“Is not the coming of the Lord inseparably connected with an earthly millennium? And if the millennium is to be a spiritual one, what hinders it being brought about by means of the various agencies at present at work—missionary, Bible and tract societies? Our Lord distinctly said, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants ‘fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.’ (John 18:3636Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. (John 18:36).) Does not this prove that the kingdom of Christ is a spiritual one, which is now going on, and is extending, and may extend until the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea?’ (Isa. 11:99They 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. (Isaiah 11:9).) And if so, why should we not be looking for this event, rather than for the personal return of our Lord; though surely he will come at the end of the world. None of the prophecies or the promises of God can fail; therefore we are quite sure that there is a time coming when the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, for He Himself has declared it. But let our first inquiry be, by what means is this to be brought about? And is it anywhere stated in the New Testament that this is to be the result of the present preaching of the gospel to every creature?
In Acts 15:1414Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14) we read that God was visiting the nations to take out of them a people for His name. To take out a people from the mass is surely a different thing from the whole mass being taken. And this in no way clashes with the gospel being preached to every creature. It is proclaimed to all, but God has taken means by which to ensure some being saved. We read that when the Gentiles heard the gospel, they “glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life, believed.” (Chap. 13:48.) Instead of hindering any one from preaching the gospel, this is the very thing that makes it certain that some will be saved, and should send forth the evangelist with greater energy.
Again, what can be plainer than the parable of the Wheat and the Tares? We have our Lord’s own interpretation of it, and He tells us that He Himself is the Sower: “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 [or, age], 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 age.” (Matt. 13:37-4037He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; 38The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; 39The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 40As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. (Matthew 13:37‑40).) The question was asked by the servants whether they should gather the tares from the wheat, but the answer was, “Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest.”
Surely the teaching of this parable is quite opposed to the thought of the world being converted (to use a common phrase) by the various agencies at present carried on to spread the gospel. The wheat and the tares are to grow together until the harvest, and that will be at the end of the age. How then can the millennium be inaugurated before that period? It is only at that time that “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,” (Ver. 41.) We are compelled to see, therefore, that the state of universal blessedness on the earth cannot be the result of the gospel under the present dispensation.
What are the means, then, that are revealed in scripture that will bring about the millennium? They are found to embrace an order of things entirely different from the present dispensation. Gods ancient people Israel will be brought into their own land; will pass through great tribulation; will own our Lord as their Messiah; will become missionaries to the nations; and will eventually be the center of universal blessedness on the earth. The nations will bring their riches and their glory to Jerusalem, for that will then be God’s center of blessing. (Isa. 2:1-31The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. 2And 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. 3And 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. (Isaiah 2:1‑3))
From this it will be seen that the millennium will be celebrated on earth. The passage quoted in the question raised at the head of our paper says, “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord.” The church that is now being gathered is heavenly, and belongs to heaven. God had in time past an earthly people, and they will again be gathered and blessed on earth; for they are only set aside for a time, and if any one of the promises made to them can fail of being accomplished, all God’s promises can fail, and we can be sure of nothing. But we know this is impossible. The blessed Lord, who was so ill-treated by man, and turned out of the earth, will yet have glory on earth, and be hailed as King of kings and Lord of lords.
When our Lord said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” He did not mean that He had not an earthly people, and that He would not have a kingdom on earth. We read that He came unto His Own and His own received Him not; and they said, “This is the heir: come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance” (Matt. 21:3838But when the husbandmen saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. (Matthew 21:38).) Of the temple, too, He said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer.” (Ver. 13.) Thus our Lord had an earthly people, and lingered in grace over them, guilty as they were, and died, too, for that nation as well as for those who had never known the true God.
Our Lord meant that His kingdom was not of this world in its origin: notice that He says, “My kingdom is not from hence” But when Pilate asked, “Art thou a king, then?” Jesus confessed that He was, and as we read in 1 Tim. 6:1313I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; (1 Timothy 6:13), our Lord “before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession.”
Now our Lord is not said to be King of the church, nor, indeed, is He called, “King of saints,” for Rev. 15:33And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. (Revelation 15:3) should unquestionably read “King of nations;” but He is called King of the Jews, and will be hailed in the millennium as “King of kings and Lord of lords.”
The objections, therefore, raised in the questions are shown to be without foundation, and on a fuller view of the subject they all fall to the ground. There is absolutely nothing that we are taught to look for before the coming of the Lord. He said, “Surely I come quickly,” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come.” How is it that any who form a part of the bride of Christ cannot heartily say, “Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus?”