The Second Advent and Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
H. Mills
Table of Contents
The Second Advent and Reign of the Lord Jesus Christ
THE SECOND ADVENT
It is the opinion of many, that the dispensation under which we live is the final one, and that at its close the purpose of God respecting this earth will be fully accomplished. They believe that the conversion of this world will be effected by the preaching of the gospel; that all nations will be brought under its blessed influence; that before the close of this dispensation, the kingdoms of the world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and that the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
That the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and that the will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven, is fully admitted, because expressly declared; but that the preaching of the gospel in the present dispensation will effect this, there does not appear to be the slightest ground for believing, taking God's Word as our guide.
But there is another dispensation spoken of in Scripture, called the dispensation of the fullness of times," which is to succeed the present, when He who "worketh all things after the counsel of His own will" shall "gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth." Eph. 1:10; when the Son of man, who is gone "into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom," will return, having received from the Ancient of days "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve Him." Dan. 7:13, 14. In endeavoring to point out what Scripture teaches as to this kingdom, I propose to show—
1. That a period of universal blessedness is to be expected in the latter day.
2. That the Lord Jesus will return, not at the close, but at the commencement of this period of blessedness.
3. That His ransomed Church will reign with Him during this period.
And, lastly, I shall consider the vast importance of the subject of the Lord's coming, showing it to be the proper hope of the Church, and productive of most blessed and practical effects in the children of God.
The two subjects which form the great theme of prophetic testimony (as must be evident to any attentive reader of Scripture) are the sufferings and the reign of the Lord Jesus. Indeed, we are informed of this by the Holy Ghost, in 1 Peter 1:10, 11: "Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow." They prophesied of a suffering and of a reigning Messiah—of a Savior born in Bethlehem to be stricken for the transgression of His people, and coming in the clouds of heaven, to "reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients, gloriously.”
The Jews, by reason of the veil which was upon their minds, could not see the coining of the Messiah to suffer, but looked for the full accomplishment, at His first advent, of those prophecies which spoke of His glorious reign. Consequently, when He came in great humiliation, the lowly Jesus of Nazareth, He was, in their eyes, as "a root out of a dry ground, without form or comeliness; there was no beauty in Him, that they should desire Him"; and when He spoke of being lifted up on the cross, their reply was, "We have heard out of the law that Christ abideth forever.... Who is this Son of man?”
Many, in the present day, have fallen into the opposite error. They see the suffering, but do not see the reign; and they would attempt to spiritualize and explain away those prophecies which speak of the reign of the Lord Jesus at His second advent, and tell us that they must be understood in a figurative sense; because, they say, it is not at all reasonable that our blessed Lord should leave the Father's right hand to reign on this earth. Surely such interpreters of Scripture, had they lived before the days of our Lord's first advent, would, upon the same hypothesis, have united with the Jews in understanding those prophecies also in a figurative sense, which speak of the coming of the Lord of glory to die an ignominious death between two malefactors; for it appears far more reasonable that the Lord should come to be "King over all the earth," than that He should come to be crucified as a malefactor.
1. Agreeably, then, to my first proposition, I shall proceed to show from Scripture that a period of glory and blessedness is to be expected in the latter day. The passages which I would adduce in proof of this are the following: Isa. 11:1-12: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him... And righteousness shall be the girdle of His loins... The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek; and His rest shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set His hand again the second time to recover the remnant of His people, which shall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from Cush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the islands of the sea. And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.”
Isa. 24:23: "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients, gloriously.”
Isa. 65:17-25: "Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that bath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner, being an hundred years old, shall be accursed. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat: for as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands... The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.”
Jer. 23:5-8: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In His days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is His name whereby He shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no more say, The Lord liveth, which brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt; but, The Lord liveth, which brought up and which led the seed of the house of Israel out of the north country, and from all countries whither I had driven them; and they shall dwell in their own land.”
Ezek. 43:2,7: "And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east, and His voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with His glory.... And He said unto me, Son of man, the place of my throne, and the place of the soles of my feet, where I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever, and my holy name, shall the house of Israel no more defile.”
Mic. 4:3-7: "And He shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.... And the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.”
Rev. 1:1: 1 5: "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever.”
Rev. 20:1-4: "And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.”
These passages, with many others too numerous to notice, certainly predict a period of blessedness in the latter day, commonly called the Millennium; when the Jews, being restored to their own land, and converted, shall enjoy all the earthly and spiritual blessings promised to them in Scripture, under the peaceful government and sway of the Prince of Peace, whose throne shall then be erected in Mount Zion, and His kingdom extend to the utmost bounds of the earth (Psa. 2:8); when wars and commotions shall cease, and the whole world be blessed in Israel's restoration: for "living waters shall go out from Jerusalem" (and flow perpetually); "in summer and in winter shall it be." Zech. 14:8: the Jews shall be sent out to declare the Lord's glory among the heathen that have not heard His fame, neither have seen His glory (Isa. 66:19); and ten men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, "We will go with you: for we have heard that God is with you." Zech. 8:23; and "Israel shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." Isa. 27:6. The curse, too, shall be removed from the earth; for "instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree;" the ferocity of the animal creation shall be removed; for the Lord in that day "will make a covenant for them [i.e. Israel] with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground; and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people and they shall say, Thou art my God." Hos. 2.
If we compare that glorious dispensation with the present, how very striking is the contrast! I simply ask, Is the whole earth in the present day filled with the glory of the Lord? Have the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ? Is Satan, the deceiver, shut up and sealed in the bottomless pit? No. But the whole world lieth in the wicked one (1 John 5:19); the course of this world is ruled by the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that worketh in the children of disobedience. (Eph. 2:2.) Satan is the prince or ruler of this world ( John 14:30), the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4); the way is broad that leadeth to destruction; the way narrow that leadeth to life; the enemies of the Cross many and mighty; the cause of Jesus trampled under foot, and His worthy name blasphemed; the faithful followers of the Lamb despised and persecuted, even as foretold by the apostle in 2 Tim. 3:12: "All that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." This is surely a time when every one who loves the Savior, and has His glory at heart should be watching (Matt. 24:42); but, alas! how many do we see in the present day taking upon them the name of Christ, yet glorying in that which should be their shame! standing identified with a world, the friendship of which is enmity with God; walking more as children of this world than as those who are "dead and risen with Christ," and made to "sit together in heavenly places"; and thus bringing disgrace and reproach upon that worthy name by which they are called. Such, then, being the state of things in the present dispensation, it surely becomes every believer to pray earnestly that it would please God shortly to gather in all the members of the body of Christ, and hasten His kingdom.
The character of the present dispensation may be seen from the following passages of Scripture: Acts 15:14: "Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for His name.”
Matt. 24:14: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
From the first of these passages it may be seen, that while the tabernacle of David is in ruins, i.e. while Jerusalem is trodden down of the Gentiles, God is taking out from the Gentiles a people for His name. Here, then, is the character of this dispensation: it is elective—a dispensation of taking out, not one of universality; and those thus taken out are only a kind of first fruits of God's creatures. (See James 1:18.) But "after this," the Lord says, "I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David"; then will "the residue of men seek after the Lord." It is "the residue," observe; "the first fruits" having been already gathered.
The latter passage (Matt. 24:14) shows that the conversion of the world is not to be effected by the preaching of the gospel in this dispensation; that it is preached for a witness, or for a testimony unto all nations, and then shall the end come, i.e. the end of the age. These points will be treated of more fully in the sequel.
2. Having thus shown from Scripture that a period of universal blessedness is to be expected in the latter day, I shall now proceed to show, agreeably to the second proposition, that the Lord Jesus will return, not at the close, but at the commencement of this period of blessedness.
It must be evident, to any person who reads the New Testament carefully, and with an impartial and unprejudiced mind, that no period of universal blessedness is to be expected previous to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn, in the first place, to Matt. 24, and observe the character of the days preceding the coming of the Son of man; read the 3 7th, 38th, and 39th verses: "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Here we are told that the days before the flood are analogous to the days preceding the coining of the Son of man; and what was the character of the days before the flood? Was it a period of universal blessedness? Quite the contrary. "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." Gen. 6:5. We are not, then, to expect the millennial period of blessedness before the coming of the Son of man; but, on the contrary, man's wickedness will be "great in the earth"; and instead of that happy period when they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks, no more to learn war, there shall be "upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken." Luke 21:25,26.
Next turn to 2 Thess. 2:2. There were some who said that the day of the Lord had set in, and the Thessalonian saints were shaken in mind, and troubled. The apostle writes to remove this idea, by showing us that two things must necessarily precede that day; first, the Church is to be gathered to the Lord (ver. 1), that is "caught up" into heaven (1 Thess. 4:17); and, secondly, the Man of sin is to be destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming (ver. 8), neither of which had then taken place. Now, we certainly gather from this chapter, that no millennium is to be expected before the coming of the Lord; for the apostle speaks of an apostasy, and of the manifestation of the Man of sin, as preceding that coming, and not of a period of blessedness. When could such a period take place? Not, surely, during the working of the mystery of iniquity, nor during the time of the apostasy and Man of sin; and as no period of blessedness intervenes between the destruction of the Man of sin and the Lord's personal coming (for he is destroyed by the brightness of that coming), the millennium must be subsequent. This may be seen also from Isa. 11:4: "He [the Messiah] shall smite the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips shall He slay the wicked" one. (Doubtless the wicked one who is destroyed by the brightness of the Lord's coming in 2 Thess.) And then, it is said, the "wolf shall dwell with the lamb,..." "and the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." See also Rev. 19:20 to 20:3, where we find the account of the destruction of the beast and the false prophet, and of the binding of Satan "for a thousand years." There will be no millennium till then. But when Satan is bound, Jesus reigns, and the earth enjoys her long looked for period of millennial blessing.
The same truth may be deduced from the parable of the tares and the wheat. Universal blessing, we know, is not to be expected, so long as the tares remain in the field, unless, indeed, the tares be turned into wheat; which the parable shows is not to take place. The tares remain until the harvest; the harvest is the end of the age, or coming of the Son of man; therefore universal blessing must be subsequent to His coming; and so we find the angels "gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity"; He comes, not to destroy the earth, but to cleanse and purify it; and when it is thus cleansed by purifying judgments, "THEN," but not till then, it is said, "shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." (See Matt. 13:43, 24-30.)
The next passage which I would adduce in proof of this is the 2nd chapter of the book of Daniel, where we read of the destruction of Nebuchadnezzar's image by the falling of a stone cut out of the mountain without hands; after which this stone becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth. We are then told that this image was emblematic of four kingdoms which were successively to arise, and which are generally understood to be the Babylonian, Medo Persian, Grecian, and Roman. The destruction of the image by the falling of the stone is emblematic of the destruction of these kingdoms, by the setting up of the kingdom of the God of heaven.
The stone undoubtedly is the Lord Jesus Christ, as appears by a reference to Matt. 21:44; where the Savior (evidently in allusion to the falling of this stone) says, "Whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder." Mark the distinction here between persons falling on the stone, and the stone falling on them. The stone is first on the ground, and, while remaining in that state, was the cause of stumbling to many; by this we understand the humiliation of Jesus, which we know was a stone of stumbling to the Jews, who were broken in consequence—not destroyed. But observe, this stone is afterward elevated, as is clearly implied in the phrase, "on whomsoever it shall fall." Now, the elevation of the stone is the exaltation of Jesus, and the falling of the stone, which smashes the image, can be none other than the second coming of Jesus in utterly destroying judgment on His enemies; and it is after the stone falls that it becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth, or the kingdom of the God of heaven is set up, which breaks in pieces and consumes all these kingdoms, and shall stand forever. See also Dan. 7:13, 14, where the prophet has a vision of the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven, which, if you compare with Matt. 24:30, you will find to be the second coming. And what is the object of His coming? Not merely to be invested with judicial power, but to receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed"; and this kingdom is only "nigh at hand" when the signs indicative of the Savior's coming are seen. (See Luke 21:31.)
Again from the passages of Scripture which I have brought forward to prove the period of blessedness, it may be seen that the Jews are to be restored and converted at its commencement; and if we can show, then, that the conversion of Israel is effected by the personal coming of the Lord, we have another striking proof of His coming at the commencement of the millennium. If we turn to the 14th chap. of Zech., verses 1-11, we find, that after the Jews return to their own land in the latter day, all nations will be gathered against Jerusalem to battle. "Then [we read] shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations.... And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives.... And the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with Thee.... And the Lord shall be King over all the earth: in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one.... And there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited." Surely "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints" (see 1 Thess. 3:13) can be none other than His second coming. And one object of this coming is to destroy the nations which come up against Jerusalem; and when these nations are destroyed, He "will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Him whom they have pierced"; and what is the effect produced, when they thus behold the Savior whom they pierced? All the tribes of the land mourn. (Zech. 12:9-14.) It is the day of Israel's repentance and conversion. Now, in Matt. 24:30 we are told, that this mourning of the tribes of the land shall take place when the Savior appears in His glory. "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the [land] mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.”
Let us, in the next place, examine for a moment the declaration of our Lord in Matt. 23:38, 39, when He stood for the last time in the temple. A short time previous to this (21:9) He had presented Himself to the Jews as the predicted King of Israel. The multitudes shouted, "Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!" and the little children in the temple cried, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" but the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were offended, saying, "Hearest thou what these say?" v. 16. "Master, rebuke thy disciples." "I tell you [said the Savior], that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out." Luke 19:39, 40. Having then been rejected by His own, we find Him, in the verses before us, predicting His departure from among them, and the utter desolation of their house as the consequence of that departure: "Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth." Matt. 23:38, 39. But at the same time He tells them of His coming again, when they shall take up the language of Psa. 118:26 (which they then refused to do), and say "Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord"—when they shall acknowledge their offense, and seek His face. See Hos. 5:15; "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offense, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." Precisely the same declaration as that in the passage before us, but in different words.
Another proof of the Lord's personal coming to establish His kingdom is contained in Luke 19:11-15, where we are told that, just before our Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, as He drew nigh to the city, the disciples thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear (the restoration of the kingdom of Israel doubtless, which they had then been expecting: see Acts 1:6, and Luke 24:21); and in order to correct their mistaken ideas as to the time of the appearing of the kingdom, our Lord added and spoke a parable, showing them that the kingdom was not, as they supposed, immediately to appear; but that He should first go to His Father to receive the kingdom, and having received it, would return again to take possession of it. Said He: "A certain nobleman went into a far country, to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.... And it came to pass, that when he was returned, having received the kingdom...." In Dan. 7:13, 14, we see the nobleman in the far country receiving the kingdom, that is, the Son of man brought before the Ancient of days to receive "dominion, and glory, and a kingdom"; and having received it He comes in the clouds of heaven to take possession of it.
3. Conceiving, then, that the various passages which have just been adduced clearly prove that the return of the Lord will be at the commencement of the Millennium, I shall now pass on to the next point to be considered; namely, that His ransomed Church shall reign with Him during this period of universal blessedness.
We learn from 1 Cor. 15:51,52, that at the coming of the Lord, those who sleep by Jesus shall be raised, and the bodies of those saints then living shall be changed; and from 1 Thess. 4:16,17, that both shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air, and then shall they appear with Him in glory, as the following passages show.
Col. 3:4: "When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.”
1 Thess. 3:13: "To the end He may stablish your hearts unblamable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.”
Jude 14,15 "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
Rev. 17:14: "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for He is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.”
Rev. 19:11-15: "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written, that no man knew but He Himself. And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed Him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean [the fine linen is the righteousness of saints, verse 8]. And out of His mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations; and He shall rule them with a rod of iron: and He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.”
The last passage quoted sets forth the Lord Jesus as a mighty man of war, coming to take vengeance on His enemies, to rule the nations with a rod of iron, and to tread the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And the saints are represented in verse 14 as being associated with Him in this judgment (according to the promise in Rev. 2:26, 27:
“And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of My Father"): and after the execution of this judgment they shall sit with Him upon His throne (according to the promise in Rev. 3:21: "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne"), and shall reign with Him a thousand years. (Rev. 20:6.)
I would here remark, that it is never stated in Scripture that Jesus shall reign over the Church. The Church is the bride—the Lamb's wife—His destined partner and companion in glory; and when He comes He will present her to Himself without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; then shall she share with Him His glory and His crown. The Church is the body of Christ—bone of His bone, and flesh of His flesh; it was of Christ and the Church the apostle spake, when he said, "They twain shall be one flesh," which he calls "a great mystery." (Eph. 5:32.) This mystery was set forth "at sundry times" in types and shadows from the beginning. As an instance of this we may bring forward Adam, who, we are told, was a "figure of Him that was to come." (Rom. 5:14.) If we behold him as a lord of creation, set over the works of God's hands, with all things put in subjection under his feet, do we not also see Eve at his right hand, bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, his partner and companion in all this glory? (Gen. 1:27, 2; 8.) Now, here we have typically brought before us Christ, the last Adam—Lord of "the world to come" "crowned with glory and honor," with all things put in subjection under His feet, and His bride, the Church, His joint and fellow-heir, set upon the throne with Him (Rev. 3:21), perfectly conformed to His image (Phil. 3:21), shining as the brightness of the firmament—as the sun in the kingdom of the Father. (Matt. 13:43.) And I would press the subject the more, as it is too much lost sight of by many of the Lord's people in the present day, who bring forward such passages as, "He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever," and tell us the house of Jacob means the Church. If this be true, Christians are the subjects of the King, not "joint-heirs" with Him. Observe, it is not said, the house of Jacob shall reign with Him, as it is of the Church (2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 20:6), but He shall reign over the house of Jacob, that is, over the Jewish nation, then restored and converted, as we have already seen.
Whatever be the measure of the happiness of the departed spirit of the saint, previous to the resurrection, we know from Scripture that neither kingdom nor crown will be given until Jesus appears in glory. When the apostle Peter exhorts the elders to feed the flock of God which was among them, and puts them in remembrance of their reward, he says, "And when the Chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away." (1 Peter 5:4.) Again: What was it that enabled the apostle Paul to rejoice in the prospect of martyrdom, when the hour of his departure drew nigh? The knowledge that there was laid up for him a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, would give him at that day. (2 Tim. 4:8.) At what day? Not the day of his death, but the day of Christ's appearing and kingdom. (See remainder of the verse, compared with verse 1.)
Further, it is those who sleep by Jesus that are raised at His coming; the wicked rise not until the close of the Millennium. In Scripture, the resurrection of the just is spoken of distinct from, and prior to, that of the wicked: thus in Luke 14:14: "Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just." In Luke 20:35, the resurrection is shown to be a privilege which some shall be accounted worthy to obtain; that is, the children of God. "But they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that age, and the resurrection from the dead... are the children of God, being the children of the resurrection." In 1 Cor. 15:23, 24, we have the order of the resurrection laid down; viz., "Christ the firstfruits; afterword they that are Christ's, at His coming: then (or next in order) cometh the end." Observe, the apostle does not say all men shall be raised at Christ's coming, but "they that are Christ's," and next in order "the end," when the rest shall be raised. As we read in Rev. 20:5, "The rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished" (or until the end); but, "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." The last passage I would allude to in proof of this is 1 Thess. 4:16, 17, where it is stated, that when the Lord descends from heaven, the "dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain," &c. Here we have the resurrection of the just exclusively, without any reference whatever to that of the wicked.
Before I pass on to the next point to be considered, I would just allude to a passage in John 5:28,29, which, at first sight seems to favor the idea of all being raised simultaneously, but will be found, on examination, not to militate against, but rather to favor the doctrine of the first resurrection. In verse 25 we find it stated, "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." And then we read, "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." Now, the word "hour" here surely does not mean a period of sixty minutes, for the hour spoken of in verse 25, which then commenced, is not yet ended. "The hour is coming," said our Lord, "and now is, when the dead shall hear," &c., evidently referring to the quickening of those who are spiritually dead. Now, as this hour of quickening has been going on for the last eighteen hundred years, and is not yet ended, why may not the hour spoken of in the 28th verse be a period of a thousand years? But observe, at the close of the 29th verse, two resurrections are mentioned, a resurrection to life of those that have done good, and a resurrection to judgment of those that have done evil; the one already shown to be at the commencement, the other at the close, of the thousand years.
4. We have now, in the last place, to consider the vast importance of the subject of the Lord's coming, showing it to be the hope of the Church, and productive of most blessed and practical effects to the children of God.
That this is the proper hope of the Church is evident from the following passages of Scripture: Luke 12:35, 36: "Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord.”
1 Cor. 1:7: "So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Phil. 3:20, 21: "For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ: who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself.”
1 Thess. 1:9, 10: "How ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God; and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”
Titus 2:12, 13: "Teaching us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ.”
Heb. 10:36, 37: "For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry.”
James 5:7, 8: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.”
1 Peter 1:13: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
1 John 3:2, 3: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in Him purifieth himself, even as He is pure.”
I could multiply passages to the same effect, for Scripture abounds with them; but those already advanced clearly set forth the second coming of the Lord Jesus as the one great and blessed hope of the Church. Let us now, for a moment, consider its practical tendency.
A short time previous to our Lord's crucifixion, we find Him taking His disciples apart, and instructing them concerning His departure from among them. He tells them that He is about to go to His Father's house, to prepare a place for them, but that after a little while He will come again, and receive them unto Himself; at the same time leaving them in ignorance as to the precise period of that coming, that they may be as men "that wait for their lord." This is the true position of the Church in the present dispensation: waiting for the Son from heaven, as not knowing what hour the Lord may come. Read attentively the passages last quoted, and you will at once perceive that this was the position in which the Church stood in the days of the apostles; and so long as the second coming of Christ was kept in view, as the one great object of hope, the Church retained this position. It stood as a witness for Christ in the midst of an evil world, with its loins girded about, its lights burning, like unto one who waits for his lord; thus declaring plainly that here it had no continuing city, that this was not its rest, because it was polluted; but discerning with the eye of faith the things within the veil as its portion, even those things which eye bath not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man to conceive, but which are revealed unto us by that Spirit which searcheth all things, even the deep things of God; it minded not the things of earth, "but those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." At the time of the departure of Jesus, the Church was set at "the end of all things" (see 1 Peter 4:7; 1 Cor. 10:11), the Spirit continually testifying of the speedy return of the Lord: thus—"The coming of the Lord draweth nigh;" "The Lord is at hand;" "The judge standeth before the door;" "Yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry;" "The night is far spent, the day is at hand;" and so forth. To illustrate more fully this waiting position of the Church, we may bring forward that of the children of Israel during the night of the passover, to which our Lord evidently alludes in His exhortation in Luke 12:35, 36. They stood within the blood-sprinkled doors of their houses, in the full consciousness of security through the blood, feasting upon the flesh of the lamb, with unleavened bread, and bitter herbs, having their loins girded, their shoes on their feet, and their staves in their hand; thus declaring plainly that they had done with Egypt, that it was not their rest, that they had another country in view, and that they stood in readiness for the summons to depart thither, not having a single tie to bind them to Egypt. Here, then, we have, in type, the Church's proper position in the present dispensation; redeemed from the world (the spiritual Egypt) by the shedding and sprinkling of the blood of the true paschal Lamb (1 Cor. 5:7, 8), and, in the full consciousness of acceptance, keeping the feast—enjoying the blessedness of communion with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ; cleansed from the leaven of malice and wickedness, eating the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth with the bitter herbs, i.e. having fellowship with Jesus in suffering; and standing, as I have already shown, at the end of all things, in readiness for the summons to depart to meet the Lord.
But soon, very soon indeed, after the departure of Jesus, did the Church lose sight of this blessed hope. Soon did the servant begin to grow weary of watching and waiting, and to say in his heart, "My Lord delayeth His coming." (Matt. 24:48.) And what was the result? He lost his waiting position, and did eat and drink with the drunken, indulging himself with worldly and sensual gratifications during the absence of his master. Even so with the Church; hope deferred made it weary of watching and waiting; and it began to say, "My Lord delayeth." Observe, it is not, "My Lord will never come," but, "He delayeth;" it is yet a long time, though the Spirit said, "Yet a little while;" and then came in the leaven of the Sadducees, of which the Savior warned His disciples to beware (Matt. 16:6), that is, present enjoyment in the world, having lost sight of the resurrection hope. And we learn from the parable of the virgins (Matt. 25.), that that which is to awaken the children of God, and bring them again into their proper waiting position, is the cry, "Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!" We have, in this parable, first the Church's calling—the virgins went forth to meet the Bridegroom; secondly, the Church's departure from its true position—they all slumbered and slept; and the cause of this departure—the tarrying of the Bridegroom. Observe, they all slumbered, wise as well as foolish, and continued to slumber during the long period of the tarrying of the Bridegroom. Thirdly, the virgins are awakened by a cry, announcing the actual coming of the Bridegroom, and thus suddenly are brought again into their proper position. Observe, also, another of the effects of the cry; 'a separation takes place between the wise and the foolish virgins; the foolish discover their want of oil, and go to buy: they find they have no grace to go on with the wise, and the wise go forth alone.
I ask, then, dear friends, is not this a subject of vast practical importance to the children of God? That it is, is manifest from the various exhortations to holiness, watchfulness, prayer, diligence, and heavenly-mindedness, which are constantly connected with it in the Scriptures. The power of this truth depends mainly on a right apprehension and hearty reception of it, under the teaching of the Holy Ghost. What an appeal to the hearts of those that love the Lord is that word, "Behold, I come quickly!" What a test of the state of our affections! Why is it that this subject is sometimes treated with cold indifference? Is it not because Christ is not the commanding object of the heart's affections? Has not Laodicean lukewarmness overtaken many of us?
Brethren, it is high time to awake. The coining of the Lord is near; it may be even at the doors. Let each one ask himself, "Am I prepared—am I ready to meet Him, should He come this night? Should I be ashamed before Him at His coming?”
May the Lord, by His Spirit, teach His people to know more fully "what is the hope of God's calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints;" that, "having this hope in Him, they may purify themselves, even as He is pure," and, "looking for such things, may be diligent, that they may be found of Him in peace, without spot, and blameless." And may it be our portion, in this day of abounding evil, to be found among those that have not defiled their garments, and who shall walk with Jesus in white. May we be witnesses for Him, separated in spirit from all that is of the world, and not of the Father; from all that which is highly esteemed among men, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life; not setting our hearts upon that which, at the day of the Lord, will be found to be wood, hay, stubble; but upon that which is "incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.”
And now a word in conclusion to those who may read this, and who may still be in their sins. What will the coming of the Lord be to you, who are found out of Christ? It will be "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power." Escape, then, from impending judgment, to that ark which the love of God has provided—to that Savior who has said, "Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." Delay not; for the Master of the house is about to rise up and shut to the door, and then you will knock and seek in vain. The answer will be, "I know you not!" Hasten then to Jesus, and receive that salvation which you are now invited to receive "without money and without price.”
H. Mills
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