, assured of the Saviour's mercy, and of the Father's love, you can afford to look abroad on all that the pen of prophecy depicts. Yea, you could witness the scenes themselves — not only read of them, but witness them — the shaking heavens and the dissolving earth — the glories of that day when heaven shall open, and the rider upon the white horse come forth, conquering and to conquer; and, knowing in whom you have believed, your hearts be unshaken amid the terrors of the scene. Did I say you could witness? My brethren, we shall witness these events — not as spectators merely, but as actors in the scene. All the glory of the opening heavens, and the unnumbered hosts issuing thence in the train of Jesus, the King of kings, and Lord of lords — is a glory which will ere that day have become our home and dwelling-place. "When HE appears, we shall appear with him in glory." (Col. 3: 4.) And the heart needs the calm and peaceful assurance of this to look onward to those scenes.

Then besides, none but Christians are indwelt by the Holy Ghost; and it is he, the promised Comforter, who was to "show us things to come." They are things that happen, indeed, to men upon this earth. But still they are the things of God. They are the unfolding of his purposes, and the development of his ways. "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." What he alone knows, he alone can teach. And how blessed are the words which follow those just cited: "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." Yes, beloved brethren, it is to you who have passed from death unto life — who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, who possess this inestimable gift of the Holy Ghost, sent by the Father, in Christ's name, to lead us into all truth — to take of that which is Christ's and show it to us — to show us things to come; it is to you that I would affectionately address myself on the importance of that much-neglected study — the study of the prophetic portions of God's holy Word.

One consideration that can hardly fail to have weight with those who really value God's Word, is the very large proportion of it which is occupied with prophetic subjects. From Isaiah to Malachi, all is prophecy; to say nothing of a great deal in preceding portions, such as Jacob's prophecy in Genesis — those of Moses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy — as well as numerous passages in the books of Samuel, the Kings, and the Chronicles. A great part of the Psalms, too, are prophetic in their character. You say, perhaps, "This is all the Old Testament." But what, I ask, is the instruction of the New Testament as to the use and object of these prophecies in the Old? Let me refer you to Peter's words, which are very full on this point: "Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us, they did minister the things which are now reported unto you, by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven." (1 Peter 1: 12.) Has the preaching of the gospel by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven superseded the Old Testament prophecies? No. The things reported to us by the one are the things testified of in the other. And the testimony was borne, not for the sake of those who bore it, but for our sakes, to whom the testimony has descended, "that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister." Then, as to the New Testament itself, one entire book — the closing one — is prophecy. We have prophecies in the epistles of Jude, James, and Peter. Paul's notable prophecy in his second epistle to the Thessalonians is well known, besides others in his other epistles. And as to the gospels, which of them is there that contains no prophecy? Matt. 13, 24, and 25; Mark 13; Luke 21; and John 14 - 16, are the chief prophecies of the great prophet, our Lord Jesus Christ himself. And do we well to turn aside from these, as from writings of little (if any) interest or moment to us? Should we deem such conduct in a child commendable, or the reverse? Suppose he should receive a long letter from an absent parent, a great part of which is devoted to the child's instruction on a certain class of subjects, what should we think of his conduct, if he hastily passed over the whole of this, scarcely reading it at all, to pay exclusive attention to some parts of the letter, which, for some reason or other, he preferred? Would he be honouring his father by such a course? And are we honouring our Father, who has graciously caused the Holy Scriptures to be written, by neglecting, as Christians so generally do, the prophetic portions of them?

Then besides, there is a certain character attaching to the prophetic portions of scripture, which gives them an inexpressibly tender and affecting claim upon our attention. I grant you freely, that a great part of prophecy is occupied with the fortunes of other persons than ourselves. It particularly unfolds the dealings of God with his earthly people, and with the Gentiles, in order to the introduction of the kingdom of the Son of Man; in which kingdom our place is not that of subjects to be ruled over, but of joint-heirs to reign with him. It is thus quite true that the greater part of prophetic details do not apply to us personally. But is that a reason for neglecting prophecy? What! Has God brought us so near to himself — has he admitted us to such close and tender relationships to himself as to entrust us with his secrets, making us his confidants, as it were — hiding nothing from us! And shall we requite such love as this by utter and manifest indifference to what he has been pleased to communicate? Why was it that God told Abraham what was coming upon Sodom? Was it in order to his escape therefrom, or that it in any way personally affected himself? Not at all. Abraham's faithfulness to God had kept him apart from Sodom; his heavenly spirit and walk had kept him away from the scene on which the judgments of God were about to descend. On what ground was it, then, that he received intelligence from God of the doom of Sodom? "And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?" (Gen. 18: 17.) Abraham was so dear to God, he was brought so entirely into the place of being the friend of God, that God would keep no secrets from his friend. It would have been a sorry recompence for love like this, had Abraham said, "It is a matter with which I have nothing to do; I have no connection with Sodom and its judgments, and feel no interest in the subject." And when Christ says to us, beloved, "Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth, but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you" (John 15: 15), what is the only suited response from our hearts? What but the most reverent and adoring attention, while he, in the love that has thus admitted us to be his friends, unfolds to us what he has heard of the Father? If some secretary of state, some chief person in her majesty's government, was about to entrust you with some secret as to the administration of affairs, with what attention would you listen! Suppose he said, "You are such a bosom-friend, so dear to me, that I can keep nothing from you;" with what riveted attention would you hear the communications which he had prefaced thus. But here we have God himself, the great Governor of all things, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the one appointed to administer his government in the age to come, admitting us as "friends" to hear what is to take place, not in the government of a province, or a nation, but in that mighty change, which is to transfer the administration of power and authority from the hands of all to whom it has been delegated, and who have proved unfaithful to the trust, to his hands, who humbled himself to become the faithful servant, and who has had given him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things celestial, things terrestrial, and things infernal; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. And has God told us of this, my brethren, and of the way in which he will bring it about, and the blessed results which are to flow from it, to all in heaven and all on earth, and shall we not be interested in hearkening to the information he communicates?

Should it be said, "Yes, but this word in John 15: 15, was spoken to the disciples of our Lord, and applies to none else;" turn to Eph. 1: 8-10, where, addressing the whole church, and having spoken of the riches of God's grace, the apostle says, "Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth; even in him." It was not merely that the twelve apostles, or the disciples of Jesus, during his life-time here below, were admitted to this place of intimacy and confidence, but the whole church is that to which God has abounded in all wisdom and prudence, in making known the mystery of his will. And shall we despise this blessed place, and neglect the communications which, by reason of it, we are privileged to receive?

Further, the practical bearing and effect of the study of prophecy, rightly conducted, is a powerful consideration to commend it to our souls. I know that it is often objected to the study of prophecy that it is speculative, and people say they prefer what is practical. Nothing can be more practical. Let me ask you, how is Christian practice — Christian conduct — produced? Not by mere ordinance or precept. The law indeed said, Thou shalt do this, and Thou shalt not do that, and knew no language but that of stern authority and requirement. But while the law in itself was "holy, just, and good," we all know that it "was weak through the flesh," and could not secure from sinners such as we are the fulfilment of its holy demands. The gospel proceeds on an entirely different principle. It addresses us as lost, and reveals to us the fulness of God's grace, and shows how that grace has found for itself, in the redemption by Christ Jesus, a channel in which it can holily and righteously flow, in streams of pardoning, healing, life-giving mercy, to the vilest and the worst. It causes us to behold how" God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." They who hear the gospel with believing hearts, in hearing it thus, receive eternal life. Their chains fall off, and their bondage to sin is at an end. The heart is set free in the knowledge of God's love; and the Holy Spirit, who has applied the gospel thus with quickening power to the soul, comes and dwells within, as a Spirit of adoption, crying, Abba, Father. This of itself produces, to some considerable extent, Christian practice. The man who is born of God, who knows the grace of Christ and the Father's love, by the testimony of the indwelling Spirit of God, is sure to act, in a certain measure, as becomes a Christian. The peace which dwells within, the joy that fills his heart, the love to God and affection for the Saviour which the Holy Ghost has produced, cannot but express themselves in tempers and conduct corresponding thereto, more or less. But more than this becomes necessary as he advances. An infant may have the life, the relationships to his parents, and the affections of a child; and these may spontaneously express themselves to some extent: but as he grows up from childhood to man's estate, he needs to have his character formed, his mind furnished, his temper moulded and subdued, and his affections called forth and regulated in intercourse with his father, and by means of all the positive instructions the father is pleased to communicate. Especially does he need his father's instructions as to the future; and in fact, the child is educated and trained according to the future of his father's intentions, and of his own hopes. Just so as to the Christian. Each believer is a child of God. Each has the life of a child — the relationships of a child — the affections of a child. And all these spontaneously express themselves, more or less, in every child of God. But as we advance, we need all the light that the Father has given in his Word, and we need to have this brought home to the heart and conscience by the Holy Spirit, the blessed teacher to whose training we are confided, to form the character and mould the ways according to our Father's will.

And be it remembered, that it is to intelligent obedience and service like this that we are called. "Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." (Eph. 5: 17.) A servant may hear his master say, Do this, or, Don't do that, and have no fellowship with his master's motives for either the one or the other. But the child, while under tenfold obligations to absolute implicit obedience, obeys after another sort. He is expected, from acquaintance with his father's character and habits, as well as from familiarity with his father's purposes and plans, to have an intuitive perception of what will be pleasing to his father, of what will give his father joy. And how are we thus to serve our Father, if we neglect the greater part of that Word in which he has condescended to untold to us his thoughts, open out to us his plans, and instruct us as to the way in which he intends to glorify himself in Christ, thus shedding his own light upon the whole scene that surrounds us — a scene which constitutes the sphere in which we are called to walk so as to please and glorify God? Nothing can be more practical than the study of prophecy.

And what do we behold around us as the actual result among Christians of the neglect of prophecy? Do we not often witness such a case as this? A man is arrested by conviction in the midst of his worldliness and sin. While the force of conviction lasts, and he lives in daily fear of the eternal condemnation he has deserved, his very fears and anxieties make him less solicitous about the world than he has been wont to be. The time and energy he has been accustomed to devote to worldliness, he now devotes to prayer, and reading of the Scriptures, and seeking by every means he can think of to get peace to his troubled conscience. In a while, he is brought to understand and believe the Gospel, and he sees how all that he is vainly striving to do for himself, Christ did for him eighteen hundred years ago, when he died on the cross, thus making peace by the shedding of his blood. The effect of this on the person's soul we all know. His anxieties and fears are at an end. He has "joy and peace in believing." All that has pressed upon him like a burden intolerable, giving him an utter distaste for the world and its objects and pursuits, is now removed. His soul is happy — his heart is free. And what is it that ensues? Alas! one's heart sickens to complete the picture. But how common in such a case for the heart set free by redeeming mercy and pardoning love, to return to the worldly habits and earthly pursuits from which conviction of sin had for a season drawn it away: just as though Christ had set it free for worldliness and gain. There may be some slight differences between the way in which the world is now pursued, and the way in which it was pursued before the person was arrested by conviction at all. There may be more of conscience as to the methods employed; and there may be the consecration to Christ, as it is supposed, of some considerable portion of worldly substance. But still as to the general drift and design of life, it is manifestly the same as before conversion — the same as that of the busy world around. How is this? And how is it that it is such a common case? Ah, the solution is here. People learn what they are saved from, without going on to learn what they are saved for. They learn whom they are saved by, without learning that to hope and wait for his coming again, is as much our place, as to trust in what he has accomplished. The heart must have an object: man cannot but act for the future. If we have not before us the object that God presents to us, we shall surely have some other. If we are not instructed as to the future from God's Word, and so led to act in view of the future thus understood, we shall have it filled with visions of our own imaginations, or with those supplied to us by the speculations of others. And according to the actual future of our hopes must be the tenor and drift of our lives. How immensely important then, and how eminently practical, the study of prophecy!

Some of the common objections to this study made by Christians may for a moment be examined. Some say that it is not essential to salvation. But is it enough to know that we are saved? Do we owe nothing to him who has saved us? Is it of no importance that we should know how he intends to glorify himself in Jesus, and thus learn how we may glorify him while here below? Alas! that man has good reason to doubt his own salvation, who cares for nothing beyond the mere knowledge that he is saved.

Some say that the study of prophecy is merely speculative. But this has been answered already. All anticipations of the future drawn from any other source are mere speculations. Those actually drawn from the prophetic Word of God are sober realities, certain facts. As to its not being practical, as some allege, we have considered this already. There is nothing more so. The gospel supplies the motives to Christian conduct. The Holy Ghost begetting in us by the gospel a new life, and dwelling in us to sustain and guide it, is the power for Christian conduct. Prophecy reveals the object of Christian conduct, and gives us most exactly God's judgment of the whole sphere around us, in which this conduct is to be exemplified. It shows us that just as Christ arose from the dead, not at once to ascend an earthly throne and rule an earthly people, but (after remaining long enough to verify to his disciples the fact of his resurrection) to ascend to the right hand of God; so we, freed by his death from guilt and condemnation, risen with him as partakers of his life, are not left here to pursue the objects and unite in the course of a world lying in the wicked one, and about to be desolated by God's judgments at the return of the despised and rejected Jesus; but after witnessing a while that Christ is really risen, we are to be caught up to meet him at his coming; and meanwhile, as strangers and pilgrims here in holy separateness from the world, we are to seek those things which are above, where Christ, who is our life, sitteth at the right hand of God. And lest our hearts should be attracted by the false beauty and splendour of the scene around us, prophecy reveals God's judgment of its moral character and condition; unfolds to us the ripened iniquity to which its course is tending; and foretells the solemn judgments by which it will be finally visited, in order to the establishment in it of the peaceful reign of Jesus and his saints. Could anything be more practical than this?

There are two objections, however, on which it may be well to bestow a little more attention. One is, the extravagancies into which, as it is alleged, many have been led by directing their attention to unfulfilled prophecy. We are told of the Anabaptists and Fifth Monarchy-men of a bygone age: we are told of Southcote, of Irving, and of the Mormonites of the present day. We are told of these, and warned against all attempts to study prophecy, by the example of the fearful errors into which these parties have fallen. But let us look at this objection. It proves too much. If it proves anything at all, it proves too much. We are not to study prophecy, we are told, because fanatical misguided men have made bad use of it. But if the abuse of anything be a good sound argument against the use of it, it is not from prophetic Scripture alone that we must turn aside, but from the whole Word of God. What Scripture is there that has not been perverted by misguided men, or wilful deceivers, to purposes of evil? Then, besides, all or nearly all those who are held up as beacons to warn us against the study of prophecy pretended to have received new revelations themselves. They set up to be prophets. It is not the sober, serious, patient, prayerful study of what is already revealed in God's Word that characterizes fanatical teachers on prophecy; but the pretension to having themselves received new revelations. My brethren, it is not that I wish you to be prophets, or wish you to receive anything that any one pretending to be a prophet would teach you. It is to guard you against all such delusions that I invite you to render your most serious attention to the teaching of the prophetic pages of God's holy Word. And the fact is, that the objection we are considering, not only proves too much for the objectors, but also proves the very opposite of what it is brought to prove. Instead of proving that prophecy should be neglected, it proves that it should be studied; calmly indeed, with prayer — in entire dependence upon the Spirit of God, but still studied. What is it that gives such deceivers as have been referred to the fearful power they possess? It is the ignorance — the wide-spread ignorance — of Christians on the subjects those deceivers dilate upon. Where is it that a man is most liable to be led astray? In the path he continually treads — a path with every step of which he is as familiar as with his own fireside? No; the night may be very dark, and the path very intricate; but he knows it too well to be in it led astray. It is in some unknown region, where every path and every lane is new to him, and where darkness moreover settles and broods over the entire scene. It is there that the ignis fatuus leads the traveller into a bog, or the false treacherous guide conducts him, through winding paths, into a den of thieves. And so with the Word of God. It is not by means of those parts with which we are best acquainted, that Satan and his emissaries succeed in leading us astray. But if there be any large field of truth with which Christians are not conversant; some large tract of Scripture consigned, as the prophetic parts are by Christians generally, to oblivion and neglect; there it is that the tempter puts forth his skill. By calling attention to some striking part of these neglected portions, he arouses the attention of Christians, and makes them feel how ignorant they have been; and they do actually come to see some truths which they have not seen before. But alas! it is only that these truths are used by Satan as his gilded bait to disguise the concealed hook of some deadly error, which he contrives to hide amid the long neglected and now apparently recovered truth. My brethren, it is the neglect of the Word of God that throws the door open to the enemy. It is the neglect of the prophetic Word that makes Christians the easy prey of any deceiver who pretends to prophetic light. The Lord grant us to take warning by the past. Having our loins girt about with truth, and taking the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, may we be kept from all the wiles of the devil; may we be enabled to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, may we stand.

But there is another objection more subtle, and perhaps with a certain class of Christians more influential than the one we have been considering. It is this. It is alleged that the chief, if not the only, use of prophecy is after the event, to demonstrate the truth of God, and evince his faithfulness in fulfilling his word. It is said, "Ah, but you cannot understand prophecy till after the occurrence of the event it foretells. This is the only key by which it can be unlocked, and then it will be seen how God has spoken, and has fulfilled his word. But it is of no use examining prophecy till then." Such is the objection. That fulfilled prophecy has the use affirmed, one would not, of course, think of denying. Fulfilled prophecy has this use undoubtedly. But to say of unfulfilled prophecy, that its chief use is after the event is to go directly in the face of the plainest declarations of God's word. See 2 Peter 1: 19: "We have also a more sure word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed." When? When the events have been accomplished, and the light thus shed upon the prophecy makes plain that God has spoken the truth? Is that the time? No; "whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, UNTIL the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts."* The use of prophecy is that of a lamp, to light the traveller's feet along the dark and dreary path. It is not intended for a candle to be held up to the sun, to make it manifest that the sun shines at noonday. As some one has, in substance, remarked, if the chief use of unfulfilled prophecy be after the event, it must be either to the righteous or to the wicked that it is thus useful. It cannot be to the wicked; it is too late to be of use to them, when its predictions have been accomplished in their destruction. The flood proved the truth of God's word by Noah; but it was too late to be of any advantage to the guilty world, who perished for not having heeded the warning before. And as to the righteous, surely they don't need the fulfilment of prophecy to satisfy them that God speaks the truth. We are not Christians, unless we do believe this. No, my brethren, we do not need prophecy to be fulfilled, in order to certify us of the truth of God. But we do need all the light it sheds upon our present path, and upon the whole scene around, to guide us through its intricate mazes to that city of habitation which it reveals to us as the home of our weary hearts, and our eternal dwelling-place of joy.

*[What is urged before and after is sound and true; but not in virtue of this scripture, which insists on the value of the prophetic lamp till daylight dawn, and the day star, Christ, our heavenly hope, arise in the heart — not till prophecy is accomplished. — Ed.]

As to "the spirit in which prophetic study needs to be conducted," a few words must suffice. Isaiah 6 affords full and blessed instruction as to this. We have there Isaiah's preparation to be a prophet. The needed preparation for the study of prophecy is surely of the same character morally. It is not intellectual power, natural quickness of apprehension, or precision of judgment. Where God is the teacher, and sinners saved by grace the learners, the preparatory process is moral and spiritual. Prophecy is not designed to furnish food for curious imaginations, or a field for the exercise of intellectual power. It is addressed to faith, to be by it simply received as God's word, and thus to become incorporated with the very existence of the inner man, humbling us at God's feet, 'Weaning its from the world, enabling us alike to despise its attractions, and to be quiet and peaceful amid its convulsions and its overturns, knowing beforehand what will be the end of its vaunting, proud career, and how God has prepared for the safety and blessing of his own — some above and others amid the widespread, general crash. What can enable us aright to pursue the study of a subject like this, but a process somewhat similar to that through which the prophet passed? Let us consider it for a moment.

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple." "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. the whole earth is full of his glory," is the cry which bursts from the lips of the prostrate seraphim. What effect has this vision of glory on the prophet? It withers all the pride and beauty of the flesh. In the presence of this glory the prophet has the deepest discernment of his own sinful, abject condition, and of that of his people, among whom he dwells. "Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." This is needful for us, as well as for the prophet. It is this withering of the flesh of all self-confidence and self-importance; this discovery to us of what we are as sinners in the presence of a holy God; it is this we need, to traverse safely the scenes unfolded to us in prophecy. They are scenes of judgment, of desolation, of succeeding brightness and glory; but we could not pass and repass through them, and be instructed as to them, without being puffed up by increasing knowledge, unless our hearts learn these things in the presence of the brightness of the glory of God. This is a brightness which we discern by faith; to the prophet it was revealed to sight. Oh! we need this discovery of ourselves, of our deep sinfulness, so as to loathe and abhor ourselves; or our vain, proud hearts would turn our very acquaintance with prophecy into a means of exalting ourselves above our brethren. Isaiah takes his place as identified with his nation. He owns not only that he is a man of unclean lips, but that he dwells in the midst of a people of unclean lips. The Lord grant us, in the presence of his glory, this true brokenness of heart.

But the prophet is not left here. Grace is ministered to him. He is made to know that his iniquity is taken away, and his sin purged. And so with us; when a broken heart is combined with the knowledge of the grace which has bound it up; when we not only see "the King, the Lord of hosts," but see how he stooped to the manger, to the garden, to the cross; when we see him there, and read full forgiveness in his open side, and hear it in his expiring cry; then it is, the heart made free and happy in God's love, yet thoroughly broken and abased, we can bear to study the prophetic word, and look onwards to those scenes of judgment which tell of what we had deserved, and must surely have endured, had grace not interposed.

But an inquiry is now instituted: "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" "Here am I, send me," is the prophet's ready response. The humbleness, self-loathing, and self-distrust, which nothing can produce but the beholding (by faith in our case — by sight in that of the prophet) the glory of the Lord; the simple blessed assurance of iniquity purged and sin removed, which the gospel brings; and the readiness to run on any errand, and enter on any service which it may please our forgiving Lord to appoint; these three traits mark the grand moral preparation of the heart by the Spirit of God, for the study of prophecy. And it is surely just in proportion as these dispositions continue to be wrought in us and cherished by us, that we shall receive to profit these communications of God's mind as to the future, of which the prophetic word is the medium.

As to a general outline of prophetic testimony, it must be exceedingly brief. One cardinal truth must be borne in mind from the outset. God is his own end or object. It is for his own glory, and for no lower end, that he acts. In whatever sphere he operates, and in whatever way, this is always true." Of him, and through him, and to him are all things; to whom be glory for ever." Then further, as Christ is God manifest in the flesh, the incarnate, as well as the eternal Word, by whom and for whom all things were made, and all things subsist; he, Christ, is the one in whom all God's glory is accomplished and displayed. Now, it is to him that the Holy Ghost bears testimony." He shall glorify me," said our blessed Lord. Christ is the centre and object of all the counsels, and of all the ways and acts of God. And accordingly, which brings us at once to the subject before us, the whole prophetic testimony is thus summed up by the Apostle Peter. Speaking of the Old Testament prophets, he represents them "as searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories (see the Greek) that should follow." Those prophecies which relate to the sufferings of Christ have, of course, been fulfilled; and, so far as his personal glory in his resurrection from the dead, and his session at the right hand of God is concerned, the predictions as to these events have been accomplished too. But the manifestation of his glories to the world is altogether future. The world has never seen him since he was taken down from the cross, and laid in the rich man's sepulchre. For anything the world believes or cares, he might be there still. But there are those who have been separated from the world by the tidings of his death and resurrection, and of the salvation which has been thus wrought out. These are now sharing the fellowship of his sufferings, and being made conformable to his death. His word assures us, that "if we suffer we shall also reign with him." "If so be we suffer with him, we shall also be glorified together." This takes place when he comes again. This may be at any moment. Whenever that moment does arrive, "the Lord Jesus shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." The next lecture will exhibit the proofs from Scripture, that this is prior to the millennium, and introductory to it. I believe myself that there are distinct stages in the coming of Christ: one coming, but having distinct and successive stages in its accomplishment.

Let me explain by a familiar illustration. As in the coming of the judges to the assize of a city, suppose the municipal authorities go out to meet them; if they should halt where the two processions meet, and even if they should tarry there and confer with each other; and if after that the judges should come onward, now accompanied by those who went out to meet them, it would be but one coming of the judges, though thus divided into distinct stages. Now I believe that Scripture thus represents the coming of our Lord. He descends into the air, and the church is glorified and caught up to meet him there. The marriage of the Lamb, we are told, takes place in heaven. Then he comes, attended or followed by the church — by his risen and glorified saints — to execute judgment on the wicked here below.

But between these two stages of our Lord's return, there is an interval long enough, not only for the marriage of the Lamb in heaven, but also for the preparation of affairs on the earth below, to be visited by him in judgment As soon as the church is taken up to meet the Lord in the air, God begins to work amongst his earthly people, the Jews. A portion of them return to their land, and are found there, still in a state of unbelief. A remnant from amongst them have their hearts turned to the Lord, and they repent deeply of all their national and individual wickedness.

The Gentile nations, given up to delusion, at least those included within the precincts of the fourth great empire, that of Rome, having been long accustomed to the form of godliness without the power, now — the true church being gone to heaven — throw aside the very name of Christ, and receive in his stead that great enemy, that proud and self-willed defier of God, "the man of sin," "antichrist," "the son of perdition," who compels, or seeks to compel, all to worship him, and receive a mark in their foreheads and in their hands. Those who refuse, he slays; those who worship him, have to drink of the wine of the wrath of God without mixture. Certainly, amongst the Jews, and probably amongst the Gentiles, there will be some, but among the Jews many, whose hearts God will have so touched, that they will steadily refuse to worship the Beast or his image, and many of them will be by him destroyed. Others will, through attention to our Lord's warning in Matt. 24: 15, etc., flee when they see the sign there spoken of, and will escape. It will be a time of tribulation, such as there never was from the beginning of the world, nor ever will be afterwards. Eventually, the Jews being trodden down and oppressed in Jerusalem and Judea, all nations being gathered against Jerusalem to battle, in the very utmost extremity of their distress, when there seems no hope, but that they will be completely swallowed up, suddenly "as lightning," the Son of Man will appear, attended by all his saints; the man of sin will be destroyed by the brightness of his appearing; the armies assembled around Jerusalem will be cut off, and the poor oppressed Jews will be delivered out of the hand of their enemies.

Terrible judgments will be inflicted on all the surrounding nations, and indeed on all the nations of the earth; varying, however, in severity, according to the degree of light they have abused. Those Jews who had not returned to their own land previously will be brought back in triumph. The ten tribes, long lost, will be found, and brought back by the hand of God himself to their own land. Jerusalem thus restored will become the throne of the Lord as to the earth. From the scene where God's judgments and the presence of the Lord will have been specially displayed, will messengers be despatched to all the spared and far off nations of the earth. When God's judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants will learn righteousness. All the obstinately wicked will be cut off; the rest will be converted, and the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth; Satan will be bound in the bottomless pit, so that he can deceive the nations no more for a thousand years.

Christ and his glorified saints shall then reign in full blessing over all the earth; their own distinct place of blessing and joy being in heaven. Creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious liberty of the children of God. The world, freed from the yoke of Satan, and happy under the reign of Christ and his saints, shall reap the answer to that prayer which has been so many thousand times pronounced by so many thousand lips: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." All this continues for a thousand years. Then shall Satan be loosed for a little season, and go out once again and deceive the nations. Fire from God will come down out of heaven on those whom he assembles. Then the great white throne will be set. The wicked dead, who had not been raised at the beginning of the millennium, will be brought forth out of their graves for judgment All who are not found written in the Lamb's book of life will be cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death. Heaven and earth will flee away. Christ will deliver up the kingdom to the Father. New heavens and a new earth, in which there shall be no sea, will be created. Into this new earth, the New Jerusalem, the glorified church, will descend, and God will be all in all.

Such is the barest possible outline of this most important subject. For all the details as to these several points, as well as for Scripture proofs of what has been affirmed, I can only refer you to the Word of God, and to such portions of it particularly as we may be enabled to bring forward in the succeeding lectures. The object of this statement is simply to give you a general idea of what those lectures are designed to illustrate and prove. The Lord grant his blessing. Amen.  W. T.

The Second Coming of Christ Pre-Millennial

The Second Coming of Christ Pre-Millennial.

John 14: 1-3.

Lecture 2 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

The subject of this evening's address, as already announced, is "The second coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ proved to be pre-millennial."

Before I proceed to lay before you the Scriptural proofs of this position — proofs which we shall find to be almost without end — I feel anxious to express one thought, which presses heavily upon me, in connection with the solemn and happy theme which is to form the subject of our meditation. How strange, and sad, and sorrowful it is, that the "blessed hope of the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ," should be regarded in our day as a matter not very interesting, not very important, not very" practical," not of any present and pressing moment; as a matter, on the whole, "better let alone;" an event which it will be time enough to look for a thousand years hence! Oh, my friends, where are our hearts' affections? Where is our love for Christ? If there be no longing desire to meet him "in whose presence there is fulness of joy, and at whose right hand there are pleasures for evermore;" what, alas! must be the condition of our souls!

But you will say, "Yes, but we meet him when we die." True, we do meet him when we die; but that is not the hope which is set before us in the New Testament. We shall see this night, that throughout the New Testament the hearts of the apostles and disciples were taught to long, and look, and hope — not for death, but for the glorious personal return of the Lord Jesus himself. This was the expectation of the saints in the earliest days of the Church. The clouds and darkness of modern perversion had not settled down upon the question then. The disciples did not hold that the Lord's return was necessarily distant; nor had the notion entered into the minds of Christians of these earliest days, that the death of all believers was a certain thing. No; it was understood that the time of the Lord's return was uncertain, that for aught they knew, he might return even during the "first watch" of the night, and that whoever should be then living — living "in the Lord" should never die, but should be "changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Death, indeed, might come. No one could say that it would not. No one could say that he should not die. but neither could any one say positively that he should die. No one in that day said, as people now say, "There is only one thing certain: we all must die." This rashness of assertion was reserved for later ages. Paul had said expressly, "We shall not all sleep." (1 Cor. 15: 51.) And although elsewhere the same apostle had also said, "It is appointed unto men once to die," (Heb. 9: 27.) it was not then the custom to set one passage in direct opposition to another, from the very same apostolic pen. The latter passage could not really be intended to have a meaning put upon it, which should directly contradict the revelation made as to a solemn and blessed "mystery," in the other. No; nor did the latter passage even say, "It is appointed unto all men once to die;" but simply, "unto men once to die;" that is, to men generally, to all except those spoken of in the next verse, who shall be found alive, and looking for him, when Christ descends.

But let us proceed to the question before us. Will the personal return of the Lord Jesus be pre-millennial? Will that event take place before, or not until after the millennium?

1. The passage which we have read introduces our subject in a way most tender and profitable. "Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself: that where I am, there ye may be also." Now the Lord does not say here, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will send for you;" though in the course of the few fleeting years of their earthly pilgrimage, in case the Lord's return should be a little while delayed, that would indeed be true. for even to this day, the Lord has been calling first one, and then another, and yet another still, of his people home to glory. But that was not the way in which it pleased our loving Lord to address his disciples. His comforting assurance was," I will come again, and receive you to myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." Such then is the blessed prospect that is set before us. Our Lord and Master, our heavenly bridegroom, has gone to prepare a place for us. The Father's house — made ready purposely for her reception — shall receive the Church. This is our hope. Where he is, there shall we be also.

2. How seasonable then, and cheering were the words uttered by the angels, immediately after the departure of our blessed Lord. The narrative in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles is as follows: "And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Whither is the blessed Saviour gone? Into heaven. What does he there? He is gone, as he had said, to prepare a place for his people, in his Father's house. What shall next ensue? He "shall so come in like manner as he was seen to go into heaven." This is the event next presented to our view. The happy mansion of our future rest and glory shall be prepared by his hand of love; and he will return, in like manner as they had seen him go away. It will be a personal return. It was in person that he was seen to go away. It was himself, in his own true and proper glorified humanity, that then departed; and in his own personal, and proper, yet glorified humanity, will he return. Indeed all Christians, on the authority of God's Word, must admit this. The question then is, when — at what period in the history of our world — will this personal return take place? Will it be pre-millennial or post-millennial? Will it be before the thousand years of blessedness or after them? To this enquiry 'the two scriptures we have just glanced at have introduced us; and that, I do hope, in such a way as to interest both our minds and our affections.

To this inquiry, I am compelled by the testimony of Scripture to reply, that the second personal advent of our Lord and Saviour will be pre-millennial: that is, it will take place before the millennium. I may add here (if perchance there be some present who may not know it) that pre means before; and that millennial is derived from the two Latin words, mille, a thousand, and annus, a year. Hence millennium means a period of a thousand years' duration; and millennial means relating to that period. Pre-millennial, then, simply means, before the millennial period. The second advent of our blessed Lord will, assuredly, be pre-millennial. This, I maintain, is one of the clearest and most unquestionable of truths revealed to us in the Word of God. We have passages proving it, as we have previously said, almost without end. We cannot crowd the whole argument into one address; but we shall endeavour to present the Scripture testimony, as far as time admits, as simply and as concisely as possible. And may we be favoured with a docile spirit of faith, and with happy liberty of heart, whilst it passes under our review.

3. Let us first refer to a short statement in the Acts. It seems to follow, very naturally, those at which we have looked. "And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." (Acts 3: 20, 21.) I ask your serious attention to this passage; I pray that it may rest upon many minds tonight. These words were spoken in one of the first addresses of Peter after Pentecost. Peter had heard his beloved Lord and Master speak of his departure to the Father's house, and of his future return; and his mind was filled with the cheering truth. So it was with the rest of the apostles. They went throughout the world, publishing not only "the sufferings of Christ," but also "the glories (See Greek.) which should follow" — the "glory which should be revealed" at his return from heaven. In almost every address this was the prominent theme. In the occasion before us it was so. "Repent and be converted," said Peter to the multitude he then addressed; "and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive, until "until when? "until the times of restitution of all things." What times are those? "The times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." Mark well this declaration. It is an exceedingly important one. The heaven must receive the Lord Jesus "until" those times. It is not said that the heaven shall receive, or retain, the Lord during those times, or until the end of them; but, definitely and distinctly, "until the times," that is, until those times arrive. When those times come, then the Lord shall be sent; when they arrive, he will return.

I do not pretend, dear friends, to indicate either the day, the hour, or the year, of the Lord's return — I deprecate such presumption. No man knoweth either the day or the hour in which the Son of Man will come. What we learn here is this — that there is a certain period — a period of "which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began;" and that the return of the Lord Jesus with power and great glory will be, not at the end of that period, as in modern days has been most erroneously imagined, but at the commencement. This Peter clearly asserts. What period is it that is here designated "the times of restitution of all things," and as to which it is said, "God hath spoken of them by the mouth of all his holy prophets?" Has God spoken of the final judgment at the end of the world by the mouth of all his holy prophets? No. It may be questioned whether he has spoken of that event anywhere in the Old Testament. Certainly all the holy prophets of the old dispensation have not spoken of it. What times, then, have they all spoken of? Plainly of the millennial times — of the times when all the nations of the earth shall be brought under the Messiah's sway. These, then, are "the times of restitution," at the commencement of which the Lord Jesus will return. The word which is rendered "restitution," means restoration from a state of disorder, brokenness, and confusion. Suppose the building in which we are met were thrown down, and the materials scattered, and that it were subsequently reconstructed, its restoration or reconstitution would be expressed by the Greek word here rendered "restitution." It refers to the times at the commencement of which all things shall be re-ordered, restored, and set to rights — the millennial times. When these times come, as we have previously said, then will be the time of the Lord's return.

It is true that "better times are coming." The general anticipation of a period of universal blessedness is not a fable. The whole Bible is one vast proof that there shall be such a day of peace, and rest, and glory. But before that day arrives, a dark and awful page in the world's history will be unfolded. This the world does not know: this the world does not believe. Still it is true. The revelation of the Lord from heaven, in flaming fire, at a time of trouble such as never has been, no, nor ever shall be, will introduce the "better times." A "great and terrible day" is at hand; — terrible, I do not mean to the saints, but to the wicked who obey not the gospel. (2 Thess. 1: 8.) There is no ground for fear on the part of those who trust in Jesus — who know Jesus — whose feet are fixed upon the sure foundation. No; though the earth should melt, and the mountains be removed into the depths of the sea, they may look up with unwavering confidence, as heirs of "a kingdom that cannot be moved." All will certainly be well with them.

4. But we must hasten on. We will now turn to the parables that we find recorded in the thirteenth of Matthew. They present us with prophetic views or phases of that which professes to be the kingdom of heaven upon earth. We have much there bearing on the point before us. First, we have the parable of the sower. Read it at your leisure. What was the result of the sowing 7 Was it that the seed sown ultimately produced a universal crop? Did the sowing go on till all the earth was one vast field of wheat? Does the parable hint at, or even allow of, any such interpretation? No. Some of the seed fell by the way side, and the fowls picked it up. Some upon a rock, and the sun burnt it up. And some among thorns, and by them it was choked. Only some of it fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit unto perfection. And that fruit — that wheat when ripe — as we learn from the parable which immediately follows, was gathered out from among the tares into the garner.

5. But the next parable — that of the wheat and the tares — explicitly teaches that there will be no millennium before the harvest. The explanation of it is as follows: — "He that soweth the good seed is the Son of Man; the field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear." How clear and decisive is all this. The world is to be a mixed field — a field of wheat and tares — until the harvest. Never, previously to the harvest, is it to be purely a wheat-field. Where then is there a millennium to be found before that harvest? There is evidently no place for such a period before the harvest. This parable certainly and absolutely excludes it. To tell us that the harvest is said to be "the end of the world" will not affect our position. Were it so — were the harvest properly and truly the end of the world — still the truth must be allowed, that according to this parable, the world will be a mixed field of "wheat and tares" until then. There can be no millennium, therefore, before that solemn event.

But let me say to my unlettered hearers, that the parable does not teach that the harvest is the end of the world; that is, of the earth. Christ does not say, "The field is the world, and the harvest is the end of that same world." What he says is, "the field is the kosmos, and the harvest is the end of the aion. Two very different words, you see, are used in the original Greek. The latter one, aion, means age, or dispensation. The former means properly the world or earth. Both of these words occur in Heb. 9: 26. "For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world (kosmos — earth, properly and literally); but now once in the end of the world (aion, age or dispensation,) hath he appeared, to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Here the word aion cannot mean the material world. Since the blessed Saviour died, more than eighteen hundred years have passed, and the end of the world has not come yet; nor will it come till the conclusion of a still future millennium. The apostle's meaning, therefore, cannot be that Jesus died in the end of the world; but simply, in the end of the Mosaic age, or dispensation. So in the case before us: the field is indeed the world; but the harvest is at the end of the age; that is, of the period, or dispensation, during which the Lord Jesus remains absent, at the right hand of God. This interpretation is confirmed by two other Scriptures, to which I beg to refer you, viz., Joel 3: 13 to 17, and Rev. 14: 14 to 20, where the harvest is clearly placed at the commencement of the reign of the Messiah. Thus a correct understanding of the Greek word aion reconciles all these passages.

This parable then of the wheat and tares affords us satisfactory proof that the millennium will not take place before the harvest; that the harvest is the end of the age; and that at the end of the age the Lord will appear in glory. All which will be further proved as we proceed.

6. The third parable in this chapter — that of the grain of mustard seed — points the same way. The seed that was sown was the least of all seeds (Mark 4: 31), but when it had grown, it became a great tree in the earth, and the fowls of the air came and lodged beneath its branches. The vulture, the cormorant, the night owl, and the bat have made their nest there. Unclean birds have taken possession of it. Am I, my dear friends, misinterpreting the parable? Let me tell you that I rest not this interpretation upon my opinion or upon any man's opinion, but upon divine authority. For the Lord himself tells us, in the previous parable, who are the "fowls," or "birds of the air;" for it is the same word that is used in both places. As the sower sowed the seed, the birds came and devoured it. This is explained by the Lord. "When any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart." The Lord thus tells us that by the birds of the air that devour the seed, Satan and his angels are meant: and thus it is that the kingdom of heaven, as it purports to be, or nominal, national Christianity, becomes a vast and monstrous worldly system, as is said in the 18th of Revelation, "the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird." Such then, and not the world's conversion, is, according to this parable, to be the result during the present dispensation.

7. The fourth parable in this same chapter is that of the leaven and the meal. Read verse 33: "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened." We all know how this parable is generally explained. But, dear friends, I cannot allow that interpretation of it to be correct. The leaven does not mean the Gospel. Leaven everywhere in the language of the Spirit of God, which is always beautifully consistent with itself, means something evil. We read of the "leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy;" of the "leaven of malice and wickedness;" of the "old leaven," which must be "purged out;" and of the leaven of legality, which in Galatians 5 the Apostle Paul declares "leaveneth the whole lump." In twenty places we have mention of leaven, and it always denotes evil. In the sacrifices of old, it was typical of evil. Therefore the paschal bread — type of Christ, the holy bread of God — might not be leavened; whilst "a sacrifice of thanksgiving" from imperfect worshippers must have leaven in it. "Offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving with leaven." (See Areas 4: 5.) Further the Church should be "a new, unleavened lump." (See 1 Cor. 5: 7.) It was not said," Put into it new leaven," but "Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, even as ye are unleavened." Twice does Paul declare of evil, "A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (1 Cor. 5: 6; Gal. 5: 9.) Even in his day the leaven had been introduced. "The mystery of iniquity (said he to the Thessalonians,) doth already work." What was it that was working even then? Was it not the leaven? Both at Corinth and throughout Galatia, he expressly mentions the leaven as being at work. Into the "three measures of meal" not into the world, not into society at large — no, but into the new, unleavened lump — into the Church — a leaven-like mystery of iniquity had been already introduced. The "woman," the seducer, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth, as I receive it, had done this. The very hiding of it looks suspicious. Could this hiding mean the public, free, and open preaching of the Gospel?

The whole lump — sad announcement! — was to be leavened. Has not that announcement been fulfilled? Look at that which bears the name of the "kingdom of heaven;" look at Christendom. What do we see? three measures of unleavened meal — a new unleavened lump? No; we can discern scarcely anything on the broad surface of its vast extent, but leaven. The "kingdom of heaven" itself, so called, for such at first it was, has become "like unto leaven." Its whole appearance and character is changed. "Mystery, Babylon," is its chief, grand feature. And let me ask, Has not every one of us more or less admitted the leaven? Is there one single Christian here whose garments are not soiled — in whose heart "leaven" in one form or another is not working? The Lord grant that we may rightly interpret this parable, and profit by meditation on it.

8. The working of this "mystery of iniquity" will be brought to a close only by the personal return in judgment of the Lord Jesus in the clouds of heaven. If this be so, there cannot be a millennium of universal righteousness before the Lord's return. The proof of this position drawn from 2 Thess. 1 and 2 is exceedingly clear and convincing. Let us turn to it. Do let us carefully mark this passage. In the first chapter, the Thessalonian saints are instructed as to the revelation from heaven of the Lord Jesus Christ, in flaming fire with all his holy angels. Read from the sixth to the tenth verses. Assuredly, dear friends, it is the personal return of the Lord Jesus that is here spoken of. "The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power; when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Such is the description of the second personal advent of the Lord Jesus. Then the apostle goes on to tell us, that the "mystery of iniquity," then already begun, would end only in the revelation of a certain wicked one, the "man of sin;" and that this man of sin would be destroyed by that very personal presence of the Lord, which he had just described in the terms that we have quoted. Now I beg you to observe the connection of the whole passage from 2 Thess. 1: 7, to 2 Thess. 2: 8; for properly it is one undivided paragraph. The mystery of iniquity was working already; that is, even in the apostle's day. The result of it was to be the revelation of the man of sin. The second personal advent will find that "man of sin," that "wicked one," in the plenitude of his power, and will prove his destruction. Can there, then, be a millennium of universal blessing, and of the subjugation of the world to Christ, whilst antichrist is undestroyed? Can the true sovereign reign, while the usurper of his rights holds his unrighteous sway? Impossible! The millennial reign of Christ, therefore, cannot be previous to his second advent, for until then will he "gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity." The second advent, then, according to this Scripture, must be pre-millennial.

9. Let us now return to Matthew's Gospel. In the twenty-third chapter, we have a record of the conclusion of the public ministry of our blessed Lord. "Woe, woe, woe!" were the solemn words that chiefly characterized that last discourse. His own people had refused to receive him as the promised Messiah, and he finishes the dread series of judicial denunciations, with the following words (ver. 38, 39), "Your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." The concluding clause of the verse, namely, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord," that is, of Jehovah, is the well-known prophetic, national welcome, which will be given to Messiah by repentant Israel in the latter day. (See Ps. 118: 26.) On a previous occasion a great multitude of people had actually so used the words (see Matt. 21: 8-11); but Jerusalem refused her King, and sentence was pronounced by the Lord upon the nation. He immediately left the temple, and did not enter it again. He went out, and departed to the Mount of Olives. When seated there, the disciples, full of anxiety as to what had fallen from his lips, came to him privately and said, Tell us, when shall these things be, and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" That is, of the coming of which he had just been speaking; when, as he had intimated, the nation should see him once more, and say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." Now, the disciples do not ask the Lord respecting the end or destruction of the world, as is sometimes incorrectly and vaguely imagined, but they inquire of him as to the end of the age, for "aion" is the word used; that is, as to the end of the age or period when Jerusalem was to be "left desolate." You observe it is the same word that is used here as in the thirteenth chapter, and, as scholars admit, it has reference to time or duration rather than to matter. Further, the close of the period here referred to is spoken of by Christ himself as the time of Israel's conversion, which must be at the commencement of the millennium, and not at the end of it. Now, dear friends, mark what follows in Matt. 24. The Lord goes on to answer the other question that had been put to him, as to "the sign of his coming." "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." (See verses 29 and 30.) Such is the Lord's own description of his return, which he himself had declared should take place when the Jewish nation shall repent; that is, at the commencement of the millennium. Do consider well the bearing of this Scripture. Examine thoroughly the whole of the magnificent prophecy of which it forms a part. It is related, not only in this and the succeeding chapter of Matthew, but also in Mark 13 and Luke 21. Read the whole carefully. I am aware that it is said, that the advent mentioned here means, mystically, the coming of the Romans to destroy the city. But let me ask of any one who may say so, what then, in such case, is meant by the words, "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun shall be darkened — and then shall they see the Son of Man coming"? If you say the coming here spoken of means the coming of the Romans to destroy the city, and that the tribulation resulted from the siege and the taking of it by them; how is it that this coming is said to be "after the tribulation"? By your own interpretation you place this coming before the tribulation; but the Lord says it shall be "immediately after" it. Do you not see, then, that since this coming is after the tribulation, it cannot possibly be intended to denote the coming of the Roman armies?

And surely it is a personal return that is spoken of. Words cannot be more explicit. "And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." He comes for the overthrow of his enemies, and the establishment of his kingdom. The plain and oft-repeated declarations of Scripture are not to be explained away by mystical interpretations. Is not this certainly a personal advent? If not, what passage is there in the whole Bible which does certainly foretell any future event?

Further, if we refer to Luke's narration of this wonderful prophecy, we shall find that he places the advent of the Lord at the close of "the times of the Gentiles," the times during which Jerusalem is to be trodden down by them. (Read Luke 21: 20 to 27.) Mark specially verses 24 and 25. If we supply a few words from Matthew's account of the same portion of the prophecy, those verses will read as follow: "Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled, and (immediately after the tribulation of those days) there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things that are coming upon the earth; for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with power and great glory." Mark well the sum of this testimony. "Immediately after the tribulation," when the times of the Gentiles close, the Son of Man shall personally come. The times of the Gentiles we know are still in course: Jerusalem is still trodden down of the Gentiles. But a time shall come when that treading down shall cease, and the Lord shall come for their deliverance. Israel, in deep repentance, shall see their Lord once more, and, receiving him as their own Messiah, shall believingly say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jehovah." That will be the Lord's second, personal appearing. Till then Israel shall be blinded and scattered; yet the "generation shall not pass away"* — the race, the natural seed of Abraham shall, through all those dreary centuries, be miraculously kept distinct; and at the return of their Lord — and not a thousand years previously — shall they be converted, and restored to their own land. Then follows the millennium. How simple is all this! How clearly and conclusively it supports our position.

* Matt. 24: 34, and Luke 21: 32.

10. The parable of the ten virgins, though included in the discourse under consideration, may be taken as a further and distinct proof that, before the return of the Lord, there will be no millennium. (Read Matt. 25: 1-13.) "While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." When did the professing Church — the company of wise and foolish virgins — fall asleep? When did the Church of God begin to say, "My Lord delayeth his coming?" Was it not very shortly after the Lord had gone away? Certainly within two or three short centuries, the Church at large had fallen into slumber. There is abundant proof in history of this. Even in Revelation 2 and 3 the fatal sleep is seen fast settling down upon the Churches addressed therein. When, then, is the Church to be aroused? Not until the midnight cry is heard. After that cry, the bridegroom came; the wise virgins went in unto the marriage, and the door was shut. Surely it is a personal return that is here alluded to. No one can rationally question it. Were any one to do so, let him consider how the parable is introduced. It forms part of the discourse we have just noticed, and it commences thus: "THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins." When? Read what goes before. This parable is preceded by the description of the glorious personal appearing which we have been just considering. (Read specially verses 29-31.) "Immediately after the tribulation of those days . . . they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven." "THEN shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins." The slumbering Church, then, will not be aroused, except by that midnight cry, which almost immediately precedes the personal return of the bridegroom. There can be no millennium, then, previously to the advent of the Lord; for there can be no millennium while the professing Church remains asleep in worldliness and sin. Such a Church needs to be itself converted. Such a Church assuredly cannot convert the world. But till the Lord returns, such the Church will be. This proof too is therefore most conclusive.

11. We will now turn to Luke 17. (Read verses 20 to 37.) The Pharisees demanded, when the kingdom of God should come. The Lord replies to them, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation . . . . the kingdom of God is within you" (among you, see the margin). But immediately thereupon, the Lord turned to his disciples, and told them of a coming which should be of universal observation. "For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of Man be in his day." Here then a two-fold coming of the kingdom is distinctly intimated; the one not with observation, or outward show; (see margin;) the other to be visible as the lightning, unto all. To the Pharisees the Lord would speak only of the former: "Behold the kingdom of God is among you" — the king stands among you even now — already he is come; but you will not receive him. The kingdom assuredly was not within those Pharisees. Their condemnation was, that they would not receive it. Only by being converted could they enter it. But repent they would not. Therefore the Lord tells them nothing further as to the kingdom. The disciples however were informed as to the coming of the kingdom; but the Son of Man must first suffer and be rejected. Then would ensue a period which would resemble the days of Noah, and the days of Lot. Until Noah went into the ark, and the flood came, the world went on carelessly in sin. Until Lot went out of Sodom, and the fire and brimstone fell from heaven, the inhabitants of that city ran greedily in the depths of wickedness. Even thus, said the Saviour, will the world do, until "the day when the Son of Man shall be revealed." Can there be an intervening period of a thousand years of universal righteousness? Impossible. "And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of Man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; but the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." During those days, true disciples would desire to see the return of their Lord; but for a while their hopes would not be realized. Then if any man should say unto them, "See here; or see there," they must not hearken to such deceivers. For false Christs and false prophets should arise ever and anon, through the period during which the Lord should remain away. But whatever these deceivers might pretend; whether they should say, he is in the city, or he is in the desert; disciples are told not to "go forth," nor "follow," them. The advent, when it took place, would be visible to all — visible as the vivid lightning's startling flash. It would be a revelation through the clouds of heaven. In that day, it would be of no avail to flee in this direction or in that; for whether in bed, or grinding at the mill, or in the open field, the taking and the leaving would inevitably take place. The judgments of that fearful day would as surely take away all those that "do iniquity," as the waters of the flood took all the guilty inhabitants of the world in the days of Noah. just as the flood took away all except the few that the ark preserved — preserved in order to the re-peopling of the earth — so will the judgments, like a second flood, at the return of Jesus, take all away but a remnant, who shall form the nucleus of the millennial population of the earth. Some shall be "left" then, even by the judgments of that great day. The world therefore does not come to an end when the second advent takes place. There is a people "left" still; and the millennium ensues.

But when the Lord had given this solemn intimation, the disciples exclaimed, "Where, Lord?" He had spoken of "two in one bed; one taken, and the other left; two at a mill; one taken, and the other left; two in a field; one taken, and the other left." And they ask, Where will this taking and leaving be? The answer was, "Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." As if the Lord had said, "Where?" how strange a question! When the eagles seek their prey, where do they go? Wheresoever there is a carcase to be found. When these eagle-judgments are abroad in search of the wicked, where will they rest? Of course, wherever any wicked one is to be found. If he be in bed, or at the mill, or in the field, whatever righteous ones may be his companions, even there shall those judgments go; "one shall be taken, and the other left."

It is not my view, dear friends, that "taking" here means the taking up of the church to glory. That we shall see hereafter. The taking here is effected by something which comes as the flood in the days of Noah, and as the fire and brimstone in the days of Lot. It must therefore denote judgment. In the one case the family of Noah, and in the other, the family of Lot, were spared — were left. The righteous remnant of the latter day, then, must be meant in this passage, by those who shall be "left." But more on this subject in a future lecture.

It has been held by many, that by the eagles, the Lord meant the Roman armies, whose standard, it is said, was surmounted by an eagle. But how untenable is this notion, when fairly looked at. The Lord says, "One shall be taken, and another left." It is said this was fulfilled when the Christians, forewarned by Christ, fled from the city of Jerusalem to Pella, and when the Romans came and took away the rest. Was that one taken, and the other left? No; it was — some fled, and all the rest were taken. These eagle-judgments take some, and leave the rest; but the Romans took all that had not previously escaped. What inconsistencies accompany this mistake!

But throughout this whole prediction there is not the most distant allusion to any intervening period of a thousand years of universal righteousness. The whole tenor of it is against such a notion. Till the revelation of the Son of Man, the world holds on its careless way. Till then, wickedness prevails as in the days of Noah, and the days of Lot. No millennium, then, before the Lord's return!

12. I would next invite your attention to the parable in Luke 19, of a nobleman who went into a far country to receive a kingdom, and to return and take possession of it. Jesus "added and spake a parable, because he was nigh unto Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear." The parable was spoken to correct that erroneous expectation. They were mistaken. The kingdom of God was not "immediately" to appear. The Lord said, therefore, "A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return." And "when he was returned, having received the kingdom," he rewarded his servants, each with a share in the government of that kingdom; and the enemies which would not that he should reign over them he slew. Now the kingdom, in such a case, could not "immediately appear." The nobleman must first go into the far country, and return. Who is signified in the parable by the nobleman? Assuredly the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Whither has he gone? Into the far country, into heaven. For what purpose has he gone thither? "To receive a kingdom, and return." Now how, in what manner, did he go? Merely in some spiritual sense? No. He went away in person. Then so shall he return, when he shall come to take possession of the kingdom which he has gone into the far country to receive. It is a personal return, then, that is here spoken of; and that return is placed as a consequence of the reception of the kingdom, not, as many in this day believe, as a consequence of his having delivered up that kingdom, his reign having closed. When he has received the kingdom, he returns. He then allots "ten cities" unto one, and "five cities" to another of his faithful servants. The distribution of rewards surely cannot be regarded as taking place when the kingdom has come to its close, and has been delivered up. We cannot, with any shadow of reason, so regard it. The whole of this passage, like so many others, proves that the personal return of the Redeemer will be pre-millennial. The kingdom will be established, and the enemies put down, only when the nobleman returns.

13. There is a passage in the twelfth chapter of this Gospel which we must not overlook. It may very suitably be referred to here, to crown the mass of evidence which the gospels, briefly as we have glanced through them, have afforded us. It will prepare us for a better appreciation of the state of mind and heart which the whole tenor of apostolic preaching and teaching afterwards inculcates. Read Luke 12: 32-48. The first portion of the instruction therein given we must quote; nothing in the whole Bible is more affecting or more solemn. Even those who greatly mistake and misapply the chief portions of the passage, recognize it as most blessed and profitable. Those who imagine that it refers to death find the warning given in this most solemn passage continually occurring to their minds. We must read part of it. — "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the wedding; that when he Cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be ye therefore ready also.. for the Son of Man cometh at an hour when ye think not."

Now there is not one word as to death in this whole passage. Death may come. Woe to him that is not ready when it does come! But death is not spoken of here. It is the return of the Lord in person to fulfil the Father's pleasure concerning the little flock. Nor is there any intimation as to the conversion of the world at any intervening period. The whole tenor of the passage is inconsistent with such a notion. The faithful are termed a little flock, to which, at the Lord's return, the kingdom shall be given. "Fear not, little flock; it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It is a little flock, but the kingdom shall be given to it. This is the character of Christ's people until his return. It is not said, "Fear not, little flock; for the people of the earth shall shortly be converted to thee." It is not said, "Fear not, little flock; for all the wolves by which thou art surrounded shall shortly become sheep." No; the consolation addressed in this passage to Christ's true followers is, that the bridegroom should soon return, and take the "little flock" here spoken of' unto himself. Therefore all needless treasure was to be disposed of, and laid up in heaven. A stranger, pilgrim course was the one marked out during this present dispensation. The attitude of the disciple was to be that of readiness and expectation. "Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their Lord, when he will return from the wedding." This position was to be maintained whilst the bridegroom was absent. "Blessed are those servants whom the lord, when he cometh, shall find watching." "And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants." The passage quoted ends with the emphatic words, "BE YE THEREFORE READY ALSO; FOR THE SON OF MAN COMETH AT AN HOUR WHEN YE THINK NOT." Read this passage again and again. All that we have been considering hitherto has tended to prepare the way for this solemn closing exhortation. All that we have still to look at will tend to show its powerful influence upon the hearts, and teaching, and lives of the apostles. It ought to produce a similar effect upon ours. My brethren, will it be so?

All this teaching of Scripture is very different in its character from that which is the continually repeated boast of our day, as to the world's conversion during this present dispensation, by the existing Church. It is said that the little flock has become a great one. Well, we grant that a certain association, which at the first was constituted wholly of the sheep of Christ — which was the "little flock" at first, has indeed become a great one. But that association, or aggregate of associations (for now it is broken and divided), is not the flock of Christ. The people of Christ, indeed, are mingled with it. But the unregenerate multitude, which is called the Church, is rather Babylon the Great, than the "little flock." For the true flock is still a little one; "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life." This declaration marks the true character of the way of life throughout the present dispensation. There will be a dispensation after the return of Jesus, the way of which will be a broad one, and all the nations of the earth shall walk therein. All this will be seen at length, God willing, in future addresses. But now, and until the Saviour comes again, "strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, that leadeth unto life, and (alas!) few there be that find it." This passage of itself affords a strong proof of our position. But in connection with the picture of a little flock, which waits in a hostile world for the coming of its Lord from heaven, it is yet more convincing. Now, in all this, my friends, you must admit, there is not a hint about a millennium before the advent of the Lord.

As to the notion that death is often meant when the expression "coming of the Son of Man" is used, we have already said that it is not correct. It cannot be proved that there is one single occurrence of such a use of the expression in the whole New Testament. Certainly there is no such general use of it. The apostles believed, that to "tarry till the Son of Man came" was "not to die." Instead of supposing that the coming of the Son of Man very frequently meant the coming of death, they concluded at once, that "to tarry till I come" meant not to die at all. When the Lord (see John 21: 18-23) had predicted what mode of death Peter should undergo, Peter said, in allusion to the disciple whom Jesus loved, "Lord, and what shall this man do?" Jesus replied, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee?" Then the saying went abroad that that disciple should never die. Jesus, however, had not said he shall not die; but, "If I will that he tarry till I come." The idea which was attached to these words here comes clearly out; to tarry till he came, according to their view, would be not to die. How different is this from the notion of modern days!

14. We must pass now from the gospels to the epistles; and our survey of them must be brief. All that has been looked at, connected with the teaching of the Lord to the apostles, we are told in John's gospel, was to be brought afresh to their remembrance by the Holy Ghost. How, then, did they, after their reception of the Holy Ghost, regard the truth of their Lord's promised return? Throughout the remainder of the New Testament you will find it is presented as a matter of present, pressing, blessed moment. Two truths, indeed, make up a great portion of the apostolic teaching, and the second coming of the Lord is one of them. The "sufferings of Christ" is one, and the "glory which should follow" is the other. Between these two events the Church is placed. Such is our position! We look backward to "the sufferings," and forward to "the glory." The first advent of the Lord was to endure the sufferings, the second advent will be to bring the glory. The Church occupies the interval. Most blessed place wherein to rest, and wait, and watch until Jesus comes!

Such, we say, is the position in which the apostles place the Church. The making ready of the bride for the Bridegroom occupies the space between the two advents. The world's conversion — the subjugation of those who are to be brought beneath the sceptre of Christ, is not the subject of the epistles. It is to the Old Testament we must look. There we learn much respecting the promised King who should reign in righteousness, not only over his people Israel, but, as we are told, over all the nations of the earth. All this and much more do the prophets of the Old Testament unfold; but it was not revealed to them, that from among the fallen sons of men a people should be taken who shall be associated with Christ in closest union, and reign with him in royal dignity and heavenly glory over a happy and renovated world. This glorious mystery was not made known until apostolic days. Let this blessed special revelation, dear friends, be kept before our minds. It will be found to be, as it were, a key to almost the whole range of the prophetic Scriptures. Future lectures will more fully unfold this "mystery." We must now rapidly glance through the epistles.

15. In the eighth of Romans we have a passage bearing fully on our subject. Read it carefully. It is as to the glory which shall be revealed "at the manifestation of the sons of God;" that is, at the day when the sons of God shall appear in open, manifested glory, with their exalted Lord, for it is "when he appears that we also shall appear with him in glory." (Col. 3: 4.) This "manifestation of the sons of God" is termed, in verse 23, "the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body," that is, the period of the resurrection of the just. Our souls do now receive "the adoption," and know the power of "the redemption" already. But our bodies also must attain to both. Mark then what else is stated here. It is this: "The whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." And it is expressly declared that this universal groan will only cease at the period here spoken of. Then, and not until then, "the creation (for it is the same word in the original) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God;" and this deliverance ushers in the millennial kingdom. How, my friends, can the world enjoy a period of universal rest, and peace, and exemption from evil, whilst "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain?" Impossible! This groaning and travailing is the lot of creation at this very day. All the world groans beneath a still accumulating load of sin, and misery, and woe. Man groans; his soul groans — his body groans. Animals groan; the earth itself groans. The whole creation is here personified and represented as sending up to heaven a loud and agonizing groan. God in heaven hears that groan. A day of liberation hastens on. It is predicted expressly and most clearly in the passage before us; and that day brings on millennial blessing, when the saints shall be revealed with Christ in glory. All these events take place at one and the same time. They all wait upon the return of Christ, the great deliverer. His advent, therefore, must be pre-millennial.

16. In 1st Corinthians we have much that bears upon our subject. They "came behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (See 1 Cor. 1: 7.) Such was their position. They were a waiting people, but it was for the return of the Lord they were waiting, not for the commencement of an intervening thousand years of blessing without him. Indeed they appear rather to have been in danger of falling into an opposite error, which some had fallen into, in supposing that "there is no resurrection of the dead," or that "the resurrection was past already." Paul corrects this error, and at considerable length instructs the Corinthians as to the resurrection as the object of their hope. He leads their expectations onward to a day when they that had fallen asleep in Christ should be raised, and the living in Christ should be changed. And he tells them expressly, that these events take place "AT HIS COMING."

17. To the Philippians it is said, "Our conversation is in heaven, from whence we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." (See Phil. 3: 20 and 21.) This passage is another striking illustration of the hopes of the early believers. They were "looking for" the return of the Lord, as the era for the manifestation of their resurrection glory. The advent of Jesus, not an intervening thousand years of blessing, is the immediate object of their hope.

18. Both the epistles to the Thessalonians are full of truth as to the second coming of the Lord. Every chapter in each epistle presents it as matter of present hope, and not of distant accomplishment. They had turned from idols to "serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." (See 1 Thess. 1: 9 and 10.) In 1 Thess. 4 we have the blessed revelation as to the taking up of all the "dead in Christ, and all the living in Christ, to meet the Lord in the air, to be for ever with the Lord." All this will receive further and fuller attention (D.V.) in future lectures. We have already seen (see page 47), that the "mystery of iniquity" would work until the "man of sin" should be manifested; and that this "man of sin" would be destroyed only by the personal revelation from heaven, in flaming fire, of the Lord Jesus Christ.

19. Peter furnishes much evidence as to thee fact, that until the advent of Christ, evil will continue and go on; and that that event only would bring it to a close. But we must pass on to James 5: 1 to 8. This whole passage affords a strong corroboration of the same truth. The rich, it is said, have "heaped treasures together for the last days." The oppressed people of God are exhorted to "be patient to the coming of the Lord." Till then patience would be needed, for evil and sorrow would continue until then. All this shuts out the possibility of an intervening period of, the universal cessation of crime, and of the removal of evil.

20. John points to the appearing of Jesus as the blessed and purifying hope of all the sons of God. (1 John 3: 1, 3.) No previous millennium is even glanced at. "When he shall appear," are his words, "we shall see him," and "we shall be like him." What a gladdening prospect, my friends! What a glorious hope! May we know its purifying power.

21. The Apostle Jude, instead of depicting a period of universal righteousness, describes the very reverse as prevailing in the last days. The grace of God was to be turned into lasciviousness, ungodliness was to be universal, and to be removed only by the judgment of the Lord Jesus, coming with ten thousand of his saints to clear Out of his kingdom all things that offend, and to establish it under his own righteous rule. How visionary is the notion, my friends, that a millennium of righteousness is to precede the coming of the Lord!

The book of Revelation closes the sum of Scripture testimony; and from beginning to end it is one vast proof that the advent of Christ will be premillennial. Its great burden is the judgments which precede and usher in the millennial reign of Christ. The closing judgments which fall on man's climax of iniquity are executed by the Lord Jesus in person. Glance through this wondrous book. It opens with the announcement, "Behold he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him." This is the burden of the book. In the letters to the Churches, the coming of Christ is continually held out to view, both as a matter of warning and of joyful hope. In chaps. 6, 11, 14, 16 and 19 it is specially described. The eleventh chapter furnishes us with evidence which, were there none other in the book of God, is abundantly sufficient to establish our position, for there it is revealed that it is upon the sounding of the seventh trumpet, and the closing of the judgments, that "the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ." The millennial kingdom of Christ commences when the awful judgments of this book have run their course. The twentieth chapter tells us, in words as explicit as language can furnish, the glorious truth that when Satan is bound, that he should deceive the nations no longer, and the righteous dead are raised, that "they shall REIGN WITH CHRIST A THOUSAND YEARS." This book, indeed the Bible itself, closes with the sweet words of parting comfort to the Lord's waiting saints, "Surely I come quickly." May our hearts in unison reply, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

I leave with you, my friends, this reiterated Scripture testimony on this most solemn and glorious truth, so pregnant with practical consequences on our walk as Christians. I commend it to your prayerful attention. If it be the truth of God, as it indubitably is, we cannot slight it, or wantonly reject it with impunity. We are responsible to God for the reception of the truth which he has seen meet to reveal for our instruction and guidance; and our true position, he has told us, in words so plain that a little child cannot mistake them, is that of men who wait for their Lord, with girded loins, and lights vigilantly trimmed and ever brightly burning. We know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of Man cometh; but blessed indeed are those servants whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching.  T. S.

The Return and Restoration of the Jews

The Return and Restoration of the Jews.

Isaiah 11.

With a prefatory note on: God's Past Dealings with the Nation of Israel.

Lecture 3 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

God's Past Dealings with the Nation of Israel.

The importance of every thing connected with Israel's history and Israel's hopes, receives striking illustration and proof in a passage but little thought of in the present day. "When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel. For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot of his inheritance." (Deut. 32: 8, 9.) The distribution of mankind into nations took place more than one hundred years before the birth of Abraham, and Israel had no national existence for nearly five hundred years after this; and yet we are told in the passage before us, that Israel was so present then to the thoughts and purposes of God, and occupied in these purposes so central and important a place, that when he, the Most High, separated the sons of Adam, dividing to the nations their inheritance, he set the bounds of the people — that is, he arranged the situation and extent of their several empires — according to the number of the children of Israel. Israel's failure on trial has resulted in quite a different state of things — an arrangement of the nations which seems to have no regard whatever to Israel and their land. But it is only for a time. God has not relinquished his intention to make Israel the centre of the nations, and their beloved city the metropolis of the whole earth. The testimony which Scripture renders to this is the subject of the two following lectures. My present object is rapidly to sketch the process by which they have reached their present abject, scattered state. Their future prophetic history is so linked with all that is recorded of them in the past, that we cannot so well consider the subject of their future restoration without glancing, however briefly, at what has occurred to them in times gone by.

It was the abandonment by mankind of the worship of the true God, and the success of Satan in leading them into idolatry, that formed the occasion on which God called Abraham the father of this people; thus separating to himself both Abraham and his posterity for ever. We learn from Romans 1 how men, "when they knew God, glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened: professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things." Because of this, we are told, God gave them up to uncleanness — to vile affections, — in a word, to all the unmeasured horrors of paganism in its various forms. "Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate (or undiscerning) mind, to do those things which are not convenient." They gave God up for idols, and God gave them up in consequence, to dishonour themselves and one another. But while thus for a time abandoning the nations to the fruit of their own ways, he would not leave himself without a testimony on earth to his supreme Godhead, and to the happiness of those who, blest with his immediate presence and government, were obedient to his laws. "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him through all the land of Canaan ' and multiplied his seed," etc. (Joshua 24: 2, 3.) By the call of God, Abraham was thus separated from the guilty, idolatrous mass, to be the depository of God's promises, and the witness to his title and his claims.

The promises made to Abraham were unconditional and absolute. They included a great deal besides the possession of the land of Canaan; but they certainly embraced this in the most explicit terms. "And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land." (Gen. 12: 7.) "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever . . . . . Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. (Gen. 13: 14-17.) Abraham was apprised indeed that it was not immediate possession of the land which was to be given him. "And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years: and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance." (Gen. 15: 13, 14.) The land is then given to Abraham by covenant, and its boundaries most accurately defined. "In the same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." (Verses 18-21.) The promise of the land was repeated to Isaac (Gen. 26: 3), and to Jacob (Gen. 28: 13, 14).

Such were the promises made to the patriarchs. How touching is the first reference afterwards made to them in Exodus 2: 24. All had come to pass according to God's Word. They had gone down into Egypt, and been afflicted there in a land that was not their own. The four hundred years were expiring, and their affliction was at its height. "And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob." So surely will God yet remember the same covenant, on behalf of the same people, amid the far deeper afflictions which yet await them.

It was in pure goodness, and on the ground of this unconditional covenant with their fathers, that God delivered Israel out of Egypt. They were a wicked and gainsaying, and, withal, a self-righteous people; and they manifested this both in Egypt and immediately after their deliverance from it. But God wrought for his own name's sake. He bore with all their waywardness; each time they murmured, he manifested "himself in fuller grace; and all this continued till they reached the foot of Sinai. There Moses was directed of God to propose to them that they should be placed under law, and enjoy their promised blessings conditionally on their obedience. We are not told what the result would have been, had they humbly confessed their inability to keep God's law, and entreated that they might still have their blessing on the tenure of the unconditional covenant long before made with their fathers. Had there been in them a heart for this, they would not have needed to be put to the test of the law given on Sinai: God knew well the pride and self-sufficiency of their hearts; though they, alas! knew it not. The fact was, they undertook to keep the law. promising and vowing, "All that the Lord hath spoken we will do." (Ex. 19: 8, Ex. 24: 3; see also verse 7 of the same chapter.) It was thus with their full consent that they were placed under a covenant of works.

The result is well known. Before the words had well passed their lips, they were defiling themselves with idols at the foot of that mount of terror, at the sight of which they had but lately so feared and quaked. I do not enter into the particulars of what passed. God's relations with them were restored through the mediation of Moses; and they were again, with certain modifications, placed under a covenant of works. It was under such a covenant that they entered the land of Canaan. Deuteronomy 28 gives us the terms of it very plainly. Continuance in the land, with all kinds of temporal blessings there, are promised in the case of their obedience. Visitations of wrath, one after another, the inflictions becoming heavier and heavier, till they should be rooted out of the land, are threatened in case of their disobedience and obstinate rebellion. How accurately and minutely have all these predictions been fulfilled! it is after all this has been spread out before them, in this chapter and the next, that we read, "And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call them to mind among all the nations whither the Lord thy God hath driven thee, and shalt return unto the Lord thy God, and shalt obey his voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thine heart, and with all thy soul; that when the Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all nations, whither the Lord thy God hath scattered thee." (Deut. 30: 1-3.) We have a similar promise in Leviticus 26: 40-45.

Israel's history in the land, all are familiar with. The book of Judges shows how soon they began to depart from the Lord, and how, by one enemy after another, he chastened them for their iniquities. In the days of Samuel, their sin, and especially that of the priesthood, brought on a dreadful crisis, in which God suffered his own ark to be taken captive by the enemy. After its restoration, they desired a king, and God granted them their request. He first gave them a king after their own hearts, who ended his days in disgrace on the mountains of Gilboa. Then God placed over them the man after His own heart, David, of whose seed, according to the flesh, Christ is, who is God over all blessed for ever. With David, God made another covenant, in part conditional, and in part unconditional. (2 Samuel 7: 10-16.) As to his offspring who immediately succeeded him on the throne, their retention of the throne, and the blessing of the nation under their sway, depended on their obedience; and if they disobeyed, they were to be chastised. But the covenant was so far unconditional, that God's mercy was never to be finally removed from David's house. There was to be one proceeding from his bowels, who was, without fail, to sit upon his throne; and in him was to be accomplished the faithful word, "And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee; thy throne shall be established for ever." We need not be told who is this blessed Son of David — the heir of God's throne and kingdom.

The times of David and Solomon form the brightest period in the past history of Israel. Each constitutes a striking type of the future reign of Christ. David's conquests depict to us the triumphs of Jesus when he comes as the Lion of the tribe of Judah: while the peaceful reign of Solomon is, perhaps, the liveliest type of the millennial reign of Christ which Scripture anywhere affords. But it was only for a brief space. Solomon was corrupted by his wives, and fell into idolatry. Ten tribes revolted from his son, and became a separate kingdom, of which Jeroboam was king; and of which afterwards Samaria was the capital. The history of this kingdom was one of uninterrupted and increasing wickedness, down to the end: when, in Hosea's day, they were carried away captive by the Assyrians, and have never been restored.

The patience of God waited still with the kingdom of Judah, until the iniquity of David's house made it impossible for him any longer to bear with either. Jerusalem was taken; the temple was destroyed; and the Jews were carried away captive to Babylon. The throne of God no longer existed at Jerusalem, power was given into the hands of the Gentiles, and has remained with them till now. With Nebuchadnezzar, the times of the Gentiles and the captivity and dispersion of the Jews alike commenced. A remnant indeed returned in the days of Cyrus: for what end, and with what result, we shall soon see. But as to the nation at large, dispersion and captivity have been their lot, from Shalmaneser's and Nebuchadnezzar's days down to the present time.

The Return and Restoration of the Jews.

Isaiah 11.

Lecture 3 of 8 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

I would remark at the outset, that there are two grand objects which God has had in view in separating Israel to himself as his peculiar people. One was, that there might be a testimony to the unity of God, and that he was the alone object of worship. "Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord." (Deut. 6: 4.) "Therefore ye are my witnesses," saith the Lord, "that I am God." (Isaiah 43: 12.) His other object was, that by the prosperity of this people, under his own immediate government, his character might be manifested; so manifested, that all men might understand, that "Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." (Psalm 144: 15.) I need hardly say that it is in the future reign of Christ that this purpose of God will be accomplished. Israel will then be a sample, a specimen, before all nations, of the happiness of a people under the immediate government of God.

With regard to the past, both objects that God had in view in separating Israel to himself, have entirely failed. It is not meant by this that God has failed; but that God having placed Israel under responsibility to himself, in a position where, had they been faithful, these objects would have been accomplished, they have, through Israel's unfaithfulness, entirely failed of their accomplishment. Israel failed to bear witness to the unity of God; for they fell into idolatry like the nations around. They could not then be a sample of the happiness flowing from God's government. for that government can never make rebels and idolators happy. Their captivity and dispersion formed the final expression of God's disapproval of their ways. He disowned them and their land, and gave both up into the hands of their enemies, the kings of Assyria and Babylon. There, for a season, terminated Israel's responsibility in the land. It issued in utter, total apostasy and rebellion on their part; in their judgment, dispersion, and captivity to the Gentiles, on the part of God.

I am not forgetting what you all doubtless recollect, that at the end of seventy years, a small remnant were permitted by Cyrus to return. But though permitted by him to rebuild their temple and their city, they were never again an independent nation in their own land. At their best estate, after this, they were mere tributaries, first to the Persians, then to the Greeks, and last of all to the Romans, under whose iron yoke they were when the Lord Jesus Christ, their long-promised Messiah, was born. And indeed it would appear to have been the chief object for which this remnant was restored, that Christ might be born amongst them, that according to the Scriptures he might be presented to them as their king. This was done, and you know the result. They stumbled at that stumbling-stone. They entreated, or rather demanded, that Barabbas, a murderer, should be released to them by Pilate, in preference to their king — to him who had been acknowledged, even by the wise men from the east, as the "one born king of the Jews." Israel said, "We have no king but Caesar;" and they consummated their national guilt by crucifying their king. The one of whom God says, "Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion," was crucified by his own people. Do I say by his own people? Yes, by their wish, by their entreaty; though they were so far vassals to the Gentiles, that they had to gain the consent of the Roman Governor, ere they could accomplish their murderous intentions. "Therefore," as our Lord said to Pilate, "he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin." Yes, they joined hands with their Gentile oppressors to crucify the Lord of glory. Between two thieves on Calvary was he nailed to the cross, with a superscription written over him, in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. The long-suffering of God, however, still lingered over them. They had consummated their iniquity, but there was to be a little longer patience; and when God had raised from the dead him whom they had crucified, mercy was afresh proclaimed to them in his name. As we noticed on a previous occasion, Peter in Acts 3 preached repentance and remission of sins in his name to Jerusalem and the Jewish people, calling them to repent and be converted, and assuring them that even then God would send Jesus, whom the heaven had received until the times of restitution of all things. But they would not hearken. There was no relenting in their proud, stubborn, unbelieving hearts. Peter they imprisoned, James they slew, Stephen they stoned. Their rejection of Christ in every way, as preached to them by the Holy Ghost come down from heaven, as well as presented to them in humiliation on earth, being completed, God gave them up; their city was again destroyed; their temple was burned to the ground; myriads of them perished by the sword, and the miserable remnant that escaped were scattered over all the earth. And they have been thus scattered, they and their posterity, from that day to this. And yet, beloved friends, though it is for their sin in crucifying Jesus that they thus suffer, it was in that very transaction that the basis was laid, yea, the only basis, for their future restoration and blessing. When Caiaphas said, "Ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us, that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not," he little knew the meaning of his own words. "This spake he not of himself; but being high Priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation." Yes, it was for that nation that Jesus died. True, there were other objects — the expression of God's love to the world, the salvation of the church, the display of the whole character of God, the vindication and accomplishment of his glory in every way. Yet, amid all these, it was "for that nation" that he died. The nation that crucified him, that exulted in his death, that said, "His blood be on us and on our children;" for that nation his blood, as an atonement, was shed. And it is when their eyes are open to see this; when their heart turns to the Lord; when, no longer stumbling at that stumbling-stone, they see in the long-despised blood of sprinkling their only resting-place and hope; it is then that they will find what, in the purposes of God, and in the intrinsic efficacy of the work, is true already — that the blood of Jesus is the sure and only basis of all that joy and prosperity, and exaltation and blessing, which are yet in store for them in their own land. Oh! the wonders of that precious blood! Dear friends, have not our consciences felt its power? We who through grace have believed in it, have not we realised that it cleanseth from all sin? There is efficacy in it to wash away the sin of shedding it. And when Israel shall look upon him whom they have pierced, and shall mourn for him as one mourneth for an only son, and be in bitterness for him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn, then shall his blood be upon them in another sense than that of their dreadful imprecation. It shall be upon them, not as it has been, for judgment, and scattering, and a curse, but for deliverance, and restoration, and blessing. And throughout the millennial age, yea, throughout all ages, they will trace all their joy, all their blessedness, to the efficacy of that blood of which their fathers said, His blood be on us and on our children! Truly, it will thus be manifested, that where sin hath abounded, grace much more abounds.

And now, in turning to the testimony of Holy Scripture to the return and restoration of Israel — their return to their own land, and their restoration to blessing there — there are two points of view in which I am anxious to place it before you. First, the Scripture evidence of the fact; and, then, the light which Scripture sheds upon the order in which the event will be accomplished.

In considering the Scripture evidence of the fact, there are two objections which I would anticipate. First, it is alleged that many of the predictions we shall have to bring forward have been already accomplished in the return of the Jews from Babylon in the days of Cyrus. And, secondly, it is affirmed as to those predictions, which cannot be thus explained, that they are to be understood in a spiritual sense, as foretelling, in figurative language, the prosperity of the Christian church. As to this last objection, you will have to judge, the Lord helping you, as the passages are placed before you, whether they can be thus spiritualized. You will have to judge whether it is of the Christian church, or of the literal city Jerusalem, and the literal land of Palestine, and nation of the Jews, that they speak.

As to the former objection, that many of these predictions were fulfilled in the return from Babylon, there are several marks by which you may easily test whether this be the case. Such as,

1. Where the restoration of Israel, as well as of Judah — the ten tribes as well as the two — is foretold, you may be sure the passage does not speak of the return from Babylon. Scarcely any but the Jews, properly so called, that is, persons belonging to the kingdom of Judah, and but a small part of these, returned at that time.

2. Where it is foretold that the nation shall be converted as well as restored, it must be a future restoration that is spoken of. The nation was not converted at the return from Babylon.

3. Where it is declared that after the predicted restoration, they shall not fall into sin or see trouble any more, it must be a future restoration. Their greatest sin, and their heaviest sufferings, have been since their return from Babylon. Under the guilt of the one, and the pressure of the other, they lie to this day.

4. Where their restoration is connected with the utter and final overthrow of their enemies — of those who have trodden them down and persecuted them — it must be to a future event that such predictions point. No such overthrow attended their return from Babylon.

5. Where the coming of the Lord is connected with their deliverance and restoration, it must be the second coming of Christ which is spoken of. We know that his first coming did not deliver them nationally. And it must be evident to all, that it is not of the return from Babylon that such passages treat, as neither the first coming of Christ, nor the second, occurred at that time.

6. Where the prophecies themselves were written after the return from Babylon, it is impossible that it can be of that event they speak as still future.

The first passage I quote is from the chapter we have read; and it has another mark to distinguish the event it foretells from the restoration in Ezra's day. That mark is no other than the express statement that it is a second restoration. "And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea." (Isa. 11: 11) Now if you should account the return from Babylon, in Ezra's and Nehemiah's day, the first restoration, for that very reason it cannot be the one here foretold, for this is declared to be the second. Then, besides, see how many of the marks already enumerated this passage bears. It embraces the whole nation. "And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth." (ver. 12.) They are converted as well as restored; for it is at the time when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." (ver. 9.) Their enemies are subdued and overthrown. "The adversaries of Judah shall be cut off." (ver. 13.) "They shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west; they shall spoil them of the east together; they shall lay their hand upon Edom and Moab, and the children of Ammon shall obey them." (ver. 14.) Did any thing like this occur in connection with the return from Babylon? Besides, there are events of a miraculous character predicted here, which have had no parallel since Israel's exodus from Egypt. "And the Lord shall utterly destroy the tongue of the Egyptian sea; and with his mighty wind shall he shake his hand over the river, and shall smite it in the seven streams, and make men go over dry-shod. And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria, like as it was to Israel in the day that he came out of the land of Egypt." (ver. 15, 16.) Who can evade the conclusion, that it is a future restoration of Israel that is here foretold? And as to whether this passage can be spiritualized so as to make it mean the Christian church, to ask the question is sufficient. There is hardly a verse or a statement in the chapter which does not bid defiance to all attempts to interpret it thus.

The next passage I ask you to consider is Isa. 14: 1, 2. "For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land; and the strangers shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob. And the people shall take them and bring them to their place; and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall take them captives whose captives they were; and they shall rule over their oppressors." Surely this was not fulfilled in Ezra's and Nehemiah's day! What was Nehemiah's estimate of their condition then? "Behold, we are servants this day; and for the land that thou gavest unto our fathers to eat the fruits thereof, and the good thereof, behold, we are servants in it: and it yieldeth much increase unto the kings whom thou hast set over us, because of our sins; also they have dominion over our bodies, and over our cattle, at their pleasure, and we are in great distress." (Neh. 9: 36, 37.) Surely this was not the fulfilment of the prediction we are considering. "They (the children of Israel ) shall take them captives, whose captives they were, and they shall rule over their oppressors." No; it must be a future restoration that is here foretold.

Isaiah 66: 8-11, foretells a restoration of Jerusalem and of Israel manifestly future. "Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord; shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her, that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory." I know well how continually this has been applied to the Christian church, and how it has been said that when she travails in birth for souls multitudes are born, — that is converted. But it is Jerusalem, not the church, of which we are reading here. And it is the birth of a nation — Israel's re-appearance as such — that excites universal wonder and delight not the regeneration of souls. And when is it this takes place? "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb; and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies! For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many." (ver. 13-16.) How evident that the restoration of Israel and Jerusalem here treated of is at the era of the second coming of our Lord, and connected with the great day of his righteous indignation. Then further: "For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come that I will gather all nations and tongues: and they shall come and see my glory. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord." (ver. 18-20.) Could any one apply this to the return from Babylon in the days of Cyrus? Could this passage, by any ingenuity, be spiritualized so as to apply it to the prosperity of the Christian church? Can the subject of it be anything but that future restoration of Israel to their own land, with which the coming of the Lord, and the introduction of the millennium are inseparably connected?

"To proceed: in Jer. 16: 14-16, we have these words. "Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I will bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers. Behold I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks." Here you have a restoration of Israel, with which even the deliverance out of Egypt is to bear no comparison. A restoration so marvellous, that that deliverance shall cease to be spoken of. And who are they, let me ask, that have been scattered and driven into all lands? Who were they that were brought up out of the land of Egypt? Does the expression, "children of Israel," in ver. 15, mean something different from the same expression in ver. 14? Impossible! How can there be the shadow of a doubt, that the literal nation of Israel is meant throughout?

We have a similar passage in Jer. 23. Verses 7, 8, give almost the exact words of the passage we have just cited. But in verse 3, we have the same event foretold in other words.. "And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase." And what coincident events have we foretold in this passage, by which to distinguish the period when it will receive its fulfilment? "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." (Ver. 5, 6.) Clearly, then, the restoration here foretold is connected with the conversion of the nation, Israel shall yet acknowledge what they have ever refused to own thus far — that "in the Lord they have righteousness and strength." They have always, hitherto, stumbled at this. "Being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, they have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God." But they shall do so in days to come. They shall yet say, — "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And then he will return. And in his days, as we have been hearing, Israel shall be saved, and Judah dwell safely. The Lord our Righteousness, the name by which they shall know him then, even as it is the name by which we know him now.

Jer. 30 is full of instruction on our present subject. The importance of what is about to be communicated may be judged from the opening words, "Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book." (ver. 2.) Why were they to be thus permanently recorded? "For, lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord; and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it." (ver. 3.) We then hear of a time of terrible, wide-spread consternation. "We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? Wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?" (ver. 5, 6.) What is the cause of the alarm and anguish thus graphically described? "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it; it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it." (ver. 7.) Thus we find that the deliverance and restoration here foretold are at the epoch of Israel's utmost extremity of trouble — a day to which none is like. Surely this has not yet been. The next verse, too, demonstrates the futurity of the event. "For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will break his yoke from off thy neck, and will burst thy bonds, and strangers shall no more serve themselves of him; but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king,* whom I will raise up unto them." Has anything like this ever been accomplished yet? Then, as to whether these predictions can be understood spiritually of Christianity, let us examine ver. 17, 18: "For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord, because they called thee an outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after." Is it not the literal Zion, the actual city Jerusalem which has been so despised? "Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tent, and have mercy on his dwelling-places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall remain after the manner thereof." It is as though God had foreseen that people would try to wrest these promises from Israel, and apply them to something else, and provided the antidote here to such a mode of interpretation. It is upon her own heap that the city is again to be built. The "heap" of ruins left by the desolation of the former city is where the city has again to be built in those brighter days to come.

*This, no doubt, refers to Christ, as heir and representative of David. "Now see to thine own house, David," was language addressed to Rehoboam, Solomon's son. (See 1 Kings 12: 11.)

The subject is continued in Jer. 31. It is connected at the beginning with the close of Jer. 30. Read ver. 23, 24 of the one chapter, and ver. 1 of the other, and you have a statement of the most definite character as to the period at which this restoration takes place. It is at the consummation of the predicted judgments on the wicked, both in Israel and among the Gentiles, which are so largely treated of in prophecy. "Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind; it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it. At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people." Can anything be more explicit and decisive than this?

Let us look on to verse 27, 28. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched over them, to pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, and to destroy, and to afflict; so will I watch over them, to build and to plant, saith the Lord." Now who are they over whom the Lord has watched, to pluck up, to break down, to afflict, and to destroy? Are they not the same people he here promises to watch over, to build, and to plant? And can there be any question that it is of the literal Israel that both are said? Then, further. With whose fathers did the Lord make a covenant when he took them by the hand to bring them out of Egypt? With the same people does he here promise to make a new covenant. (See ver. 31-34.) This new covenant is to be made with "the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah;" "not according to the covenant," says the Lord, "that I made with their fathers." How can any but the literal nation of Israel be here meant? Precious, indeed, it is for our souls to know that the blessings of the new covenant are ours; that as to the enjoyment of the spiritual blessings of that covenant, we have, so to speak, forestalled them. But is that to set aside the fulfilment of the promise to those to whom it strictly, and properly, and primarily applies? And a part of this promise is, "They shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for they shall all know me, from the least of them, unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord." Surely this is a yet unaccomplished prophecy.

Verses 36, 37, are very affecting — "If those ordinances (sun, moon, and stars,) depart from before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the Lord, If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel, for all that they have done, saith the Lord." The Lord grant us to learn here something of the heights and depths of his grace; heights more impossible to be scanned, and depths more impossible to be fathomed, than those of heaven above or of the sea beneath. The remainder of the chapter demonstrates, if further demonstration were needed, that it is the literal city Jerusalem, and the literal nation of Israel, to which the prophecy relates. How can we spiritualize "the tower of Hananeel?" What mystic meaning could we attach to "the hill Gareb," or to the city being compassed "about to Goath?" Why we read here of "the valley of the dead bodies, and of the ashes, and all the fields, unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east?" If the literal, actual Jerusalem be not here intended, what language could give expression to that idea? And of this city it is said, it "shall be holy unto the Lord; it shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more for ever."

In Jer. 32: 37-44, we have another beautiful prediction of similar import to the last. I only quote verses 40, 41; the latter being to my own soul one of the most affecting passages in God's Word. "And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good; and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul." People ask us sometimes for the reasons we have for looking into these subjects. "What have we to do with the Jews, or with Jerusalem?" they say. My brethren, Is God our Father? Do we know him as such? And can we bear him say of the restoration of his ancient people, "I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart, and with my whole soul," and not feel interested in the subject? Is he so interested in it as to speak of doing this with his whole heart, and with his whole soul, and has the subject no interest for us? Surely we do not but proclaim our own shame if we say so. Can we need any other inducement to study these precious testimonies of God's Word, than to see all that is in the Lord's heart thus expressed, when he speaks of accomplishing this triumph of his mercy and grace with his whole heart, and with his whole soul?

Ezekiel 37 is a well-known portion. In the former part of it we have the vision of the valley of dry bones. The prophet witnesses their resurrection The vision is thus explained to him — "Son of man these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts. Therefore prophecy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel." (verses 11, 12.) Now here is figurative language; plainly so. The dry bones are explained by the Lord himself to be living people, even the whole house of Israel, who say, Our bones are dried, etc. The graves out of which these dried bones are raised are evidently the places or countries from whence the Israelites are gathered. If the dry bones represent living Israelites — dead nationally, but alive as individuals — their graves must surely represent the countries in which, as to any national existence, they have been buried. And then we are told in plain terms, that it is into their own land that they are brought, when they are thus as a nation raised from their graves. The parable or symbol of the two sticks is what follows; the prophet is commanded to take two sticks, one for Judah, and the children of Israel, his companions; the other for Joseph, and for all the house of Israel, his companions. He was to join them together, and they were to become one stick in his hand. The explanation is in verses 20-23: "And the sticks whereon thou writest shall be in thine hand before thine eyes. And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God, Behold I will take the children of Israel from among the heathen, whither they be gone, and will gather them on every side, and bring them into their own land: and I will make them one nation in the land, upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all; and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they defile themselves any more with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will save them out of all their dwelling-places wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them; so shall they be my people, and I will be their God." In this passage we have the restoration of both kingdoms, Judah and Israel, and their fusion into one foretold; their conversion is predicted as well as their restoration; it is in connection with the reign of Christ — one king shall be king over them all; and when thus converted and restored, they are not any more to defile themselves, or fall into sin. "And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt; and they shall dwell therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children, for ever; and my servant David shall be their prince for ever." (ver. 25.) The meaning of this last expression has been already explained. (See the last footnote.)

From the book of Daniel I quote but one passage; but it is a passage which, when connected with our Lord's words in Matt. 24, becomes of the deepest possible interest. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." (Daniel 12: 1) We have already seen in Jeremiah 30 that Israel's restoration is immediately preceded by the time of their greatest distress. "It is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be delivered out of it." Here, too, we find that there is to be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation; and it is at this time that the Jews — the children of Daniel's people — are to be delivered. Now turn to Matthew 24: 15-21. Our Lord refers to the abomination of desolation spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, thus showing that Daniel's prophecy was in his mind when he uttered this discourse. It is clear that Daniel's prophecy had not then been fulfilled, for our Lord speaks of the fulfilment of it as yet to take place. Besides, Daniel's people were not then delivered, nor are they yet: so that the time of unparalleled trouble of which Daniel speaks, was future then, and is future still. Our Lord speaks of it also. "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be." According to Daniel there had not been, and was not to be, such a time of trouble, till the time when the children of his people should be delivered. According to our Lord, there never will be such a time afterwards. He adds this to Daniel's prophecy. It is evident, then, that there can be but one such time of tribulation, unequalled by any before it, or by any following after it. It could not be at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, as some say; for then Daniel's people were dispersed and destroyed, not delivered. It is a time still to come. A time so dreadful, that our Lord says, "Except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." And what do we find connected with this time of trouble in this prophecy of our Lord? Daniel connects it with the deliverance of his people, the Jews. Our Lord connects it with his own coming. "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken. And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory." I could not conceive a more perfect demonstration of the futurity of these events, and of the inseparable connection between them, than that which a comparison of these passages affords. This time of trouble — the deliverance of the Jews — and the second coming of Christ, are all future, and inseparably connected with each other. "Whoso readeth, let him understand."

Zechariah's prophecy was written after the return from Babylon; so that there can be no question as to the predictions it contains of a then future restoration of the Jews, applying to one already at that time accomplished. What had been accomplished would not be foretold as still future. Yet in this book we have some of the most full, blessed, affecting predictions of Israel's restoration, anywhere to be met with in Scripture. For instance: "Thus saith the Lord, I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,

There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof." (Zech. 8: 3-5.) I suppose this is the literal city, at all events. And oh! the marvellous condescension of God, to present such a picture of what that favoured city is yet to be! That city, so long deserted and without inhabitant, save the Gentile oppressors and a few trodden — under-foot Jews, who are there as the witnesses and memorial of their own shame! That city is presented to us here, inhabited by its own people — on the one hand, their backs bowed, and staff in hand for very age — on the other, the streets full of girls and boys, in their childish simplicity and happiness, playing in the streets of the city! "Yes," it may be said, "but was not this what was occurring in Zechariah's day, and to be perpetuated in the ages which succeeded?" I answer first, by asking, Was Jerusalem, either in that day or in any which succeeded, "a city of truth — the holy mountain?" But, secondly, look on a verse or two, and you will find that it is not of what was then existing that the prophet speaks, but of a restoration which was still to be accomplished. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will save my people from the cast country, and from the west country; and I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and righteousness." (ver. 7, 8.) Was this the character of the Jews in Jerusalem at any time between Zechariah's day, and their final dispersion? You know that it was after this that their national guilt was consummated. But further, the close of the chapter places the matter beyond question. "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, It shall yet come to pass, that there shall come people, and the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek the Lord of hosts; I will go also. Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, In those days it shall come to pass, that ten men shall take hold, out of all languages of the nations, even shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you." (verses 20-23.) Surely this is what has never been fulfilled. But so surely must it be accomplished in days yet to come. Does any one ask, How do you know this? The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it, is the only and the sufficient answer. It is a simple question of faith in God's Word. Men may deem it improbable. Was it probable, in man's eye, that Israel would be redeemed from Egypt in Pharaoh's day? Was it probable that the Red Sea and the Jordan would open to let them pass on dry land? It is no question of probability or improbability when God hath spoken. Hath he spoken, end will he not bring it to pass? Hear what he says in this very chapter, "If it be marvellous in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be marvellous in mine eyes? saith the Lord of hosts." (ver. 6.) If it seems improbable or impossible to you, should it therefore be either the one or the other to me? No, dear friends, God will accomplish his own word; and when he has spoken so plainly as on this subject, to talk of probabilities, or the reverse, does but betray the infidelity of the heart. Ages may roll on; century after century may elapse; there may appear no signs of anything like the fulfilment of God's Word; but when the hour fixed in his counsels arrives, it will be seen that nothing is impossible with him. And, oh! to think of this people, whose course has been one of such consummate wickedness, and whose present condition is one of such degradation and ruin — to think of them restored to favour, and blessing, and supremacy among the nations; and that the certainty of all this is secured to them by the Word of God! Does it not do our hearts good, my brethren, to think of these things? It is in a very different relation to God that we stand, as his children, his heavenly people. But to see all the character of God, whom we know as our Father, thus manifested in his dealings with the earthly people of his choice, is it not refreshing to the soul?

It remains for us to take a hasty glance at the light shed by Scripture on the order in which Israel's restoration, and the events connected with it, are to take place. But ere doing so, I would remind you of what has already been stated, that what we Christians wait for is the coming of the Son of God from heaven. This is an event independent of all the details of our present subject, and for anything that any one can tell to the contrary, may take place ere the dissolution of this assembly. It would be madness to affirm that this will be so, or to fix any time for the event. But everything connected with Israel's restoration may transpire, and all the more important events will do so, I believe, after the Lord Jesus has descended into the air, and received the church to himself in glory. The heavenly mystery, the church, being fulfilled, God's eye will be turned toward his earthly people Israel, who will be called to remembrance, and brought back.

First, it is clear, from several passages, that many of the Jews will return to their own land in unbelief. In Isa. 17: 10, 11, we find them there, still forgetting the God of their salvation, and unmindful of the Rock of their strength, planting pleasant plants, and setting it with strange slips; but the issue of their husbandry is thus described: "In the day shalt thou make thy plant to grow, and in the morning shalt thou make thy seed to flourish; but the harvest shall be a heap in the day of grief and of desperate sorrow." it is evidently the time of trouble we have been hearing of already — the time when the nations and multitude of many people shall rush like the rushing of many waters; but it is to their destruction. and to the deliverance of Israel. "God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like thistle-down (see margin) before the whirlwind." (ver. 13.) It is the last great crisis — the shortened period of unequalled tribulation. How suddenly it closes! "Behold, at evening-tide trouble, and before the morning he is not. This is the portion of them that spoil us, and the lot of them that rob us." (ver. 14.) The next chapter speaks of some maritime country which, it appears, is to take a prominent part in these transactions. Its messengers are to go to "a nation scattered and peeled, to a people terrible (or wonderful) from their beginning hitherto; a nation meted out and trodden down, whose land the rivers have spoiled!" Who can fail to discern that Israel is here spoken of? Universal attention is demanded whenever these things begin to occur. (See ver. 3.) It is not, indeed, that God is yet acting in the scene himself, save as he always acts in providence. Verse 4 represents him as looking on, taking his rest and considering in his dwelling-place. The verse is somewhat differently rendered by scholars,* and is understood to suggest the idea of that awful season of deathly stillness and oppressive heat which precedes the bursting of some dreadful storm of thunder and lightning. "Not a gleam of sunshine breaks for a moment through the sullen gloom; not a breath stirs; not a leaf wags; not a blade of grass is shaken; nature seems to be numbed;" all seems at a stand-still, and in suspense. But it is only for a few moments, and then the storm bursts upon an affrighted earth. Such is the figure used to illustrate the character of that short period

*Faber translates it thus: "For thus saith the Lord unto me: I will sit still (but I will keep my eye upon my prepared habitation) as the parching heat just before lightning, as the dewy cloud in the heat of harvest." Lowth's translation is —

"For thus hath Jehovah said unto me,

I will sit still, and regard my fixed habitation,

Like the clear heat after rain,

Like the dewy cloud in the day of harvest."

in which the Jews, aided by some great maritime country, are returning to their own land, and resettling there in unbelief. They are represented in ver. 5, 6, as sour grapes ripening in the flower, thus showing that morally they are unchanged since that day when God complained of them as his vineyard which brought forth nothing but wild grapes. They are not suffered, however, to come to maturity — the sprigs are to be cut off with pruning-hooks, the branches are to be cut down, and left for the fowls of the mountains to summer upon them, and the beasts of the earth to winter upon them. Still, though this be the end, as always, of their own self-righteous, self-willed, self-sufficient endeavours, it is the last time they attempt thus to accomplish their own deliverance. God takes up their cause; and the last verse of this chapter speaks of this same people — the Jews — being brought "as a present to the Lord of hosts — to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts — the Mount Zion."

From Isa. 28: 14, 15, it would appear that the rulers of those who return to Jerusalem in unbelief will enter into covenant with the great anti-Christian head of the Gentiles, who will then be bearing sway. Having refused the foundation which God has laid in Zion, they will seek shelter under the wing of him to whom Satan will then have given his seat, and his authority, and his great power. (See Rev. 13: 2.) But their covenant with death will be "disannulled, and their agreement with hell will not stand." Dan. 9: 27 seems to refer to this. It says of this great enemy of God, "He shall confirm the covenant with many for one week (of years, of course); and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and upon the battlements (see margin) shall be the idols of the desolator, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." This, there can be little doubt, is what our Lord terms "the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place."* Thus will be fulfilled that solemn word of our Lord's as to the unclean spirit, who having left his house to wander into dry places, at last returns to it, and, finding it swept and garnished, takes seven others more wicked than himself, and comes and dwells there; and so the last end of such an one is worse than the first. "Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation." (Matt. 12: 45.) The unclean spirit of idolatry having abandoned the Jewish nation from the time of the Babylonish captivity, returns and takes possession of them at the end; and many of them will be found subject to and in league with him of whom we read (Rev. 13: 15), "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." "I am come in my Father's name," said the blessed Jesus, "and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive." (John 5: 43.)

*[The passage more probably means, — "on account of the wings, i.e., protection of idols (shall be), a desolator, even until," etc. The Lord refers not to this passage, but to Dan. 12: 2. Ed.]

Secondly, the whole of those that return to their own land in unbelief will not be involved in these abominations, and in the judgments consequent upon them. There will be a remnant who will hear God's voice, and tremble at his word. Repenting deeply of their own and of their nation's sins, they will cry to the Lord in their distress, and be preserved from the paths of the destroyer. Instructed by the words of our Lord, when they see the abomination of desolation, they will flee into the mountains, and so neither worship the beast nor perish by his wrath. Still, they will suffer tremendous afflictions, while many others, as we know, will submit to be slain, rather than worship the idols of the desolator. It is the cry of this godly remnant of Israel that we hear in so many of the Psalms, and in Isa. 63 (latter part) and Isa. 64. The Lord answers them in Isa. 65, roughly at the first, as representing the whole nation in their sins; but in ver. 8-15 he distinguishes between them and the nation at large. All are not to be destroyed. This elect remnant are to be preserved to inherit the land. (Ver. 8-10) For the elect's sake, as we have seen, those days of trouble are to be shortened. In verses 11, 12, the bulk of the nation are addressed, who prepare a table for that troop (of Antichrist, it would appear), and furnish the drink-offering to that number. They are to be numbered to the sword, and to bow down to the slaughter. We then have the portion of the remnant and the nation alternately stated, 13-16, while the following verses exhibit the state of rest and blessedness which succeeds, when "the former troubles are forgotten, and hid from the eyes." The first five verses of Isa. 66 afford a similar contrast between the remnant and their unbelieving brethren.*

*For further inquiry into this subject, see a tract entitled, The Jewish Remnant in the latter day."

But Zechariah gives us the most definite instruction as to the lot of those who first return to the land. Zech. 12: 9-13: 1, announces the conversion in the land, about the time of their last tribulation (see ver. 9), of the house of David, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Zech. 13: 8, 9, we read, "And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off, and die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and I will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried; they shall call on my name, and I will hear them; I will say, It is my people; and they shall say, The Lord is my God." From Zech. 14: 1, 2, we find that this third part, who are brought through the fire, are reduced to the last extremity of distress. But in this last extremity the Lord interposes. (ver. 3-5.) The church — the saints — having been, as we before remarked, previously caught up to meet the Lord in the air, now return with him: "The Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee." The poor, oppressed, perishing remnant of Jews, are delivered by his coming. The Lord fights against all those nations that fought against Jerusalem. The Jews, delivered by his coming, become themselves instruments in destroying their adversaries. (See Zech. 12: 2, 3, and 6; Zech. 14: 14.) We have the blessed result of all this in verses 8-11, and 16-21, the reign of Christ over all the earth, with Jerusalem for the centre of worship and of blessing.

But, thirdly, the restoration of the ten tribes seems to be in a different manner. We have just seen how the Jews pass through the last tribulation in the land, the wicked being thus purged from amongst them. They are the progeny of those who crucified their Messiah, and they suffer the consequences to the very end of this age. The ten tribes having gone into captivity long before the first coming of Christ, have not to suffer for the sin of crucifying him, and so are not involved in these final troubles in the land. The wicked are purged from amongst them before they reach the land. "As I live, saith the Lord God, surely with a mighty hand, and with stretched-out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you; and I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face . . . . . And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: and I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me; I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord." (Ezek. 20: 33-38.) It would seem to be to this part of the nation that Amos 9: 9, 10, and Jer. 31: 8, 9, refer. The return of the ten tribes would appear to be in progress at the time the Jews, properly so called, are undergoing their final sifting in the land: the arrival of the ten tribes occurring soon after this sifting has been completed. In Isaiah 49 we have their arrival predicted, and a most touching picture of the effect produced by it on the poor heartbroken remnant, who survive the desolations at Jerusalem. We have a view (verses 9-13) of the return of the ten tribes, guided by the out-stretched arm of God, while heaven and earth are called on to rejoice in his mercy to them. Then in verse 14 we are led back to the moment when Zion said: "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." God himself addresses Zion in verses 15-17. And then, as though calling her attention to something on which his eye had been fixed, but which she had not yet noticed, he says: "Lift up thine eyes round about, and behold; all these gather themselves together and come to thee," etc. (verses 18, 19) Nothing can exceed the beauty of verses 20, 21. "The children which thou shalt have, after thou hast lost the other, shall say again in thine ears, The place is too strait for me; give place to me that I may dwell. Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? And who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?"

Finally, there are several passages which appear to foretell a still further process of restoration. We have noticed the return of many of the Jews in unbelief, with their sin and judgment, and the preservation from both of a remnant amongst them, who are delivered out of their extreme distress by the coming of the Lord with all his saints. We have seen this remnant joined by the multitude of the ten tribes brought back by the hand of God, who has purged out all the rebels from among them ere they arrive at the land of Israel. But it would seem that besides all this, messengers will be despatched from the place where the Lord has appeared in glory and destroyed the enemies of his people, to bring back any Israelites who may yet be found among the nations. "And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord." (Isaiah 66: 20.) It appears to be to this part of the subject that Isaiah 60: 4-9, Isaiah 52: 10-12, and Isaiah 49: 22, 23, refer.

I would only beg, in conclusion, that you will consult the passages which have been quoted or referred to. It is in personally examining and comparing them, with prayer to the Lord for his guidance, that we shall, by his blessing, gain acquaintance with his mind. May his blessing be vouchsafed. Amen.  W. T.

The Millennial Reign of Christ,

The Millennial Reign of Christ,

and the universal blessing of the earth,

connected with the restoration of the Jews.

Psalm 72.

Lecture 4 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

I would address myself, in the first place, this evening to the examination of a popular notion connected with our subject, which I hope to be enabled to show you is nothing more than a popular error. It is one, however, that greatly tends to mislead the minds of many respecting the whole class of subjects into which we are now inquiring. It refers to the meaning of the two expressions — "the day of judgment," and "the day of the Lord." It must be obvious that these two expressions are of the same import — that they both refer to the same period. If there were any doubt on the subject, it would be removed by referring to 2 Peter 3. There we find the apostle, or rather the Holy Ghost by him, using these two expressions as identical in their meaning. Having spoken of the heavens and the earth which were before the flood, and of their destruction by water, he thus proceeds: "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." (verse 7.) "The day of judgment," then, is the period in which the heavens and the earth are destroyed by fire. So far the popular idea is correct. Look now to verse 10, and you will see that the apostle uses the expression, "The day of the Lord," to denote the same period. "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night: in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." Clearly it is of one period be speaks in both verses; designating it in one "the day of judgment," and in the other, "the day of the Lord." Now what is the idea attached by Christians generally to these expressions? Is it not that of a literal actual day of twelve or four-and-twenty hours? And it is supposed that this literal day is at the end of time, at the final dissolution of all things, at the close of the millennium, when the Son shall deliver up the kingdom to the Father, and God shall be all in all. An examination of Scripture, as I judge, will show that this is a mistake. "The day of the Lord" and "the day of judgment" both imply a lengthened period; not, as people imagine, an actual day of twenty-four hours. And let me remind you that we are in the constant use of the word "day" in such a sense as this. You hear men speak of "the day of despotism," and "the day of liberty;" "the day of ignorant barbarism," and "the day of enlightened civilization." Do they mean by these expressions a literal day of twenty-four hours? So when we speak of "Paul's day," "Caesar's day," "Luther's day," "Wesley's day," "Napoleon's day" — we do not mean a day of twenty-four hours, but the period during which the person named lived and acted; and when we thus speak, it is because we deem the person to have been one of such prominence as to give a character to the period in which he lived. And this is almost as common a use of the word "day" in our language, as well as in the language of Scripture, as its application to a period of twelve or four-and-twenty hours. In Scripture we read of the day of temptation, the day of trouble, the day of prosperity, the day of adversity, the day of visitation, the day of vengeance, the day of salvation; and I know not how niany instances besides we have, of expressions in which the word "day" is similarly used. Take the last named, "the day of salvation," — how long has it lasted? Full eighteen hundred years, at all events, and more than that. And for anything the word "day" proves to the contrary, "the day of judgment" may last as long as the day of salvation has lasted already. The fact is, that it is a lengthened period characterized by these two features among others; viz., judgment, and the presence of the Lord, and therefore it is termed "the day of judgment" and "the day of the Lord." Nor have I any doubt myself that it is termed "the day of judgment," in contrast with "the day of salvation;" "the day of the Lord" in contrast with "man's day," — an expression which you will find in the margin of 1 Cor. 4: 3: "But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment;" in the margin, "man's day." He proceeds: "But he that judgeth me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God." "Man's day" is the long dreary period in which man judgeth by the sight of his eyes and the hearing of his ears. Deceived by Satan and his own heart, he has come to false conclusions on almost every subject; and acting on these false conclusions, these partial and erroneous judgments, he has filled the earth with violence, misery, and wrong. "The day of the Lord" is the period in which he shall rule, of whom we read, "The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; and shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears: but with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth." (Isa. 11: 2-4.) The character of his judgments, and the effects of his reign, are described to us in the beautiful Psalm we have read.

Before leaving this point I would remark, that this solemn, blessed period is ushered in and closed by special acts of judgment. To see this is very important to the clearing up of Scripture on these subjects. It is ushered in by those judgments which desolate the earth at the coming of the Lord. It is closed by the judgment, before the great white throne, of the dead who had not been raised at the commencement of the thousand years. And it is then, at the close, that the earth and the heaven flee away. Peter says, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat; the earth also, and the works that are therein, shall be burned up." In the which. He does not say in what part of the day, whether at its dawn, or at its close. He gives us no information as to this. But we know well from Rev 20, which describes to us the whole period, and tells us that it lasts a thousand years, that it is at the evening, the close of the day, that this takes place. just as at the dawn, the morning of the day, the righteous dead are raised to live and reign with Christ throughout the period of the thousand years; so at its close the wicked dead, "the rest of the dead, who lived not again till the thousand years were finished," are raised from their graves, and judged before the great white throne. And it is then that the heaven and the earth pass away, and new heavens and a new earth are created in their stead. Well may the millennium be termed "the day of judgment," when it is ushered in by the judgments which attend the coming of the Lord; characterized by his righteous though peaceful rule throughout; and terminated by the judgment of the great white throne.

Let us now turn to Zech. 14. We shall see there that "the day of the Lord" is not a literal day of twenty-four hours; that it is identical with his reign as king over all the earth; and that this is inseparably connected with what we were considering a few evenings since — the restoration of the Jews. "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. Then shall the Lord go forth and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle." Here we have the commencement of the day, when in the extremity of Jerusalem's final sorrows, the Lord goes forth to fight against her enemies. Now mark the recurrences in this chapter of the expression, "that day." What day it is we have just seen. "And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives," etc. "And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear nor dark: but it shall be one day, which shall be known to the Lord, not day nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light." We are thus told expressly, that it is not an ordinary, natural day. It is distinguished from this by two marks. First, "the light shall not be clear nor dark," which the translators seem to have very properly explained in the margin thus, "that is, it shall not be clear in some places and dark in other places of the world," the light will be equally diffused. Secondly, "at evening time it shall be light." Instead of the light diminishing as the day declines, as in the natural day, the light shall be unabated to the last. At evening time it shall be light. To proceed: "And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be." So that the "day" is of such continuance, that at least it embraces summer and winter. But what follows? "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one." Is it not plain from this passage that "the day of the Lord" includes the whole blessed period of the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ? It is his coming that brings, his reign that constitutes, the day.

The chapter then speaks of physical changes which are to take place in the land. "All the land shall be turned into a plain," etc. "And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." Speaking of the judgments that shall fall on those who have been assembled against Jerusalem, it says, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them," etc. "And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles." "In that day" (the day of which we have heard throughout the chapter — the day of which it can be said, "in summer and in winter shall it be!" "from year to year" — the day in which "the Lord shall be king over all the earth" — in that day) "shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD: and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts." Will you turn to this chapter, my brethren, in your closets and read it there attentively, with prayer to the Lord? You can thus hardly fail to see that it places the whole matter in so clear a light, that if there was not another chapter in the Bible on the subject, we should have no excuse for being under any serious mistake respecting it.

Let us pass on to consider Isa. 2 "The word that Isaiah the Son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow

unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." (ver. 1~3.) No doubt we have all often heard this passage quoted at missionary meetings, and on other similar occasions: quoted in connection with the subject of the spread of the gospel. But however important missions and the spread of the gospel may be (and God forbid that I should undervalue them for a moment), they are not the subject, nor are they in any way connected with the subject, of the passage before us. The passage before us records "the word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem." Judah and Jerusalem are the subject, not the Church and its missions. "Out of Zion," not out of the Church, "shall go forth the law: and the word of the Lord," not from Britain, but "from Jerusalem." We have got wise in our own conceits, my brethren, and supposed that to us was entrusted the work of introducing by our labours, the blessedness of the millennial state. This is a work not associated with our calling, but with that of Israel. Ours is really a far higher calling — a heavenly one; a calling above earthly things and earthly scenes altogether. Forgetting this, and seeking a place on earth, we have sought to assume the place assigned of God to Israel. We have not had faith for our own place in the heavenlies with Christ, and having come down to earth, we have aspired to that place on earth assigned in the counsels of God to Israel. Israel's place we cannot fill, however we may attempt it; and in attempting it we deny our heavenly calling altogether. But more of this when we come to consider the distinct calling and glory of the Church. It is out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

"And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people." Is this the gradual, peaceful spread of truth by human instrumentality? "And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." (ver. 4.) Ps. 46 connects itself with the prospect of universal peace here held out, and we will turn aside to consider it for a moment. People say that it is not only by the spread of the gospel that this prospect is to be realized, but by peace societies and other confederations to spread pacific principles, and to promote among the governments of the earth pacific counsels and measures. But is this what the Word of God testifies? Look at this Psalm. It relates to a time of tremendous trouble, the period we were considering in a former lecture, the time of Jacob's trouble, out of which he is to be delivered. This Psalm expresses the confidence of the faithful Jewish remnant, while surrounded by the horrors of that day of unequalled tribulation, and of the judgments with which it terminates. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof." (ver. 1-3.) This is surely most unlike the gradual spread of truth, and the conversion, by its imperceptible influences, of the whole mass of mankind to holiness and peace. Convulsions are here described of a character the most formidable. "The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: he uttered his voice, the earth melted." (ver. 6.) Again do the remnant declare their confidence amid the desolating storm. "The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." (ver. 7.) And now the storm is past. God has arisen to his strange

work; and his judgments having been accomplished, we are invited to contemplate the results. "Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. HE maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; HE breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder: HE burneth the chariot in the fire." It is not the slow and gradual progress of peaceful principles, but God's solemn interposition in judgment at the coming of the Lord, that puts an end to the strifes and wars which have for so many ages desolated the earth, and that introduces the period of universal peace. And what is the moral drawn from all this by the Holy Ghost? Is it, "exert yourselves — put forth all your energies — labour with all your might to impregnate society with principles which will introduce the golden age of universal concord, and harmony, and peace" — is this, I ask, the moral drawn by the Spirit from this solemn prophetic history? No, my brethren, it is this: "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." (ver. 10.) It is by his power — not by human energy; to his glory — not to the exaltation of proud, vaunting man — that these wonders are accomplished.

Let us now turn again to Isaiah 2. Solemn words of warning and exhortation follow those already quoted; and then, from verse 10, we have a magnificent view of the "day of the Lord;" a view corresponding exactly with what we have seen in Zech. 14, and supplying further instruction not communicated there. Verse 10 is an invitation to all who have ears to hear, to enter where the remnant whose voice we have been hearing in Psalm 46 are ]lid during the convulsions and terrors of that day. "Enter into the rock, and hide thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the Lord of Hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and lofty, and upon every one that is lifted up; and he shall be brought low." Every thing that has ministered to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life — every thing that men have delighted in, so as to shut out God and exclude Christ from their hearts — every thing that has contributed to the self-exaltation that has characterized man throughout — which increasingly characterizes him now — which characterizes this day in which we live, to an extent fearful to contemplate — the day of the Lord shall be upon all that. Think, my brethren, of what the pride of man's heart is doing at this very moment, in concentrating the wealth and energies of all nations in making one grand display to all the world of what man's skill and energy can effect!* The day of the Lord shall be "upon all the cedars of Lebanon, that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant pictures. And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day." May these serious words sink into our hearts. To read on: "And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." When, my brethren? When the gospel has spread universally? When Christianity and civilization are everywhere diffused? When the truth has won a peaceful and universal triumph? Ah! this passage is often in part quoted, as though this were the doctrine taught in it. But when is it that idolatry ceases? "WHEN HE ARISETH TO SHAKE TERRIBLY THE EARTH." Yes, "In that day, man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made, each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, WHEN HE ARISETH TO SHAKE TERRIBLY THE EARTH." And the moral here is of the same import as in Psalm 46. Here it is negative; there positive. Here it is, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" He may account much of himself, as, alas! he does. He may boast much of his powers, so varied and so ample as he considers them to be. He may improve them by all the inventions and appliances of art, and multiply them by combination to any extent he pleases. God has but to arise, and all his glories fade away as a leaf. God has but to interpose, and all that man has boasted of and gloried in withers at once. May our hearts remember this. Truth like this is needed at all times; but in this day of man's loudest boastings and loftiest pretensions, it is surely of all importance that these two words, "Cease ye from man" — "Be still and know that I am God" — should be ever present to our souls.

*This refers to "The Great Exhibition" of London, 1851 which was in preparation when these lectures were delivered.

The views of prophecy which so widely prevail in the present day confound with each other two periods, as entirely contrasted in their character, as they are distinguished from each other by the fact that one commences after the other has closed. Most Christians suppose that by the preaching of the gospel, and the increased outpouring of the Holy Spirit, Christianity will gradually spread — the nations of the earth be gradually subdued by its influence — till at last all men become Christians; and, that the world having thus become Christians, it will remain so for a great length of time. And this universal prevalence of Christianity which they anticipate is what they understand by the millennium. But not only is this idea not founded on Scripture — not only is it contrary to all the plain Scriptures by which it was proved to you a week ago that there can be no millennium till the return of the Lord Jesus Christ — it is based on a complete misapprehension as to what the character of the present period is, as well as the character of the next, the millennial age. They stand in direct contrast with each other. What is the character of God's present dealings with mankind? Grace, unmingled grace. This is the period of God's long-suffering, the day of salvation. God is not now openly acting as the righteous Governor of the world, distributing good and evil according to the character of men's ways. Every body sees this, and infidels try to prove thereby, either that there is no God, or that he takes no concern in human affairs. Whence all the unrequited treachery and rapine, and oppression and blood, which make the head giddy and the heart sick to contemplate, if God be now rewarding people according to their works? — if, in other words, he be now openly governing the world in righteousness?

Ah! but there is a "day of judgment" coming. Not a period of twelve, or four-and-twenty hours, but of a thousand years, throughout which the world's government, administered by the Son of Man himself, shall be of such a character as to clear up all that is now obscure, and fully vindicate and manifest the glory of God. God having got for himself a name by all the grace manifested throughout the present period, and by the results flowing from it to all eternity, he will in the next dispensation — in the millennial age, manifest his character as the righteous Lord who loveth righteousness." Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." (Isaiah 32: 1)

Am I denying, then, that God does at present by his providence secretly and effectually control all things? God forbid. Even Satan himself is in that sense subject to him, accomplishing his purposes, and doing his will. But I speak of the open, public, manifest government of the world. Is that conducted on the principle of righteous retribution and reward, or is it not? There can be but one answer. No doubt, man's evil and Satan's malice are kept in check by the secret restraints of God's providence, as well as by the institution of human government and laws which he has appointed, and until now upheld. If it were not so, men would destroy each other till the earth would be depopulated. But still, where is the person who can imagine that there is at present, or has ever been since the fall, a distribution of temporal good and evil, according to men's character and conduct, so as to be an adequate witness to God's character of holiness, benevolence, and rectitude, as the righteous judge and Governor of the world? Why the fact is, that goodness has been allowed to be so oppressed and trodden under foot, and evil has been allowed to be so rampant and triumphant, that when the blessed One himself, the perfect, the sinless One was here, HE was put to death! We know why this was permitted. But I want you to consider the fact — it was permitted. Yes, God looked down from heaven and witnessed the murder, by man's wicked hands, of his only-begotten, well-beloved Son!

What a contrast was that scene to what the Psalmist anticipates, looking onwards to the millennial reign. "For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance: but judgment shall return unto righteousness; and all the upright in heart shall follow it." (Psalm 94: 14, 15.) Long have judgment and righteousness been separated. judgment was in the hands of Pilate who sate on the judgment-seat. Righteousness, perfect righteousness. human as well as divine, stood before him in the person of the blameless victim, of whose innocence he declared his conviction by vainly washing his hands, while he yet gave him up to be crucified! And God looked down on that scene, and has borne for eighteen hundred years with the world that was defiled by it! And could we expect him to avenge any lesser wrongs while that greatest crime of all continues unavenged? Unavenged, did I say? Did I speak of God bearing with the world? How far short of the truth this is! He took occasion from that crowning act of men's hatred and wickedness, to display to us all the depths and fulness of his own love. He sent his Spirit to testify that the blood shed by man on earth was accepted for man in heaven; that even those who actually shed it, if they did but take refuge in it for eternity, should find it a sure hiding-place. And what has God been doing ever since, but proclaiming to the whole world — Jews as well as Gentiles, and Gentiles as well as Jews — that all who believe on Jesus become united to him, fellow-heirs with him of the glory yet to be revealed. And surely this is not judgment, but mercy; not righteous government, but infinite grace. And what has been the effect where this testimony has been believed? Why, that those who have believed it have shared the treatment which their Lord received at the hands of men. And has God avenged their blood? No, the blood of Christ's martyrs, as well as of Christ himself, remains unavenged. And God suffers the world to pursue its wicked course, treasuring up wrath to itself against the day of wrath, while his patience still waits, and his long-suffering still lingers, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Such is the character of this present period — this day of salvation. But how does it act upon men's souls? what effect does it produce? A few indeed are gathered out from the world by almighty grace to believe in Jesus, and confess him, and suffer for his name's sake. There have been a few such in each succeeding century and generation. But what is the effect upon the mass? Hear it in the words of God himself — "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil." (Ecc. 8: 11) All this patience and forbearance and grace of our God have just the effect of emboldening men in iniquity. How, then, is a dispensation of which perfect grace is the characteristic to bring in universal blessing? It is not to be expected. Isaiah 26: 10, bears just the same testimony. "Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord." So that, however long the patience of God might wait, and his present dealings with mankind be continued, it is evident that the result would never be what men suppose. The world would never be converted, the millennium would never be introduced. It is by judgments that God will bring this about. "Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see." That is, as long as it is lifted up in mercy, they will not see. "But they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at thy people: yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them." (verse 11.) So also in verse 9: "For when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness." We have thus the express declaration that favour, grace, will not do; men abuse it, to the hardening of themselves in iniquity; their heart is fully set in them to do evil. Then there is the equally express declaration that when God's judgments are in the earth, men will learn righteousness. Grace does not accomplish their subjection: judgment shall and will accomplish it.

Scripture testimony to this truth is uniform and abundant. At so early a period as the days of Eli and Samuel, Hannah the prophetess sings: "The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed." (1 Sam. 2: 10.) The last words of David are: "The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, 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 riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springeth out of the earth by clear shining after rain." He owns that his house is not so with God; yet comforts himself with the everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure: and then says, "But the sons of Belial shall all of them be as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: but the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron, and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place." (2 Sam. 23: 3-7.) The second Psalm is also very full and clear as to this. The confederated kings and their people are represented as saying of Jehovah and his anointed, "Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." How is their impiety to be rewarded? "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion." To this king, thus to be established on Zion, in spite of all opposition, Jehovah says, "Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." I dare say you have all heard this text quoted at missionary meetings, to prove that all nations will be converted by the Gospel. But is this its meaning? How does Christ take possession of the inheritance thus assigned to him? Read the next verse. "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (verse 9.) They are not given to him, as people suppose, by the gradual, gentle diffusion of Gospel truth; men's hearts and ways being moulded thereby till the world becomes a holy and happy world. No; at a certain definite moment yet to come. a moment for which Christ is waiting, ("expecting till his enemies be made his footstool,") the heathen shall be given to him for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. And he will take possession by breaking his enemies with a rod of iron; dashing them in pieces as a potter's vessel. It is thus by judgment, not by the extension of the present economy of perfect, unmingled grace, that millennial blessedness will be introduced.

One other passage, closely connected with what we have been considering, I would now refer you to. It is Psalm 110. "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand," — how long? — "until I make thine enemies thy footstool." What follows then? "The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." While these enemies are crushed by the rod of his strength, his iron rod, there will be those, as we have already seen, who will be made ready to welcome him when he comes. His people, his nation, to whom he came eighteen hundred years ago, will be made willing to receive him at last. "He came to his own," but coming in humiliation, "his own received him not." So far from receiving, they crucified him; and he submitted to this — he suffered it to be so: "he was crucified through weakness." But when he comes again, it will be in power and glory. And to him it is said here — "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth." And how will he deal with those that gather against him, and against his willing people then? "The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the day of thy wrath. He shall judge among the heathen; he shall fill the places with dead bodies; he shall wound the heads over many countries." Yes, my brethren, it is by judgments — desolating, destroying judgments, that Christ will, at the commencement of his reign, cut off the wicked. Even as we read in the New Testament — "The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them into a furnace of fire; there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matt. 13: 41, 42.) The survivors, awed by those judgments — the Spirit, moreover, being poured out upon all flesh — the whole world will own the supremacy of Jesus, and be made happy under his sway: as we read at the beginning this evening, "He shall judge the poor of the people; he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor . . . . . He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. They that dwell in the wilderness shall bow before him, and his enemies shall lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall bring presents: the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts — yea, all kings shall fall down before him; all nations shall serve him . . . . . His name shall endure for ever: his name shall be continued as long as the sun; and men shall be blessed in him: all nations shall call him blessed."

Then there is another point. Suppose the times we have been anticipating had arrived. Suppose the church had been caught up to be in glory with her Lord, and Israel, again in their own land, had gone through their last dreadful tribulation. Suppose that the Gentile oppressors of Israel, when just ready to swallow them up, had been destroyed by the coming of the Lord, attended by his church, in glory — the coming of the Lord and all saints with him; — suppose multitudes of the wicked of all nations destroyed, and the whole nation of Israel re-settled in their own land; — suppose this whole nation, and all the survivors among all Gentiles, converted by the out-pouring of the Spirit upon all flesh — suppose all this, I say, — what should hinder the inhabitants of the earth corrupting themselves as men have always done? What should hinder them relapsing into all the sin, and bringing upon themselves afresh all the sorrow, of which the world will then have been completely rid? Man was innocent and happy; but he fell. The world was once desolated by judgment, and re-peopled by the eight persons who descended from the ark. But how soon they corrupted themselves afresh? Israel has once been redeemed by the mighty hand and out-stretched arm of God; but what a history of backsliding and sin succeeded that deliverance! David's reign and Solomon's were happy days for Israel. The one subdued their enemies; the other reigned over them in peace, and built that magnificent temple in which God was known and worshipped. But the revolt under Rehoboam, and all the dark history of both nations till the captivity, was what ensued. The church was formed at Pentecost, and bright and lovely were the fruits of the indwelling Spirit, which for a season were exhibited. But how short that season! And how dismal the history of the corruption and degeneracy which have followed! And why not immediate failure and continued apostacy in the millennial age, as in all preceding ages? There are two answers to this question. Had there been no answer but that God has so willed it, and made known his will, this for faith would have been sufficient. But he has condescended to explain to us how it is. In the first place, Satan, who has wrought all the mischief hitherto, will be bound, and will be allowed to do no more till the thousand years are finished. It was Satan who deceived our first parents in Eden. It was Satan who corrupted the world after the flood. It was Satan who was Israel's great enemy, withstanding the purposes of God concerning them; and beguiling them when he could not shake these purposes. It was Satan who sowed tares among the good seed that the Son of Man had sown: and all the evils which pollute and afflict the church are but the crop which his seed has produced. But in the millennium Satan will be bound. Revelation 20 is explicit as to this. Figurative language is used there, I grant you. But what is denoted by the figure of a great chain and a key, and a mighty angel using them to bind Satan in the bottomless pit for a thousand years? Has the language no meaning because it is figurative language? No words could more clearly express the forcible restraint under which Satan, the great deceiver and usurper, will be placed during the millennial reign. "A liar, and the father of it;" and "a murderer from the beginning, who abode not in the truth," are the characters given to him in Scripture. And what could be expected from the reign of such an one for all these thousands of years, but the dire results which have actually followed? But he will be bound, so that he shall deceive the nations no more till the thousand years are fulfilled. Then, secondly, the place hitherto filled by Satan and his angels for purposes of evil, will, throughout the millennium, be filled by Christ and his glorified saints for purposes of blessing; and the reign of Christ will be a reign of righteousness throughout. It not only begins with desolating, destroying judgments, taking away the obstinately wicked, while the Spirit of God bows the hearts of those who survive, and makes them submissive to Christ's yoke: it is a reign of righteousness from first to last. Is it meant by this that there is no goodness, no grace? Surely not. It is full of grace, full of goodness. What can it be but grace that makes the nation which crucified Christ, yea, the very city where his blood was shed, the centre of blessing to the whole earth? What can be such a triumph of grace as this? And surely it is grace that will bow the hearts of the Gentiles, and bring them to realize, under the reign of Jesus, the fulfilment of that word to Abraham, "In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed." But here is the difference. Grace introduces believers into blessing now — blessing of a far higher order than that of the saved population of the millennial earth. But while it does this, it leaves us for the present in a world where Satan rules, where wickedness is allowed to prosper, and where the present result of faithfulness to God is found in losses and sufferings and privations of all kinds. But in the millennium, not only will Satan be bound, and Christ be reigning with his glorified saints, but evil, wherever it may appear, will be at once repressed by power. Grace, sovereign grace, will surely be manifested in bringing the spared and saved remnants of Jews and Gentiles into blessing, at the commencement of the thousand years. But the happiness into which they and their offspring are thus introduced by grace, will be guarded and maintained by the sceptre of righteous rule. It will not then be one sinner destroying much good, the tares and the wheat growing together until harvest. Human nature will indeed be human nature still: and though there will be no temptation from without, and every circumstance will conduce to obedience, instead of presenting obstacles to it as now, still men will need to be born again; and where any fail to be so, and manifest the evil of the heart in full rebellion, instead of being borne with and allowed to go on as at present, till the evil spreads, they will be at once cut off by judgment. "Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer." (Ps. 101: 5.) "He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight. I will early destroy all the wicked of the land, that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord." (verses 7, 8.) Nothing can be plainer than that Psalm 145 is a millennial psalm. It celebrates Jehovah's praises as king: "All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations." (verses 10-13.) Well, what is the character of this kingdom? "The Lord preserveth all them that love him; but all the wicked will he destroy." (verse 20.) So in the next psalm: "The Lord loveth the righteous: the Lord preserveth the strangers; he relieveth the fatherless and widow: but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. The Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations." (Psalm 146: 8-10) The next psalm evidently relates to the same period. It celebrates the restoration of Israel. "The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel." (verse 2.) "Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion: for he hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; he hath blessed thy children within thee." (verses 12, 13.) Well, what is the testimony of this psalm on the subject we are considering — the character of Christ's millennial rule? "The Lord lifteth up the meek: he casteth the wicked down to the ground." (ver. 6.) So in other Scriptures. "But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth. . . . And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins." (Isaiah 11: 4, 5.) "Then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places." (Isaiah 32: 16-18.) Protected thus by the righteous rule of Christ, the subjects of his kingdom will enjoy its peaceable and blessed fruits, without fear of any intrusion on their happiness.

Time fails to quote more Scriptures on this point. Nor is it needful. Those already cited place it beyond question. But there are a few passages, of deepest interest and surpassing beauty, connecting this universal blessing of the earth, under the reign of Christ with the restoration of Israel (as, indeed, those do we have been considering), that I would ask you to look at for a moment. Psalm 102 is one of these. There we find Messiah, amid the deepest sorrows of his first advent, comforted by the assurance of what the results of those sorrows shall be to Israel and the nations in days to come; for we read here: "This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord." (verse 18.) And what is it that is thus written? — "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof. So the heathen shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory." (ver. 13, 15.) And what event is it that introduces this universal subjection to Christ, by means of restored Israel? Ah! the testimony here is, as everywhere besides, that it is the coming, the appearing of the Lord himself. "When the Lord shall build up Zion, he shall appear in his glory." (verse 16.)

Isaiah, 27: 6, is a beautiful passage to the same effect. "He shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root: Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit."

In Jer. 33: 9, speaking of Jerusalem, it is said, (and that it is the literal city, see ver. 4,) "And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the good I shall do unto them: and they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness, and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it."

Micah 4 begins with almost the exact words already quoted from Isa. 2. Begin at ver. 4, where, after speaking of the time when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither learn war any more, the prophet says, "But they shall sit every man under his vine, and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. . . . In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halteth a remnant; and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion: the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem." Thus we see the whole earth at rest under the peaceful sway of Jesus: Israel, his favoured nation, most blessed of all; while Zion is the place of his throne, and Jerusalem the metropolis of the millennial earth.

From ver. 11, we have a passing glance at the events which precede this peaceful reign. "Now also many nations are gathered against thee, that say, Let her be defiled, and let our eye look upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel: for he shall gather them as the sheaves into the floor." They go to accomplish, as they hope, their own purposes of rapine and ambition; but God actually gathers them there as sheaves into the floor, to be threshed in judgment. "Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto the Lord of the whole earth." And in the same passage, for this and the next chapter are evidently one continued prophetic strain, we have first the deep humiliation of our Lord: "They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek." (Micah 5: 1) Yes, it is he who has thus humbled himself, who is to be so highly exalted. "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting." Therefore, — because of his rejection, smiting him on the cheek — "will he give them up (as he has done) until the time that she which travaileth hath brought forth." This refers apparently to Isa. 66: 7-9, a passage which we have already examined. "Then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth." (Micah 5: 4.) Israel's place, as the means of blessing to the nations, is beautifully shown in ver. 7. "And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people, as a dew from the Lord, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men."

One word more I quote, and it is from the New Testament. It is Gabriel's word to the virgin mother of our Lord, when he had foretold to her that she should give birth to a son, and call his name Jesus. "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1: 32, 33.) We all know full well, that instead of reigning, he suffered when he was here before. But when he comes again, he comes to reign. To reign indeed over the house of Jacob, as we have seen in so many Scriptures; but more than that, as we have seen in many others, to "have dominion from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth."

And what is there, let me ask, which has been so sighed after, or sought with such constancy and avidity, as good government? On what else have men expended the time, the intellect, the energies, the treasures, the human blood, which have been devoted to the pursuit of this? And men are as far from attaining it as ever. The importance and the need of it are felt by all: but after all the varied experiments of so many thousands of years, the grand problem remains unsolved — how is it to be secured? The fact is, the hand is wanting to hold the sceptre: and never till he comes whose right it is, and it is given him, will the world rejoice in that which it has so long sought — righteous, patient, even-handed government. But it will be found then, — found in the peaceful, blessed rule of him after whom the insulting message has been so long sent, "We will not have this man to reign over us." First must he have us, the co-heirs, around him in glory. Then must his earthly people Israel be prepared to welcome him, and be delivered by his hand at his return. Then must his enemies be destroyed, his kingdom rid of all the workers of iniquity. Those who are spared by his clemency to survive these judgments, and form the population of the millennial earth, will gladly bow to his sceptre, and own him as their Lord. Should any be found to resist, immediate judgment clears the earth afresh, and thus keeps it, what the presence of Christ in glory and the outpouring of the Spirit will have made it, "full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." The earthly centre of this glorious kingdom of universal righteousness and peace will be Jerusalem. Those who, among men, occupy the pre-eminent place in this kingdom will be the restored and redeemed nation of Israel. While all the nations of the earth will be blessed and happy, the highest place on earth will be given to that people who have been, more than all others, trodden down and oppressed; yea, who have suffered thus as the righteous judgment of God upon them for the rejection of their King and Lord. A higher place than any on earth will belong to those who, in the present interval between the sufferings of Christ and his return in glory, have shared the fellowship of his sufferings, in hope of his return. This is the church's place: but it is the subject for the next lecture.  W. T.

The Distinct Calling and Glory of the Church,

The Distinct Calling and Glory of the Church,

as bride and co-heir of Christ.

Eph. 2: 11, Eph. 3: 19.

Lecture 5 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

I feel that nothing could more appropriately introduce to our attention the subject which is to occupy us this evening, than the few verses which have now been read. We see in those verses that the calling of the church is not only distinguished from all that existed prior to itself; but also from all that had been revealed to the prophets of Old Testament times, as to what was yet to be the manifested glory of Christ, in connection with Israel on the earth, in the millennial reign. Look again to what the apostle says, Eph. 3 verses 4, 5. "Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit." And as to how the apostle had become acquainted with this mystery, he tells us plainly enough — "How that by revelation he made known to me the mystery; as I wrote afore in few words." (ver. 3.) There was a mystery revealed to Paul, made known to him by revelation from God, which had not been made known in former ages, as now in Paul's day it was made known — revealed to Christ's holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit. Now it is to this mystery, the distinct calling and glory of the church — for it is here we shall find this mystery developed — that our attention is to be directed this evening.

One thing I feel to be important at the outset; that is, to define the principal term employed in the announcement of our subject. You may suppose that the expression "the church" is so commonly used, and so generally understood, as not to need defining. But the fact is, there is hardly an expression as to the meaning of which people's thoughts are so vague and indefinite. Some apply the term to the building in which professing Christians meet for worship. And even among those too well instructed for this, it is still far from being distinctly understood. It is either applied to any religious association with which men happen by birth, or conversion, or other circumstances, to be connected; or it is understood to mean the aggregate of all such associations, the whole world over; or in a still wider sense, it is considered as including all true believers of all ages, from Abel down to the last person who shall be saved. Now it is well to remember that it is only in the New Testament we find the word; and this of itself might suggest the inquiry, whether that which it denotes be not peculiar to New Testament times. In former ages, as all Christians understand, there were individual believers, such as Abel, Enoch, Abraham, Moses, and all those spoken of in Heb. 11, whether their names be mentioned there, or included among those of whom the apostle says, "The time would fail me to tell of them." Besides this, there was one nation which God had outwardly separated to himself, as his people. The vast majority of that nation were, however, in every period of their history, unconverted. There were individual saints not gathered together in a body; and there was a nation, a body of people in that sense, outwardly owned of God: but the mass of them were never God's people in truth; but stiff-necked and hard-hearted adversaries of God. Now the church of God is God's assembly. The word rendered church is derived from one which means to call out, and is used of any assembly of persons called out from among others for any purpose whatever. But the use of the word in the New Testament is what must determine its meaning there; and there it is applied either to the assembly of all believers from Pentecost to the coming of Christ into the air, to receive his saints to himself in glory — or to the assembly of all believers alive upon the earth at any given time between these two epochs — or to the assembly of all the believers in any given locality; as, for instance, the church at Jerusalem, Antioch, or Ephesus, and even "the church in thy house." There are but two instances in the New Testament in which the word "church" is used in any other sense or application than these. In Acts 7: 38, it is applied to the assembly of the Israelites in the wilderness; and in Acts 19: 32 and 39, the same word in the original is translated "assembly," not church. But it is the same word; and there it is used of the assembly of Ephesian idolaters and others. With these exceptions, which hardly could be confounded with our present subject, the word church will be found in the New Testament to mean either (1) all believers from Pentecost to the taking up of the saints at the coming of Christ; or (2) all believers at any one time upon earth, during the period between these; or (3) all the believers in any given locality, or assembling as such in any given place. I do not stop here, to prove that such is the use of the word in the New Testament. Many considerations will present themselves in proof of it in the course of our evening's inquiry into Scripture on this subject; and I would entreat you to give to the subject the most diligent examination afterwards, when you have leisure to do so. But it is important, when we speak of the distinct calling and glory of the church, that we should have clearly before our minds who they are that form the church, to which this distinct calling and glory belong. And it is evidently in the widest application of the term, that is, as including all true believers from Pentecost to the taking up of the saints, that we use it in our present inquiry. Both the other uses of it are included within this.

When we speak of the distinct calling and glory of the church, it evidently brings in view some other body or bodies, from whose calling and glory that of the church is distinguished. And what is it that has been occupying our attention for the last two evenings? It is the prophetic testimony of God as to Israel and the other nations of the earth in millennial times. We have been studying the gracious promises of our God as to the restoration of the nation of Israel, and the blessing of all nations in subordination to them, under the reign of Christ. But when we speak of the distinct calling and glory of the church, we mean that "the church" is called to a higher glory than will belong to Israel or to the nations. These will doubtless be happy under the reign of Christ; and that reign will bring fuller and higher blessing to Israel than to the other nations, who will really be subordinate to Israel; but "the church" will be manifested as the bride — the heavenly bride — of Jesus when he reigns; not blest under his sway, but sharing his dominion and glory; and sharing it, moreover, in the character of his bride.

That we may the more clearly discern the difference between the calling of the church and that of Israel, let us look a little further at what Scripture reveals as to the latter. It is only that we may better see the contrast between them. In Deut. 28 we have the blessings promised to Israel in case of their obedience. They have entirely failed in obedience, as we know, and have thus forfeited all those blessings. But, as we have seen so largely in Scripture, they are to be brought back. Grace will reinstate them in all their forfeited blessings; and they will be maintained in the enjoyment of these blessings by the righteous rule of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what are these blessings? "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth." You see it is one nation in contrast with, and exalted above, all other nations. "And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. . . . The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy store-houses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto: and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." What have we here but a fulness of earthly blessings, by which this one nation was to be distinguished from, and set above all others? The effect which was to have followed is stated also. "And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee." Abundant and continual prosperity in earthly, temporal things was what all nations could understand; and this they were to have seen in Israel, had Israel been obedient: and by this they were to have seen that Israel was called by the Lord's name. "And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers to give thee. The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them." How manifestly, then, was Israel's calling a calling to pre-eminence and glory and power, and plenty and prosperity and blessedness on the earth. And though through disobedience they have entirely forfeited these their promised blessings; and though when they are restored, as they surely will be, it will be entirely of grace; this will not have changed their calling, and the character of their blessing. They will inherit spiritual blessings, it is true — forgiveness — regeneration — the saving knowledge of Christ — but they will enjoy these spiritual blessings not in heavenly but in earthly places. And the fulness of earthly blessing will still be the distinctive mark of their calling. All the prophecies of their restoration, and subsequent happiness and prosperity, prove this. One only I will quote in addition to those already cited in former lectures. "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed., and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the Lord thy God." (Amos 9: 13-15.) How beautiful are these words. And yet how evidently do they promise to restore Israel's temporal blessings in earthly places. These will be enjoyed by them, it is true, as God's people; they will have become such then in reality, in truth. They will have been born again; for there is no entrance into the kingdom, even as to its earthly department, but by being born again. But there is an earthly department, as well as a heavenly; and the chief place, and richest blessings, in the earthly department, are promised to restored and repentant Israel.

I say the chief place; for nothing can be more clear than that in the millennial reign the distinction between Israel and the Gentiles will exist in full force, and the pre-eminent place on earth belong to Israel. Why should "ten men take hold, out of all languages of the nations, even take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with you; for we have heard that God is with you" — unless God be with them in a sense different from that in which He will be with the other nations of the earth? (See Zech. 8: 22, 23.) The following beautiful passages from Isaiah 60 are very clear as to this point. To Zion, to Jerusalem, it is said, "And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising." "Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee." God will then have glorified Jerusalem, and its glory will thus be acknowledged by all. "Therefore thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, and that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted." Surely the mere reading of these passages is enough to show that it cannot be of the present dispensation that they treat. One of the most common and familiar thoughts connected with Christianity is, as we all know, that in it all distinction between Jew and Gentile has ceased — has passed away; that in Christ "there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all and in all." (Col. 3: 11) But these prophecies treat of a period when the distinction between Jew and Gentile, between Israel and the other nations of the earth will be as fully recognized as it ever was: and when Israel shall occupy the place of full pre-eminence on the earth. "And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations. And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, and the sons of the alien shall be your ploughmen, and your vinedressers. But ye (restored Israel, the citizens of Jerusalem, the city of the great King) shall be named the priests of the Lord; men shall call you the ministers of our God. ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and in their glory shall ye boast yourselves." (Isa. 61: 4-6.) Can anything more plainly demonstrate the superiority of the Jew over the Gentile in millennial times?

But now, my brethren, I am reminded of what some one has most justly said, that "Christ is the great purpose of God." This is, in other words, what Peter says, "Searching what or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." The entire sum of prophecy is here stated — the sufferings of Christ and the glories (for it is glories in the original) that should follow. It is only as you see this, and bear it in mind, that you can profitably consider these details of prophetic inquiry. This is the only point from which the details of prophetic truth can be rightly surveyed. You can hardly have a correct, and are sure to have a contracted, view of the landscape, if you are but a little elevated above the plain. It is from the higher ground that you are enabled to descry the length and breadth of the glorious prospect; and the nearer you approach to the point of moral survey occupied by the blessed One who drew the picture, and whose office is to glorify Christ, the more you will find that your view has been distorted, as well as curtailed, by occupying any lower position. God's own glory in Christ is his great object; and it is as we bear this in mind, and view everything in connection with this, that we shall receive a correct understanding of God's blessed purposes and ways.

Glory may be said to be the manifestation of excellency. Gold is precious, even in the ore. But the glory of it is not discerned till it has passed through the crucible, and been separated from all the baser elements which were mingled with it. The sun is the fountain of light and heat to this whole system, even when clouds interpose, and obscure its brightness; but when the clouds have passed away, and it shines forth in all its majesty and strength, then we see its glory. And whatever may constitute, in millennial times, the manifested glories of Christ, they will all be found to be but the display of what he is now; and of what faith now knows him to be. It is only by faith that we can discern these glories now; but it will surely be found that each glory to be manifested then is but the display of some excellence residing in this blessed person, or in one or other of the offices he sustains. How the heart stops short, alas! of entering by faith into the contemplation of these wondrous and varied glories of Christ! Would that we knew them better, by the teaching of the Comforter, whose office it is to glorify Christ, by taking of his, and showing it unto us!

We have been seeing, both tonight and on former occasions, how Christ will "reign in Mount Zion and before his ancients gloriously." In what character does he possess this glory which will then be displayed? It is as the Son of David. Faith knows him to be the Son of David now; the One of whom it was said by the angel to his virgin mother, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever: and of his kingdom there shall be no end." (Luke 1: 32, 33.) What do we understand by this? A person once told me seriously, that his idea of those who held pre-millennial views was, that we believed the identical chair of state in which David sat — his literal throne — to be still somewhere in existence, and that in the millennium it would be occupied by Christ! I should not have ventured even to seem to trifle with the subject, and with your feelings, by repeating such a statement as this, had it not been made to me by an intelligent person, a minister of Christ. One need not, of course, disclaim such a thought. But if they be such ideas of premillennial doctrines as these, that lead our brethren to reject them — if this be what they understand by the personal reign, denouncing it, as they do, as a carnal expectation — why, then, on the one hand, we cannot be surprised at their opposition; while, on the other, it is to be regretted that they take no better pains to inform themselves what pre-millennial doctrines are. This only would I ask them, — What do they mean when they speak of "the throne of the Caesars?" How would any one understand the assertion that Louis Napoleon now occupies "the throne of the Bourbons and of Charlemagne?" Need we to explain to people that this means that he wields the authority once possessed by the Bourbons?  - that he reigns over the country once ruled by Charlemagne? And what is meant in Scripture (for it is Scripture language, not ours) by Christ sitting on the throne of David? Surely it means that he is to exercise the authority once entrusted to David; that he is to rule over the nations of which David was king and lord. He is "of the seed of David according to the flesh." He was born "King of the Jews." And where Peter, speaking of the resurrection of Christ, quotes from David's words in Psalm 16, he thus explains them: "Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne; he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ," etc. (Acts 2: 30, 31.) So far from the death and resurrection of Christ setting aside his title and his claims as the Son of David, it was in resurrection that this title was to be verified — these claims fulfilled.

But Christ has higher glories than that of being David's royal Son and Heir. He is the seed of Abraham; and there were promises to Abraham of wider scope than those which were made to David. It was promised to Abraham "that he should be the heir of the world." (Rom. 4: 13.) "In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." (Gen. 22: 18) We surely know who the seed of Abraham is, "He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." (Gal. 3: 16.) As the seed of David, he is to inherit David's royal dominion; but as the seed of Abraham, all nations, yea, all the families of the earth, are to be blessed in him.

But Christ has higher glories yet. He is the Son of Man, the second Adam; and, as such, he inherits all the dominion entrusted to the first Adam, but forfeited by his sin. "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (Gen. 1: 26.) Such was the dominion over this whole lower creation which was confided to the first Adam. By his sin, as we all know, this was forfeited. But was it lost never to be regained? No; to man it was entrusted, and by man shall it yet be exercised in full blessedness and glory. One of the psalms takes up this point, as you will remember; bringing in the fact that there is a "Son of Man" to whom this place of universal power and authority pertains. "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet: all sheep and oxen, yea, and the beasts of the field: the fowl of the air and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever passeth through the paths of the sea." And then, as marking the period in which this prophecy will have its fulfilment, the psalm ends as it begins, with "O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is thy name IN ALL THE EARTH!" (Ps. 8: 4-9.) In Heb. 2 we have this very passage quoted by the apostle, and applied to our blessed Lord. "For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak." (ver. 5.) By the expression "world to come," most people understand the state of disembodied spirits after death. But there is no such thought as this in the passage. It is literally as all scholars agree, "the habitable earth to come." In the coming age, or dispensation, the earth is not put in subjection to angels, but to man. — "But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man," etc., the passage just quoted from the eighth psalm. "But now," says the apostle, "we see not yet all things put under him." (verse 8.) It is the purpose of God that all things shall be; but we see not yet the accomplishment thereof. But what do we see? "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour: that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man." (ver. 9.) Part of the divine purpose is fulfilled. Jesus is personally crowned with glory and honour; but he awaits, at the right hand of God, the arrival of the time when all things shall be subjected to his sway. He is yet to inherit, as the second Adam, all the glory of the dominion entrusted to the first, but forfeited by his fall.

But while it is as Son of Man he inherits all this glory, it is as the rejected Son of Man, as having died and risen again, that he actually takes it. This accounts for the passage just quoted going so far beyond Psalm 8. We do indeed read there, "Who hast set thy glory above the heavens:" but here we find the Son of Man himself in heaven, crowned with glory and. honour.

There are deeper wonders, too, of his blessed Person disclosed in connection with all this. Christ has a higher glory than any we have been contemplating. He is more than the Son of David, more than the Son of Abraham, more than the Son of Man. He is the Son of God; the brightness of his Father's glory, and the express image of his person. We shall see directly that the very first mention of "the church" in Scripture is connected with the confession of this highest, divine, essential glory residing in the person of Christ, as Son of God. But surely we need to remember here that we tread on holy ground. Turn to Phil. 2: 6-11, where we read of Christ Jesus, "who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God." What follows? The announcement that he "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." First, as God, he humbled himself to become man. Then, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself still lower, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. What ensues? "Wherefore" — because of his having thus humbled himself — "God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Now here is a glory conferred on Christ which surpasses all that we have been glancing at. And it is to him, in this highest place of given glory, that the church is united. You will not mistake me. I am not affirming that we are associated with his essential Godhead glory. To affirm that would be blasphemy. Such glory he can share with no one. "He gives not," in this sense, "his glory to another." Nor am I affirming that we shall participate in receiving the adoration to be rendered by every knee to that blessed name — "the name of JESUS." No; but yet it is to him as in this, his highest place of given glory — the glory conferred on him not as the Son of David, not as the Son of Abraham, nor simply as the Son of Man, but as the One who, being God, the Son of the Father, humbled himself to become the Son of Man, and not only so, but to become obedient unto death, the death of the cross — it is to him in the place of glory conferred upon him as the reward of this, his wondrous, infinite condescension, that the Church is united. She is associated with him thus as head, sovereign, ruler over all things. Turn to Eph. 1, where the apostle prays for the Ephesian believers to the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, "that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the Head over all things TO THE CHURCH, WHICH IS HIS BODY, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." The church is the body, the fulness of him whom God has thus raised from the dead, and set at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all powers, all things being put under his feet. And, as his body, the church is associated with him in this place of wondrous, highest glory. God "gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body." The One who went down into the dust of death, having first stooped from the throne of the Eternal to become man, that he might go down into death, is the One whom God has raised from the dead to put all things under his feet; all things in heaven, and in earth, and under the earth. And God has thus given him to be Head over all things "to the church." It is not here that he is Head of the church. That is true likewise, blessed be God. But here he is presented as "head over all things to the church, which is his body." His body, the church, is thus associated with his glory in this headship over all things.

Let us now turn to John 17. You will observe that in this chapter our Lord is praying to the Father, as the One who had come forth from the Father, and could speak of the glory which he had with the Father before the world was. But he had veiled that glory in flesh and blood; and in the human nature which he had thus assumed, he had glorified the Father on the earth. He is here in spirit beyond the cross; for he speaks of having finished the work which his Father had given him to do. He prays for his disciples: and not for them only, but for all who should believe on him through their word. So that the prayer of Jesus embraces us, my brethren, as much as the disciples of that day. It is surely through their word we have believed on Jesus. Well, for all such Jesus prays, "that they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Now mark the next words. "And the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them: that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one: and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." There is a glory which the Father has given to Jesus, and which Jesus has given to the church. By this glory, which the church thus shares with Jesus, the world is to know in millennial times that the Father has loved the church even as he loves his own Son. When the world shall see the church in the same glory with Christ, they will know that she has been loved with the same love. And when is it that the world shall see us in the some glory with Jesus? "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." (Col. 3: 4.)

It is the church alone which is privileged to know and confess the humiliation of God's only begotten Son, while his glory is yet hidden from the view of the world. Saints before the incarnation of Christ could not own him thus, for he had not then taken flesh. Saints after the return of Christ cannot own him thus, for then his glory will be manifested: it will neither be veiled as when he was here on earth, nor hidden as now while he is at the right hand of God. But those who, during the period of his humiliation and rejection, have been led to know and to confess him as the Son of God, form the body, the church, — a body which is associated with him in that highest place in heaven as well as on earth, which is his reward for having humbled himself from such infinite glory to such depths of sorrow and of shame.

I have said that the first mention of the church in Scripture is connected with the confession of Christ as the Son of God. It is in Matt. 16. Our Lord asks, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." No one knew him. Even in his lesser glories, as the Son of David and the seed of Abraham, no one by nature knew him or acknowledged him. "But whom say ye that I am?" our Lord inquired. This draws from Peter the confession, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." He does not merely say, Thou art the Christ. Blessed confession this, as a Jew, of the One who was the Messiah promised to Israel. But he goes on, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The living God. His faith embraces the whole compass and blessed fulness of the truth as to the person of Jesus. He evidently lays emphasis on the word "living" the Son of the living God! What is our Lord's reply? "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also* unto thee, That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Romanists say that Peter is the rock on which Christ declared he would build his church. But the heart which has been taught of God to join in Peter's confession needs no arguments to prove that "this rock" means not Peter, but the blessed One himself, whom Peter had just declared to be "the Christ, the Son of the living God." He himself, known and confessed, not as the Son of David merely, or the Son of Abraham, or the Son of Man, but as the Son of the living God, was the rock on which the Church was to be built. And the gates of hell (or hades) were not to prevail against it. The Romanists speak of error as one of the gates of hell; and assuming that their church is the true and only one, they argue that no charge of fatal error can be justly brought against it; because of this assurance, that the gates of hell (of which they say error is one) should not prevail against the church of Christ. Such is their grand argument for the infallibility of their church. But the word here rendered hell is not gehenna, the place of torment for the wicked, but hades, the place or state of separate souls; and it is evidently used here as expressive of the power of death in contrast with Peter's confession of Christ as the Son of the living God. The church is founded on that which is beyond the reach or the power of death, — even on the Son of the living God. With such a foundation, how could the gates of hades prevail against it?

*Or, "I also say." The Father had revealed to Simon who Jesus was; and Jesus says, "I also say" — I have something further to reveal. This has been suggested by another, and is the literal rendering of the Greek.

Observe, too, it is "upon this rock I will build my church." It is not "upon this rock I have built," or "upon this rock I am building" — but, "upon this rock I will build my church." The work was still a future one when our Lord spake. He was presented to Israel as their Messiah; but they knew him not. There were those, indeed, whose hearts, like Peter's, grace had touched; but they discerned him in a better glory, "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." In this character, and as known in this character, he was to be the foundation of the church. But ere he could build it, he must pass through death; and of this he immediately goes on to speak in the passage we are considering. "From that time forth began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." Peter having confessed him as the Son of the living God, he declares that upon this rock he will build his church. When? is the question which here seems to be supposed; and the answer is, "I must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things, and be killed, and be raised again the third day." All this must be accomplished ere the building of the church can commence. There is a passage of deepest interest as to this in John 11 Caiaphas had said, "It is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not." "This," we are told, "spake he not of himself, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation; and not for that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad." It was for the nation of Israel he died; and so all the blessing of the earth, when the nation is the centre of rule and of blessing in the millennial kingdom, will flow from the efficacy of his death. But it was not for that nation only. It was also to gather together in one the children of God that were scattered abroad. There were children of God, but they were scattered abroad; to gather them together in one was the immediate object of the death of Christ. And what was this gathering together in one of the children of God? It was the formation of the church. It was the joining together of the till then separate, isolated stones, by building them upon the foundation, — the Son of the living God. But in order to do this, he must die. Sin must be put away by his one sacrifice, ere saved sinners can be builded together for an habitation of God. The foundation indeed is the Son of the living God: but it was not as incarnate merely, but as having died and risen again, that he was actually to become the foundation of the church. He must be declared to be the Son of God, and that was by resurrection. He "was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." (Rom. 1: 3, 4.) It is not only on Christ as the Son of the living God that the church is built as a foundation; but ere he actually became the foundation of the church, he had passed through death atoningly; in his resurrection he had set it aside, "abolished" it (see 2 Tim. 1: 10); and having ascended into heaven, the Holy Ghost having come down by virtue of his work and in answer to his prayer (see John 14: 16), the church was formed by his uniting into one body, with Christ in glory, all who believed in his name. "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit." (1 Cor. 12: 13.) If, then, we are thus one with him who is the Son of the living God, and who has passed through death and set it aside, how can the gates of hades prevail against the church.

Let us now for a moment return to the epistle to the Ephesians. We have seen Israel's calling is to temporal blessings in earthly places, even in the land promised to their fathers. But what are our blessings, as set forth in this epistle? "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." In heavenly places. Not a heavenly frame of mind, as many understand this passage. That would surely be included in spiritual blessings. But we are taught what the region is in which we are thus blessed with all spiritual blessings; it is in heavenly places. Let me ask you, my brethren, where is the Lord Jesus Christ? Where is the risen and glorified Son of Man? Is he not in heaven — literally and actually in heaven? And is it not in this very chapter that we are told of "the exceeding greatness of God's power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places?" This is exactly the same expression as in verse 3, "Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places." Our place is where he is, at the right hand of God. Our portion, treasure, inheritance — our life, our peace, our joy — in a word, our blessings are all there: "Blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." We are the body of him who actually sits there; and vitally united with him by the Holy Ghost, faith reckons — even as God accounts — his place to be our place in him.

In the beginning of Eph. 2 we have a glance at what our natural condition is, "dead in trespasses and sins." Then in ver. 4, "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ;" given us one life with him whom he raised from the dead; "(by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." And for what end is this? That all the nations of the earth may see how happy a thing it is to be under the government of the Prince of Peace? No, that is the object of Israel's calling. But why are we thus raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ? It is "that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." And then in Eph. 3: 9, 10, we find that there is even a present display to those in heaven. "God, who created all things by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be known BY THE CHURCH the manifold wisdom of God, according to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord." It is God's eternal purpose that even now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places — and in the ages to come to all — shall be exhibited, by means of the church, his manifold wisdom, and the exceeding riches of his grace. May our hearts enter more fully through grace into this stupendous design.

The Apostle proceeds in Eph. 2 to show that instead of the distinction between Jew and Gentile being maintained in the church, it is entirely obliterated. It is not that the Gentiles are brought into blessing, as they will be in the millennium, in a place subordinate to that of the Jews; but that both Jews and Gentiles are brought out of their natural state and position altogether, into vital union with Christ in glory. "Wherefore, remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands: that at that time ye were without Christ" — Christ was of Israel according to the flesh, but the Gentiles sustained no such relationship to him — "being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world." Such was our condition as Gentiles. God was the God of Israel, and they had the hope of their Messiah's coming, to fulfil all the promises made to their fathers. "But now, in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the blood of Christ." How nigh? So nigh as to be servants of Israel? their ploughmen and vinedressers, as the Gentiles will be in millennial times? Is that our place? Are we the favoured ploughmen and vinedressers of the more favoured nation of God's choice, Israel on the earth? Hear what the Apostle says. "For he (Christ) is our peace, who hath made both (Jews and Gentiles who believe) one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Can anything be plainer than what we are here taught? We are not brought into that place of subjection to Israel which will belong to the spared nations of the earth in millennial times. We are not brought into the position which Israel itself will then occupy. No, but we are brought into one immeasurably higher and more blessed than either. The Jew, with all his privileges, is by nature dead in sins. The out-cast far-off Gentile is but in the same condition before God. What has God in his grace done for us both? Rich in mercy, he has quickened us, whether Jews or Gentiles together with Christ. He has brought the Jew out of his natural position as a Jew, and the Gentile out of his natural position as a Gentile, and brought both into the entirely new and wondrous position of being the body of the heavenly glorified man; of him who being in the form of God, and thinking it not robbery to be equal with God, humbled himself to the death of the cross. He has now as his reward for this, a name which is above every name — the name of JESUS — at which name indeed the church herself bows the adoring knee; but he is also "head over all things," and we are his body. He died, as we have seen, to make in himself of twain one new man. There is a new, mystic man; of which Christ in glory is the head, and of which all who believe during the period of its formation, are members. And this is the sense in which we are said to be "the fulness of him that filleth all in all." All my members are the fulness, or complement, which constitute my body. If a joint of my little finger were wanting, I should not be a complete man. Thus is the church, the fulness, the complement, of this new heavenly man. Christ in glory is the head, and in all things he has the pre-eminence. But the feeblest saint is essential to the completeness of the body. The head (and we know who that is) cannot say to the feet, I have no need of you. (See 1 Cor. 12: 2 1.) Hence in Eph. 4, the gifts are said to be bestowed "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." It is not "till we all come to be perfect men." No, but till we all come unto "a perfect man:" that is, until the body, the bride of Christ be completed. It was for this that Jesus died. "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word; that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." (Eph. 5: 25-27.) Wondrous truth! "He that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church; for we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones." "This is a great mystery," says the Apostle, "but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

To one other point I would advert. Peter exhorts the saints to whom he wrote, to desire, as new-born babes, the sincere milk of the word, "if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2: 3-5.) To whom coming as unto a living stone. Of whom is it that Peter speaks? Of himself? Impossible. It is of him whom he had confessed as the Son of the living God. But observe the next words, "disallowed indeed of men." "To whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men." The church is founded on Christ, known and confessed as the Son of the living God; but this stone is one "disallowed indeed of men." It is a Christ rejected by the world, on which the church is founded. Here we have a most solemn test, and one of easy application, by which to judge any association professing to be the church, or a part of the church. If it be that which man can allow — if it be an institution which the world can own and adorn with goodly gifts — it is not the rejected church of the rejected Son of God. Let me not be misunderstood. There may be true members of the church of God associated with that which in its corporate character is wedded to the world, and impregnated with its spirit. But, clearly, the word before us would not only entitle us to ask, but would render it obligatory on us that we should ask, as to anything pretending to be the church, Is it, or is it not, disallowed of men? He who is the true foundation is so; and that which is really based thereon must share with him his rejection by the world. That which is supported by the world's strength, adorned with the world's glory, and crowned with the world's plaudits, can scarcely be viewed as the lively stones built up as a spiritual house, on the one living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious! The Lord quicken our consciences, and give us understanding in all things.

Time would fail to occupy half the ground which is covered by this most interesting subject. But there are two or three essential characteristics of the church, the body of Christ, which must not be passed by. And first, its holiness. Separated to God in a nearness of relationship and intimacy of communion which attach to none besides, how can it be otherwise than holy? How affectingly is this taught in John 17, where our blessed Lord, praying for those who were to compose his body, the church, says, "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are." Again: "I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. (Think of this, beloved brethren.) I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world (that is, take them away to heaven at once), but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." Could anything present the holiness of the church, as one in life and character with its Head in glory, in a more solemn and affecting point of view than this? What is the measure of the holiness and separation from the world which properly attaches to the church? Precisely that which attaches to her Head in glory. May we all lay these things to heart!

Then there is the unity of the church. I put it to your consciences, my brethren, How many churches has Christ? We know, indeed, that unity is the false boast of Rome; and there are others who advance the same pretensions. But what is the unity thus gloried in? Not the holy unity for which Jesus prays in the seventeenth of John, but a unity which embraces the whole world in any given sphere where it is pretended that it exists. Rome (and would that in this she were alone) baptizes whole nations, and calls them the church, and then boasts of her unity and catholicity. But a unity subversive of holiness is not the unity of the bride of Christ. Has she, therefore, no unity at all? Has Christ many bodies, many brides? The thought is almost blasphemous. His spouse, his undefiled, is one. It is a solemn thought for us to ponder: "There is one body and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling." My brethren, is this that to which we are practically bearing witness — that there is but one church, including all who are living members of Christ, quickened into union with him by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven?

Further, one most essential characteristic of the church (may we not say the essential characteristic?) is, the presence of the Holy Ghost, the Comforter. Both the holiness and the unity of the church flow from this. Saints, disciples of Christ, children of God, there were, before the descent of the Holy Ghost — persons quickened by the Spirit, born of the Spirit, as all saved persons in all dispensations arebut no church. It was the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost that formed the church; and though the mystery of the distinct calling and glory of the church thus formed was not revealed until Paul received grace and apostleship from the Lord, still the body itself was formed at the day of Pentecost, and has existed from that epoch. When the Holy Ghost had descended from the Head in glory, to indwell, and animate, and govern, and build together, the members here below, then, and not until then, it could be said, "There IS one body, and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of our calling." Blessed truth! may our souls receive it and hold it fast.

Finally, there is that in the relationship between Christ and the church which is deeper and more blessed than the highest glory. Glory, as we have seen with regard to Christ himself, is displayed excellency. But are there not beauties and delights in Jesus, for the heart taught and enabled of the Holy Ghost to enjoy him, which cannot be displayed? Oh, yes! and if the church be indeed the bride, the Lamb's wife, can it be her highest pleasure and delight that she shares all the given glory which displays the excellency of her Bridegroom and Lord? Surely there are reciprocal affections pertaining to that relationship which cannot be exhibited; a fellowship of spirit, a union of heart, a mutual joy in each other, perfectly ineffable. And into this we are called by faith, through the power of the Holy Ghost, to enter even now. But if we do speak of glory, what is her glory? All the given glory of her Head. Specially associated with him in that which is his highest given glory, what is there of his that can be communicated or shared in which she will not partake? Ask you what is the Bride's portion? Her title declares her participation in all that constitutes the inheritance of the Bridegroom Here it is we see the surpassing glory of the church. There is nothing like it in heaven or in earth, save the glory of him by union with whom it is she inherits it, and who in all things has the pre-eminence. It is by union with him that we receive this portion. And this explains what would not otherwise be understood. Suppose a certain king, the monarch of wide domains, should pass by all the several ranks of nobility in his empire, and choose for his bride and the partner of his throne one who, by birth, and parentage, and condition, was immeasurably beneath them all. Inferior to them as in herself she is, the moment she becomes, by his sovereign choice, the monarch's bride, she takes her place by his side, and all others rank beneath her then. Well, what are we, beloved brethren, in ourselves? Poor, wretched sinners, dead in trespasses and sins. Where has sovereign grace placed us? In living union, as his body, his bride, with the One whom God has raised from the dead, and set at his own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come! Yes, God hath put all things under his feet, and given him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all! And to think that most of those who form this body are poor sinners of the Gentiles! Surely the crumbs which haver fallen to us, poor Gentile dogs, prove to be a far richer portion than the children's bread! Would that our hearts were more conversant with these blessed realities! How dull and unattractive does all earthly glory seem in the light of this glory that excelleth. And how may we reckon, with the apostle, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. God grant us thus to know, and thus to estimate, the place of blessing and of joy in which he has set us, in union with Christ, at his right hand.  W. T.

The Predicted Corruption of Christianity,

The Predicted Corruption of Christianity,

and its final results.

2 Thess. 2: 1-12; and Rev. 17 and 18.

Lecture 6 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

Those who were present here last Tuesday evening will remember the happy and exalted theme of that evening's lecture. My brother addressed you on that occasion upon "The distinct calling and glory of the church" of God. The varied glories of him who is the church's living Head came under our review, whilst we were shown the distinctive glory which he will share with, and confer upon, "the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all." But how opposite a scene is that which we have to contemplate tonight! We have to consider "The predicted corruption of Christianity and its final results" — the history, character, and doom of "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." This is descending as from heaven to earth. We have to turn away from a scene of purity, and holiness, and glory, to one of impurity, and drunkenness, and shame. We have to turn away from the contemplation of the one true and heavenly church — the living body which is united to its risen and glorified Head, and which is called to a heavenly walk and conversation even now, and to the participation of his glory and his throne hereafter — we have now to turn away from all this, to the revolting spectacle of a shameless, drunken woman, sitting on a wild beast,* and ministering, even under a religious guise, to the vilest passions of the kings, and governments, and people of the earth. Yet who shall deny that this is, in proper time and place, — if we cannot say our privilege — yet still our duty. It was said by one of the wisest men of old, "There is a time for all things." And surely there is a time, not only to look on the bright side of things, but when, however painful it may be, it becomes our duty to descend from the contemplation of so happy and so cheering a theme as that of the heavenly calling and glory of the church, to the very different subject of "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." And may God preserve us from presumption, and give us teachableness of mind, while these terrible and sorrowful scenes pass under our review.

*The word therion, rendered "beast" in Rev. 13 and 17, literally means "wild beast." That rendered "beast" in Rev. 4 and 5 is another word, zoon, which literally means "living creature." It is important to bear in mind this difference in reading Revelation.

I would remark, in the second place, how important it is to avoid confusion of thought in our endeavours to interpret the wonderfully varied imagery set before us in the prophetic Scriptures. It has been very common with expositors to explain almost all the prophetic symbols of evil as meaning Popery. How often do we hear it said, "This beast means Popery. The woman on its back means Popery. The little horn that grew on its head means Popery. And even the two-horned beast of the thirteenth chapter of this book means Popery." Now, surely, there must be some strange confusion here. The whole of these varied, differing, and in some cases even contrasted symbols, cannot be rightly interpreted of one and the same system. Surely the woman must denote something else than the beast which carries her! Surely the woman on the back of the beast must mean something else than that which is intended by the horn upon this beast's head! Surely the beast, the woman upon its back, the horns upon its head, and the other two-horned beast, cannot all mean one and the self-same thing!

But let us at once address ourselves to our task. The portion we have read, from 2 Thessalonians, predicts in most impressive terms that there should be a "falling away," an apostacy in the church. The mystery of iniquity was already "working' therein in the apostle's time; it was to result in the revelation of "the man of sin," the "wicked one;" and he is to be destroyed only by the brightness of the revelation of the Lord in flaming fire from heaven. Such, in brief, are the scriptural predictions as to the corruption of Christianity, and its final results.

In the symbol of Babylon the Great, however, we see the "mystery of iniquity" in its full maturity. "MYSTERY" is the inscription that is written on the forehead of the mystic woman, of this, the seventeenth chapter of the book of Revelation. It is, we believe, the same mystery of iniquity that is spoken of by Paul in 2 Thessalonians.

I beseech you, dear friends, to mark with close attention the vision here presented to us. Read specially verses 1 to 6. There was seen a woman arrayed in purple and scarlet, decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls, and having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications. This woman was seen sitting on a beast, and the beast had seven heads and ten horns. — The ten horns ultimately proved the destruction of the woman; they "hate her, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." Then those horns themselves, along with the wild beast, the power of which they wielded, are overcome in a last conflict by the King of kings, and Lord of lords. Ponder well these mystic scenes. Do not say that "it is better to let such mysteries alone." They are revealed mysteries, and they belong to you, because so revealed. God would not have given us them had he judged them "better let alone" by his people. It is written of this very book, filled as it is with mystic scenes like these, "Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written therein; for the time is at hand." Let us then ponder well the revelation here presented to our view. Let us treasure up its instruction; and may God, by the Holy Ghost, seal it upon our hearts.

We have said that in the symbol of "Babylon the Great" is shown to us the full maturity of the "mystery of iniquity" — of the apostacy, or "falling away" in the church of God. Let us define and consider this explanation somewhat more closely, and in detail.

1. The woman is seen seated on a beast, as well as on many waters. Now this beast certainly denotes the Roman empire — the Roman empire, I believe, throughout its whole duration, whether in its pagan, its papal, or its future antichristian state. It means the same thing as the many waters — the "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." It means Rome secular, Rome civil and political. Whatever may be the religion Rome professes, it is still the secular empire of Rome that is denoted by the "beast." Whether the empire be considered in its past whole and undivided condition, or in its present broken and divided one, still it is represented by this symbol of a seven-headed beast. Our next lecture will furnish proof of this profession, that by the "beast" here is meant the secular empire of Rome. But if by the beast is meant the secular and political power, what explanation shall we give as to the woman that is here seen seated on it? What great system is there to be seen seated upon, and supported by, the secular power of Europe? Is it not plainly the ecclesiastical or church power? Is it not the church in alliance with, and maintained by the state? We repeat it once more, that we believe this symbol denotes corrupt and apostate national Christianity.

2. One of the seven angels previously seen, here calls on the apostle to come and see "the judgment of the great whore." Afterwards (see chapter 21: 1-9) another of those angels calls him to come and behold "the Bride, the Lamb's wife." There is seen, then, that which is true and that which is false — that which is chaste and that which is corrupt. There is seen that which is genuine and real, and that which is but spurious and fictitious — that which is betrothed to the Lamb, and that which is united with and seated upon the beast.

In each case it is worthy of our notice, that there is a two-fold symbol — a woman and a city. Each woman is represented also as a city. Each city is symbolized also as a woman. In the one case it is said, "Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me that great city, the Holy Jerusalem." (Rev. 21: 9, 10) In the other we read, "the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Thus the heavenly Jerusalem is seen as the Bride, the Lamb's wife; and that great city, mystic Babylon, is seen as "the great whore, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

May we not, then, presume, that by this mystic Babylon is meant, in principle, that corruption of Christianity which is our subject this evening? May we not regard all that is true to Christ as belonging, in principle, to the one symbol; and all that which, being nominally of Christ is, in reality, false to him, as belonging in principle to the other symbol? May we not say, that while every true Christian is a member of the bride of Christ, every spurious one is a member of this corrupt system which pretends to be such? — that, while every truly quickened person is a living stone of the heavenly city, every one that has merely "a name to live" may be regarded as a stone in this mystic Babylon.

3. But is there not also to be seen a definite organization now so prominently existing throughout what is called "Christendom," as to justify the application to it, in a special way, of this symbol of a great mystic whore? We doubt not that there is. In this very chapter, indeed, we have both a general and a special locality assigned to the woman. In verse 3, she is said to sit "upon many waters;" and in verse 15, these waters are explained by the angel to mean "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;" whilst in verse 9, we read that "the seven heads (of the beast) are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." This. seems distinctly to fix upon Rome itself — that notoriously seven-hilled city — a city which, not only as to its ecclesiastical system, but also, in by-gone ages, as to its secular power, has reigned over the kings of the earth — upon ROME itself, we say, as the centre of power, and special seat of this great scarlet whore. Yes; though "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues," are, in the wide sense, the seat of Babylon, yet is the centre and special locality of her power to be found at Rome.

We doubt not, then, that whilst all that is Christian merely in profession and in name belongs, in a wide and general yet true and solemn sense, to Babylon the Great, yet that enormous system of foul ecclesiastical corruption, of filthy spiritual fornication, of which the metropolis is at Rome, is what is here specially intended to be set forth in its own true and revolting colours.

4. That the power of the woman is something distinct from the power of the beast, we may further learn from this important consideration, that the beast is seen in supreme power after the woman has been destroyed. (Read verses 12 to 14, and also chapter 19: 19, 20) There are ten horns that give their power unto the beast, and destroy the woman. The power of the beast is ultimately the destruction of the woman. How, then, can the two be but one? It is said that the beast is Popery, and that the woman also is Popery. Then Popery destroys itself, and exists in full power after its own felo de se! This interpretation surely cannot stand! Both symbols cannot mean Popery. Neither, for the same reason, can both the women and the beast symbolize the secular power.

The one rides upon the other, until the beast, wearied out by the extortions, the impudent pretensions, and the arrogant assumptions of the whore, will bear her hated weight no longer. The woman is then thrown down and trampled on, and gored to death. Yet still the beast is seen in all its strength.

5. What power, then, have we witnessed thus seated upon the secular powers? — that has even "reigned over the kings" and governments of the earth? What great system is there to be seen thus ruling the nations? What but the ecclesiastical power? What but the corrupt national churches of Christendom? They are indeed supported by the secular powers, and yet they constantly aspire to their control.

And, indeed, what emblem can be imagined so aptly suited to characterize a corrupt and spurious religious system as that of an unchaste woman, here designated, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth"? The loathsome thing professes itself to be betrothed to Christ, to be espoused to him. Yet it is wedded to the sensual pleasures, and wealth, and power of the earth. What emblem so fit, then, to describe it, as the one here actually employed! The secular power avows its own stern character — acts openly on the principle of force. The "wild beast" therefore fitly characterizes it. But this other system, whilst it rides upon the beast, and rejoices when, enraged, it scatters and devours — still acts by subtlety and treachery, rather than by any direct, open exercise of force. It presents "a golden cup, full of abominations, and filthiness of fornications." With this wine does it make the kings and nations of the earth drunk and infuriate. What is there that has done this, except Popery, and that which partakes of its nature and its principles? And what could set forth more vividly much that we see in actual and powerful operation, even in our own day, than the emblem presented to us? What is the struggle that at this very time engages the earnest attention of all classes throughout our own nation? It is a struggle between an ecclesiastical and a secular system. It is a struggle between the woman and the beast. The woman will, if possible, not only ride, but hold the reins! It is a struggle as to the terms on which the beast will condescend to carry — to support the woman. Shall she hold the reins? This is the gist of the serious and exciting struggle of these "latter days." Alas! that any evangelical denomination should be found in this day that would not repudiate such support!

6. Such thoughts, however, lead us to a further important contrast. The great whore rides upon and is supported by the beast. What, on the other hand, is the support, the stay, the strength, the life, the hope, the joy of "the bride, the Lamb's wife"? We see her elsewhere (or that which is of the same life and spirit with her) represented as "coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved." Yes, here we find the answer. The true church leans on Jesus. He is unseen now, it is true. But faith rests on him notwithstanding. "In whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Here is the source of energy and consolation to the bride. This explains the mystery of her unwearying foot, and her unworldly carriage. She is heaven-sustained, and heaven-bound, for she is heaven-born — "born from above." Christ is, or should be all in all to her. She is one with Christ indeed; by "joints and bands" has she nourishment ministered from him. But this false woman, however she may boast, knows nothing of that life which is by faith. No, "sight" — the world — its patronage and endowments — is all she knows. She knows "the beast which carrieth her," "the many waters" (and mark well here in passing, that those "many waters" are precisely what the symbol of "the beast" sets forth) — she knows the "many waters" upon which she sitteth.

What a picture, then, beloved friends, is here presented to our view, of corrupted and apostate Christianity! Here we see it in its matured and most hideous deformity. It is painful to look so closely into it. Such, however, it actually is, as drawn by the hand of inspiration. But how does it reach a pitch of wickedness so monstrous and revolting? For a solution of this question let us look to prophetic details, and then briefly at what is revealed to us, as to the doom of this Babylon the Great. Let us observe the introduction, and then trace the progress of this apostacy.

The first mention we have in the New Testament of that divine institution into which this corruption has been introduced — in which this apostacy has taken place — at least the first mention of it by its specific name, "the church," is in Matthew 16. Peter's confession there recorded proves that he had truly discerned the right foundation of the church. The building of the church, however, is not spoken of there, as if it had then been commenced. The Lord said, "On this rock I will build my church;" not, on this rock I am building it. The building of the church upon that foundation — of the church properly so called — did not commence till Pentecost. The foundation was indeed being laid — laid in the incarnation, and death, and resurrection of the Son of the living God. But the building thereon, in their proper church character, of the living stones, was a work not commenced at that time. Living stones indeed there were — "children of God" there were; but never to that time, nor previously to Pentecost, were they gathered into the unity, or framed together into the building, of the church.

In the eighteenth chapter of this gospel we have further and most important instruction as to the church. Only in that place, indeed, besides the one just noticed, have we throughout the four gospels any distinctive mention of it. We have there, (Matt. 18: 15-20,) in connection with an important rule as to discipline, the grand principle of the constitution of the church of God. "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Of such an assembly it is that the Lord says, "Tell it to the church," and, "if he will not hear the church." This passage presents the very simplest idea of the church. "Wherever two or three are gathered together in the name of Jesus," there is the church.

We may now turn to the Acts of the Apostles, where, in the early chapters, we have a narration of the actual commencement of the divine work of the building of the church of God. We must quote one or two passages — we must look, for a moment at least, upon the fair and lovely spectacle of a pure and uncorrupted church. For a moment — alas! for a moment only, did the church so exist. "And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness. And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus; and great grace was upon them all." "And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Such was the church when first established. Beautiful spectacle! Fair and lovely scene! Would that no other features had ever been developed therein!

But a change most disastrous had been already predicted. I may here refer, though very hastily, to those parables in Matthew 13, at which we glanced for a different purpose in the second of these lectures.

And, first, as to the parable of the sower. What is the instruction given us therein, as to the special point in question? It is this: that there should be very many plants produced which should bring forth no fruit to perfection. Some of the seed should spring up only to be burnt up by the sun, picked up by the fowls, or choked by thorns. Already, then, we have intimation of much spurious, or, at least, abortive vegetation. Surely this is no favourable presage for the church!

But we have a second parable — that of the wheat and the tares; one still more marked as to its import. The explanation of it, as given by the Lord himself, is as follows: — "The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are the angels." This is most clear and solemn. Amongst the wheat there should be sown "tares;" that is, a plant with a specious but spurious resemblance to wheat. The tares then denote, not all the children of the wicked one, but such only as are sown among the wheat, as counterfeit and spurious plants. They are hypocrites, and indeed false professors of all descriptions, whether consciously so or not. Now these were not only to be sown, but to grow together with the wheat, even until the harvest. Corruption will exist in the church, so-called, until the end of the age. The harvest is the end of this mixed state of Christendom. Plainly, then, there will be no millennium before the harvest. But this we have already seen; and I introduce it now only as a passing thought. We shall see more as to the harvest when we come to the question of the final results of the apostacy.

The third parable spoken by the Lord is as follows: — "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which, indeed, is the least of all seeds; but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof." Such was to be the progress of Christianity, and of the great institution that should result therefrom. The gospel seed was a very little thing at the first. But the plant that sprung therefrom grew very great. While the affair was very little, the world despised it. When it grew somewhat strong — strong in its own native, heavenly strength — the world began to hate it, and oppose it; yet, as is the case with certain plants, it grew the faster as the world trampled it down yet more and more. It even gained over to itself at length both wealth and worldly influence. Then came a crisis and a change. The world would enter into a compact with it. The world came over to it — not really — but in pretence and profession only. The world will be anything, or profess anything, or adopt anything, that may turn out to its temporal advantage. The world will go wherever there is any earthly benefit to be got. When the ecclesiastical tree had grown great, and afforded comfortable shelter, without being scrupulous as to those who came for shelterthen worldlings would nestle in it. Then the unclean birds — the harpies, vultures, cormorants, owls, and bats — would flock beneath its branches. Behold the attractive branches of this mystic tree! What a lure does the worldling find in its dignities and endowments — its dues, and fees, and tithes — its rights episcopal and hierarchal, monastic and manorial! Truly this tree is great! The Babylonish monarch — the Babylonish empire itself — of old, was symbolized by this very metaphor of a great tree. Nebuchadnezzar, as you will remember, was shown to himself as a vast tree, "the height thereof reached unto heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all: the beasts of the field had shadow under it, and the fowls of the heaven dwelt under the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it." (See Dan. 4: 10-12, and 19-22.) Such was the literal Babylon of old. How fitting, then, the parable of this great mustard tree as a symbol of the mystic Babylon of modern days! Yes, let us be assured, this great attractive tree is none other than mystic "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of the earth."

But we must notice, also, the parable of the leaven, which was hid by a certain woman in three measures of meal. On a previous occasion we likewise referred to this parable, as affording proof that the second advent will be pre-millennial. We now refer to it, because it furnishes most remarkable instruction as to our present subject — the corruption of Christianity.

We saw, on that occasion, that "leaven" always means something evil — that it never represents the Gospel. We saw that when typically used in the offerings of old, it denoted sin and imperfection; that when Christ — Christ alone — was typified, there might be no leaven introduced. Thus specially the paschal bread must be unleavened; since in "Christ our passover" there was no sin: whilst, in certain offerings of thanksgiving made by imperfect worshippers, leaven was to be introduced. We saw that the Lord spoke of leaven in an evil sense, but never in a good one. "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy." Paul also used the term as indicative of evil only. The church (see 1 Cor. 5: 6-8) was to be a new, unleavened lump; the "old leaven" must be purged out. It was not that a new leaven should be introduced. No; the lump must be "unleavened;" there must be, not "the leaven of malice and wickedness," but "the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth." In Galatians, too, the warning was, "This persuasion cometh not from him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." Here the leaven was legality — they were leaving the simple gospel for the abrogated bondage of the law. This leaven would leaven the whole lump, if not faithfully purged out.

Alas! the parable before us declares that the whole lump should at last be leavened. The "kingdom of heaven" — that vast system which, at the first, was the kingdom of heaven in reality, and which assumes to be so still, but which shall be the kingdom of heaven in name only, when the leaven has wrought in it thoroughly — the whole of that vast system shall at length be "like unto leaven." No meal shall be easily discerned therein. The leaven only shall be prominent and visible, everywhere and to all; even the Christians shall be infected by it. At first the church was a pure, unleavened lump. Into these "three measures of meal" — not into the world at large, but into the new unleavened lump — the pure and pentecostal church — was the leaven secretly and clandestinely introduced. A "woman" hid it therein. Who was she? Was it not the mystic woman of Revelation 17? Was not the working of this leaven the working of that "mystery of iniquity" which, in 2 Thess. 2: 7, we are told did, even in those apostolic days, "already work"? Is there not, I appeal to you, an obvious identity between the leaven of Matt. 13, the mystery of iniquity of 2 Thess. 2, and the mystic Babylon the Great of Rev. 17?

There is also in this chapter the parable of the net, which gathered fish both good and bad, the separation of which takes place only at the end of the age. The kingdom of heaven — popularly, but not accurately, called "the church" — would thus gather all kinds of people into it. Thus all that we have been setting forth receives here further confirmation.

The parable of the "ten virgins," in Matt. 25, tells us the same sad story. They all slumbered and slept. If not all asleep, still none remained quite awake. The midnight cry alone aroused them, Thus again it appears the apostacy lasts until the coming of the Lord.

These numerous predictions began almost immediately to have their sad accomplishment. Ananias and Sapphira are well-known proofs of this. The Grecian widows, too, soon felt the sorrowful results of partiality; or else were themselves guilty of evil surmising. The Acts of the Apostles gives still further instances of incipient evil. In the Epistle to the Romans we have a solemn warning as to the failure and cutting off of the Gentile branches of the "olive tree." But at Corinth things were already in a fearful state. There were parties formed within the bosom of the church. There were strifes, and envyings, and divisions. There were also great disorders at the table of the Lord. There was even the toleration of a flagrantly incestuous person in communion. There was also a system of Judaizing, of legal and unevangelical teaching, boastingly pursued there.

The churches of Galatia were in a worse position still. There the foundation error of Popery was being openly introduced. People ask when Popery began — how early its errors were introduced — whether six hundred, eight hundred, a thousand, or fourteen hundred years ago. And Romanists themselves boastingly inquire whether their doctrines were not held even by the primitive and apostolic church. This is the answer: Many of them were held by persons even in the days of the inspired Apostles themselves. The proof of this is most decisive: we have in the apostolic epistles most earnest protestations against many of those doctrines — doctrines then actually held and taught The Epistle to the Galatians is a divinely inspired protest against some of these doctrines. Luther but re-published it at the Reformation. It was found to contain the whole strength, the grand drift, the very pith and marrow of the controversy between him and Rome. Why then should we postdate any Popish error? No, let us grant this to the Romanists, that though many of their doctrines are new and modern, yet others of them are in very truth as old — or very nearly so — as the Church of God itself. Their doctrine of justification by the united and blended merit of Jesus Christ and of human works, is especially a very old one. The whole Epistle to the Galatians was written against it. The apostacy had set in with terrible and bewitching power throughout Galatia. The Apostle Paul had to change his voice, even as to his own children in the Lord. He "stood in doubt of them." Was it possible that he had laboured in vain? They had evidently fallen from the liberty of their position, and were again entangled with the yoke of bondage. Well might he exclaim, "This persuasion cometh not from him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump." (See chap 5 verses 8 and 9.) Here again we have the leaven mentioned. In this case it was the leaven of legality — in other words, of self-righteousness; at the bottom of it was pride. It was the result of unbrokenness of spirit — of a defective apprehension, both as to the wickedness of the human heart, and as to the strictness — the exceeding broadness and spirituality of God's holy law. This, doubtless, lay at the foundation of the error; and the teaching of Judaizing partizans helped it into avowed form and shape. This leaven, we may say emphatically, leavens the whole lump. My dear friends, the root of the corrupt tree lies here. This is the core of the apostacy. All its other evils follow in due course. The Puseyite movement, as it is called, began with a revival of this error as to justification. The popular "Lectures on justification," by a leader of that school, are a proof of what I assert. Popery has its origin here. It is indigenous in the corrupt soil of the unregenerated heart. We all have within us by nature these Popish tendencies. We do not need baptismal regeneration, and Popish rites to impart them. But we need to be born again of the Spirit of God as the only possible means of correcting them. There is no other way of escape from the dread fowler's snares. We must be born again; and we must learn that our salvation is altogether of grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, and that we are not "under law, but under grace." Then only do we know the liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free. Then only are we placed beyond the power of priestly pretensions. But then we are free indeed! Salvation in Jesus, by grace alone, through faith — salvation in him, known and realized in blessed peace and power, lifts its possessor clean out of the world of superstition and delusion! It raises him above the region of priestly mediatorship. The One High Priest above does all the proper priestly work for such an one. A thousand bonds are snapped asunder in a moment, when the soul of a poor sinner finds its full rest in Christ. You need not prove to him, that pains and penalties — purgatorial fires, and priestly indulgences and absolutions — pilgrimages, high masses, and beads, and crosses, are all empty, needless, and vain. No! the vital principle of all these has been nailed already to the true cross. The principle of them no longer triumphs in his heart. Grace reigns there now. He stands fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made him free, and he rejects every priestly interference that would bring him into bondage. The true priest — the Great High Priest — has emancipated him from the thraldom of every usurper. The snare is broken, and the captive is escaped.

This, dear friends, is the only way to meet and to expel the leaven of Rome. I deeply lament that so little on this vital doctrine is urged in the disputations of our day. We hear of what are called Protestant discussions very frequently; but justification, which should be the grand and prominent question, is often — I believe generally — omitted. This is a portentous omission. Romanists will argue for ever on other questions, if you will only keep the Gospel out of view. Only let the opponent argue with them on other points — if he will just grant them this, that he will not "preach" — (that is their own mode of putting it) if only he will avoid the declaration of salvation by Christ alone and of the glorious Gospel of God, which proclaims a full salvation by him for ever, they can bear all else. But that they cannot bear! When you proclaim the Gospel full and free, you then begin to drag them beyond their depth — you drown them in deep waters. There is a mysterious power attending it, which they feel and know full well baffles all their skill, and which translates all those who heartily receive it into another worlda world of liberty. It translates them out of the kingdom of darkness and delusion into the heavenly, free, and happy kingdom of God's own dear Son. May we then have grace to remember where our true strength lies! We may know both our best weapon, and how to use it.

Let it not be supposed, however, that in thus speaking of the actions and pretensions of priests, I refer to those true servants of our God, who assume under him, and as called by him, the pastoral or the evangelizing office. To feed the flock, and preach the Gospel, are ministrations both important and Scriptural. But priesthood, which is the proper and untransmissible prerogative of the Lord Jesus, if assumed by man in any other sense than that of the spiritual priesthood of all true believers in common, is, in this present dispensation, a false and wicked pretension. But let us hasten on. We have seen the apostacy working thus early and powerfully in Galatia. The Ephesians themselves are warned against the cunning craftiness and lurking watchfulness of the false apostles of that day. The Philippians, too, are warned respecting some of whom Paul declares, "They are the enemies of the cross of Christ; whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame; who mind earthly things." The Colossians were reproved for a tendency, even then to be discerned among them also, towards the legality, and consequent superstition, which have been already noticed. Even the Thessalonians were not altogether blameless. There were some among them who walked disorderly, "not working at all." The mystery of iniquity, they were told, also had begun. Great grace, indeed, still rested on many of the churches — and God forbid that we should fail to recognize this, or joyfully to give him glory — but it is obvious that everywhere the apostacy had already set in.

To Timothy the apostle has to announce — what Timothy, indeed, already knew — that striking proof of human fickleness and instability: "This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia be turned away from me." Before Paul died, all they that were in Asia had become the partizans Of Opposing and schismatic teachers. The Catholic church of Asia had erred already! Foolish and ignorant people tell us in this day, that what is Catholic must be right — that the doctrine which is universal, or which is held by the vast majority, must be true. They make a gross and palpable mistake. That which generally prevails is very probably erroneous. All that were in Asia had turned away from Paul. In the very first century of Christianity, so Catholic an apostatizing tendency as that was manifested; so Catholic had error become even at that early period!

In the same epistle we have a character of the "last days," which we must not omit. We have a catalogue of their numerous and aggravated evils. Nineteen various features of the apostacy are expressly mentioned. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." To crown the whole, the evil men of those perilous times should be professors of religion. I beg you to mark this. The apostates of the last days are those who maintain "a form of godliness." How dark and mournful is the picture here presented to our view!

To Titus the apostle says, that there were even then many unruly and vain talkers, who subverted whole houses, and that for filthy lucre's sake. (Titus 1: 10, 11.)

The Hebrews generally are warned against apostacy, and against being "carried about with divers and strange doctrines." All this bespeaks the danger which was threatening the church.

The apostle James, throughout his epistle also, gives similar warnings. And in James 5: 4-7, he speaks expressly of fraud, and robbery, and riot, which should end only at the coming of the Lord. The intervening days should be as "days of slaughter," and the patience of the just would be most severely tried till then.

Peter's epistles are still more solemn. The whole tenor of them intimates his apprehension of the approaching evil and disastrous days. There is not throughout them the slightest allusion whatever to an anticipation of times of progressive truth and righteousness. All is emphatically indicative of apostatizing tendencies. The sure word of prophecy is pointed to as the only light which could safely guide through the dark days that were coming on. Scoffers, it is said, should arise in the last days, walking after their own lusts, and mocking at the promise of the coming of the Lord. But "the day of the Lord," he adds, "will come as a thief in the night," and will terminate the dismal period. That day alone — nothing else than the day of the Lord — will terminate it.

John, too, speaks in all his epistles of antichrists, or antichristian men. Those to whom he wrote had heard that antichrist should come: but even then there were many antichrists. The spirit of antichrist was already in the world. (1 John 4: 1-3.) In the last epistle, John himself says he had been expelled [from] the church by Diotrephes. Alas! even then corruption and apostacy ruled.

Jude, as you all know, dear friends, is if possible even yet more fully occupied as to evil and apostate men, and evil and apostate days. It was needful that he should give all diligence to write thus. Ungodly men had already crept in unawares. They were "clouds without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withered, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever." Enoch had prophesied of them, that the Lord would come with ten thousand of his saints, and assuredly execute judgment upon them. In that way only will the evil be subdued and ended. Read the whole epistle.

We now come to the book of Revelation — to the solemn and concluding scenes of the apostate church's history. The epistles to the seven Asiatic churches speak chiefly of incipient evil. We read of first love forsaken, of first works given up, of heresy allowed, of garments mostly defiled, and of a condition neither hot nor cold. The rankest worldliness was prevalent, and even gloried in. Read chapters second and third. Then, shortly afterwards, the sad scene of full-grown evil bursts upon us: Babylon the Great is seen in all her painted, gorgeous, and illusive beauty. We must now contemplate her doom.

The doom of Babylon the Great, then, is as follows. Let us mark it well. It is the end of ecclesiastical corruption, which we are going to survey; and, my friends, I do not confine it to the church of Rome. It becomes every one of us to consider how far he may be in any wise associated with it. "And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled." (Rev. 17: 12, 13, 16,p 17.) Such is the predicted doom of Babylon the Great. Such is her fate as a system. The persons who have formed her living agency, we believe, will generally survive this downfall of their system. They then fall under strong delusion, judicially allowed of God, and they perish amid the fearful judgments attending the advent of the Lord. The destruction — the sudden, total overthrow of the system, and of the organized, endowed, and world-sustained power of Babylon the Great, I conceive to be what is set before us here.

"Ten kings" arise, and power is given them for "one hour" purposely to destroy the woman. This, it would appear, signifies a revolution of the secular powers against the ecclesiastical. The beast is wearied out by the rapacity and treachery of the woman. The woman's impudence brings on at last her own destruction. The ten kings shall league together with the masses of the "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues;" "and they shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." They will strip the system of its wealth, and honours, and of all its vested rights. They will break up its establishments, and appropriate its revenues. The ten kings, in union with the nations, will at length do this. Babylon the Great will wear out their patience. Yea, "her sins" will "reach unto heaven," and God himself will "remember her iniquities." These fierce executioners will have it "put into their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast," until the words of God, as to Babylon's destruction, "shall be fulfilled." Under such a providential disposition will they, as we have seen, "hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." The divine word is, "Reward her even as she hath rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup that she hath filled, fill to her double." Most signal retribution! Thus ends the supremacy of the false church! And what other end so very probable? Is she not in our own day taking the very course which of all others is most likely to provoke and to exasperate the nations upon which she rides? Her voice, indeed, is made to utter inviting and alluring tones; but pride and self-aggrandizement reign in her heart. "Come home, my children; come to the peaceful bosom of your holy mother," is her most subtle and deceitful cry. A mother truly! Yes; in the estimate of the Spirit of God, she is a "mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." But her days are numbered, and she shall fall. "Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God will speedily avenge your blood upon her."

Such, then, is the predicted doom of Babylon the Great. But the results of the apostacy reach further than her downfall. When Babylon shall have disappeared from off the scene — when there shall be no longer seen this woman sitting on the back of the beast — the apostacy will still conduce to results most fearful and amazing.

There shall ensue that "strong delusion to believe a lie" which is set before us in 2 Thess. 2, as we have seen. The moral result of Babylon's misdoings will be the open rejection of the authority of God, and of the very name of Christ. From the "mystery of iniquity" will spring the "strong delusion" of the "man of sin" — of the "wicked one" — of the "antichrist." (Read 2 Thess. 2: 1-12, once more.) Under the power of this "strong delusion to believe a lie," the blinded nations will gather together under antichrist, to "the battle of the great day of God Almighty." I do not believe that the "man of sin" means Popery. We have seen that Popery is specially set forth in the symbol of the mystic Babylonish woman, and is destroyed by the confederated nations, and not, as the man of sin, by the personal coming of the Lord. The "man of sin" I believe to be an individual person, a human being, a "false christ," a secular warrior, a king. Daniel 11, from which Paul quotes, almost literally and verbally, in 2 Thessalonians 2, proves this, I think, very clearly. In our next lecture, however, we shall have to look at this result of the apostacy more closely.

I will sum up briefly this imperfect notice of these sad results. We cannot complete it now, since the final result of all will include the judgment of the assembled nations, at the great day of the revelation of the Lord himself from heaven, in flaming fire; and it will be one special purpose of our next address to take further notice of the numerous predictions in which this gathering of the nations is set forth.

Thus far, however, we have seen. The evil leaven, which was secretly introduced into the Church at first, became openly developed at last in the foul system of "Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth." The end of Babylon we have also seen. The secular power, that has long been her source of strength, will at last destroy her. Suddenly, and in one hour, this revolution will take place. Ten kings will arise for that "one hour" only — for that very short time — and will lead on the beast to the destruction of the woman. Then will come the crisis. "Strong delusion" will fall upon those nations that constitute the "beast;" there will ensue a great gathering together of those nations against God, and against Christ, and then the open revelation of the Lord from heaven will ensue, and close the whole scene. Such is the final result of "the corruption of Christianity." But more of this, as we have said, when we come to speak of "The character and doom of the great Gentile powers."

What is the moral lesson, then, that we must seek to learn from all that has passed beneath our notice? It is a lesson of warning. It should be a lesson of deep humiliation, and of earnest searching and "clearing of ourselves," and of separation from surrounding and prevailing evil, if we be in any way involved in it. "Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Our place, my brethren, is to stand aloof, and to wait watchfully for the coming of our Lord. With the struggles that are taking place around us, we have not to meddle. The quarrels of the woman and the beast are not our quarrels. We may look on indeed, for our God has thrown his own light upon them in his word. But while we look thereon with sorrow, it is not our place to interfere. Our work is happier work. We have to manifest, in deed and word, the truth, the love, the grace, of him for whom we long, and look, and wait. Our weapons are not carnal. The potsherds of the earth may strive with the potsherds of the earth. The beast and his rider may contend; they may plot and counter-plot; they may scheme and counter-scheme; but we know how it will all end. We have been "told before."

The crisis hastens. The revolutions will be sudden and momentous. We know not what a day or an hour may bring forth. Where to place the translation of the church to meet her Lord, we know not. It may be the very first stage of the crisis. Perhaps. it will be so. Are we ready for it? The Lord grant that it may be so with each one of us!  T. S.

The Times of the Gentiles:

The Times of the Gentiles:

The character and doom of the great Gentile powers.

Daniel 7.

Lecture 7 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

This history of the four great Gentile empires, which are set before us here as four great beasts, is the history of the times of the Gentiles. The times of the Gentiles transpire during an interruption of, or interval as to, the times of the Jews. That interval began with Nebuchadnezzar, the first monarch of the kingdom of Babylon, and it will terminate with the last monarch of the empire of Rome. The times of the Jews closed, or were interrupted, by their being carried away captive into Babylon; they will recommence when Jerusalem shall cease to be trodden down of the Gentiles, and when the times of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled. Thus the expression, "times of the Gentiles," denotes the times of Gentile dominion over the Jews. This Gentile lordship is exercised during the whole period of the existence in power of the four great beasts, which Daniel saw in his vision.

This vision furnishes us with a complete outline of the whole subject of this evening's lecture. It also furnishes us with the completion of our previous lecture: — with the final result of the apostacy and corruption of Christianity. The fourth of these great beasts will prove to be the "ten-horned beast," on which, in Revelation 17, the mystic Babylonish woman was seen sitting. The character and doom of that "woman" occupied us at our last meeting; we saw that, as an organized system of power, she was to be thrown down, and destroyed, and to disappear from the stage. The very beast which carried her would ultimately destroy her. But this evening we shall see the doom of the beast itself. We shall see in outline the whole career of that beast, and that though it existed before there was any "woman" to aspire to mount its back and ride thereon, and will exists after the destruction of its rider, yet even its so called "eternal" course shall close at last — shall close in judgment, and "destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." The doom of this fourth great beast is indeed the final result of the apostacy of Christendom. The beast, having thrown off its spurious support and profession of Christianity, will openly rebel against the divine authority, and by thus filling up the cup of its transgression, will bring on its final and total overthrow. So that it is one and the same solemn and decisive crisis, which brings to a full end both the ecclesiastical and the secular apostacy. The battle of the great day of God Almighty will terminate them both — will consummate the whole.

Such, then, is the subject of this evening's lecture. We have a vast field of prophetic truth before us, and a rapid and elementary survey of it is all that we may hope on this occasion to accomplish.

1. In Daniel 7 we have, as we have seen, a vision of four great beasts; the first like a lion, the second like a bear, the third like a leopard, and the fourth a "beast dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and having ten horns." Read verses 3-7. Moreover, among the ten horns of the fourth beast there came up another "little horn, before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots, and, behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." Then follows in the vision a solemn session of judgment, which effects the destruction both of this little horn, and of the beast itself; then the Son of Man is seen coming with the clouds of heaven, and the whole dominion under heaven is given to him, and to his saints. The narration of the vision ends in plain and literal terms, which tell their own manifest and undoubted meaning.

2. But what is meant by these four symbolic "beasts"? The answer is furnished in verse 17: "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings which shall arise out of the earth." But by the term "kings," we are to understand kingdoms, for this is the interpretation in the 23rd verse. "Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms." And in the second chapter of this prophet we likewise learn that there should be four great kingdoms — manifestly the same kingdoms — which are set before us here. There was seen a great image, as is well known to most of you. It was composed of a golden head, silver breast and arms, brazen belly and thighs, iron legs, and feet part of iron and part of clay. Daniel was enabled to explain the meaning of all this to the king Nebuchadnezzar. He said to the king, "Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron," etc. Now the fourth iron kingdom in this case is represented as having ten toes, whilst in Dan. 7 the fourth beast had ten horns. Besides, in this chapter, as well as in the seventh, a solemn crisis destroys the fourth kingdom, and introduces a fifth and heavenly one. Here, a mystic "stone" smites the image on its feet, and grinds the whole to powder (see ver. 44 and 45); and there the judgment sits, and the Son of Man comes with the clouds of heaven. The millennium in both cases is the grand result. Manifestly, then, the four great beasts, in the vision of the seventh chapter, set forth the same four great kingdoms that are seen in this symbolic image of the second. In both chapters the rise of four grand, universal empires is presented. Let us now return to Dan. 7.

3. Can we ascertain anything further as to these four empires? Certainly. We can ascertain what empires they are which are typified by these four great beasts. We desire to show this on Scripture authority alone. We have proof, in the first place, that the first and lion-like beast meant the Babylonian or Chaldean empire. We have seen that Daniel said to Nebuchadnezzar expressly, "Thou art this head of gold." He said to him, "Thou, O king, art a king of kings; for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field, and the fowls of the heaven, hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold." This golden head was the first of the four kingdoms. The sovereignty of the kingdom was concentrated in the person of Nebuchadnezzar. He was monarch over the empire of Babylon. (See Dan. 1: 1) So that we have the plainest proof as to what is meant by the lion, or lion-like beast, the first of the four beasts in the vision before us.

Now, here began "the times of the Gentiles." In ch. 1 of this prophetic book we read, that "Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came unto Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim, king of Judah, into his hand. In 2 Kings 24 and 25 we have special record of no less than three several successful expeditions against Jerusalem by this same Nebuchadnezzar. The last was the complete and decisive one. Since then Israel has been subject to Gentile sway. Its kings have been but vassals. The nation has been tributary to, and dependent on, the will of successive Gentile powers. These times of Gentile dominion, we repeat it, are the times of the Gentiles."

4. But what kingdom does the second or bear-like beast symbolize? The fifth chapter of this book supplies an answer. Belshazzar succeeded Nebuchadnezzar in the kingdom of Babylon. He made a sacrilegious and impious feast to a thousand of his lords. A mysterious hand appeared, and wrote upon the wall those solemn words, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin." Now the interpretation of one of these words contains the very information we require. The meaning of the concluding word was thus given to Belshazzar by Daniel: "Peres; Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians." The Medo-Persian kingdom, then, was to succeed that of the Chaldeans. And so the event proved; for we read, in verses 30, 31, that "In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom." This is most plain and conclusive. We are not left to conjectures, — nor even to the testimony of profane history. The second great Gentile empire was that of the Medes and Persians.

To this Gentile power also Israel was subject and tributary. Darius appointed Daniel to be chief governor in the kingdom. From the Book of Esther, too, we know that on one occasion King Ahasuerus was induced to decree the destruction of the whole Jewish people. He too was a Medo-Persian monarch, as the last chapter of Esther, as well as other portions of the book, distinctly shows. Then in Ezra 1, etc., we read much both of "Cyrus king of Persia," and of "Artaxerxes king of Persia," and we learn how thoroughly subject to their power, for good or evil, the Jewish nation continued. The "times of the Gentiles" were still fulfilling their slow and — to the Jews — most dreary course.

5. But what is the third kingdom — the leopard. like one? The eighth of Daniel solves this question also. The prophet saw a vision of a ram having two hams, which was at last destroyed by a he-goat, having on its head a "notable horn." The he-goat then "waxed very great; and when he was strong the great horn was broken, and for it came up four notable ones towards the four winds of heaven." The meaning of these two symbols is stated in verses 20, 21: "The ram which thou sawest, having two horns, are the kings of Media and Persia. And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king." So that it was the Grecian he-goat which destroyed and seized upon the power of the Medo-Persian ram. The Grecian, then, is manifestly the third or leopard-like kingdom. This also we are thus enabled to assert, on the express testimony of Scripture itself.

We may notice also here, that this third beast had four heads: "The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given unto it." (ver. 6.) We have seen in Dan. 8 that this beast is Grecia, set forth in that chapter as a he-goat, having first a great and notable horn, which represented the first king, and that then, "for it came up four notable ones, towards the four winds of heaven." The explanation of this is given in verse 22, as follows: "Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power." The fulfilment of this prophecy is a well-known historic fact. The "first king" here mentioned is evidently Alexander the Great. He founded the mighty but short-lived empire of Greece. On his death, the empire was seized upon, and divided into four kingdoms, by those who are known as "the four successors of Alexander." Much information is given us as to all this in Dan. 11. We have there, on the prophetic page, a minute history of those Grecian times — a striking proof, we may observe of its Divine inspiration.

But during the days of this empire also, the Jewish nation was subject and tributary. The times of the Gentiles were still in progress. There were, indeed, seasons of partial mitigation of their sufferings vouchsafed ever and anon, but even the circumstances connected with such temporary and partial relief prove the enslaved state in which the Jews continued. Fresh and successful attacks upon their country and their capital generally resulted. In Dan. 11 we have mention of more than one such devastation. In ver. 16, we read of one of the successors of Alexander, "He shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed." This "glorious land" was, doubtless, Palestine. Then in verses 28-33 we have reference to another invasion. It is said, they should "pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh desolate." Whether this should be understood of Antiochus, or of the Romans, I will not seek now to determine. The character of the transaction predicted is plain. Both Antiochus and the Romans so acted. The Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees, which we may receive as authentic history, describe at length the Jewish sufferings under Antiochus. Though Alexander the Great was no more, and though his empire had been divided, still the Jews were a degraded and suffering people. They at last sought the alliance of the Romans, purposely to strengthen themselves against those who successively held the reins of power after Alexander. This alliance with the Romans doubtless prepared the way for that subjugation to the Roman yoke under which we find them when our blessed Lord appeared. Thus, from age to age, they fell under Gentile power, fulfilling the prophetic word, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him."

6. What empire the fourth symbolic beast denotes has been anticipated. It was the Roman empire. The Chaldean, or Babylonian, was succeeded by the Medo-Persian, the Medo-Persian by the Grecian, and the Grecian by the Roman. These are the four great Gentile powers. I believe no author worthy of any regard has doubted that Rome is intended by the fourth beast. There were to be only four such empires, and the three first we have ascertained from the Scripture itself. The fourth was to be brought to a full end only by the judgment which would establish the universal and everlasting kingdom of Messiah. Rome has so far fulfilled the predicted course of the fourth beast — fulfilled it with marvellous distinctness — and no other empire has done so. The whole description of this beast "with great iron teeth," and of the "iron legs" of the great image, points unmistakably to the proverbially "iron rule" and "iron yoke" of the Romans. Further, this beast, as described by John, in Rev. 13 and 17, had "seven heads," as well as the ten horns that are mentioned here. These seven heads were explained as denoting "seven kings," or governments; of which it was said, "five are fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come." This seems manifestly to allude to the seven successive forms of Roman government, the first five of which even heathen historians have enumerated as having taken place, even specifying their distinctive characters. Those seven heads are said in Rev. 17: 9 to have also denoted "seven mountains on which the woman sitteth." This, too, points to Rome. Rome has been known for ages as "the seven-hilled city." Besides, in Luke 2, the Roman emperor, Caesar Augustus, is acknowledged by an inspired pen as being the, head of the empire of the world: "There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed." This should be decisive. There were to be but four such empires: three of them have been previously identified, and here a fourth is recognised of God as being in that supreme position. The Roman empire, therefore, is the fourth and last.

7. We know that it may be objected, that this empire has long since passed away, whereas the one seen by Daniel is to exist in power at the period of the still future judgment. But this apparent difficulty actually increases the amount of evidence that it is the empire of Rome which is meant. Both Daniel and John gave information, as to the fourth empire, of this precise nature. Daniel says, "And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay." Now this is just what has taken place as to the once compactly united Roman empire. It has been "divided," but still "there is in it of the strength of the iron." In this sense, the Roman empire still exists: no longer indeed as one undivided whole, but in broken and fragmentary parts. Most of the strong nations of Europe are but broken portions of the old Roman empire. These fragments will, at the time of the end, we believe, be reunited under a revived, or eighth headship. In this way will the prediction of Rome's final doom have its full accomplishment.

There is, however, a further feature of this "divided" state pointed out by Daniel. "And as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men; but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the day of these things shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom," etc. (See Dan. 2: 40-45.) What is meant by the words, "They shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another"? Is it not this — that all the attempts that are being made to blend, and fuse, and harmonize the conflicting parties that are occupied with political affairs, will fail? — that the absolute and the popular wills will not concur? — that the "reactionary," and "revolutionary," elements will not really and permanently unite? — any more than one can fuse or weld together the iron and the miry clay. Does not this singular and yet striking imagery teach us, that under the kingdom of the God of heaven alone will jarring elements and conflicting passions wage war no more? Indeed, already many despotic European powers seemed resolved to make no further trial of the mixed, or "constitutional," mode of government. They at least seem resolved not to mingle with the miry clay. Though politics be not our sphere, as certainly, dear friends, they are not; yet we may look on, and endeavour to view all surrounding things in the light that this sure word of prophecy throws upon them. And such I deem to be the lesson specially needful to be learnt by Christians with reference to the political character of our own times. We seem to have lived in the special period when the despotic powers have been considering how they might "mingle themselves with the seed of men," and in many cases they have attempted it. All possible schemes to settle and give quietness to that which judgment must shortly end are, or have been, attempted. The mixing and mingling system has recently been specially resorted to. But even it will fail. The end will be, "In the days of these kings, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom." That is what Daniel goes on immediately to declare.

In the Revelation too, the present state of the Roman empire is, we believe, pointed out. "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition." (See Rev. 18: 8.) The Roman empire "was," but now "it is not;" yet it "shall ascend" once more. it was one powerful whole, but now it is divided — as an empire it "is not;" yet the materials still exist, and they apparently shall be reunited in the crisis which hastens on — re-united only to be judged. Again, we read, "The beast which thou sawest, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition." (See ver. 11) When ascended, he will be the "eighth," that is, under his eighth "head," or form of government. Still he "is of the seven," for though newly ascended to power, it is only an old and previous form of power revived. As to the special form of power, it is one of the seven brought into re-existence; but as to its actual appearance, it is an "eighth," or new headship over the empire.

8. This brings us to the concluding portion of the prophetic history of this fourth beast. The ten toes of the image, we have said, are ten kings. This interpretation is certified by Dan. 7: 24, "The ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise." And further, by Rev. 17: 12, "The ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast." Now these kings seem to receive power just for "one hour," or "one day," (see next chapter ver. 8,) at the time of the end. They arise just at the period when Babylon is to fall. They receive power, in the providential dispensations of God, for that special purpose, to destroy Babylon. Here comes in the event we were considering when last together. The mystic woman, called also Babylon, had ruled the empire during its broken and disorganized state. Rome, Papal and ecclesiastical, arose out of the ruins of Rome Pagan and Secular. When Rome Secular is to revive, Rome Papal and Ecclesiastical shall disappear. When the beast has thrown the woman from off its back, then shall it arise once more, and stand upon its brazen feet, in more than human — in Satanic power. But the ten kings will be the agents of Babylon's destruction. The ten kings, we believe, do not yet exist. They are still future. We do not believe that ten broken divisions of the empire — ten kingdoms said to have been in existence for many centuries — were intended by these "ten horns." They grew on one of the heads - the eighth we believe — of the beast; they were not portions of its divided body. Besides, they have power for "one hour" only, that is, for a very short period — and that just at the period of the final crisis.

9. But another "horn" still, an eleventh horn, is to arise "after" the ten. And very solemn and specific is the information given as to this eleventh horn. "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." We submit that this eleventh horn denotes a person, a single individual, a king. A variety of reasons conspire to prove that the common notion, a notion of modem days only, cannot be the correct one. This little horn "prevailed against the saints till the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom." Now Popery, specially presented to us in the symbol of Babylon the Great, will not continue till then. The ten horns will destroy the woman. But. this blasphemous horn falls only when the judgment sits, and the books are opened. Again, the horn we are now contemplating arose "after" the ten. Now the ten did not arise till Babylon the Great had well nigh finished her long career of crime and blood. How, then, can the horn that came up after them be Babylon? Further, this eleventh horn is to subdue three of the ten; it is indeed to destroy them, for it is said, that "before it were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots." Now Babylon was destroyed before this; for in Rev. 17 we find that the ten horns were to destroy her; consequently, these three had not then fallen. Further still; is there not a manifest difference of character between a woman on the back of the beast, and a horn growing out of its head? We submit, therefore, that this horn is not Popery, but a political potentate of most blasphemous pretensions, and of Satanic energy. He is, in fact, THE ANTICHRIST. It is of him, we believe, that this same prophet Daniel speaks in ch. 11. (Read Dan. 11: 36-45.) Then compare with both 2 Thess. 2: 3-12. In Dan. 11: 36, we read of him thus: "And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished; for that that is determined shall be done." This "king," then, shall "prosper till the indignation" of God against Daniel's people, the Jews, "shall be accomplished," which will be only when the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled, and When "Jacob shall be delivered out of" the last and unequalled "time of trouble." That time of trouble is predicted, indeed, in this very prophecy, in the plainest terms: "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people, and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book." See the first verse of the twelfth chapter. Now, in the verses that occur between the passages we have now quoted, we read, that this blasphemous king "shall enter into the glorious land," that is, into Palestine, and that then "he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain; yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him."* This "glorious holy mountain" is manifestly Mount Zion in Palestine, on which the earthly, literal city of Jerusalem is erected. Jerusalem is the city "between the two seas;" that is, between the Mediterranean, or "Great" Sea on the west, and the "Dead Sea" on the cast. The map of Palestine will make this plain. Now there, after a course of military conquests over "many countries," will this wicked king "plant the tabernacles of his palace;" and there will "he come to his end; and none shall help him." This is all quite distinct and different from the end of Popery — of Babylon the Great. Of this king we further read in this same prophecy, "And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him; and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over. He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be overthrown; but these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon. He shall stretch forth his hand also upon the countries; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. But he shall have power over the treasures of gold and of silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt; and the Libyans and the Ethiopians shall be at his steps. But tidings out of the cast and out of the north shall trouble him; therefore he shall go forth with great fury to destroy, and utterly to make away many." Then immediately follows the verse already quoted as to the place where he will plant the tabernacles of his palace, and where he will meet his doom. Now all this narration of military expedition and progress is something completely different from an unchaste female sitting on the beast, and from the intoxications of her luxuriant cup. Here it is plainly an individual commander, whose single will is absolute, and whose armies rush on from country to country, till they reach their final rendezvous, and their end overtakes them there.

*[This is not said of the wilful king of verse 36, but of the king of the north, the Assyrian of prophecy, who comes against the Antichrist that reigns in Judea, and whose description follows from verses 40-45. The lecturer confounds with the apostate king of Jerusalem his great northern foe. — ED.]

It is of this very "king" that Paul speaks in 2 Thessalonians 2: 4. He seems to quote from Daniel almost verbatim. Daniel here says, "The king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods;" and then that, having "entered into the glorious land" of Palestine, "he shall plant the tabernacles of his palace between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain." And Paul says, "And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." In both these places we have the two great marks, opposition against all that is called God, and the planting of his throne on the scene of the Jewish temple, in the glorious holy mountain. Paul's expression is, "That man who opposeth and exalteth," etc. What man is it who acts so? Plainly the king that Daniel had spoken of, who would so exalt and oppose himself. The reference to Daniel seems beyond doubt.

Now Paul gives us the following order of events. The "mystery of iniquity," or, as we believe, the "mystery, Babylon the Great," is to work until the time when the man of sin shall be revealed. Then comes a permitted judicial delusion, upon all those who "believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness;" and thus they fall under the power of this wicked one. Then the personal advent of the Lord closes the whole.

Now, let us observe, my brethren, how all this bears upon the revelation given us as to the "little horn," in the chapter specially before us this evening. (Dan. 7) "In this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things." (See ver. 8.) Then in ver. 11, "I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain." Again in verse 20, "even that horn that had eyes, and a mouth that spake very great things, whose look was more stout than his fellows." And finally, and specially, verse 25, "And he shall speak great words against the Most High; and shall wear out the saints of the Most High; and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand, until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit," etc. This is all of the same blasphemous character that both Dan. 11 and 2 Thess. 2 describe. The judgment of the great day here also winds up the whole.

10. We must say a few words as to two or three other particulars connected with this man of sin, before we pass on to the concluding scene.

First, there will be an awful, general delusion, judicially permitted of God to come upon the nations that compose the body of the "beast." In 2 Thess. 2 this is put most solemnly: "For this cause shall God send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Heretofore God has sent them the message of strong consolation and of richest grace, that they all might be saved; but then — oh, dreadful, appalling prospect for all obstinate rejecters of the Gospel! — then will He "send them strong delusion to believe a lie, that they all might be damned." Oh, dreadful doom! Oh, terrific declaration of God's sure unerring word! Sinners, what mean you? Will you continue to rush onwards to destruction? Will you continue to slight God's message of love, regardless of your own salvation? Now is God beseeching you to be saved; but if you make light of the invitations of His grace, you know not how soon you may be permitted to fall under "strong delusion," which ends in utter perdition.

We must give one other scripture as to this judicial "strong delusion." In Rev. 16 we have, connected with the same crisis to which reference has been already frequently made, the following passage: "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame. And he gathered them together unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon." Now here is plainly predicted a dread, and, apparently, almost universal delusion. It issues forth specially from three sources; from the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet. What mean these symbols? In Rev. 12 and 20 the "dragon" is expressly said to be "the Devil and Satan." The first delusion therefore is diabolical. The "beast" is the same "fourth beast" that has already been described. The second delusion, then, would appear to be political. The "false prophet" is certainly the second, or two-horned beast of Rev. 13. Compare Rev. 13: 14, with Rev. 19: 20, and no doubt will remain. Whatever may be denoted by this two-horned beast of Rev. 13 as seen there, it seems clear that, at the time of the crisis and decisive battle, this "false prophet" will be the religious agency of the beast, in its last state. So that the third delusion appertains specially to religion. It is an agency that "causes the world to worship" the beast. (See Rev. 13: 12.) Here then is a threefold delusion; diabolical, political, and religious. How much of the spirit of these three delusions may be perceived working around us even in the present day! The prime actors themselves may not as yet have come upon the stage, but how much is there of their nature already in the world! They will surely come, ere long, and gather the deceived, deluded nations together, to the battle of the great day of God Almighty!

We must not omit to notice the solemn warning that is inserted abruptly in the middle of this prophetic scene: "Behold, I come as a thief; blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame." This warning actually breaks out in the midst of the narration. The Spirit says, "Watch! Be ready specially, when such a time shall come. Be ready then for him who shall appear in flaming fire!"

A second particular is this: The time of the full power of the antichrist is said to be "a time, times, and half a time." This is expressed both in Dan. 7: 25, and Dan. 12: 7. We have it, I believe, in other terms in several other places. By "a time, times, and half a time," is meant, I apprehend, three and a half literal years. This period is yet future. It is a short and tremendous crisis, or the "time of trouble," the days of which shall be shortened for the elect's sake. "Times" always denotes literal years, I believe. In Dan. 4: 3 2, "seven times shall pass over thee," and in Dan. 11: 13 (margin), "at the end of times, even years" — in these cases, the term certainly means, not "prophetic" years, but literal years. In the cases before us also, we believe, the meaning is similar. If the little horn represents an individual person, it must be so; for no one will contend that an individual man will exist throughout three and a half "prophetic years," that is, years of years, or twelve hundred and sixty common years. Besides, those who profess to find so long a period in "a time, times, and a half," are compelled to make a double figure of the expression. They first say, "a time means a year," and then, "a year means a prophetic year." But, as we have seen, "times" does not mean "prophetic" years. So that this doubling of the figure is wholly unwarrantable, not to say absurd. The period of antichrist's full power, then, will be very short, and at the time of the final crisis. How soon may it not arrive!

Is it not at this period that Rev. 11: 1-13 has its fulfilment? The witnesses will be slain in "the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom, and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified." This seems plainly to be Jerusalem. Jerusalem is spiritually called Sodom. (Isa. 1: 10) There, too, our Lord was crucified. For "three days and a half" these witnesses are to lie dead. May not this be the very period of the "time, times, and a half?" But this I will not seek to determine now.

Thirdly: The grand and special act of decisive judgment will take place around Jerusalem. The man of sin and the beast, the false prophet and the infatuated nations, will be gathered thither to the final conflict. This is a very important portion of prophetic testimony. Many scriptures tell of this last gathering of the nations of the earth around Jerusalem. Jerusalem will be the scene of the special act of the judgment of the great day. We repeat it, this gathering of the nations of the earth is matter of most prominent prophetic notice. Indeed, a whole host of events crowd together in connection with this great gathering of the nations.

We have already seen in Dan. 11 that the man of sin "enters into the glorious land," and seeks to establish himself and his forces "between the seas, in the glorious holy mountain."* We have seen, too, that the frog-like delusion gathers the nations together, "unto a place called in the Hebrew tongue, Armageddon." Now, there is quite reason to believe, that this Hebrew word means "mountain of Megiddo;" and Megiddo was a place a short distance northward of Jerusalem. The mustering then is to that place, but the final scene is around Jerusalem. In Joel we have this set forth in the most simple and express terms. "Behold, in those days and in that time, when I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem, I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there," etc. (Joel. 3: 1, 2. Read specially, also, ver. 9-17 of this chapter.) We must give a portion of the passage: "Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe: come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." The valley of Jehoshaphat is said to be at the foot of the Mount of Olives, close to Jerusalem. This gathering of the nations is into that valley. And it is at the time when God "shall bring again the captivity of Judah, and Jerusalem," not when that captivity commenced. The "day of the Lord" ends this grand and infatuated confederacy, and the millennium ensues.

*[It has been already seen that, while "the King" reigns in Jerusalem, the great leader of the north eastern confederation of nations will "enter into the glorious land," each perishing by like divine judgment. — Ed.]

Zephaniah, too, makes solemn reference to this gathering together of the nations, though he does not specify the locality to which they are gathered. In chap. 3: 8, 9, we read as follows: "Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent." Mark this scripture well. It is said, "THEN will I turn to the people a pure language," etc. WHEN? When will this general turning or conversion be? Plainly when this great gathering and judgment of the nations has taken place. THEN will the millennium commence, and not until then.

Zechariah speaks with exceeding clearness as to this gathering of the nations, which he expressly says shall be gathered "against Jerusalem to battle." Read Zech. 14 as a whole. It commences thus: "Behold the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee; for I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle," etc. But your attention has been called to this chapter in a previous lecture.

The crisis of the nations, then, will certainly take place around Jerusalem. The "beast" will perish there. Rome will perish at Jerusalem. Man's centre of unity and of metropolitan power will close its doings in presence of that city which God has ever pointed out as his elect centre of unity, and his sphere of metropolitan supremacy. Man has chosen Rome, but God hath chosen Jerusalem. Man's scheme will come to nought, but "the counsel of the Lord, it shall stand" for ever!

11. We may now see the character of these four great Gentile powers. They hold delegated power, but they use it as a wild beast uses its power, — they make a selfish and rapacious use of it, even unto the end. Unregenerate human nature will ever do so. God permitted, by providential arrangements, this power over the world to fall into the hands of these successive monarchies or empires. They all pervert and abuse it. As Israel had done with its power, so do the Gentiles with theirs. God will provide for himself a king, who shall rule in righteousness; and all the kingdoms of the earth, with all their glory, shall be brought beneath his sway.

12. We must notice here, however, a progressive deterioration in the character of this delegated power. This is indicated by the character of the metals enumerated, commencing with gold, and descending by gradations of silver, brass, iron, and even to the commixture of iron and clay.

We do not mean to give any opinion as to what is the best and most advantageous form of political power. This is entirely outside our province. Politics — worldly, secular politics — we have not to meddle with. We have to thank God for the protection which Caesar affords us, and to render unto him quietly and submissively what he demands of us. We sojourn in Caesar's country, but we are not citizens of earth. Our citizenship is in heaven. We seek a country. Our home is the skies. All we have to do, therefore, is to provide things honest in the sight of all men, to thank God for the protection to life and property which the provision of secular government affords, to pay tribute as demanded, and to pray for kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Vengeance belongs to God. Power belongs to him. He giveth it to whomsoever he will. God's secular servants are responsible to him. But God's sons have a nobler calling than that of striving with the "potsherds of earth." Earthly turmoil befits not their high vocation. No; services of love and mercy, and non-resistance of evil, become the pardoned, washed, and freely adopted sons of God.

Still, we look at all that is around us, and judge of it according to God's revealed light. Nebuchadnezzar's power, then, whether best for the earth or not, was the highest and most complete form of power. His will was law, and he did whatsoever he pleased: he was "the head of gold." But the power of the Medo-Persian monarchs was plainly inferior — in degree, at least. When they had made a law, to it, while it remained a law, they themselves must submit; for "the law of the Medes and Persians altered not." Grecian power was still lower, as to its character. The silver was succeeded by brass. Then came the iron; and then iron and clay. But we must leave this subject for your investigation at leisure. We have just hinted at the spirit and meaning of these types, and must pass on quickly to the concluding scene.

13. And now, behold the issue of the whole! The great day of God Almighty is the consummation of the history of the four great Gentile powers. There is a sense in which even literal Babylon, and Persia, and Greece, are still existing. In connection with the judgment of the fourth beast, in this seventh of Daniel, we have the following parenthetic allusion to these three empires: "As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away; yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time." Chaldea, Persia, and Greece, were to exist after their power over the surrounding nations had been wrested from them. Thus Persia exists to this day. So does Greece. This, I believe, explains Dan. 2: 35: "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken in pieces together." The four kingdoms are included here as sharing in a common doom. Indeed, as has been observed, all the nations that descended from the posterity of Noah, as specially mentioned in the tenth of Genesis, are mentioned again, in either one scripture or another, as appearing on the scene at the period of the great judgment of the nations, and as meeting with judgment then. God knows how the nations have descended through all their generations. He knows the pedigree of all, however we may feel puzzled and entangled even by a casual glance thereat.

Behold, then, the end of all these things. Psalm. 2 thus shows. it: "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron: thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." Dan. 2 as we have seen, speaks of it thus: "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces . . . . . . And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." This is the stone that was set at nought by the builders. It will become the head stone of the corner. But alas for those on whom this stone shall fall! It will grind them to powder. The stone does not roll along, converting the image into its own substance. The stone is not the Gospel. The Gospel tells us that this mystic stone now, while the day of salvation lasts, is a foundation stone, and that thereon poor sinners may safely build for eternity. But this stone has been raised to heaven, and will descend thence like the destructive thunderbolt, and awful will be the end of those on whom it falls. It will fall specially, however, upon the "feet and toes" of this great image. Then succeeds the kingdom of the God of heaven.

In the chapter specially before us, the judgment of the fourth beast is set forth in most solemn terms. The scene described is like that of the post-millennial judgment of the wicked described in Rev. 20, and by many it is supposed to be identical; but however common this misconception may be, it is obviously the execution of judgment upon earth that is described, and the transference of power from the hand of man to that of Christ. "I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him; thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake; I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed and given to the burning flame." What is the result here declared? It is the destruction of the horn, and of the beast; and the transference of the "kingdom, dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven," into the hands of the Son of man, with all his saints. The judgment of his enemies is succeeded by the millennial kingdom of our Lord. Read carefully verses 13, 14, and 27. The millennium cannot have taken place before this judgment, for Antichrist is not destroyed till its session takes place. The kingdom succeeds the judgment, as is twice expressly declared in plainest terms.

Lastly, in Rev. 19: 11-21, this tremendous scene is set forth at length. Read the whole passage. Heaven is opened, and the King of kings and Lord of lords comes forth. He whose enemies once shed his blood, now "treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The apostle proceeds to say, "I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army." Here, again, is the great gathering of the nations. The beast is there, and the false prophet which wrought miracles before him. They are both cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone. The exact meaning of these terrible expressions I do not attempt to determine. The character of them is solemnly plain. It is judgment and destruction. So ends "eternal Rome." The devil is then bound, and his delusive power is restrained for a thousand years. A millennium of blessing ensues. Read the very next verses of the Revelation.

This crisis is the hour of Israel's deliverance. In other lectures this has been seen. The Gentile powers having run their course, and the times of the Gentiles being thus fulfilled, the times of Jewish restoration, or, to use the language of the third of Acts, "of the restitution of all things," will come.

Such is the character, and such the doom of the great Gentile powers. Such the consummation of the times of the Gentiles. We have not been able to look fully at particulars. An outline only — perhaps even more imperfect than I am aware of — has been presented.

But the principles and elements which will produce the crisis, and which are even now at work, have been set before you. I commend the subject to your most serious attention. We need the light of the "word of prophecy" to keep us; for delusions are around us, resembling those of the three unclean spirits, who in the crisis shall gather the kings of the earth to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. The warning is now emphatic. "Behold, I come as a thief: blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."  T. S.

The Hope of the Church

The Hope of the Church;

with concluding practical observations.

Rev. 22: 6-21.

Lecture 8 of 'Eight Lectures on Prophecy' from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

In drawing to a close, as we have to do this evening, the inquiry into Scripture, which on these successive occasions we have been pursuing, there is one subject that I am anxious to lay before you as fully as time will allow. It is a subject closely connected with that which has been announced as the theme of our meditations this evening: indeed, it forms a part of it. The resurrection of the saints at the coming of the Lord, as distinct from the resurrection of the wicked, is the subject to which I refer; and the coming of the Lord is itself "the hope of the Church."

The idea that Christians generally have is that of an indiscriminate resurrection; the righteous and wicked, as it is supposed, being raised at the same moment, and that moment absolutely at the end of time, after the millennium, at the close of the entire course of God's dealings with this earth on which we dwell. This was the idea which Martha, the sister of Lazarus, had. Desolate and sorrowful through the loss of her brother, our Lord, to comfort her heart, said to her, "Thy brother shall rise again." What was her reply? "I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Martha's faith as to the resurrection was exactly that of the bulk of professing Christians now; true, doubtless, as far as it goes, but stopping far short of the precious fulness of truth revealed in the Word of God respecting it. There is, indeed, to be a resurrection, and that resurrection is to be at the last day. But, as we were showing you from Scripture two or three weeks ago, "the day of judgment," "the day of the Lord," and, I would now add, "the last day," each expresses not a literal, actual day of twenty-four hours, but a lengthened period. The "last day" begins before the "day of judgment," — "the day of the Lord," but it seems to us to embrace the whole period from the coming of Christ to receive his saints, to the time "when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power." The resurrection at the last day embraces thus the resurrection both of the righteous and the wicked; but this does not in any wise prove that they are both at the same moment, and we shall see just now, from the plain testimony of Scripture, that they are not only distinguished from each other, but separated by an interval of a thousand years.

The first passage to which I would refer you is Luke 14: 14, which simply distinguishes these two resurrections as to their character. Our Lord, having exhorted those with whom he was sitting at table, when they made a feast, to call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, proceeds to enforce the exhortation thus: — "And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." Would any one, not previously possessed with the prevailing notion, gather the impression from this passage that the resurrection of the just and that of the wicked form one indiscriminate event? Would not the natural impression of the passage on any unprejudiced mind be, that the resurrection of the just is an event perfectly distinct? "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."

In Phil. 3: 10, 11, the apostle represents it as his great endeavour — his arduous, his continual endeavour, to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death, "if by any means," says he, "I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." But if the only resurrection be an indiscriminate resurrection both of righteous and wicked, — a simple act of God's power, apart from all questions of spiritual condition and character, how could it be Paul's solicitude "by any means to attain to the resurrection of the dead "?

In the fifth of John we have another important passage in which our blessed Lord distinguishes between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked. "Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life: and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."* (John 5: 28, 29.) Here our Lord speaks of two resurrections, distinguishing them by the sources from which they respectively flow, and by which they are respectively thus characterized: life in the one case — judgment in the other. "The resurrection of life" and "the resurrection of judgment." "Yes," you may perhaps be saying, "but both are in one hour." I anticipated this objection, when I referred to the passage; and it is as much to meet this objection that I ask your attention to the passage, as to show you the positive proof it contains of the doctrine we are considering. "The hour is coming in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth." People infer from this that all rise together. And this would be a just inference, if the word "hour" meant a. literal period of sixty minutes. But if you look back to verse 25 of this very chapter, you will see that the word is used in quite another sense. He has been speaking of the quickening of dead souls — how he that hears and believes has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment or condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. He then says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and they that hear shall live." The hour is coming, and now is. It had commenced when our Lord spake. There is an "hour" in which the Son of God is quickening dead souls — the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live. How long has this "hour" lasted? It had begun when Jesus spake thus; it has not terminated yet! Already do we know this "hour" of quickening dead souls to be of more than eighteen hundred years' continuance. For anything, therefore, that the word "hour" proves to the contrary, the "hour" in which Christ will quicken dead bodies might last as long as this present "hour" in which he is quickening dead souls. The passage before us does not determine how long the period is. It teaches plainly that there is a "resurrection of life," and a "resurrection of judgment." There is an "hour" coming in the which both these will be accomplished; we read, in the immediate context of this passage, of another "hour" which has unquestionably lasted for nearly two thousand years. What the period actually is that intervenes between these two resurrections, we have to learn elsewhere in Scripture; and in another passage we are plainly told that it is one thousand years.

*Or "of judgment," for that is what it really is. There is but one and the same word in the original for "judgment" in ver. 22 — "condemnation" in ver. 24 — "judgment" in ver. 27 — and "damnation" in ver. 29, of this chapter. It is simply "judgment" in each case.

It is in Revelation 20 that we learn this. We find there, that the duration of the "hour" in the which these two resurrections take place is one thousand years. The resurrection of life is at the commencement, the resurrection of judgment is at the close. I have scarcely referred to this passage in any of the previous lectures; I have dwelt chiefly on the proofs furnished elsewhere. It is often and confidently alleged, that the doctrines we have been placing before you are mainly, if not entirely, based on some peculiar exposition of Rev. 20. I have purposely, on account of this, deferred any notice of it. (save a mere passing glance, see the chapter: The Millennial reign of Christ) till this last evening, that you may see, my brethren, that the truths we have been considering do not rest exclusively, or even mainly, on the evidence of this chapter. It is indeed an important part of God's Word; and God forbid that we should slight it, or any part of Scripture. But if this chapter had not been in the Bible — if it had pleased God not to have communicated to us the instruction contained in it — there is still, as we have seen, abundant proof throughout God's Word of the great doctrines to which our attention has been directed. But I do now turn to this passage. You shall have still other passages to demonstrate that the resurrection of the saints is distinct from that of the wicked: but it is here we are told what length of time elapses between the two.

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season." People say that this is figurative language; and it is at once granted that it is so. No doubt the key of the bottomless pit, and the great chain in the angel's hand, and the binding of Satan, and the setting a seal upon him, are all figures. But what are they figures of? Are they expressions without meaning, because they are figurative? Or is the meaning necessarily uncertain and indefinite? What do they all teach us, but that Satan will be forcibly restrained, and that in his own abyss, for a thousand years. So restrained that he shall deceive the nations no more, till a thousand years are fulfilled. What difficulty is there in understanding the force and meaning of figures like these?

"And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." Observe these last words, my brethren: "This is the first resurrection." There may have been figures employed in the passage: no one questions it. But when the Holy Ghost is pleased to interpret the figurative language he has employed — when he is pleased to tell us what it means — are we to evade the force of all he says, by making his interpretation figurative also? "this is the first resurrection," is the Holy Ghost's explanation of the figures or symbols by which it had been set forth. "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years." Nothing can be more evident, than what the simple definite impression of this language will be, on any mind not prepossessed with thoughts of another character. The way in which it is commonly sought to evade its plain obvious meaning is by explaining it thus: that the resurrection of the martyrs, which John beheld, denotes a revival of the principles for which they suffered. That having suffered death for Christian principles, the revival and universal spread and ascendancy of these principles is set forth by the symbol of those who had been beheaded, living and reigning with Christ a thousand years. Such is the popular interpretation of this passage. But it breaks down at every point. They who have been beheaded are they who reign. Are they principles or persons that have been beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the Word of God? Then again, supposing that the reign of principles might be set forth by the resurrection and reign of those who had been martyrs for them, how are we to account for their priesthood? "They shall be priests of God and of Christ." As one has said in substance somewhere, "You may speak of the reign of principles; but can you make principles into priests as well?" Then again, "On such the second death hath no power." What is the second death? It is explained in verse 14 to be "the lake of fire." And could there be any question of the second death, the lake of fire, having power over Christian principles? The lake of fire is for the punishment of evil persons; and it is one element in the blessedness of those who have part in the first resurrection, that "on such the second death hath no power." Then further, the first resurrection is so linked in this chapter with what all admit to be a literal resurrection of dead bodies at the end of the thousand years, that you cannot explain away the one without explaining away the other. When John has witnessed the vision in verse 4, which is explained to him in verse 5 to be "the first resurrection," we are told of certain who have no part in it; "but the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." In the verses which ensue, we have a rapid glance at the events which occur when the thousand years are expired — Satan is loosed — the nations again deceived — fire comes down from God out of heaven and destroys them — the devil who had deceived them is cast into the lake of fire, where the beast and the false prophet are (having been cast there alive a thousand years before, see Rev. 19: 20); and then what follows? "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works." Is this figurative too, my brethren? If so, where is there Scripture authority for the doctrine of the resurrection at all? And if this be not figurative, why should the account of "the first resurrection" at the beginning of the chapter be set aside as figurative? If it be allowed, which it must be, that the resurrection of the wicked dead at the close of the chapter is a literal actual resurrection of dead bodies, on what principle can it be maintained, that the first resurrection at the beginning of the chapter is figurative, and denotes the revival of dead or dying principles? What says the Holy Spirit? "This is the first resurrection." "But the rest of the dead lived not again," etc. The rest of the dead what? — principles? - or persons? Surely "the rest" must bear some relation to those from whom they are distinguished. If you get so many yards of a web of cloth, and another person gets "the rest," you would be amazed to hear any one contend that what you had received was linen, and what the other had received was woollen! No; if it be a revival of principles which constitutes the first resurrection, "the rest of the dead, who live not again till the thousand years are finished," must be principles also. And if it shocks you to trifle thus with God's holy Word, — if it be certain that the dead who are raised and judged before the great white throne are dead persons, not principles; then is it equally certain that the first resurrection is a resurrection of persons too. If the first resurrection be one of principles, then must the second also. If the second, that before the great white throne, be a resurrection of persons, the first must be a resurrection of persons likewise. Nothing can be more evident and simple than this.

This chapter, then, demonstrates that there is an interval of at least a thousand years between "the resurrection of life" and "the resurrection of judgment." "The hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of judgment." That "hour" lasts a thousand years, and the "little season" which succeeds. The "hour" in which Christ quickens dead souls has already lasted more than eighteen hundred years. The "hour" in which he shall raise dead bodies commences with his coming to change his living, and raise his sleeping saints. It closes with the resurrection of the wicked dead and their judgment before the great white throne — "the resurrection of judgment." I commend the whole chapter (Rev. 20) to your patient, attentive, and prayerful perusal in your closets before God.

Let us now turn to 1 Cor. 15. The resurrection is the subject here. We have statements which show its deep and fundamental importance. "Now, if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen. And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain." How solemnly important, then, this truth of the resurrection. "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first-fruits of them that slept." Have the first-fruits, then, been gathered into the garner? And shall not the plenteous, teeming harvest follow? Assuredly it shall; "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order; Christ the first-fruits; afterward" — who? "they that are Christ's at his coming." Not a word here of any who are not Christ's. Their resurrection, that of the wicked, I mean, is on another principle, and at another time; not at his coming, but, as we have seen, a thousand years afterwards. They are not raised as the harvest of which his resurrection was the first-fruits. No, they are raised by an act of his almighty power, to be the monuments throughout eternity of the righteous exercise of that power, in casting them into the lake of fire, which is the second death. The two events are as distinct in character and principle as they are in date. And the statement here is most precise. It is a statement of the order in which the resurrection takes place. Every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits afterward they that are Christ's at his coming." Not a word of those who are not.

Turn now, my brethren, to 1 Thessalonians 4. The apostle is giving express instructions to those who had been bereft of Christian friends by the hand of death. "But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as other which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord" — such is the authority by which he writes; no expression of opinion, of spiritual judgment, on the part of the apostle, weighty as that might have been: but express revelation, the word of the Lord — "that we which are alive, and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep." The Thessalonian believers had the hope of the Lord's return very fully and distinctly before them. They had been "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." Some of their brethren, however, had fallen asleep — had departed; and the survivors seem to have been filled with sorrow on their account, lest they, the departed ones, should by reason of their departure, be hindered from sharing the joy of the living saints at the coming of the Lord. The apostle assures them that "we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent" — that is, shall not anticipate, or go before — "them which are asleep." The living saints shall not enter into their full joy at the Lord's coming a moment sooner than those who have departed in the faith. "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first." So far from the full joy of the departed being postponed — so far from our entrance into our full blessedness and glory being before theirs; "the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." Their resurrection precedes our ascent with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. "Wherefore comfort one another with these words." These are the words, my brethren, supplied by the pen of inspiration, wherewith to comfort one another when we stand around the graves of our departed friends who have been put to sleep by Jesus; for so the words literally mean. But what is the comfort usually administered on these occasions? With all kindliness of spirit, it may be, and every desire to bind up the broken heart, Christians generally on these occasions say just the reverse of what we are exhorted here to address to one another. They say of the departed, "Ah, they will not return to you, but you shall certainly go to them." My brethren, the Word of God here before us declares, they shall return! God's Word no where affirms that you shall go to them. You may do so: for we may, any of us, fall asleep, as those who have gone before us have done already. To be "absent from the body," is to be "present with the Lord;" and the apostle speaks of "having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ; which is far better." We may pass into this disembodied state, and be in paradise with the Lord. It may be so; but it is not certain, as to any of us, that it will. "We who are alive and remain," was the language held by the apostle in his day; and shall we, after the lapse of eighteen hundred years, presume to say with certainty that we shall not be alive and remain? God forbid! The Saviour had said, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to myself," leaving the moment of his return in entire uncertainty. The apostle, taking up that word in faith, reckons himself among those who are alive and remain to the coming of the Lord. If it was the joy of his heart thus to reckon, where are our hearts, my brethren, if we feel it a relief to think (as alas! so many of us think) rather of remaining here till death, than of being among those who are alive and remain till our Lord return?

I have dwelt the longer on this passage, because it is so deeply interesting and important: it occupies so central a place with regard to the subject, not only of the resurrection, but of the hope of the church. What is the church's hope? It is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ to raise his sleeping and to change his living saints: it is the hope of being thus all caught up together to meet the Lord in the air, and so of being ever with the Lord. I say, to change his living saints as well as to raise those who are asleep; and for further instruction as to this, let us turn again to 1 Cor. 15: "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (ver. 51, 52.) Men take upon themselves to say that we shall all sleep. How often do we hear Christians say, "We must all pay the debt of nature." "There are many things uncertain," you will hear it said, "but one thing is certain; we must all die." There is nothing more common than to hear such affirmations as these. In support of them Scripture itself is misquoted. "It is appointed unto men once to die," says the Apostle, in Heb. 9: 27. But how many improve on this, and quote the passage as though it had been written, "It is appointed unto all men once to die." Not only is this an addition to the text, but a contradiction of the context. "As it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time, without sin unto salvation." So far from its being appointed unto all men to die, the passage speaks of a class of persons who will not die. To them that look for him, Christ will appear. And they will not die. "Behold, I show you a mystery: We shall not all sleep; but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." The Apostle styles himself and others, "stewards of the mysteries of God," and says, "it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful." Alas! what an account have some of us to give of our stewardship in this respect! What unfaithful stewards have we been! Even in respect to this mystery here unfolded — "Behold, I show you a mystery" — how small a place has it had in our esteem and in our ministrations! Every word used by the Holy Spirit in revealing it is precious. There is a sweetness, for instance, in this word, "in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," which cannot be adequately expressed. Were it possible for any interval to elapse between the coming of Christ and the change which we are to undergo; were we in unchanged bodies left for ever so short an interval in the presence of the glory in which Christ will appear; who is there amongst us that would not, like John, fall at his feet as dead! But there is no such interval. "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." Nothing so rapid as the twinkling of an eye, and it is thus we shall be changed at the coming of the Lord. One moment here in our bodies of flesh and blood, in these tabernacles of clay — one moment here, I say — the next moment in glory. As we are told again in Philippians 3: 20, 21, "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself." Would that the prospect of this change might be ever before our eyes.

There is one most interesting connection of the passage we have been considering in 1 Cor. 15 with one in the Old Testament. "For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." (1 Cor. 15: 53, 54.) Where is this saying written? In one place only in Scripture besides. In Isa. 25: 8 you will find the passage that the apostle quotes: "He will swallow up death in victory." But then the connection in which these words stand in Isa. 25 links the subject we are considering with those which have been previously considered; and it shows. moreover most distinctly, that the resurrection of the saints is at the commencement, not at the close, of the millennium. At the close of Isa. 24, after predicting the dreadful judgments which shall befall this guilty world, the prophet says, "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously." What is this but the millennial reign of Christ; the earthly centre of which we saw the other evening to be Zion and Jerusalem? Well, in verse 6 of the next chapter we read, "And in this mountain" — Mount Zion, for there has been no other mountain referred to between — "shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined. And he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth; for the Lord hath spoken it. And it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God: we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord: we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." It is here, my brethren, in the midst of this magnificent prediction of the introduction of earth's full blessing under the reign of Christ — Israel restored — the nations happy — the covering destroyed — the veil removed — tears wiped from all faces — the rebuke of Israel taken away from off all the earth — in the midst of this prediction, I say, we have the words quoted by the apostle. About what time is it that this prophecy of Isaiah will be fulfilled? Hear what the apostle says, "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the first-fruits; afterward they that are Christ's AT HIS COMING . . . . . For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So WHEN this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." A comparison of these passages affords the most complete demonstration that the coming of the Lord, the resurrection of the saints, the deliverance of Israel, and the introduction of millennial blessing, all occur about the same time. These two passages group together all these glorious events at the commencement of the reign of Christ. It is not that they all occur at the same moment, I need hardly say. But it is quite clear that they all take place about the close of the present and the commencement of the next dispensation.

I would notice here, however, a difficulty which may occur to some. It may be enquired, "If death be swallowed up in victory at the commencement of the millennium, how is it that in this chapter we are told that 'the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death'? and how is it that we find in Rev. 20: 14, that at the close of the millennium, and not before, 'death and hades are cast into the lake of fire'?" My brethren, the swallowing up death in victory is not necessarily the destruction of death. A foe long triumphant may have laid his rueful grasp on the rightful subjects of some mighty prince; he may by that prince's conquering hosts be swallowed up in victory, and all his captives set at liberty; every subject of the prince that has been in bondage to him may be released; and yet the life of the tyrant may be spared — yea, he may be spared to act the part of jailer to the prince's enemies. It is exactly so in the case before us. Death has had under his grasp the bodies of God's beloved people. At the coming of the Lord, the Prince of life, he will be compelled to relinquish every captive; not one of all the bodies of God's people shall be left in the grasp of the fell destroyer. He must disgorge his prey; he must give up all. Already has he been compelled to give up that wondrous blessed One himself, who once entered, voluntarily entered, his dark domains. The Lord Jesus Christ was once for a little while an inmate of the tomb. It was then that he really conquered death. "That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death" (see Heb. 2: 14) was the object for which he had taken part of flesh and blood; and his resurrection proved that death's power was vanquished, — death's title set aside! A mightier than he who had the power of death had voluntarily subjected himself to death in atonement; and having in his death put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, he came forth, bursting every barrier, and leading captivity captive. Not only was it impossible that he himself should be holden of death, his death in atonement set aside death's title over the saints. He "abolished death;" and having "spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it" (or in himself). Faith knows this now, and rejoices in this perfect victory of Christ over death. True, that for wise and gracious purposes death is still permitted to retain in his grasp the bodies of those who have been put to sleep by Jesus; but it is only during the absence of Jesus that death has this permitted power. And such is the effect of Christ's victory over death, that even now, while believers do die, death is gain to the believer. "For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." But when Jesus comes, the bodies of all his saints shall be delivered from every trace. of the power of death. Death shall indeed be swallowed up in victory then. When all the risen and glorified saints shall unite to sing, what faith has sung by anticipation even here, "O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ;" surely death is swallowed up in victory then! Still it is not destroyed. It is, so to speak, for a thousand years longer the jailer of those unhappy ones who have lived and died in sin. "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished." While those who are pronounced blessed and holy, as having part in the first resurrection, live and reign with Christ for a thousand years over a renewed and happy world, the generations of the wicked dead shall, so to speak, remain under the custody of death until the end of that blessed period. Then shall they too be raised in the resurrection of judgment, and death itself shall be destroyed. But you see, my brethren, how distinct this is from death being swallowed up in victory. The one is at the commencement of the millennial reign of Christ; the other is at its close, when he shall "deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." (1 Cor. 15: 24-26.)

Turn now to Rom. 8: 16-25, a passage which, in its connections with several in the Old Testament, as well as in itself, sheds much light on the subject we are considering. "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God." This is the present joy of believers; we are the children of God. "And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." Observe, my brethren, it is a glory to be revealed — a glory to be revealed, too, in us. It is a glory, moreover, which we share with Christ — glorified together. Glory is, in the thoughts of most Christians, connected with the separate state, the state of disembodied spirits. They speak, in consequence, of saints going direct to glory when they die. One can find no fault with this, if it be simply expressive of the immediate happiness of the saints with Christ on their departure from the body. But it is not strictly correct and scriptural thus to speak of glory. Glory is a manifested thing. The glory here spoken of is a glory to be revealed, and revealed in us. When will this be? Not until this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal have put on immortality. As to those who have fallen asleep, it is said of their bodies, "Sown in weakness, raised in power: sown in dishonour, raised in glory." Yes, it is when these bodies of humiliation, changed or raised by our Lord Jesus Christ, "are fashioned like unto his glorious body," that we shall be "glorified together" with him. "For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God." We are the sons of God now, and faith knows this, and rejoices in it. But where is the manifestation of it? I speak not now of its manifestation morally, by the difference in spirit and character between the children of God and the men of the world. Feeble and imperfect as this is, there still is some difference discernible, as to character and conduct, between Christians and the world. But as to our condition outwardly, — are we not subject to every infirmity of body, and to the ills of life, in like manner as our fellow-creatures around us? Yea, and have we not besides a life of sorrow peculiar to ourselves — sorrow coming upon us in consequence of being sons of God — sorrow to which we were strangers before we became the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus? And is it thus that the sons of God are manifested? No; the "manifestation of the sons of God" has not yet taken place. When will the period for it arrive? Turn to 1 John 3: 1, 2: "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not." So far are the sons of God from being manifested now. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear (i.e., it is not yet manifested) what we shall be: but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." When he shall appear we shall be like him. The manifestation of the sons of God will be at the appearing of Christ. As we read in Col. 3: 4, "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." It is for this the earnest expectation of the creature (or creation) waits. "For the creature (or creation) was made subject to vanity not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope; because the creature (or creation) itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." Here we find that sin — the fall — has affected not us only, but the whole creation, of which man, in innocence, was made lord. The creation was made subject to vanity. The whole of it groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. How true! What a world of sorrow, and disappointment, and wretchedness this is! It has its bright appearances, indeed; but they are treacherous and delusive. Saunter forth on the evening of a summer's day; ascend some eminence, and view the landscape spread out in stillness and beauty beneath: and how easy to forget, amid the serenity of such a scene, that it is a world of sin, and death, and darkness you are beholding. If at such a time one could but realize what angry passions, what aching hearts, what broken spirits, are concealed from view within those cottages which seem the very abodes of contentment and peace; yea, if we could but call to mind, as to the brute creation itself, sportive beneath and around us, the misery which sin, our sin, has inflicted on its various tribes, we should learn that, with all the loveliness that still attaches to the ruins of God's creation, it is nevertheless ruined. The power of the usurper extends over it, and, as represented in this passage, it groans and travails in pain. Where is the tribe — where the climate — where the scene on the whole face of the earth, that contributes not to this universal groan? This once happy and beautiful, but now marred and ruined, creation groans and travails together in pain until now. Is it always to be so? Are the sighs never to be hushed — the groans never to cease? O yes! the creation waits — not intelligently, of course, but by a hold and beautiful figure of speech, it is represented here as waiting for the era which shall bring its deliverance. And what is that era? The manifestation of the sons of God. Christ is the heir of all things. It was by him, and for him, that all things were made: but as to this earth, Satin has usurped his place. Through man's folly and sin in being deceived by Satan, it has come to pass; and in the inscrutable wisdom of God's counsels, it has been permitted to be so. Satan has usurped the place of the rightful heir; and Satan is a murderer, and his reign is marked from beginning to end by devastation, and misery, and death. The god, the prince of this world, is a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, What could we expect from his reign, but one universal groan? And so it is. But he is to be dethroned. His title, which he only held through man's sin, by the just judgment of God, has already been set aside by the atoning sacrifice of God's only begotten Son. He who, by right of creation and by the counsels of God, is the heir of all things, went down into death. That he might take the inheritance and fill it with blessing to the creature, and praise and worship to the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth — that he might do this, not only compatibly with the divine glory, but to its fullest possible display, where Satan and sin had achieved their deadliest triumphs, he went down into the dust of death. "It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; and having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven." (Col. 1: 19, 20) Where is he now? At the right hand of God, crowned with glory and honour. By and by he will return, and, crowned with his many crowns, as Son of David, Son of Abraham, Head of the heathen, Son of Man, Son of God, will reign over the whole creation which sin has marred — which Satan has defaced. Then will creation be delivered. But why has he not come yet? The reason is, there are those who are co-heirs with him, who are to reign with him when he comes, and this is the period during which they. are being gathered. By the Gospel of the grace of God, and by the quickening power of the Holy Ghost, those are being gathered who are to form the body, the bride of Christ; the "many sons" whom he is "bringing to glory." When this work is completed he will come. The very first thing when he comes is, as we have seen, to raise his sleeping and change his living saints; to gather thus around him in glory his co-heirs — those who are to share his glory through eternal ages. This will be the manifestation of the sons of God; and then shall creation be delivered: then shall the wailing, the groaning, cease. Creation's groan will have become deepest towards the close. The last sounding of that groan will be the heaviest of all; but it will be hushed, and die away in silence, not again to be broken thus, till at the end of the thousand years, the fell usurper being again released to do his work of mischief, he will succeed to some extent, and for a little while. But it will be a little while indeed. Judgment, final and universal, will at once ensue. All evil will find its eternal dwelling-place in the lake of fire, which is the second death: and in the new heaven and new earth, which God will then create, the tabernacle of God shall be with men; and he will be all in all.

Nothing can be plainer, my brethren, to return to Romans 8, than that the manifestation of the sons of God is what ushers in the deliverance of creation. When the moment for this arrives, it is not only that Israel shall be restored, the Gentiles made happy, and all mankind be blessed under the reign of Christ and his saints in glory — creation itself shall be delivered. I know no better clue to the meaning of this expression in the eighth of Romans, than what we find again and again in the Old Testament; as for instance in Isa. 11: 6-9: "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. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Will not creation be delivered then, when even the tribes of savage beasts shall have ceased to devour each other; and when the most savage and venomous shall be the harmless playmates of the little child? "A little child shall lead them!" There will be one exception, and only one, to the deliverance of creation. In Isa. 65: 25, after a magnificent description of millennial blessing, and of the longevity of the inhabitants of the millennial earth, we find that while all creation besides is delivered and made happy, the curse remains on that tribe from which Satan selected one to be his instrument in deceiving the mother of our race. "The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord."

"The glorious liberty of the children of God!" People talk of glorious liberty now. And it is indeed wondrous, blessed liberty, into which we are now introduced by grace. But the passage before us is literally, "The liberty of the glory of the children of God." It is the liberty of grace in which we believers stand at present. We shall be manifested as the sons of God by the glory which shall be revealed in us when Christ shall appear, and we shall appear with him in glory. It is into the liberty of this glory, the liberty which this glory of Christ and his saints will impart to the world over which we shall reign — the liberty of the glory of the children of God, that the creation itself shall be delivered. How blessed, not only to be saved ourselves, but to be made the channel and instrument of refreshing and deliverance to this now groaning, troubled creation.

"For we are saved by hope;" or "in hope" as it would be more exactly rendered. The meaning is, we have not yet entered into the enjoyment of all that is implied in being "saved." We have the salvation of our souls now; we receive it by faith. We have the forgiveness of sins, the indwelling of the Holy Ghost, the first-fruits of the Spirit. We are now the children of God; but we are saved in hope, as well as in present possession. We have not all the salvation now. Our bodies are still mortal; we are still amid a world where the curse remains, where the usurper rules, and where one universal groan resounds. But in hope we are saved from all this. In hope we have the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body, our manifestation as the sons of God, and the deliverance of all creation into the liberty of the glory which shall then be revealed in us. "But hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Well may we pray with the apostle, "The Lord direct our hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ."

Yes, it is Christ — Christ himself, who is our hope. So 1 Tim. 1: 1 reads, if you omit the words in italics, which the translators have supplied. Indeed, they alter not the meaning of the passage, though they diminish its force. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, OUR HOPE." He is our hope. It is his coming that is presented as such throughout the New Testament. As individual believers our hope is not death, or the state of happiness which succeeds it, real and blessed as this is; but the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to swallow up death in victory, and clothe us upon with our house which is from heaven, that mortality may be swallowed up of life. As associated with each other and with our Head, members of Christ, and members one of another, our hope is not the restoration of the church below to purity, and union, and power, and the conversion of the world by means of its labours, but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ himself. No limit can be put, indeed, to what our gracious God would do in restoring grace to a remnant that really, humbly, and earnestly sought him; but the hope of the church ought never to have been anything but the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ; and such would surely be the hope of any such remnant, whose hearts God might stir up to inquire for the old paths, and to walk therein. As to the world, which has departed from its allegiance to God, and consummated its iniquity by the crucifixion of its rightful Lord, judgment hangs over it, and must be executed. But surely it is a part of the blessed prospect our God has placed before us, that when the earth has been purged by judgments, we shall share the peaceful glories of our Head and Bridegroom, when he has become the centre of blessing to a renewed and delivered creation: all things, both in heaven and in earth, gathered together in one, even in him. We shall live and reign with him. And often am I reminded of the saying of one who now sleeps in Jesus, and who was very slow to receive the truths on which we have been meditating for these evenings past, but who did receive them in the end, not as the word of man, but, as they are in truth, the Word of God. — "I used to look forward," he said, "to death, and to happiness with the Lord after death. But it never gave full relief to my heart. Burdened and oppressed with the condition of the church, and the sorrows of a poor, sinful, dying world, I knew that I should escape it all myself at death; but that did not relieve me fully, for it left the confusion, and sin, and sorrow untouched, though it gave me the hope of personal escape. But now," he said, "that I can look forward to the coming of Jesus, it is not only that I shall escape from this scene of darkness, but the scene itself shall be changed. The whole church in glory with Jesus, Israel restored, the nations happy, creation delivered, all in heaven and in earth exhibiting and proclaiming the glory of him whose blood shall be the acknowledged title, and known security, of the universal happiness his reign diffuses — oh, this is a prospect that the heart can dwell upon with ever fresh and deepening delight." So indeed it is. But while the heart, thus expanding with the prospect, reaches beyond the thoughts of self, and exults to anticipate a glorified church, a happy world, and a restored creation, what is it that is the very kernel of the church's joy in hope, in looking for the moment when Christ's coming shall bring all this? It is himself: his coming; the music of his voice, the beauty of his countenance, the joy of being for ever with the Lord; it is this that is the essence of our hope. O that we were awake to realize this! What is it he has himself said at the close of the whole volume of inspiration? When that volume has told its wondrous tale from the first of Genesis to the last of Revelation — its tale of man's deep apostacy in every position in which God has placed him in responsibility to himself — and its tale of God's rich and exhaustless grace, and of the counsels of that grace yet to be accomplished in Christ; when the whole volume has told its rich, its varied, its wondrous tale, who is it speaks one word of deepest joy and consolation to the church? It is Jesus. And what are the words which he leaves to have their deep, abiding, ineffaceable impression on our hearts? Hear them! "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly." These are his last words; and while they die away upon the ear, the Spirit in the church takes them up, and responds, "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus." O that this were but the language of our hearts! If it were so, how loosely should we sit to this world! How calm under its afflictions! How superior to its charms! How should we look down upon all its gilded pageant scenes, yearning indeed in sorrow over the giddy multitudes beguiled by them on the way to death; but our hearts filled with the remembrance of those sweet words which Jesus has left as his closing testimony, to abide in all its assurance and power upon our spirits. "He which testifieth these things saith, Surely, I come quickly." Does he not let out all his heart in this utterance, beloved? "Surely," he says, "Surely, I come quickly." In the joy of his anticipation of then receiving his bride he says, "Surely, I come quickly." O that there were but some response, some suitable response on our part, to the affections of our heavenly Lord and bridegroom! May the Spirit in us and in all saints respond, and that in the fulness of divine life and affection, — "Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."  W. T.

The Church Removed before the Apocalyptic Judgments

The Church Removed before the Apocalyptic Judgments.

Appendix to

'Eight Lectures on Prophecy'

from shorthand notes.

W. Trotter and T.S. (Smith?)

(New Edition, Broom & Rouse, 1890.)

There is one difficulty which meets the student of prophecy soon after he has crossed the threshold of his earliest inquiries. These inquiries may be supposed to have resulted in an entire conviction that the second advent precedes or introduces the millennium; that the Jews are to be restored to their own land — some of them in the first instance undergoing the utmost extremity of trouble there; that this trouble arrives at its height through a gathering together of all nations against Jerusalem; and that the nations thus gathered meet their doom at the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is revealed from heaven in flaming fire, and whose coming brings deliverance to the poor oppressed Jews, while it discomfits and destroys their adversaries. It may be supposed, moreover, that it is pretty plainly seen, from the whole tenor of New Testament teaching, that what is placed before us Christians, as our hope, is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ: that for this we are exhorted to look, and watch, and long, and yet patiently wait; in a word, that our proper posture of mind is that of continual expectation of this blessed event. But here it is that the difficulty I speak of arises. "If," says the inquirer, "a whole train of events are to occur on earth preparatory to the Lord's coming — if the Jews are to return to their own land — the Gentiles to be gathered together against them there — the time of unequalled tribulation to occur — the seals, and trumpets, and vials of the Apocalypse to run their course of judgment — and the coming of the Lord to ensue all this how can we, seeing that none of these things have begun to come to pass, be intelligently looking and waiting for the coming of the Lord? For these intermediate events we may wait; and until they commence, and as they transpire, we may look beyond them to that in which we know they will surely terminate; but how can we be in a posture of continual expectation of Christ, if his coming has thus to be certainly preceded by a number of yet unfulfilled events?" I think I have stated the difficulty in its full force; and it is to meet this difficulty, as far as any present light on Scripture may enable me, that these pages are written.

But first, I would remind you, my brethren, that difficulties are no reason for unbelief. If it be plainly revealed in the New Testament, that our place as Christians is to be always waiting and looking for our Lord, faith would receive and welcome this revelation, however many difficulties might encompass the subject. And that it is so revealed, who that is acquainted with the word of God can question? Our Lord himself had described the position in which he would delight to have his people found at his return — "and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord." (Luke 12: 36.) The definite assurance with which he comforted them in the immediate prospect of his departure was, "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: 3.) The very first thing presented to them after he had gone, while they were yet straining their vision, as it were, to catch another glimpse of him in the clouds whither he had ascended, was the assurance of his return. "This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1: 11) The Corinthian believers came behind in no gift: "waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Cor. 1: 7.) The apostle says of himself and his fellow Christians, "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed." And again, "the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." (1 Cor. 15: 51, 52.) He declares, that what he and his brethren longed and sighed for was, "not that we would be unclothed, (i.e., disembodied,) but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." (2 Cor. 5 4.) "For our conversation is in heaven," is his language elsewhere; "from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body," etc. (Phil. 3: 20, 21.) The Thessalonians had been "turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven." (1 Thess. 1: 10) In one form or another the coming is referred to in every chapter of this epistle. In the fourth chapter, the twice repeated expression, "we which are alive and remain," marks definitely enough what the posture is that becomes the church. How easy would it have been for the apostle to say, had such been the mind of the Lord, "If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so us also, who are to sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that they which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent us, who will ere then have fallen asleep." Why does he not speak thus? Surely, because it was the Lord's will that his saints should ever be expecting him. Not that the apostle could say, or that we can now say, that we shall certainly be alive and remain.. the apostle afterwards knew by special revelation that he himself would not; and we may not It may please the Lord to tarry till we have all fallen asleep in him. But in the absence of certain information to the contrary, faith would say, as is said in these passages, "we who are alive and remain." Faith puts us where our Lord would have us, in the attitude of readiness and expectation. The virgins "went out to meet the bridegroom." And if faith should be tried, and hope seem to be deferred, it is still not for any of us to say, "My Lord delayeth his coming." The apostle prays, 'land the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ." (2 Thess. 3: 5.) He speaks again of a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give him at that day; "and not to me only," he adds, "but unto all them also that love his appearing." (2 Tim. 4: 8.) "Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." (Titus 2: 13.) "Unto them that look for him," we are told, "shall he appear the second time, without sin, unto salvation." (Heb. 9: 28.) And lest we should get weary, and hope deferred make the heart faint as well as sick, we are encouraged by the assurance, "Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." (Heb. 10: 37.) And though Peter knew from our Lord's own lips, that he was not to tarry till his Lord should come, — though he had been told by what death he should glorify God, he does not say a word in his epistles to lead those to whom he wrote to suppose that they too should certainly depart ere the Lord returned. No, he exhorts them rather, and us too, in such words as, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1: 13.) "Looking for and hasting unto the coming (or as in the margin, hasting the coming) of the day of God," is the way in which he describes our proper position in his second epistle. The coming is referred to in 1 John, both by way of exhortation and encouragement. (See 1 John 2: 28, and 1 John 3: 2.) In Revelation, the closing book of Scripture, "Behold, I come quickly," is a word so often repeated; the volume finally closing with "Surely I come quickly," from the lips of Jesus, while the church responds, "Amen: even so, come, Lord Jesus;" that there can be no doubt as to the impression left on the heart of the simple-minded believer, that it is our place of faithfulness and blessing to be always expecting our Lord, and awaiting his return. And with such varied and copious testimonies on the subject as these, if we had no solution of the difficulties that present themselves, it would clearly still be our place to maintain this attitude of expectancy, leaving, as we surely might, our gracious Master to clear away all the difficulties as and when it may please him. But there is a clue to the unravelling of this mystery. He has not left us without a solution of the difficulty in question. If he had, it would not have excused our taking any position but that which he has so plainly assigned us; while his tender, considerate love is the more displayed in relieving our hearts by the positive light he has shed in his Word on this question, so interesting to the heart that finds its joy in the daily expectation of his return.

Suppose then, my brethren, that there should be an interval between the coming of Christ into the air, where he receives the saints to himself, and his coining onwards to the earth, attended by his saints, to execute judgment; suppose there should be an interval long enough for the accomplishment of all these prophetic events which must be fulfilled ere he does thus come in judgment; suppose that the Jews should return to their own land, the Gentiles be gathered together against them, the antichrist arise, the great tribulation take place, the apocalyptic seals be opened, trumpets sounded, and vials poured out; suppose all this should occur between the taking away of the Church, and the coming of Christ to execute judgment on his congregated foes; suppose this, I say: would not this meet the difficulty in question? Could we not, in the light of such a fact (supposing it to be a fact), see clearly how we may be intelligently waiting for our Lord, without the idea of a single interposing event? Many events may, of course, interpose. But in this case we could not say of any of them that they certainly will. At any moment our blessed Lord might come to receive us to himself; and yet, in he interval supposed, all the events come to pass which we know from God's word must be accomplished, ere Christ comes to consume the wicked one with the breath of his mouth, and to destroy him with the brightness of his appearing.

Be it remembered, moreover, that the mere possibility of the occurrence of such an interval meets the difficulty which has been stated. If it be only possible that there may be such an interval between the descent of Jesus into the air, and his coming onward to the earth in judgment, what should prevent our being in the posture of daily and hourly expectancy of his return? What is the difficulty we are considering? Why, that the Jews have not yet returned to their own land, nor the other events occurred, which must occur ere Christ come in judgment. But then, if it be possible that after Jesus has descended into the air, and we have been caught up to meet him, an interval should ensue, in which the Jews may return, and all the predicted events come to pass, and then the Lord come onwards to the earth, his risen and glorified saints following in his train, — if this be but possible, I say, — does it not show that it is equally and blessedly possible that Jesus may come at any moment, and that there is nothing to hinder our receiving those scriptures in their simple, obvious sense, which exhort us to be always waiting and looking for his coming? And who will undertake to say that there may not be such an interval? Who would have thought that between two clauses of a verse, in Isa. 61 — two clauses only separated from each other by a comma — an interval of eighteen hundred years would have come in? Any one reading or hearing the prophecy in Isaiah's day, would have concluded that "the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God," were one and the same period. But when our blessed Lord quoted these words in the synagogue at Nazareth, he knew that there was to be an interval between them, and that he had only then come to preach "the acceptable year of the Lord," and not to introduce "the day of vengeance of our God." And accordingly he only read as far as the comma, and then "he closed the book, and gave it again to the minister, and sat down." (Luke 4: 20) And if, in this instance, there was room left in God's precious word for the whole of the present dispensation to come in between the two clauses of a sentence, who will be so bold as to affirm, that in our Lord's second coming there will certainly not be an interval of a few years between the first stage of it and the next? between his coming into the air to receive the saints, and his coming with all the saints to execute judgment, and reign on the earth? And again would I press it, my brethren, that if there may but be such an interval, if it be possible for any one to prove from Scripture that there will not be, then is it our privilege, even without a shade of difficulty on our minds, to be always looking and waiting for our Lord.

But I believe we are not left to the thought of what may be. There are several considerations which satisfy my own soul, not only that there may be, but also that there will be, such an interval. These considerations I desire in all simplicity to present, leaving them to be weighed by my brethren in the balances of the sanctuary. The Lord grant to each of us deep and real subjection to his blessed word.

The first consideration I would present in proof that there will be such an interval is not in the form of an exact quotation from Scripture, but drawn from an extensive comparison of one part of Scripture with another. I trust, however, to be enabled to make it plain to the most simple. We are all aware of the continual exhortations we have in the New Testament to a spirit of forgiveness, and to manifest towards others the grace in which our heavenly Father has dealt with us. And perhaps there is hardly a Christian anywhere who has not been perplexed with passages in the Psalms and elsewhere in the Old Testament where the heaviest curses and judgments are invoked by the worshippers on the heads of their enemies. And many of these psalms are evidently prophetic of the time immediately preceding the coming of the Lord to execute judgment. Can it be for us, my brethren, for the Church, that these prophetic utterances, full of imprecations, are prepared? And yet it is clear that they can have no place after the Lord has come in judgment, destroyed his adversaries, and delivered the remnant of his Jewish, earthly people. Whose language then can that of these Psalms be? and when can it be uttered? I believe it to be the language of the Jewish remnant, amid the deep darkness of their final tribulation, after the Church is removed. And you can neither suppose the Church to utter such language, nor to be still on earth while the Spirit of God leads the Jewish remnant to utter it, without confounding those things which the Holy Spirit in Scripture has been most careful to distinguish from each other.

The present dispensation is one of unmingled grace. God is not now imputing to men their trespasses, but freely forgiving all, the vilest and the worst, who believe in Jesus. And to us the exhortation is, "Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not." "Therefore, if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink." "Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing: knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing." Our Lord himself said, while his enemies were nailing him to the cross, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The first martyr for the name of Jesus cried, in like manner, while they were stoning him to death, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." But there is a time coming when prayers like the following (inspired prayers, be it remembered) will ascend up to heaven. "O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever? why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture? Remember thy congregation, which thou hast purchased of old; the rod of thine inheritance, which thou hast redeemed; this Mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt." Pause here a moment to remark that this must apply to the condition of Israel at some period subsequent to their going into captivity; yea, to a period long after they have gone into captivity. "Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. . . . . . We see not our signs: there is no more any prophet: neither is there among us any that knoweth how long. O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever? Why withdrawest thou thy hand, even thy right hand? pluck it out of thy bosom. Remember this, that the enemy hath reproached, O Lord, and that the foolish people have blasphemed thy name. Arise, O God, plead thine own cause; remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily. Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually." (Psalm 74) This shows plainly enough to what period this class of psalms applies. It is to the period of the last Jewish tribulation. Look at another. "O God, the heathen are come into thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps. The dead bodies of thy servants have they given to be meat unto the fowls of heaven, the flesh of thy saints unto the beasts of the earth. Their blood have they shed like water round about Jerusalem: and there was none to bury them. . . . . How long, Lord? wilt thou be angry for ever? shall thy jealousy burn like fire? pour out thy wrath upon the heathen that have not known thee, and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is their God? let him be known among the heathen in our sight by the revenging of the blood of thy servants which is shed. . . . . . And render unto our neighbours seven-fold into their bosom their reproach, wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord." (Psalm 79) Once more. "Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us put them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. . . . . O my God, make them like a wheel; as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and as the flame setteth the mountains on fire, so persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. . . . . Let them be confounded and troubled for ever: yea, let them be put to shame and perish: that men may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah, art the Most High over all the earth." (Ps. 83) I need not further multiply quotations. There are such prayers and anticipations as these: "Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth." (Ps. 59: 13.) "The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked." (Ps. 58: 10) Need I ask again, Can it be the Church that uses such language, presents such prayers, and rejoices in such anticipations? Impossible. But may not the Church be still on earth, while the Jewish remnant thus pour out their souls? What! the one Spirit of God put a prayer for forgiveness of enemies into the heart of one, and inspire another to ask for their destruction! Besides, in the Church there is neither Jew nor Gentile; and the dispensation must be entirely changed before a body of people can be in existence, led of the Spirit to use as their own the language of such psalms as have now been quoted. If there be an interval after the Church is removed, during which the Jewish remnant is formed, and passes through its deep and unparalleled tribulations, looking forward to the coming of Messiah to deliver them, by the destruction of their adversaries and oppressors, all is plain, and easy enough to be understood. Without this, all is one inextricable mass of confusion.

Some one may be ready to say, "But these passages are all in the Old Testament; have we no intimations of like character in the New Testament?" Yes, indeed we have. Turn to Rev. 11: 3-6, where we read of God's two witnesses who are to prophesy in sackcloth twelve hundred and sixty days, that "if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will." Is this the ministry of the gospel of God's grace with which the Church is entrusted? Is there any resemblance between the two? Once, when our Lord was here below, a village of the Samaritans refused to receive him. "And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did?" What was his answer? Did he give them the permission they asked? Nay, "But he turned and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." (Luke 9: 54-56.) How entirely must the dispensation have changed, and how evident that the Church must have been removed from the scene, ere a testimony such as that of the sackcloth witnesses in Rev. 11 can be raised up.

But let us look a little at the entire structure of the Book of Revelation. It is here we shall find the most definite, positive evidence of the fact, that the Church is taken up prior to the judgments under the. seals, trumpets, and vials. We have strong presumptive evidence in what has already been considered. Here we have, as it seems to me, direct and conclusive proof

In Rev. 1: 19, the favoured disciple is thus instructed: "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter," or "after these." The Greek words are meta tauta, which every Greek scholar knows simply and definitely mean, after these. They have not the force of our indefinite expression, hereafter. Meta is the Greek word for "after;" tauta is the Greek word for "these;" and, seeing that it is the neuter plural, it must be "these" things. Here then we have, on the authority of the blessed Lord himself, the division and arrangement of the book of the Apocalypse. "Write the things which thou hast seen" — these we have in Rev. 1, the vision he had beheld at Patmos: "and the things which are" — these we have in Rev. 2 and Rev. 3, the seven churches, with the judgment of their state pronounced by the Son of man: "and the things which shall be after these" — the visions which commence with Rev. 4 and extend to the close of the book. Let us consider these a little more in detail.

As to the first division, "the things which thou hast seen," it needs no remark; it is obviously contained in Rev. 1. "The things which are" — the second division of the book — requires a little more attention. There can be no doubt that the seven letters of Rev. 2 and Rev. 3 were addressed to the seven churches whose names they bear. But why were these seven selected to be thus addressed? Was it not, as very many who have studied prophecy judge, that they were chosen to be thus addressed, as representing in their spiritual condition, and in the warnings, threatenings, exhortations, and promises, needed by them, the whole course of the dispensation? That is, these epistles to the churches were prophetic of the several and (as I for one cannot but conclude) successive states of the church from the time that they were written down to the taking up of the true Church at Christ's coming, and the rejection of the false professing body as a loathsome thing, fit only to be spued out of Christ's mouth. Thus "the things which are" are presented to us in Rev. 2, Rev. 3. Now turn to Rev. 4: 1: "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter," or "after these." It is exactly the same expression as before, meta tauta. So that, this voice that John heard being witness, the third division of the book begins here. "The things which shall be after these" begin to be unfolded in ch. 4. What are these things? Rev. 4, and Rev. 5 present to us a scene in heaven, — a scene which neither answers to the existing state of things in the present dispensation, nor to the state of things in the millennium. The throne of him who is worshipped as "the Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come," is here seen by our apostle, and out of it proceed "lightnings, and thunderings, and voices." Surely this is different from the throne of, grace to which we are now invited to come boldly, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. "Lightnings, and thunderings, and voices," tell of judgment, not of grace. And yet it is evidently not the millennial state; for the seven-sealed book, which has not begun to be opened in Rev. 5, unfolds the judgments which precede the millennium. The Lamb, too, is here in the midst of the throne, and receives from him who sits thereon this seven-sealed book, as the only one in heaven or in earth who prevails to open it. Evidently, then, these two chapters describe a transitional state, an interval between the present dispensation of full grace and the millennial dispensation. The question is, Where is the Church during this interval? The only answer afforded by the Book of Revelation is, IN HEAVEN. Who are they that are symbolised by the twenty-four crowned elders in white raiment, and the four living creatures in these two chapters? Let their song give the answer. "And the sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth." They are clearly not four-and-twenty individuals literally. How could they in that case have been redeemed out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation? They are symbolic personages, representing the whole company of those who are thus redeemed, and who are to reign on the earth. Thus we see that those who are to share Christ's royal glory during the millennium are, during the transitional period between the present dispensation and the millennium, assembled around him in heaven, owning his worthiness, and anticipating their reign with him over the earth. And every glimpse that we have of them in chs. 4, 5, 6, 7, 11: 14, 15, 19 presents them in the same place. As another has beautifully observed: "In ch. 4 we see the living creatures and crowned elders around the central throne of God Almighty in the heavens. The action in the course of the book changes, but the place of these mystic personages never does. They are interested in the action, they sing and rejoice at certain stages of it, but they are never engaged in it, nor leave their high habitation."

My space allows me to notice but one or two points more. Rev. 19: 4, where we have the last mention of the crowned elders and the four living creatures, goes on to inform us of the marriage of the Lamb, his wife having made herself ready. Surely the Church must be complete and in glory, when, as the Lamb's wife, she is ready for the marriage. The marriage is in heaven. After the marriage heaven opens, and the rider upon the white horse comes forth to the final conflict; to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. Now mark the 14th verse: "And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen white and clean." The fine linen has been explained in verse 8 to be "the righteousness of saints." The armies which were in heaven. In Rev. 2, 3 we have a sevenfold presentation of the Church in its responsibility here below. In Rev. 4 to Rev. 19: 4, we find the Church in heaven under the symbols of the elders and living creatures. The seals are opened, the trumpets blown, the vials poured out; all these bring dreadful sorrows on the earth and its inhabitants; but it is from heaven that the Church views the whole, and celebrates the praises of God and the Lamb. While waiting thus in heaven for the time when, with the Lamb, they shall reign over the earth, they are symbolised by the crowned elders and living creatures. But in Rev. 19 the false pretender, Babylon, having been judged, the marriage of the Lamb with the true bride takes place, and we hear no more of the crowned elders and living creatures. The Church, now married to the Lamb, comes in his train when he comes forth, conquering and to conquer. In Rev. 20 the reign takes place, and in Rev. 21: 9 to Rev. 22: 5 we have the Church's glory as the Bride, the Lamb's wife, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. The Church is never seen on earth, or anywhere but in heaven, from the end of Rev. 3 till in Rev. 19 Christ comes forth from heaven, and the armies which were in heaven follow in his train.

One word more. It is the positive promise of Christ in Rev. 3: 10 to those who have kept his word, and not denied his name; "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from (not keep thee in or keep thee through, but keep thee from) the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." Amen.  W. T.