Such is the plain teaching of the New Testament, to which we earnestly

invite the attention of our readers. And let no one suppose that our

object is to find an easy path for Christians in thus teaching, as we

do most emphatically, that the church will not be in "the great

tribulation"--will not come into "the hour of temptation." Nothing of

the kind. The fact is, the true and normal condition of the church,

and therefore of the individual Christian, in this world, is

tribulation. So says our Lord: "In the world ye shall have

tribulation." And again, "We glory in tribulation."

It cannot, therefore, be a question of avoiding that which is our

appointed portion in this world, if only we are true to Christ. But

the fact is, that the entire truth of the church's position and

prospect is involved in this question, and this is our reason for

urging it so upon the prayerful attention of our readers.

The great object of the enemy is to drag down the church of God to an

earthly level--to set Christians entirely astray as to their divinely

appointed hope--to lead them to confound things which God has made to

differ, to occupy them with earthly things--to cause them to so mix up

the _coming_ of Christ for His people with His _appearing_ in

judgment upon the world, that they may not be able to cultivate those

bridal affections and heavenly aspirations which become them as

members of the body of Christ. He would fain have them looking out for

various earthly events to come between them and their own proper hope,

in order that they may not be--as God would have them--ever on the

very tip-toe of expectation, looking out, with ardent desire, for the

appearing of "the bright and morning Star."

Well doth the enemy know what he is about; and surely we ought not to

be ignorant of his devices, but rather give ourselves to the study of

the word of God, and thus learn, as we most surely shall, "the double

bearing" of the glorious fact of the Lord's coming.

"THE COMING" AND "THE DAY."

We must now ask the reader to turn with us for a little to the two

epistles to the Thessalonians. As we have already remarked, these

Christians were converted to the blessed hope of the Lord's return.

They were taught to look for Him day by day. It was not merely the

doctrine of the advent received and held in the mind, but a divine

Person constantly expected by hearts that had learnt to love Him and

long for His coming.

But, as we can easily imagine, the Thessalonian Christians were

ignorant of many things connected with this blessed hope. The apostle

had been "_taken_ from them for a short time, in presence, not in

heart." He had not been allowed to remain long enough amongst them to

instruct them in the details of the subject of their hope. They knew

that Jesus was to return--that self-same blessed One who had

graciously delivered them from the wrath to come. But as to any

distinction between His coming _for_ His people and coming _with_

them--between His "state of presence" and His "appearing"--His

"coming" and His "day," they were, at first, wholly ignorant.

Hence, as might be expected, they fell into various errors and

mistakes. It is wonderful how speedily the human mind wanders away

into the wildest and grossest confusion and error. We need to be

guarded on all sides by the pure, solid, all-adjusting truth of God.

We must have our souls evenly balanced by divine revelation, else we

are sure to plunge into all manner of false and foolish notions. Thus

some of the Thessalonians conceived the idea of giving up their honest

callings. They ceased to labor with their hands, and went about idle.

This was a great mistake. Even though we were perfectly certain that

our Lord would come this very night, it would be no reason why we

should not, most diligently and faithfully, attend to our daily round

of duty, and do all that devolved upon us in that particular sphere in

which His good hand has placed us. So far from this, the very fact of

expecting the blessed Master would strengthen our desire to have

everything done as it ought to be up to the very moment of His return,

so that not so much as a single righteous claim should be left

neglected. In point of fact, the hope of the Lord's speedy return,

when held in power in the soul, is most sanctifying, purifying, and

adjusting in its influence upon Christian life, conduct, and

character. We know, alas! that even this most glorious truth may be

held in the region of the understanding, and flippantly professed with

the lips, while the heart and the life, the course, conduct, and

character, remain wholly unaffected by it. But we are expressly taught

by the inspired Apostle John, that "every man that hath this hope in

him purifieth himself, even as he is pure" (1 John iii. 3). And, most

surely, this "purifying" embraces all that which goes to make up our

whole practical life, from day to day.

But there was another grave mistake into which those dear

Thessalonians fell, and out of which the blessed apostle, like a true

and faithful pastor, sought to recover them. They imagined that their

departed Christian friends would not have part in the joy of the

Lord's return. They feared that they would fail to participate in

that blissful and longed-for moment.

Now while it is quite true that this very mistake proves how vividly

these Christians realized their blessed hope, still it was a mistake,

and needed to be corrected. But let us carefully note the correction:

"I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which

are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For

if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which

sleep in Jesus [or are laid to sleep by Jesus] will God bring with

him."

Mark this. He does not seek to comfort these sorrowing friends by the

assurance that they should, ere long, follow the departed. Quite the

reverse. He assures them that Jesus would bring the departed back with

Him. This is plain and distinct, and founded upon the great fact that

"Jesus died for us and rose again."

But the apostle does not stop here, but goes on to pour a flood of

fresh light upon the understanding of His dear children in the faith.

"For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are

alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent [or

precede] them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend

from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with

the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first [that is,

before the living are changed]. Then we which are alive and remain

shall be caught up together with them in [the] clouds, to meet the

Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore

comfort one another with these words."

Here, then, we have presented to us what is commonly spoken of amongst

us as the rapture of the saints--a most glorious, soul-stirring, and

enrapturing theme surely--the brightest hope of the church of God, and

of the individual believer. The Lord _Himself_ shall descend from

heaven with a summons designed only for the ears and the hearts of His

own. Not one uncircumcised ear shall hear--not one unrenewed heart be

moved by, that heavenly voice, that divine trumpet call. The dead in

Christ, including, as we believe, the Old Testament saints, as well

as those of the New, who shall have departed in the faith of

Christ--all those shall hear the blessed sound, and come forth from

their sleeping places. All the living saints shall hear it, and be

changed in a moment. And oh! what a change! The poor crumbling

tabernacle of clay exchanged for a glorified body, like unto the body

of Jesus.

Look at yonder bent and withered frame--that body racked with pain,

and worn out with years of acute suffering. It is the body of a saint.

How humiliating to see it like that! Yes; but wait a little. Let but

the trumpet sound, and in one moment that poor crushed and withered

frame shall be changed, and made like to the glorified body of the

descending Lord.

And there, in yonder lunatic asylum, is a poor lunatic. He has been

there for years. He is a saint of God. How mysterious! True; we cannot

fathom the mystery; it lies beyond our present narrow range. But so it

is; that poor lunatic is a saint of God, an heir of glory. He too

shall hear the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, and leave

his lunacy behind him for ever, while he mounts into the heavens, in

his glorified body, to meet his descending Lord.

Oh! reader, what a brilliant moment! How many sick chambers and beds

of languishing shall be vacant then! What marvellous changes shall

then take place! How the heart bounds at the thought, and longs to

sing, in full chorus, that lovely hymn,

"Christ, the Lord, will come again,

None shall wait for Him in vain;

I shall then His glory see:

Christ will come and call for me.

"Then, when the archangel's voice

Calls the sleeping saints to rise,

Rising millions shall proclaim

Blessings on the Saviour's name.

"'This is our redeeming God!'

Ransomed hosts will shout aloud:

Praise, eternal praise, be given.

To the Lord of earth and heaven!"

Amen and amen!

How glorious the thought of those "rising millions!" How truly

delightful to be amongst them! How precious the hope of seeing that

blessed One who loveth us and who gave Himself for us! Such is the

hope of the Christian, a hope concerning which there is not a single

line from cover to cover of the Old Testament. "The word of prophecy"

is of all importance. We do well to take heed to it. It is an

unspeakable mercy for those who find themselves in a dark place to

have a bright lamp to cast its light athwart the gloom. But let the

Christian bear in mind that what he wants is to have "the day star

arising in his heart;" in other words, to have his whole heart

governed by the hope of seeing Jesus as the bright and morning Star.

When the heart is thus filled and ruled by the proper Christian hope,

then the eye can intelligently scan the prophetic chart: it can take

in the whole field of prophecy as our God has graciously opened it

before us, and find interest and profit in every page and in every

line. But, on the other hand, we may rest assured that the man who

looks into prophecy in order to find the church or its hope there has

his face turned the wrong way. He will find "the Jew" there, and

"Gentile" there, but not "the church of God." We earnestly trust that

not one of our readers will fail to lay hold of this fact--a fact, we

may safely say, of the very deepest moment.

But it will perhaps be asked, "Of what use, then, is prophecy? If

indeed it be true that we cannot find aught about the church on the

prophetic page, of what possible use can it be to Christians? Why

should we be told to take heed to it if it does not immediately

concern us?" We reply, Is nothing of any value to us save what

immediately concerns ourselves? Shall we take no interest in anything

unless we ourselves form the immediate subject thereof? Is it nothing

to us to have the counsels and purposes and plans of God laid open

before us? Do we lightly esteem the high favor of having the thoughts

of God communicated to us in His holy word of prophecy? Surely it was

not thus that Abraham treated the divine communications made to him

in Genesis xviii.: "Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?"

And what was that thing? Did it immediately concern Abraham? Not at

all. It concerned Sodom and the neighboring cities, and Abraham had no

stake in them. But did that prevent his interest in the divine

communication. Did it hinder his appreciation of the mark of special

favor in his being made the honored and trusted depository of the

thoughts of God? Surely not. We may safely assert that the faithful

patriarch highly esteemed the privilege conferred upon him.

And so should we. We should study prophecy with all the interest

arising from the fact that therein we have unfolded to us, with divine

precision, what God is about to do on this earth with Israel and with

the nations. Prophecy is God's history of the future; and just in

proportion as we love Him shall we delight to study His history; not

indeed, as some have said, that we may know its truth by its

fulfilment, but that we may possess all that absolute, that divine

certainty as to the future which God's word is capable of imparting.

Nothing can be more absurd, in the judgment of faith, than to suppose

that we must wait until the accomplishment of a prophecy to know that

it is true. What an insult offered--unwittingly, no doubt--to the

peerless revelation of our God.

But we must now turn, for a moment, to the solemn subject of "The Day

of the Lord." This is a term of frequent occurrence in Old Testament

Scriptures. We cannot attempt to quote all the passages; but we shall

refer to one or two, and then the reader can follow up the subject for

himself.

In Isaiah ii. we read, "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.... 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_. 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 he ariseth to shake terribly the earth."

So also in Joel ii. "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm

in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for

the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand. A day of darkness

and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the

morning spread upon the mountains; a great people and a strong; there

has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even

to the years of many generations; ... the earth shall quake before

them; the heavens shall tremble; the sun and the moon shall be dark,

and the stars shall withdraw their shining; ... for the day of the

Lord is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?"

From these and similar passages, we learn that "the day of the Lord"

stands associated with the deeply solemn thought of judgment upon the

world--upon apostate Israel--upon man and his ways--upon all that

which the human heart prizes and longs after. In short, the day of the

Lord stands in striking contrast with man's day. Man has the upper

hand now, the Lord will have the upper hand then.

Now, while it is perfectly true that all the Lord's people can rejoice

in the prospect of that day, which, though it will open in judgment

upon the world, shall, nevertheless, be marked by the universal reign

of righteousness; yet we must remember that the peculiar hope of the

Christian is not the day with its awful accompaniments of judgment,

wrath, and terror; but the coming or presence of Jesus, with its

precious accompaniments of peace and joy, love and glory. The church

shall have met her Lord, and returned with Him to the Father's house,

before that terrible day bursts upon the world. It will be her

blissful portion to taste the ineffable communion of that heavenly

home, for an indefinite period previous to the opening of the day of

the Lord. Her eyes shall be gladdened by the sight of "the bright and

morning Star," long before even "the Sun of righteousness" shall

arise, in healing virtue, upon the pious portion of the nation of

Israel--the God-fearing remnant of the seed of Abraham.

We are intensely anxious that the Christian reader should thoroughly

enter into this grand and important distinction. We feel persuaded

that it will have an immense effect upon all his thoughts and views

and hopes of the future. It will enable him to see, without a single

intervening cloud, his true prospect as a Christian. It will deliver

him from all mist, vagueness, and confusion; and further, it will

divest his mind of all that feeling of dread with which so many even

of the Lord's dear people contemplate the future. It will teach him to

look for the Saviour--the blessed Bridegroom--the everlasting Lover of

his soul, and not for judgments and terror, eclipses and earthquakes,

convulsions and revolutions, it will keep his spirit tranquil and

happy, in the sure and certain hope of being with Jesus, ere that

great and terrible day of the Lord come.

See how the faithful apostle labored to lead his dear Thessalonian

converts into the clear understanding of the difference of "the

coming" and "the day."

"But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I

write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord

so cometh as a thief in the night. For when _they_ [not ye] shall say,

Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail

upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,

are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye

are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not

of the night, nor of darkness"--The Lord be praised!--"Therefore let

us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they

that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that are drunken, are drunken

in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the

breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet, the hope of

salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain

salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we

wake or sleep [that is, are dead or alive] we should live together

with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together and edify one another,

even as also ye do" (1 Thessalonians v. 1-11).

Here we have the distinction set forth with unmistakable clearness.

The Lord Himself shall come for us as the Bridegroom. The day of the

Lord shall come upon the world as a thief. Is it possible for contrast

to be more striking? How can any one confound these two things? They

are as distinct as any two things can be. A bridegroom and a thief are

surely two different things; and just as different are the coming of

the Lord for His waiting people and the coming of His day upon a

slumbering or intoxicated world.

Some perhaps may find a difficulty in the fact that the church in

Sardis is addressed in such solemn words as these, "If therefore thou

shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not

know what hour I will come upon thee" (Rev. iii. 3). The difficulty

will vanish when we reflect that, in the case of Sardis, the

professing body is looked upon as having a mere name to live while

dead. It has sunk to the level of the world, and can only see things

from the world's standpoint. The church has failed utterly; it has

fallen from its high and holy position; it is under judgment; it

cannot therefore be cheered by the church's proper hope; but is

threatened by the world's terrible doom. We do not see the church here

as the body or bride of Christ, but as the responsible witness for God

on the earth--the golden candlestick which ought to have held forth

the divine light of testimony in this dark world, in the absence of

her Lord. But alas! the professing church has sunk lower and become

darker than even the world itself. Hence the solemn threatening. The

exception confirms the rule.

We shall proceed with this subject as presented in 2 Thessalonians.

It is a fact full of the richest comfort and consolation to the heart

of a true believer, that our God, in His marvellous grace, ever makes

the eater to yield meat, and the strong, sweetness. He brings light

out of darkness, life out of death, and causes the bright beams of His

glory to shine amid the most disastrous ruin caused by the enemy's

hand. The truth of this is illustrated on every page of the inspired

volume, and it should fill our hearts with peace and our mouths with

praise.

Hence it is that the varied doctrinal errors and practical evils, into

which the early Christians were permitted to fall, have been overruled

of God, and used for the instruction, guidance, and solid profit of

the church to the close of her earthly history.

Thus, for example, the error of the Thessalonian Christians in

reference to their departed brethren was made the occasion of pouring

such a flood of divine light upon the Lord's coming, and upon the

rapture of the saints, that it is impossible for any simple mind that

bows to Scripture ever to fall into a similar mistake. They looked for

the Lord to come, and in that they were right. They expected Him to

set up His kingdom on the earth, and in that they were right, as to

the broad fact.

But they made a great mistake in leaving out the heavenly side of this

glorious hope. Their intelligence was defective--their faith lacking.

They did not see the two parts--the double bearing of the advent of

Christ--His descent into the air to receive His people to Himself, and

His appearing in glory to set up His kingdom in manifested power.

Hence they feared that their departed brethren would necessarily be

absent from the sphere of blessing--the circle of glory. This mistake

is divinely corrected, as we have seen, in the first epistle, chapter

iv. The heavenly side of the hope--the Christian's proper portion--is

placed before the heart as the true corrective for the error in

reference to the sleeping saints. Christ will gather all (and not

merely part of) His people to Himself; and if there is to be any

advantage--a shade of difference in the matter--it will be on the side

of those very people about whom they were mourning. "The dead in

Christ shall rise first."

But from the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians we learn that those

dear young converts had been led into another grave error--an error,

not as to the dead, but as to the living--a mistake, not respecting

"the coming," but respecting "the day of the Lord." In the one case

they feared that the dead would not participate in thy blissful

triumph of "the coming;" and in the other case they feared that the

living were actually, at the very moment, involved in the terrors of

the day.

Such is the mistake with which the inspired apostle deals in his

second letter to the Thessalonian believers; and nothing can exceed

the tenderness and delicacy, and yet withal the wisdom and

faithfulness of his dealing.

The Christians at Thessalonica were passing through intense

persecution and tribulation; and it is very evident that the enemy, by

means of false teachers, sought to upset their minds, by leading them

to think that "the great and terrible day of the Lord" had actually

arrived, and that the troubles through which they were passing were

the accompaniments of that day. If this were so the entire teaching of

the apostle was proved false; for if there was one truth that shone

forth more brightly and prominently in his teaching than another, it

was the association and identification of believers with Christ--an

association so intimate, an identification so close, that it was

impossible for Christ to appear in glory without His people. "When

Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with

him in glory." But He must appear in order to introduce "the day."

Furthermore, when the day of the Lord does actually arrive it will not

be to trouble His people, but, on the contrary, to trouble their

persecutors. Of this the apostle reminds them, in the most simple,

forcible manner, in his very opening lines: "We are bound to thank God

always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith

groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward

each other aboundeth, so that we ourselves glory in you in the

churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions

and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the

righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the

kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: seeing _it is a righteous

thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and

to you who are troubled rest with us_, when the Lord Jesus shall be

revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking

vengeance on them that know not God [Gentiles], and that obey not the

gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ [Jews]" (chapter i. 3-8).

Thus, not only was the Christian position involved in this matter, but

the very glory of God--His actual righteousness. If, indeed, the day

of the Lord brought tribulation to Christians, then was there no truth

in the doctrine--the grand prominent doctrine of Paul's teaching--that

Christ and His people are one; and moreover it would impugn the

righteousness of God. In short, then, if Christians were in

tribulation, it was morally impossible that the day of the Lord could

have set in, for when that day comes, it will be rest for believers,

as their public recompense, in the kingdom--not merely in the Father's

house; which is not the point here. The tables will be completely

turned. The church will be in rest, the church's troublers in

tribulation. During man's day, the church is called to tribulation;

but in the day of the Lord all will be reversed.

Let the reader note this carefully. It is not the question of

Christians suffering tribulation. They are actually called to it in

this world, so long as wickedness has the upper hand. Christ suffered,

and so must they. But the point we want to fasten upon the mind and

heart of the Christian is, that when Christ comes to set up His

kingdom, it is utterly impossible that His people can be in trouble.

Thus the entire teaching of the enemy, by which he sought to upset the

Thessalonian believers, was proved to be utterly fallacious. The

apostle sweeps away the very foundation of the whole fabric by the

simple statement of the precious truth of God. This is the divine way

of delivering people from false notions and vain fears. Give them the

truth, and error must flee before it. Let in the sunshine of God's

eternal word, and all the mists and clouds of false doctrine must be

rolled away.

But let us, for a moment, examine the further teaching of our apostle,

in this remarkable writing. In so doing, we shall see how thoroughly

he establishes the distinction between "the coming" and "the day"--a

distinction which the reader will do well to ponder.

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by [or on the ground of] the coming of

our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto him, that ye be

not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by

word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of the Lord is

present."[26]

[26] We have no pretensions whatever to scholarship; we are merely

gleaners in the deeply interesting field of criticism in which others

have reaped a golden harvest. We do not mean to occupy our readers

with arguments in defence of readings given in the text; but we feel

that there is no use in giving them what we consider to be erroneous.

We believe there is no doubt whatever that the true reading of 2

Thessalonians ii. is as we have given it above, "as that the day of

the Lord is present." The word ενεστηκεν can only be thus rendered.

It occurs in Romans viii. 38, where it is translated "things _present_."

So also in 1 Corinthians iii. 22, "things _present_;" chapter vii. 25,

"_present_ distress;" Galatians i. 4, "_present_ evil world;" Hebrews

ix. 9, "time then _present_."

Now, apart altogether from the question of various readings, a

moment's reflection will suffice to show the simple minded Christian

that the apostle could not possibly mean to teach the Thessalonians

that the day of the Lord was not, even then, at hand. Scripture can

never contradict itself. No one sentence of divine revelation can

possibly collide with another. But if the reading given in our

excellent Authorized Version were correct, it would stand in direct

opposition to Romans xiii. 12, where we are plainly and expressly told

that "the day is at hand." What "day?" The day of the Lord, most

surely, which is always the term used in connection with our

individual responsibility in walk and service.

This, we may remark in passing, is a point of much interest and

practical value. If the reader will take the trouble to examine the

various passages in which "the day" is spoken of, he will find that

they have reference, more or less, to the question of work, service or

responsibility. For instance, "That ye may be blameless [not at the

_coming_, but] in the _day_ of our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Cor. i. 8).

Again, "Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the _day_ shall

declare it" (1 Cor. iii. 13). "Without offence till the day of Christ"

(Phil. i. 10). "Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of

righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at

_that day_" (2 Timothy iv. 8).

From all these passages, and many more which might be adduced, we

learn that "the day of the Lord" will be the grand time for reckoning

with the workers; for the divine appraisal of service; for the

settling of all questions of personal responsibility; for the

distribution of rewards--the "ten cities" and the "five cities."

Thus, wherever we turn, in whatever way we look at the subject, we are

more and more confirmed in the truth of the clear distinction between

our Lord's "coming," or "state of presence," and His "appearing," or

"day." The former is ever held up before the heart as the bright and

blessed hope of the believer, which may be realized at any moment. The

latter is pressed rather upon the conscience, in deep solemnity, as

bearing upon the entire practical career of those who are set in this

world to work and witness for an absent Lord. Scripture never

confounds these things, however much we may do it; nor is there a

single sentence from cover to cover of the holy volume which teaches

that believers are not always to be looking out for the coming of the

Lord, and eager to bear in mind that "the day is at hand." It is only

"that evil servant"--referred to in our Lord's discourse in Matthew

xxiv.--that "says in his heart, My Lord delayeth his coming;" and

there we see the terrible results which must ever flow from the

harboring of such a thought in the heart.

We shall now return for a moment to 2 Thessalonians ii.--a passage of

Scripture which has given rise to much discussion amongst prophetic

expositors, and presented considerable difficulty to the students of

prophecy.

It is very evident that the false teachers had been seeking to disturb

the minds of the Thessalonians by leading them to think that they

were, even then, surrounded by the terrors of the day of the Lord. Not

so, says the apostle; that cannot be. Before ever that day opens we

must all be gathered to meet the Lord in the air. He beseeches them,

on the ground (υπερ) of the Lord's coming and our gathering together

unto Him, not to be troubled about the day. He had already opened to

them the heavenly side of the Lord's coming. He had taught them that

they, as Christians, belonged to the day; that their home and their

portion and their hope were all in that very region from which the day

was to shine out. It was wholly impossible, therefore, that the day of

the Lord could involve any terror or trouble to those who were

actually, through grace, the sons of the day.

But, further, even in looking at the subject from the earthly side of

it, the false teachers were all wrong. "Let no man deceive you by any

means: for [that day shall not come] except there come a falling away

first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 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. Remember ye not that when I was with you I

told you these things. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might

be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already

work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the

way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall

consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the

brightness of his coming [or the appearing of his presence]. Even him

whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs

and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in

them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,

that they might be saved" (verses 3-10).

Here, then, we are taught that ere the day of the Lord arrives, the

lawless one, the man of sin, the son of perdition, must be revealed.

The mystery of iniquity must rise to a head. Man shall set himself up

in open opposition to God, nay, shall even assume to himself the name

and the worship of God. All this has to be developed on the earth

before that great and terrible day of the Lord shall burst in judgment

upon the scene. For the present there is a barrier, a hindrance to the

manifestation of this awful personage. We are not told here what this

barrier or hindrance is. God may vary it at different times.[27] But we

learn, most distinctly, from the book of Revelation that ere the

mystery of iniquity culminates in the person of the man of sin, the

church shall have been removed from this scene altogether. It is

impossible to read, with an enlightened eye, Revelation iv., v. and

not see that the church shall be in the very innermost circle of

heavenly glory ere a single seal is opened, a single trumpet sounded,

a single vial poured out. We do not believe that any one can

understand the book of the Apocalypse who does not see this.

[27] Some have considered that the hinderer or hindrance was the Roman

empire; others that it is the Holy Ghost in the church. To this latter

we have inclined for many years, though it may be there is a measure

of truth in the former. This, at least, we know from other parts of

Scripture, that ere the lawless one appears on the scene, the church

will have been safely and blessedly housed in her own eternal home

above--her prepared place. How precious the thought of this!

We may have occasion to go more freely into this profoundly

interesting point by-and-by. We can only now entreat the reader to

study the subject for himself. Let him ponder Revelation iv., v., and

ask God to interpret their precious contents to his soul. In this way

we feel persuaded that he will learn that the twenty-four crowned

elders set forth the heavenly saints, who shall be gathered round the

Lamb, in glory, before a single line of the prophetic portion of the

book is fulfilled.

And here we must close this paper; but ere doing so we should like to

put a very plain question to the reader--a question which can only be

answered rightly in the immediate presence of God. It is this, What

is it thou art looking for? What is thy hope? Art thou looking forward

to certain events which are to transpire on this earth, such as the

revival of the Roman empire, the development of the ten kingdoms; the

gathering back of the Jews to their own land of Palestine; the

rebuilding of Jerusalem; the appearance of Antichrist; the great

tribulation; and finally, the appalling judgments which shall, most

surely, usher in the day of the Lord?

Say, beloved friend, are these the things which fill the vision of thy

soul? Is it for these thou art looking and waiting? If so, be assured

of it thou art not governed by the church's proper hope. It is quite

true that all these things which we have named shall come to pass in

their appointed time; but not one of them should be allowed to come

between thee and thy proper hope. They all stand on the prophetic

page: they are all recorded in God's history of the future; but they

were never intended to cast a shadow athwart the Christian's bright

and blessed hope. That hope stands forth in glorious relief from the

background of prophecy. What is it? Yes, we again say, what is it? It

is the appearing of the bright and morning Star--the coming of the

Lord Jesus, the blessed Bridegroom of the church.

This, and naught else, is the true and proper hope of the church of

God. "I will give him the morning star" (Rev. ii. 23). "Behold the

bridegroom cometh" (Matt. xxv.). When, we may ask, does the morning

star appear in the natural world? Just before the dawning of the day.

Who sees it? The one who has been watching during the dark and dreary

hours of the night. How plain, how practical, how telling the

application? The church is supposed to be watching--to be lovingly

wakeful--to be looking out--to be putting forth that inquiry of the

intensely longing heart, "Why tarry the wheels of his chariot?" Alas!

the church has failed in this. But that is no reason why the

individual believer should not be in the full present power of the

blessed hope. "Let _him_ that heareth say, Come." This is deeply

personal. Oh! that the writer and the reader of these lines may

realize habitually the purifying, sanctifying, elevating power of this

heavenly hope! May we understand and exhibit the practical power of

those words of the apostle John, "Every man that hath this hope in him

purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

THE TWO RESURRECTIONS

It may be that some of our readers will feel startled by the title of

this paper. Accustomed, from their earliest days, to look at this

great question through the medium of Christendom's standards of

doctrine and confessions of faith, the idea of two resurrections has

never once entered their minds. Nevertheless Scripture does speak, in

the most distinct and unequivocal terms, of a "resurrection of life,"

and a "resurrection of judgment"--two resurrections, distinct in

character, and distinct in time.

And not only so, but it informs us that there will be at least a

thousand years between the two. If men teach otherwise--if they build

up systems of divinity, and set forth creeds and confessions of faith

contrary to the direct and positive teaching of holy Scripture, they

must settle that with their Lord, as must all who commit themselves to

their guidance. But remember, reader, it is your bounden duty and ours

to hearken only to the authority of the word of God, and to bow down,

in unqualified submission, to its holy teaching.

Let us, then, reverently inquire, what saith the Scripture on the

subject indicated at the head of this article? May God the Spirit

guide and instruct!

We shall first quote that remarkable passage in chapter v. of John's

Gospel: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and

believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not

come into judgment; but is passed from death unto life. 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. For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the

Son to have life in himself; and hath given him authority to execute

judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 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 judgment."[28]

[28] The English reader should be informed that, in the entire passage,

John v. 22-26, the words "judgment," "condemnation," "damnation," are

all expressed by the same word in the original, and that word is

simply "judgment," κρισις, the process, not the result. It

is much to be deplored that our Authorized Version should not have so

rendered the word throughout. It would have made the teaching of the

passage so very much clearer. It is with extreme reluctance that we

ever venture to touch our unrivalled English Bible, but it is, at

times, absolutely necessary for the truth's sake, and for the sake of

our readers. As to the rendering of verse 24, it really comes to the

same thing whether we say "condemnation" or "judgment," inasmuch as if

there be judgment at all, its issue must be condemnation. But why not

be accurate?

Here, then, we have, indicated in the most unmistakable terms, the two

resurrections. True, they are not distinguished as to time, in this

passage; but they are as to character. We have a _life_ resurrection;

and a _judgment_ resurrection, and nothing can be more distinct than

these. There is no possible ground here on which to build the theory

of a promiscuous resurrection. The resurrection of believers will be

eclectic; it will be on the same principle, and partake of the same

character as the resurrection of our blessed and adorable Lord; it

will be a resurrection from among the dead. It will be an act of

divine power, founded upon accomplished redemption, whereby God will

interpose on behalf of His sleeping saints, and raise them up from

among the dead, leaving the rest of the dead in their graves for a

thousand years (Revelation xx. 5).

There is an interesting passage in Mark ix. which throws great light

on this subject. The opening verses contain the record of the

transfiguration; and then we read, "As they came down from the

mountain, he charged them that they should tell no man what things

they had seen, till the Son of man were risen from the dead. And they

kept that saying with themselves, questioning one with another what

the rising from [εκ, from among] the dead should mean."

The disciples felt that there was something special, something

entirely beyond the ordinary orthodox idea of the resurrection of the

dead, and verily so there was, though they understood it not then. It

lay beyond their range of vision at that moment.

But let us turn to Philippians iii., and hearken to the breathings of

one who thoroughly entered into and appreciated this grand Christian

doctrine, and fondly cherished this glorious and heavenly hope. "That

I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship

of his sufferings, being made conformable untεκo his death: if by any

means I might attain unto the resurrection from among the dead"

[εξαναστασιν] (verses 10, 11).

A moment's just reflection will suffice to convince the reader that

the apostle is not speaking here of the great broad truth of "the

resurrection of the dead," inasmuch as every one must rise again. But

there was something specific before the heart of this dear servant of

Christ, namely, "a resurrection from among the dead"--an eclectic

resurrection--a resurrection formed on the model of Christ's

resurrection. It was for this he longed continually. This was the

bright and blessed hope that shone upon his soul and cheered him amid

the sorrows and trials, the toils and the difficulties, the buffetings

and the conflicts of his extraordinary career.

But, it may be asked, "Does the apostle always use this distinguishing

little word (εκ) when speaking of resurrection?" Not

always. Turn, for example, to Acts xxiv. 15: "And have hope toward

God, which they themselves also allow, that there shall be a

resurrection of the dead, both of the just and unjust." Here, there is

no word to indicate the Christian or heavenly side of the subject, for

the simplest possible reason that the apostle was speaking to those

who were utterly incapable of entering into the Christian's proper

hope--far more incapable than even the disciples in Mark ix. How could

he possibly unbosom himself in the presence of such men as Tertullus,

Ananias, and Felix? How could he speak to them of his own specific and

fondly cherished hope? No; he could only take his stand on the great

broad truth of resurrection, common to all orthodox Jews. Had he

spoken of a "resurrection from among the dead," he could not have

added the words, "which they themselves also allow," for they did not

"allow" anything of the kind.

But oh! what a contrast between this precious servant of Christ,

defending himself from his accusers, in Acts xxiv., and unbosoming

himself to his beloved brethren, in Philippians iii.! To the latter he

can speak of the true Christian hope in the full-orbed light which the

glory of Christ pours upon it. He can give utterance to the inmost

thoughts, feelings, and aspirations of that great, large, loving

heart, with its earnest throbbings after the life-resurrection in the

which he shall be satisfied as he wakes up in the likeness of his

blessed Lord.

But we must return, for a moment, to our first quotation, from John v.

It may perhaps present a difficulty to some of our readers in laying

hold of the truth of the Christian's hope of resurrection, that our

Lord makes use of the word "hour" in speaking of the two classes.

"How," it is argued, "can there be a thousand years between the two

resurrections, when our Lord expressly tells us that all shall occur

within the limits of an hour?"

To this question we have a double reply. In the first place, we find

our Lord making use of the self-same word, "hour," at verse 25, where

He is speaking of the great and glorious work of quickening dead

souls. "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."

Now, here we have a work which has been going on for nearly nineteen

long centuries. During all that time, here spoken of as an "hour," the

voice of Jesus, the Son of God, has been heard calling precious souls

from death to life. If, therefore, in the very same discourse, our

Lord used the word "hour" when speaking of a period which has already

extended to well-nigh two thousand years, what difficulty can there be

in applying the word to a period of one thousand years?

Surely, none whatever, as we judge. But even if any little difficulty

yet remained it must be thoroughly met by the direct testimony of the

Holy Ghost in Revelation xx., where we read, "But the rest of the dead

lived not again till the thousand years were finished. _This is the

first resurrection._ Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the

first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they

shall be priests of God, and of Christ, and shall reign with him a

thousand years" (verses 5, 6).

This settles the question absolutely and forever, for all those who

are willing to be taught exclusively by holy Scripture, as every true

Christian ought to be. There will be two resurrections, the first and

the second: and there will be a thousand years between the two. To the

former belong all the Old Testament saints--referred to in Hebrews

xii. under the title of the spirits of just men made perfect--then the

church of the firstborn ones--and finally all those who shall be put

to death during "the great tribulation," and throughout the entire

period between the rapture of the saints and the appearing of Christ

in judgment upon the beast and his armies, in Revelation xix.

To the latter, on the other hand, belong all those who shall have died

in their sins, from the days of Cain, in Genesis iv., down to the last

apostate from millennial glory, in Revelation xx.

How solemn is all this! How real! How soul-subduing! If our Lord were

to come to-night what a scene would be enacted in all our cemeteries

and graveyards! What tongue, what pen can portray--what heart can

conceive--the grand realities of such a moment? There are thousands of

tombs in which lie mingled the ashes of the dead _in_ Christ and the

ashes of the dead _out_ of Christ. In many a family vault may be

found the ashes of both. Well, then, when the voice of the archangel

is heard all the sleeping saints shall rise from their graves, leaving

behind them those who have died in their sins, to remain in the

darkness and silence of the tomb for a thousand years.

Yes, reader, such is the direct and simple testimony of the word of

God. True, it does not enter into any curious details. It does not

furnish any food for a morbid imagination or idle curiosity. But it

sets forth the solemn and weighty fact of a first and second

resurrection--a resurrection of life and everlasting glory, and a

resurrection of judgment and everlasting misery. There is, positively,

no such thing in Scripture as a promiscuous resurrection--a common

rising of all at the same time. We must abandon this idea altogether,

like many others which we have received to hold, in which we have been

trained from our earliest days, which have grown with our growth and

strengthened with our strength, until they have become actually

ingrained as a part of our very mental, moral, and religious

constitution, so that to part with them is like the sundering of limb

from limb, or rending the flesh from our bones.

Nevertheless it must be done if we really desire to grow in the

knowledge of divine revelation. There is no greater hindrance to our

getting into the thoughts of God than having our minds filled with our

own thoughts, or the thoughts of men. Thus, for example, in reference

to the subject of this paper, almost all of us have, at one time, held

the opinion that all will rise together, both believers and

unbelievers, and all stand together to be judged. Whereas, when we

come to Scripture, like a little child, nothing can be simpler,

nothing clearer, nothing more explicit than its teaching as to this

question. Revelation xx. 5 teaches us that there will be an interval

of a thousand years between the resurrection of the saints and the

resurrection of the wicked.

It is of no use to speak of a resurrection of spirits. Indeed it is a

manifest piece of absurdity; for inasmuch as spirits cannot die they

cannot be raised from the dead. Equally absurd is it to speak of a

resurrection of principles. There is no such thing in Scripture. The

language is as plain as plainness itself. "The rest of the dead lived

not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first

resurrection." Why should any one seek to set aside the plain force of

such a passage? Why not bow to it? Why not get rid, at once, of all

our old and fondly cherished notions, and receive with meekness the

engrafted word?

Reader, does it not seem plain to thee that if Scripture speaks of a

_first_ resurrection, then it must follow that all will not rise

together? Why should it be said, "Blessed and holy is he that hath

part in the first resurrection," if all are to rise at the same time?

In fact it seems to us impossible for any unprejudiced mind to study

the New Testament and yet hold to the theory of a promiscuous

resurrection. It is due to the glory of Christ, the Head, that His

members should have a specific resurrection--a resurrection like His

own--a resurrection from among the dead. And verily, so they shall.

"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. 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. O, death, where is thy

sting? O, grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and

the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God which giveth us

the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved

brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of

the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not in vain in the

Lord" (1 Corinthians xv.).

THE JUDGMENT

There is something peculiarly painful in the thought of having so

frequently to come in collision with the generally received opinions

of the professing church. It looks presumptuous to contradict, on so

many subjects, all the great standards and creeds of Christendom. But

what is one to do? Were it indeed a mere question of human opinion it

might seem a piece of bold and unwarrantable temerity for any one

individual to set himself in direct opposition to the established

faith of the whole professing church--a faith which has held sway for

centuries over the minds of millions.

But we would ever impress upon our readers the fact that it is not at

all a question of human opinion or of a difference of judgment amongst

even the very best of men. It is entirely a question as to the

teaching and authority of holy Scripture. There have been, and there

are, and there will be, schools of doctrine, varieties of opinion, and

shades of thought; but it is the obvious duty of every child of God

and every servant of Christ to bow down in holy reverence, and hearken

to the voice of God in Scripture. If it be merely a matter of human

authority, it must simply go for what it is worth; but, on the other

hand, if it be a matter of divine authority, then all discussion is

closed, and our place--the place of all--is to bow and believe.

Thus, in our last paper we were led to see that there is no such thing

in Scripture as a general resurrection--a common rising of all at the

same time. We trust our readers have, like the Bereans of old,

searched the Scriptures as to this, and that they are now prepared to

accompany us in our examination of the word of God as to the subject

of the judgment.

The great question at the outset is this, Does Scripture teach the

doctrine of a general judgment? Christendom holds it; but does

Scripture teach it? Let us see.

In the first place, as to the Christian individually, and the church

of God, collectively, the New Testament sets forth the precious truth

that there is no judgment at all. So far as the believer is concerned

judgment is past and gone. The heavy cloud of judgment has burst upon

the head of our divine Sin-bearer. He has exhausted, on our behalf,

the cup of wrath and judgment, and planted us on the new ground of

resurrection, to which judgment can never, by any possibility, apply.

It is just as impossible that a member of the body of Christ can come

into judgment as that the divine Head Himself can do so. This seems a

very strong statement to make; but is it true? If so, its strength is

part of its moral value and glory.

For what, let us ask, was Jesus judged on the cross? For His people.

He was made sin for us. He represented us there. He stood in our

stead. He bore all that was due to us. Our entire condition, with all

its belongings, was dealt with in the death of Christ; and so dealt

with that it is utterly impossible that any question can ever be

raised. Has God any question to settle with Christ, the Head? Clearly

not. Well, then, neither has He any question to settle with the

members. Every question is divinely and definitively settled, and, in

proof of the settlement, the Head is crowned with glory and honor, and

seated at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens.

Hence, to suppose that Christians are to come to judgment, at any

time, or on any ground, or for any object whatsoever, is to deny the

very foundation truth of Christianity, and to contradict the plain

words of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has expressly declared, in

reference to all who believe in Him, that they "shall not come into

judgment" (John v. 24).

In point of fact, the idea of Christians being arraigned at the bar of

judgment to try the question of their title and fitness for heaven is

as absurd as it is unscriptural. For example, how can we think of Paul

or the penitent thief standing to be judged as to their title to

heaven after having been there already for nearly two thousand years?

But thus it must be if there be any truth in the theory of a general

judgment. If the great question of our title to heaven has to be

settled at the day of judgment, then clearly it was not settled on the

cross; and if it was not settled on the cross, then most surely we

shall be damned; for if we are to be judged at all it must be

according to our works, and the only possible issue of such a judgment

is the lake of fire.

If, however, it be maintained that Christians shall only stand in the

judgment in order to make it manifest that they are clear through the

death of Christ, then would the day of judgment be turned into a mere

formality, the bare thought of which is most revolting to every pious

and well regulated mind.

But, in truth, there is no need of reasoning on the point. One

sentence of holy Scripture is better far than ten thousand of man's

most cogent arguments. Our Lord Christ hath declared, in the clearest

and most emphatic terms, that believers "shall not come into

judgment." This is enough. The believer was judged over eighteen

hundred years ago in the Person of his Head; and to bring him into

judgment again would be to ignore completely the cross of Christ in

its atoning efficacy; and most assuredly God will not, cannot allow

this. The very feeblest believer may say, in thankfulness and triumph,

"So far as I am concerned, all that had to be judged is judged

already. Every question that had to be settled is settled. Judgment is

past and gone forever. I know my work must be tried, my service

appraised; but as to myself, my person, my standing, my title, all is

divinely settled. The Man who answered for me on the tree is now

crowned on the throne; and the crown which He wears is the proof that

there remains no judgment for me. I am waiting for a life

resurrection."

This, and nothing short of this, is the proper language of the

Christian. It is simply due to the work of the cross that the believer

should thus feel and thus express himself. For such a one to be

looking forward to the day of judgment for a settlement of the

question of his eternal destiny is to dishonor his Lord and deny the

efficacy of His atoning sacrifice. It may sound like humility and

savor of piety to hover in doubt. But we may rest assured that all who

harbor doubts, all who live in a state of uncertainty, all who are

looking forward to the day of judgment for a final settlement of their

affairs, all such are more occupied with themselves than with Christ.

They have not yet understood the application of the cross to their

sins and to their nature. They are doubting the word of God and the

work of Christ, and this is not Christianity. There is--there can

be--no judgment for those who, sheltered by the cross, have planted a

firm foot on the new and everlasting ground of resurrection. For such

all judgment is over forever, and nothing remains but a prospect of

cloudless glory and everlasting blessedness in the presence of God and

of the Lamb.

However, it is not at all improbable that all this while the mind of

the reader has been recurring to Matthew xxv. 31-46 as a Scripture

which directly establishes the theory of a general judgment; and we

feel it to be our sacred duty to turn with him for a moment to that

very solemn and important passage; at the same time reminding him of

the fact that no one Scripture can possibly clash with another, and

hence if we read, in John v. 24, that believers shall not come into

judgment, we cannot read in Matthew xxv. that they shall. This is a

fixed and invulnerable principle--a general rule to which there is,

and can be, no exception. Nevertheless, let us turn to Matthew xxv.

"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels

with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory. And before

him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from

another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats."

Now, it is most necessary to pay strict attention to the precise terms

made use of in this Scripture. We must avoid all looseness of thought,

all that haste, carelessness, and inaccuracy which have caused such

serious damage to the teaching of this weighty Scripture, and thrown

so many of the Lord's people into the utmost confusion respecting it.

And, first of all, let us see who are the parties arraigned. "Before

him shall be gathered _all nations_." This is very definite. It is the

living nations. It is not a question of individuals, but of

nations--all the Gentiles. Israel is not here, for we read in Numbers

xxiii. 9, that "the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be

reckoned among the nations." If Israel were to be included in this

scene of judgment, then would Matthew xxv. stand in palpable

contradiction to Numbers xxiii., which is wholly out of the question.

Israel is never reckoned amongst the Gentiles, on any ground or for

any object whatever. Looked at from a divine point of view, Israel

stands alone. They may, because of their sins, and under the

governmental dealings of God, be scattered among the nations; but

God's word declares that they shall not be reckoned among them; and

this should suffice for us.

If then it be true that Israel is not included in the judgment of

Matthew xxv. then, without proceeding one step further, the idea of

its being a general judgment must be abandoned. It cannot be general,

if all are not included; but Israel is never included under the term

"Gentiles." Scripture speaks of three distinct classes, namely, "The

Jew, and the Gentile, and the church of God," and these three are

never confounded. But, further, we have to remark that the church of

God is not included in the judgment of Matthew xxv. Nor is this

statement based merely upon the fact which has been already gone into

of the church's necessary exemption from judgment; but also upon the

grand truth that the church is taken from among the nations, as Peter

declared in the council at Jerusalem. "God did visit the Gentiles to

_take out of them_ a people for his name." If then the church be taken

out of the nations, it cannot be reckoned among them; and thus we have

additional evidence against the theory of a general judgment in

Matthew xxv. The Jew is not there; the church is not there; and

therefore the idea of a general judgment must be abandoned as

something wholly untenable.

Who then are included in this judgment? The passage itself supplies

the answer to any simple mind. It says, "Before him shall be gathered

all _nations_." This is distinct and definite. It is not a judgment of

individuals, but of nations, as such. And further, we may add that not

one of those here indicated shall have passed through the article of

death. In this it stands in vivid contrast with the scene in

Revelation xx. 11-15, in the which there will not be one who has not

died. In short, in Matthew xxv., we have the judgment of "the quick;"

and in Revelation xx. the judgment of "the dead." Both these are

referred to in 2 Timothy iv., "I charge thee before God, and the Lord

Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing

and his kingdom." Our Lord Christ shall judge the living nations at

His appearing; and He shall "judge the dead, small and great," at the

close of His millennial reign.

But let us glance, for a moment, at the mode in which the parties are

arranged in the judgment, in Matthew xxv.: "He shall set the sheep on

his right hand, but the goats on the left." Now, the almost universal

belief of the professing church is that "the sheep" represent all the

people of God, from the beginning to the end of time; and that "the

goats," on the other hand, set forth all the wicked, from first to

last. But, if this be so, what are we to make of the third party

referred to here, under the title of "these my brethren?" The King

addresses both the sheep and the goats in respect to this third class.

Indeed the very ground of judgment is the treatment of the King's

brethren. It would involve a manifest absurdity to say that the sheep

were themselves the parties referred to. If that were so the language

would be wholly different, and in place of saying, "Inasmuch as ye

have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren" we should

hear the King saying, "Inasmuch as ye have done it to one another,"

or, "amongst yourselves."

We would beg the reader's special attention to this point. We consider

that were there no other argument and no other Scripture on the

subject, this one point would prove fatal to the theory of a general

judgment. It is impossible not to see three parties in the scene,

namely, "the sheep," and "the goats," and "these my brethren;" and if

there are three parties it cannot possibly be a general judgment,

inasmuch as "these my brethren" are not included either in the sheep

or the goats.

No, dear reader, it is not a general judgment at all, but a very

partial and specific one. It is a judgment of living nations, previous

to the opening of the millennial kingdom. Scripture teaches us that

after the church has left the earth a testimony will go forth to the

nations; the gospel of the kingdom shall be borne, by Jewish

messengers, far and wide, over the earth, into those regions which are

wrapped in heathen darkness. These nations which shall receive the

messengers and treat them kindly will be found on the King's right

hand. Those, on the contrary, who shall reject them and treat them

unkindly will be found on His left. "These my brethren" are Jews--the

brethren of the Messiah.

The treatment of the Jews is the ground on which the nations will be

judged by-and-by; and this is another argument against a general

judgment. We know full well that all those who have lived and died in

the rejection of the gospel of Christ will have something more to

answer for than unkindness to the King's brethren. And, on the other

hand, those who shall surround the Lamb in heavenly glory will do so

on a very different title from aught that their works can furnish.

In short, there is not a single feature in the scene, not a single

fact in the history, not a single point in the narrative which does

not make against the notion of a general judgment. And not only so,

but the more we study Scripture, the more we know of the ways of God;

the more we know of His nature, His character, His purposes, His

counsels, His thoughts; the more we know of Christ, His person, His

work, His glory; the more we know of the church, its standing before

God in Christ, its completeness, its perfect acceptance in Christ; the

more closely we study Scripture; the more profoundly we meditate

therein--the more thoroughly convinced we must be that there can be no

such thing as a general judgment.

Who that knows aught of God could suppose that He would justify His

people to-day and arraign them in judgment to-morrow--that He would

blot out their transgressions to-day and judge them according to their

works to-morrow? Who that knows aught of our adorable Lord and Saviour

Jesus Christ could suppose that He would ever arraign His church, His

body, His bride, before the judgment seat in company with all those

who have died in their sins? Could it be possible that He would enter

into judgment with His people for sins and iniquities of which He has

said, "I will remember no more!"

But enough. We fondly trust that the reader is now most fully

persuaded in his own mind that there is, and can be, no such thing as

a promiscuous resurrection--no such thing as a general judgment.

We cannot now enter upon the judgment in Rev. xx. 11-15 further than

to say that it is a post-millennial scene, and that it includes all

the wicked dead, from the days of Cain down to the last apostate from

millennial glory. There will not be one there who has not passed

through the article of death--not one there whose name has been set

down in life's fair book--not one there who shall not be judged

according to his own very deeds--not one there who shall not pass from

the dread realities of the great white throne into the everlasting

horrors and ineffable torments of the lake that burneth with fire and

brimstone. How awful! How terrible! How perfectly dreadful!

O! reader, what sayest thou to these things? Art thou a true believer

in Jesus? Art thou washed in His precious blood? Art thou sheltered in

Him from coming judgment? If not, let me entreat thee now, with all

tenderness and earnestness, to flee, this very hour, from the wrath to

come! Flee to Jesus, who now waits to receive thee to His loving

bosom, and to present you to God in the full value of His atoning

work, and in the full credit of His peerless name.

THE JEWISH REMNANT

We must ask the reader to open his Bible and read Matt. xxiv. 1-44. It

forms a part of one of the most profound and comprehensive discourses

that ever fell on human ears--a discourse which takes in, in its

marvellous sweep, the destiny of the Jewish remnant; the history of

Christendom; and the judgment of the nations. At the last-named

subject we have already glanced. It remains for us now to consider the

subject of the remnant of Israel, and the history of professing

Christianity, whether genuine or spurious.

And, first, let us look at the Jewish remnant.

In order to understand Matt. xxiv. 1-44, it will be needful for us to

place ourselves at the standpoint of those whom our Lord was

addressing at the moment. If we attempt to import into this discourse

the light which shines in the Epistle to the Ephesians, we shall only

involve our minds in confusion, and miss the solemn teaching of the

passage which now lies open before us. We shall find nothing about the

church of God, the body of Christ, here. The teaching of our Lord is

divinely perfect, and hence we cannot, for a moment, imagine anything

premature therein. But it would be premature to have introduced a

subject which, as yet, was hid in God. The great truth of the church

could not be unfolded until Christ, being cut off as the Messiah, had

taken His place at the right hand of God, and sent down the Holy

Ghost, to form by His presence the one body, composed of Jew and

Gentile.

Of this we hear nothing in Matt. xxiv. We are entirely on Jewish

ground, surrounded by Jewish circumstances and influences. The scenery

and the allusions are all purely Jewish. To attempt to apply the

passage to the church would be to miss completely our Lord's object,

and to falsify the real position of the church of God. The more

closely we examine the Scripture, the more clearly we shall see that

the persons addressed occupy a Jewish standpoint, and are on Jewish

ground, whether we think of those very persons whom our Lord was then

addressing, or those who shall occupy the self-same ground at the

close, when the church shall have left the scene altogether.

Let us examine the passage.

At the close of Matt, xxiii., our Lord sums up His appeal to the

leaders of the Jewish nation with the following words of awful

solemnity: "Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents,

ye generation of vipers! how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and

scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them

shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to

city. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the

earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zecharias,

son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come _upon this

generation_. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,

and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have

gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens

under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, 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" (verses

32-39).

Thus closes Messiah's testimony to the apostate nation of Israel.

Every effort that love, even divine love, could put forth had been

tried, and tried in vain. Prophets had been sent, and stoned;

messenger after messenger had gone and pleaded, and reasoned, and

warned, and entreated; but to no purpose. Their mighty words had

fallen upon deaf ears and hardened hearts. The only return made to all

these messengers was shameful handling, stoning, and death.

At length, the Son Himself was sent, and sent with this touching

utterance: "It may be they will reverence my Son, when they see him."

Did they? Alas! no. When they saw Him, there was no beauty that they

should desire Him. The daughter of Zion had no heart for her King. The

vineyard was under the control of wicked husbandmen who wanted to keep

it for themselves. "The husbandmen said among themselves, This is the

heir, come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours."

Thus much as to the moral condition of Israel, in view of which our

Lord spoke those unusually awful words quoted above; and, then, "He

went out and departed from the temple." How reluctant he was to do

this we know; for, blessed be His name, whenever He leaves a place of

mercy, or enters a place of judgment, He moves with a slow and

measured pace. Witness the departure of the glory, in the opening

chapters of Ezekiel. "Then the glory of the Lord departed from off the

threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the

cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my

sight; when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every

one stood at the door of the east gate of the Lord's house; and the

glory of the God of Israel was over them above" (chap. x. 18, 19).

"Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside

them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. And the

glory of the Lord went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon

the mountain which is on the east side of the city" (chap. xi. 22,

23).

Thus, with slow and measured pace, did the glory of the God of Israel

take its departure from the house at Jerusalem. Jehovah lingered near

the spot, reluctant to depart.[29] He had come, with loving alacrity,

with His whole heart and with His whole soul, to dwell in the midst

of His people, to find a home in the very bosom of His assembly; but

He was _forced_ away by their sins and iniquities. He would fain have

remained; but it was impossible; and yet He proved, by the very mode

of His departure, how unwilling He was to go.

[29] Contrast with this reluctant departure His ready entrance into the

tabernacle in Exodus xl.; and into the temple, 2 Chron. vii. 1. No

sooner was the habitation ready for Him, than down He came to occupy

it, and fill it with His glory He was as quick to enter as He was slow

to depart. And not only so, but ere the book of Ezekiel closes, we see

the glory coming back again; and "Jehovah Shammah" stands engraved in

everlasting characters upon the gates of the beloved city. Nothing

changeth God's affection. Whom He loves, and as He loves, He loves to

the end. "The same yesterday, to-day, and forever."

Nor was it otherwise with Jehovah Messiah, in Matt. xxiii. Witness His

touching words, "How often would I have gathered thy children

together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye

would not!" Here lay the deep secret. "I _would_." This was the heart

of God. "_Ye would not._" This was the heart of Israel. He, too, like

the glory in the days of Ezekiel, was forced away; but not, blessed be

His name, without dropping a word which forms the precious basis of

hope as to the brighter days to come, when the glory shall return, and

the daughter of Zion shall welcome her King with joyful accents.

"Blessed is he that cometh in the name of Jehovah."

But, until that bright day dawn, darkness, desolation, and ruin, make

up the sum of Israel's history. The very thing which the leaders

sought, by the rejection of Christ, to avert, came upon them, in stern

and awful reality. "The Romans shall come, and take away both our

place and nation" How literally, how solemnly this was fulfilled!

Alas! their place and their nation were gone already, and the

significant movement of Jesus, in Matt. xxiv. 1, was but the passing

sentence, and writing desolation upon the whole Jewish system. "Jesus

went out and departed from the temple." The case was hopeless. All

must be given up. A long period of darkness and dreariness must pass

over the infatuated nation--a period which shall culminate in that

"great tribulation" which must precede the hour of final deliverance.

But, as in the days of Ezekiel, there were those who sighed and cried

over the sins and sorrows of the nation, so in the days of Matt. xxiv.

there was a remnant of godly souls who attached themselves to the

rejected Messiah, and who cherished the fond hope of redemption and

restoration for Israel. Very dim indeed were their perceptions, and

their thoughts full of confusion. Nevertheless their hearts, as

touched by divine grace, beat true to the Messiah, and they were full

of hope as to Israel's future.

Now, it is of the utmost importance that the reader should recognize

and understand the position of this remnant, and that it is with it

our Lord is occupied in His marvellous discourse on the mount of

Olives. To suppose for a moment that the persons here addressed were

on Christian ground would involve the abandonment of all true thoughts

of what Christianity is, and the ignoring of a company whose existence

is recognized throughout the Psalms, the Prophets, and various parts

of the New Testament. There was, and there always is, "a remnant

according to the election of grace." To quote the passages which

present the history, the sorrows, the experiences, and the exercises

of that remnant would demand a volume, and hence we shall not attempt

it; but we are extremely desirous that the reader should seize the

thought that this godly remnant is represented by the handful of

disciples which gathered round our Lord on the mount of Olives. We

feel persuaded that if this be not seen, the true scope, bearing, and

application of this remarkable discourse must be lost.

"And Jesus went out and departed from the temple; and his disciples

came to him for to show him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus

said unto them, See ye not all these things? Verily I say unto you

there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be

thrown down. And as he sat upon the mount of Olives the disciples came

unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and

what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world" (or

age, αιωνος)?

The disciples were, naturally, occupied with earthly and Jewish

objects and expectations--the temple and its surroundings. This must

be borne in mind if we would understand their question and our Lord's

reply. As yet they had no thought beyond the earthly side of things.

They looked for the setting up of the kingdom, the glory of the

Messiah, the accomplishment of the promises made to the fathers. They

had not yet fully taken in the solemn and momentous fact that the

Messiah was to be "cut off and have nothing" (Dan. ix. 26). True, the

blessed Master had, from time to time, sought to prepare their minds

for that solemn event. He had faithfully warned them in reference to

the dark shadows that were to gather round His path. He had told them

that the Son of Man should be delivered to the Gentiles to be mocked

and scourged and crucified.

But they understood Him not. Such sayings seemed dark, hard, and

incomprehensible; and their hearts still fondly clung to the hope of

national restoration and blessing. They longed to see the star of

Jacob in the ascendant. Their minds were full of expectancy as to the

restoration of the kingdom to Israel. As yet they knew nothing--how

could they?--of that which was to spring out of the rejection and

death of the Messiah. The Lord had no doubt spoken of building an

assembly; but as to the position and privileges of that assembly, its

calling, its standing, its hopes, they knew absolutely nothing. The

thought of a body composed of Jew and Gentile, united by the Holy

Ghost to a living and glorified Head in the heavens, had never

entered--how could it have entered?--their minds. The middle wall of

partition was still standing; and one of their number--the very

foremost amongst them--had, long after, to be taught, with much

difficulty, to take in the idea of even admitting the Gentiles into

the kingdom.

All this, we repeat, must be taken into account, if we would read

aright our Lord's reply to the inquiry as to His coming and the end of

the age. There is not a single syllable about the church, as such,

from beginning to end of that reply. Up to verse 14, He passes on to

the end, giving a rapid survey of the events which should transpire

amongst the nations. "Take heed," He says, "that no man deceive you.

For many shall come in my name saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive

many. And ye shall hear of wars, and rumors of wars: see that ye be

not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is

not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against

kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes,

in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall

they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall

be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be

offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because

iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that

shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of

the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all

nations: and then shall the end come."

Here then we have a most comprehensive sketch of the entire period

from the moment in which our Lord was speaking, down to the time of

the end. But the reader will need to bear in mind that there is an

unnoticed interval--a parenthesis, a break--in this period, during

which the great mystery of the church is unfolded.

This interval or break is entirely passed over in this discourse,

inasmuch as the time had not arrived for its development. It was as

yet "hid in God," and could not be unfolded until the Messiah was

finally rejected and cut off from the earth and received up into

glory. The entire of this discourse would have its full and perfect

accomplishment, although such a thing as the church had never been

heard of. For, let it never be forgotten, the church forms no part of

the ways of God with Israel and the earth. And as to the allusion, in

verse 14, to the preaching of the gospel, we are not to suppose that

it is at all the same thing as "The glorious gospel of the grace of

God," as preached by Paul. It is styled, "This gospel of the kingdom;"

and, moreover, it is to be preached, not for the purpose of gathering

the church, but "as a witness to all nations." We must not confound

things which God, in His infinite wisdom, has made to differ. The

church must not be confounded with the kingdom: nor yet the gospel of

the grace of God with the gospel of the kingdom. The two things are

perfectly distinct; and, if we confound them, we shall understand

neither the one nor the other. And, further, we would desire to press

upon the reader the absolute necessity of seeing the break,

parenthesis, or unnoticed interval in which the great mystery of the

church is inserted. If this be not clearly seen, Matt. xxiv. cannot be

understood.

But we must proceed with our Lord's discourse.