ACCORDING to Dr. Tregelles, p. 5, the Lord Jesus in the prophetic discourse of Matt. 24:1-35 applies ye and you not to the four disciples who had questioned Him, as Mark 13 informs us, but to the church of the first born, one body, and having one hope, of which these four were representatives.
Let us test this. It is true the ye and you speak of a class rather than of the individuals mentioned, but the terms would be then used because the Lord's questioners were in that class-the same class as that mentioned in Matt. 10:23; that is the godly remnant of the Jews, but not the church of God, although the ones that asked him, subsequently formed part of the church and the body of Christ. The saints in the prophecy of Matthew are viewed as in the main surviving to the coming of the Lord to earth in the clouds of heaven some being previously martyred (9). The ungodly will be taken away for judgment (Matt. 24:37-39), as it was in the days of Noah, and the righteous will remain on earth, like Noah and those with him in the ark, so we read, " He that endureth unto the end the same shall be saved " (13), and the " end " here spoken of is the Lord's return to earth (14). Hence it is an earthly company which is there looked at as waiting for and found by the Lord at His coming.
But Christians will come with Him when He returns to earth (1 Thess. 4:14). How that can be brought about 1 Thess. 4:15-17 explains. So Jude speaks of the coming with ten thousand of his saints, and Rev. 19 it confirms it. But this coming is subsequent to the marriage of the Lamb in Rev. 19:7. Now the heavenly saints who will come with Christ are divided into three classes in Rev. 20:4. First: those on thrones-the company seen in Rev. 4:5. Next: those beheaded for the witness of Jesus-those seen in Rev. 6:9, under the altar at the opening of the fifth seal: and lastly those who had not worshipped the beast, &c.
The first of these classes are all raised and clothed with the white garments, Rev. 4 v., before those under the altar vi. 9, not then raised are seen at all. In 6 and 9, that sacred class there seen are not viewed as yet raised, nor is the company of martyrs there. complete. In which class of these three can we put Christians!? They cannot be in class 3, for the least has not yet been manifested. Nor can they be in the second, for all these are martyrs. Therefore: They can be only in the first. Then, there is an ascertained point of time of some saints, and of all Christian saints, before the Lord came with His saints to reign. For the return to reign cannot take place till He comes to destroy the beast (Rev. 19). Further, there must be a rapture of saints before the Lord comes to reign; for all Christian saints will not die (1 Cor. 15:51,52). Hence that prophecy in Matthew does not describe real Christians on earth, when the Lord returns; nor are the troubles there described when the abomination of desolation is set up those through which real Christians will pass. They will be away before that as Rev. 3:10, promises: "I will keep thee (out of) from the hour of temptation," not through, but out of; that is, they will not enter into it. And as the Body of Christ, how could they be in it? The judgments of that time, Rev. 6-19, are the dealings of God with the world-Jew and Gentile-for their rejection of Christ. How, then, could any members of His body be involved in that? It would be really, in that case, Christ judged again in the persons of His members, for what is done to them He regards as done to Him (Acts 10:21). Could any member of His body be in that judgment, then what the Lord has done is not all that had to be done. Such ideas would really deal a blow at the value of the atonement, and shows that the one holding them does not really understand what it is to be a member of Christ's body.
The first resurrection is not merely in relation to time, but it has to do with a class. All heavenly saints; all saints who have died, or will die; have part in the first resurrection, though all are not raised at once. Witness those saved after the Lord rose, and the saints whose bodies are still in the graves. It describes a class spiritually called " Blessed and holy " (Rev. 20:6). All remarks to discredit it as a second first; or the necessity, then, of a third coming, only shows that the one making them does not understand the question. As to the secrecy of the rapture the Word is silent-so one would not dogmatize; but it would not be out of harmony with that which has taken place. Witness the rapture of Elijah; and the resurrection: of the Lord.
P. 9. There is no hope, Dr. Tregelles sets before Christians prior to the appearing of the Lord in the clouds of heaven. Why, then, does the Lord introduce Himself as the bright and morning star; whereas, in Mal. 4:2, He is introduced as Sun of righteousness? Why, too, have we the promise of Rev. 3:10? And the revelation of 1 Thess. 4:15-17? And what is the meaning of the exhortation in 2 Thess. 2:1?
But though the church's hope is to be caught up the truth of His coming back to reign is brought to bear on saints. For responsibility does not end, as Timothy learned, till the Lord returns (1 Tim. 6:16), and rewards are only given when the Lord has received the kingdom (Luke 19:11-17). The Lord's return to reign encourages saints when suffering from injustice (Jer. 5:7). It encourages them to be meek now (Phil. 4:8). Paul looked forward then to rejoin his converts (1 Thess. 2:18-19). It should bear on our walk (1 Thess. 3:13;5. 6-10; Titus 2:13; 1 John 3:3); and act on the saint in service (1 Tim. 6:13-16; 2 Tim. 4:1-3).
The coming for the saints has also its practical side. It differs from prophecy, as Peter shows (2 Peter 1:19). It warns against saying-" My Lord delayeth his coming" (Matt. 24.45 to end); and of profession without reality (Matt. 25:1-13), The blessedness, too, of being found watching and working, Luke 12:37-44 sets forth. How much is lost by not discerning the difference between the rapture of the saints and the Lord's return to reign!
Such, then, is the testimony of Scripture on the main points of the hope of the Lord's coming, and as it is in contrast and antagonism with the teaching of the pamphlet, there is no need of going into a formal examination of it in detail. A few drops of bad water is sufficient for the purpose of testing it, so a few thoughts of an unscriptural pamphlet.